Football, football, football
Like a flatulent dog sneaking back into the lounge room, the A-League recommences this weekend amid little fanfare. Wait, you ask, isn’t there already still so much football happening in January?
Well, forget Iran v Iraq and all the dramatic tension of Asia’s biggest tournament as it hits the knockout stages – there’s some real clash of the titans stuff happening in your own backyard, and they don’t come bigger than the central-east-coast v central-south-coast derby of Adelaide v Newcastle.
At least this weekend’s three home teams Adelaide, Central Coast, and Perth are communities that haven’t witnessed first-hand the Asian Cup euphoria – maybe fans will be itching therefore to flock to support their local bannermen. And for those that prefer tinnies to schmancy craft-beers, who needs Omar Abdulrahman, Keisuke Honda or Sardar Azmoun when you’ve got Joel Griffiths?
A tough sell for A-League administrators – it’s expected the one-millionth attendee for the season will arrive this weekend – 972,444 have already made the trek, at an average of around 14,300 a game. It’s a landmark worth celebrating, but good luck getting oxygen amid a sport-saturated January.
A change is as good as a holiday
For some A-League clubs the Asian Cup break couldn’t have come soon enough. With his squad held together with sticky tape, and needing to find injury replacements for Ali Abbas, Nick Carle, Corey Gameiro and Sasa Ognenovski, Sydney FC boss Graham Arnold has certainly been busy over January. In come as new signings the Senegalese duo of Mickael Tavares and Jacques Faty. No, he doesn’t make French cinema, and it turns out the relationship between the two isn’t so much Mon Oncle as Mon Cousin. Awkwardly for cross-town rivals Western Sydney Wanderers, one of the glowing recommendations for the cousins to sign came from Romeo Castelen, who dubbed the club the “Ajax of Australia”. What does that make Wanderers then, AVV De Volewijckers?
For Tony Popovic, it’s been a similarly busy break. The Wanderers have picked up full-back Yusuke Tanaka and playmaker Yojiro Takahagi amid swirling reports Seyi Adeleke, Daniel Mullen and Vitor Saba may have played their last games for the club. The talented but tortured Kerem Bulut also returns to Australia – here’s hoping he recaptures his AFC Under-19 Golden Boot form, not his Burwood Court form.
A New Newcastle?
It felt like a curse had been placed on NSW football teams, such was the atrocious form that has seen Wellington Phoenix pick up more wins than all four of Sydney FC, Western Sydney, Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets combined. So dire were the Jets late last year against fellow strugglers Melbourne City that they were booed unceremoniously from the field by their own fans.
Heads have rolled in the meantime, with owner Nathan Tinkler stepping into the breach as chairman, after Newcastle legend Ray Baartz and CEO Robbie Middleby left their positions during the break. Star signing Marcos Flores has also been released, but whether the changed backroom environment will improve Phil Stubbins’ control of the dressing room remains to be seen. The man from Hull has the support of Tinkler at least, but will need his side to turn things around drastically soon, beginning with a win over Adelaide on Saturday.
I’ll be back – Arnie v CCM
He may have been ‘terminated’ by J-League side Vegalta Sendai, but the man they call Arnie bears no ill feelings against his former employer the Mariners. That is until about a week ago when a Central Coast advertisement earned his ire. Referencing a ‘cashed-up Arnie’ and trading on the ‘Bling FC’ tag, the Sydney FC boss didn’t take the insinuation of being a gun-for-hire mercenary too well.
In classic Arnie fashion, the big man loosed his own 15-millimetre Uzi volley: “Instead of encouraging the fans to throw fake money, maybe Mike Charlesworth (the owner of the Mariners) should throw the money he got from any of the sales on youth development on the Coast,” he said, referencing the believed $4-5 million the Mariners made through sales of players like Tom Rogic, Mat Ryan and Mustafa Amini from when Arnie was head coach.
Whether the “poke a very angry bear with a stick” approach will help the Mariners get out of their own slump will be seen on Saturday night. One game that should definitely be worth the popcorn.
Top of the table ding-dong
Another notoriously angry man out for revenge this weekend is Melbourne Victory’s Kevin Muscat. His side travel to Perth, just weeks after losing what was billed as a title decider against the Glory in Geelong.
With Perth over 3,500km away from Asian Cup action, and with Danny De Silva, Mitch Nichols and Josh Risdon missing out of the final Socceroos squad of 23, it’s been a quiet January for Kenny Lowe and his merry men. Obviously not quiet in the kick back with pina coladas way, but more the out of sight, under-the-radar quiet, about which the enigmatic Englishman will presumably have no complaints.
With 12 rounds yet to play it’s perhaps too early to say that this clash could prove decisive, but should Perth win and go seven points clear of the Victory, you imagine it wouldn’t hurt their late season momentum. Muscat will be without skipper Mark Milligan – on Socceroos duty – but be very certain he and Adrian Leijer have been throwing darts at a doll of Andy Keogh all week.
Nor would Besart Berisha be too happy playing second-fiddle to the Irish marksman. It’s a long shot, but we haven’t had a decent BB brain snap for a while – I’ve got a tenner on him biting someone.
Round 15 fixtures
Saturday
Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets, Coopers Stadium – 5pm
Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC, Central Coast Stadium – 7:30pm (Guardian liveblog with Richard Gadsby from 6:45pm)
Sunday
Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory, nib Stadium – 8pm
