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See you in South Africa

Thems Fightin' Words....

Con Constantine on Jets bashing from greedy Knights over Energy Australia Stadium Revenue rights:

"I'm not out there to kill the Knights, that's not my interest. I want the Knights to stay there, healthy, and to join us in becoming a super club," he said. "If things stay the way they are, we'll need the government to intervene and have both parties come to the table. In a worst-case scenario, one of us will go down. But I can assure you, the Jets will always be flying high. And if one of us is going to go down, it's going to be the Knights."

Harry Kewell Arrives in Turkey

A word from Bob Dylan....

"Mothers and fathers, throughout the land
Don't criticise what you don't understand
This is a storm that is raging

So you'd better start swimming
Or you'll sink like a stone
"Cause the times, they're a-changing"

ASIA’S LAST PHASE OF QUALIFYING: HOW IT WORKs

via TheWorldGame
:: Two round-robin, home-and-away groups comprising five teams each.
:: Top two teams in each group qualify for 2010.
:: The two third-placed teams to meet in a home-and-away playoff
:: Playoff winners to face Oceania winners in a home-and-away playoff for a place in the finals.

Pim is coming up trumps

In my opinion, the Socceroos draw with China this week has solidified Verbeek's position as the man to take us to the 2010 World Cup.

The way the guy responded to the late injury dramas, his ability to think outside the box and utilise an otherwise pedestrian Brett Holman in such a way as to frustrate the Chinese shows he has the class and nouse to get us through.

Although we were impotent up front, that was not the point of the exercise; We clearly have a manager that can get a team to stick to a game plan and see the big picture, despite trying conditions.

3 goals for and zero against after two games, on top of the table and two points clear, with a round of two home matches and two away coming up in June.

Its looking good.

The dutch master arrives.

The road ahead....

March 26 v China (away)
June 2 v Iraq (home)
June 7 v Iraq (away)
June 14 v Qatar (away)
June 22 v China (home)

Forsatti - foiled again.

Australia 3 - Qatar 0

Best moments of the match tonight:

1. Pim returning an out of play ball with a curling pass from a right foot instep.
2. Forsatti sitting on his chair with his head in his hands.

The Socceroos played inspiring, entertaining, quick flowing, and pressing football (at least for the first half, after which they got tired and needed a biscuit.......fair nuff......it's a long plane trip.)

Thank you. Goodnight.

A-League cracks a 15k average crowd for season 3

...when you take out the Kiwi Phoenix....

15,005 average for the home/away season.
14,610 average when you kick in the kiwi factor.

Very respectable.

[Thanks Ozboy]

We want it all

Cockerill:

The football community in this country now wants everything, and it wants it now. The legacy of the World Cup is that expectations have been raised to unrealistic levels. Verbeek will satisfy the cultural cringe which demands a foreign coach for the Socceroos, but the honeymoon won't last long. Australia is not a major football power, at least not yet. But plenty of people think it is, as Verbeek is about to find out.

Sad but true.

Pim Verbeek lands the job.

After much heartache, and heartbreak, courtesy of 'dirty' Dick Advocaat, Ben 'Mr. Invisible' Buckley has announced Pim Verbeek as the new Australian Senior National Team Coach - and the good news is he has signed until 2010 and he will live in Australia.

Pim - let me be the first to call him 'Pimmo' - sports a poor track record at club level but did help Aussie Gus with the sensational Koreans in 2002.

Wikipedia says

Pim Verbeek (born March 12, 1956 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland) is a Dutch football manager who was the head coach of the South Korea national football team until July 2007. Verbeek was also an assistant under predecessors Guus Hiddink in 2002 and Dick Advocaat in 2006.

The Korea Football Association signed him to a coaching contract on June 26, 2006 until 2008. His brother Robert Verbeek is also a football coach. Pim led Korea to a third-place finish at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, guaranteeing them an automatic berth in the 2011 tournament. He resigned after the third-place game, however, saying he needs a break from coaching for approximately five months.

Note: Don't make the mistake of comparing his CV to Hiddink, Advocaat, Houllier et al. Instead compare him to a Troussier, Viera, Klinsmann, et al, or better still Frank Farina or Arnie.

We just do not have the $$ to do any better. So for the money I think Buckley did OK.

'Avago Pimmo!!!!!!

David Beckham and the Galaxy

What a gamble by the FFA. Anything could have happened, and almost did, with sprained ankles, punches and play acting all possibilities that never really materialised.

Now every paper you pickup is splashed with the success of the night. People in the streets are discussing how Beckham 'Bends it'.

Worth the bucks to bring him out here? - no doubt. Worth the risk of it flopping? Could have been soccer bashing fodder for many, but even the bashers will find it hard to deliver drivel in the face of the theatre of the curling free kick, the ankle scare, the good ol' aussie blue, the red card, the embraces with Juninho and Middleby, and the pictures of the crazy fans. And Beckhams media magnetism.

Kudo's to FFA. And to Channel Ten, thanks for commercial free broadcasting.

And to the Cove boys.."70000 people, we play every week" - a great banner for the occasion!

ABC Offsiders

I dont know why I put myself through it every week...why I even bother watching a show I know is full of afl and rugby league cronies. But I do, and every single time i feel like vomiting on my tv.

It's just as much what they do not say as what they do. I expect to only get a few minutes of A-League coverage - I am used to that - but to not even acknowledge the Olyroos achievements this week, nor give a breath of information about the socceroos kicking ass overseas, let alone preview some freakin HAL matches just beggars belief.

With Barry Cassidy no longer hosting this show to provide even a mild temper to the moronic droning of the afl inbred journos and the tokenistic presence of a nsw old guard rugby league man Roy 'slap me in the face in the dressing room while I am butt naked' Masters, the only reason I would continue to watch the show is to see them keep bickering amongst themselves as to which code is the greatest, whilst the true football grabs a larger and larger foothold in this country.

The only highlights they did show this morning were of Kevin Muscat kicking an ad board whilst the skinny AFL journo (Whattley, or whatever his name is, who, I am told, makes his living pushing the horse racing barrow in Victoria) made some comment about how the crowds have been segregated, then went on to with a sarcastic commentary on the Beckham money spinner as if to infer that his beloved code would never stoop so low.

Problem is they can't reach that high buddy.....Demetriou can only dream about doing what the FFA can do regularly; set up a full house international 'friendly' match that draws over 80k a pop and generates instant $$..........oh wait a minute, thats right, AFL do play the 'test' against the irish...thats no sports marketing gimmick is it? But it is international - pity it's not even the same GAME.

Why in Isaac Newtons name they call the show offsiders is beyond me as, seeing as there is no offside in afl, and as afl is all they seem to talk about they may as well change the name to something a bit more representative of the insular codes that pay their wages. Or at the very least call it the Melbourne Sports Show, so I can turn off on a Sunday morning and go for a walk outside or something.

Guus, you f***** us.

Russia slides through the final round of Euro qualifying under the blessed wing of Guus Hiddink.

The domino effect on world class football managers is set in motion as England bomb out, sack their Manager Steve MacLaren.

All of a sudden any remote (and I do stress *remote*) chance of the FFA signing a Mourinho or a Fabio Capello go out the door as they immediately declare their interest in the England job.

Which leaves us with a chance of snagging manager by email......Jurgen Klinsmann....or whatever his name is.

Newcastle's Favourite Code

Despite what Jets owner Con Constantine has been telling people, it feels like the Coal City will always be a Rugby League Town.

However, to it's credit, the Joey Johns daily, aka the Newcastle Herald, ran an interesting article comparing crowds for the Jets and the Knights.

Although some of the logic is flawed - comparing the last 5 home matches for each team in a way that presents as if they were played at the same time, the bottom line result is very interesting....

Jets past 5 home crowds-----------Knights past 5 home crowds
v mariners 14026---------------------v Raiders 11349
v Sydney 20980-----------------------v Rabbitohs 16320
v Mariners 14828---------------------v Roosters 15171
v Victory 19601------------------------v Dragons 12573
v Sydney 24338-----------------------v Panthers 14351

Total: 93773----------------------------Total: 69764
Average: 18754-----------------------Average: 13952

Before we get all hot and bothered though, it's worth remembering that the Jets last 5 home games were in a run up to trying to get a spot in the semi's (including the last game that was a semi). whilst the last 5 from the Knights have have seen them wrestling to avoid the wooden spoon - not exactly the type of run to the end of the season that makes you want to go out on a cold winters night and watch rugby league.

Speaking of not going anywhere, the new rugby comp is not doing well.......despite the spin.

Drop-ins from around the Football Galaxy

Michael Enfield, USA International and former member of team Galaxy, aka known as the team that David Beckham plays for now, may have had a few regrets when he joined Sydney FC right before David Beckham rolled into LA and put the entire LA Galaxy in the world spotlight, and potentially, in the world football shopwindow.

Doesn't sound like he is too worried though.

Enfield is a great example of a phenomenon that is starting to emerge as a feature of the A-League, and is a sign of a healthy future - the comp is a haven for those about to be great, or those who were great and want to be great again. The football is quality, there is exposure around the world and the crowds are decent. In fact when Dwight came here in year 1 A-League the talk was of 'retirement village', sunny weather and nightclubs - a great place to wind down the career.

All of a sudden of he goes to the north of England again - so much for the retirement village theory. The real story was he was struggling for form, came to Sydney, picked up some cash and enough confidence to captain his country in World Cup 2006 and is now back in the top flight EPL as part of Roy Keanes Sunderland.

Other examples of career resurrections are also there to behold - Alex came to Melbourne Victory, stayed a season despite the weather, and has now grabbed a nice little earner state side for FC Dallas.

This year we have Juninho - out of sorts with clubs in Brazil, and Super Mario Jardel, who so far seems on song and here to do the business. Even youngsters who left our shores are coming back to cut their teeth - I would've tipped Kaz Patafta to come back to Australia in twenty years, not just two, even on a loan out.

So what is Enfield thinking? He probably would have been surprised to find out that his new club was all of a sudden lined up to play his old club half way around the world, in November, when Sydney FC take on the Galaxy in a soon to be sell out fixture.

He'll get his exposure all through the A-League season, get to see the bright lights of LA in November, and maybe even learn a thing or two from a Samba King. Don't expect him to be here next year if he goes well though...

90 Minutes, 90 Emotions

The new Hyundai A-League ad for the 07/08 season was launched last night, although it won't hit the TV until August 19th.

You can breath a sigh of relief - no robots - although it's a shame two of the ads stars, David Carney and Nicky Carle, have already left the league!!

Oh well, thats the world game.



Music is 'Reign' by someone called UNKLE...

Will Sydney watch Sydney now?

Before yesterday there are some pretty good reasons to go out and watch Sydney FC in Hyundai A League Season 3. A new coach that demands a more tasteful approach to football in Branko Culina. World class defenders in Tony Popovic, young up and comers like Mark Milligan and Alex Brosque, and war horses like Steve Corica.

But yesterday, Sydney was gifted Juninho Paulista by Frank Lowy (to be recouped in part by a Carney transfer fee no doubt). To most of us he is a name on the roll of players that got rattled out as Brazil slowly geared up into the World Cup 2002 and, right under everyones noses pulled off yet another World Champions trophy.

And Juninho Paulista was integral. You don't just play 50 times for Brazil's national team and play 5 out of 7 games in a World Cup finals campaign because there is no one else around to take your spot. Brazilians demand blood. This guy was good.

That alone is a reason to pack the stadium at the first home game. The fans deserve better than what they were given last season, and the club now deserves the fans to come back, because they have delivered on a true marquee player. Other clubs may boast a marquee who is a name in Australian football and perhaps known to a a few overseas - Stan Lazaridis for Perth, Craig Moore for Queensland and....Ante Covic for Newcastle(?). But Sydney have taken the notion of what a marquee player is meant to be and stepped it up a notch. As frustrating a wait as it has been, they have got their million dollar man.

Whether he will perform on the field is another matter. The signs are good . He looks fit and trim, and he has a distinctive lack of ego about him.

The chance to see a truly world class player, to swing to the samba rhythms provided by the Sydney Brazilians who will undoubtedly show up with their drums, whistles, and dancing girls and boys, and the promise of an attractive passing style of football encouraged by Culina should be reason enough to get off the couch and get to the games.

Attendance Stats for Sydney FC in the Hyundai A-league

2005/06 Sydney FC Average Crowd 19,647
2006/07 Sydney FC Average Crowd 17,449
2007/08 Sydney FC Average Crowd ?????

Ole!