Blog

Position: 9th

Change in position from 2010/11: ↓ 6

Win-draw-loss record: 5-10-12
(26 goals scored, 44 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Sergio van Dijk (8)

Average attendance: 8,829

It was a tumultuous season for Adelaide United in 2011/12, with the sacking of Rini Coolen mid-way through the season after a less than stellar start that yielded only 2 wins from the opening 11 games. Hopes were high pre-season with the signings of Socceroos Jon McKain and Dario Vidosic, and the return of Bruce Djite to Hindmarsh Stadium. However, the season didn’t start as planned. Adelaide scored only 8 goals and conceded 21 in the 11 games Coolen managed before his eventual sacking. Management and the fans weren’t happy with the formation being fielded by Rini, as it was neither producing results at the pointy end of the field nor was it keeping the opposition out at the other. The arrival of former manager John Kosmina to take over the reigns brought a new captain (Eugene Galekovic), … Continue Reading

Position: 10th

Change in position from 2010/11: ↓ 6

Win-draw-loss record: 4-9-14
(30 goals scored, 42 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: James Brown (6)

Average attendance: 3,438

Gold Coast in 2011/12 was a club riddled with problems, very few of which were on-field problems. Turmoil in the front-office led to the eventual removal of the club’s licence from the existing owners, and it’s hard to see how this couldn’t have had an effect on the on-field performance of the club. Players uncertain of their future, only one player on a contract beyond the current season – this doesn’t make for a positive footballing environment. However, the one word that sums up Gold Coast’s season is ‘promising’.

Before the season started, it was clear the focus at Gold Coast was going to be on youth. Glen Moss, Peter Jungschlager, Michael Thwaite, Kristian Rees and Paul Beekmans were to be the older spine of a team surrounded by exciting young talent and prospects. In the end, it’s fair … Continue Reading

Week 25 was a high scoring, action packed, nail biting round of A-League action. 19 goals across the final 5 games of the regular season provided plenty of points for fantasy owners, but with no teams managing to hold onto a clean sheet, it was the midfielders and strikers who scored the bulk of the points on offer this week. If you were shrewd (or lucky) enough to have a certain Perth striker in your team, and even more fortunate to have put the big ‘C’ next to his name this week, then you were in for a big points-scoring weekend.

The fantasy competition overlords this week have blessed each fantasy owner with a plethora of free trades (five, to be exact) in order to clean out the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Victory and Newcastle players in your team. So, make the most of this opportunity to bring in some big points scorers!

Let’s start with goalkeepers first, as … Continue Reading

This season, we’ve had 25 weeks of fantastic A-League football, and 25 Team of the Week selections. Now, we have our first-annual Team of the Season. Throughout the season, 142 different players have been selected in the Team of the Week, earning themselves either 1 point for a TOTW start or 0.5 points for a bench appearance. So, we’ve totted up the points and have a squad of the best defenders, midfielders, strikers and goalkeepers (and one manager) from the entire 25 weeks of A-League action, representing eight of the ten clubs.

And, yes, we realise some players there are fielded in an un-natural position. We simply were choosing the best four defenders, the best four midfielders and the best two strikers – whether they prefer to play in the middle or out wide wasn’t a concern.

So, without further ado, here is our 2011/12 Ultimate A-League Team of the Season:

… Continue Reading

So, we’ve reached the final week of the 2011/12 A-League regular season, meaning this will be our last Team of the Week for the season. Week 25 was a terrible week for defences, with 19 goals scored across the 5 games and not one clean sheet maintained. Adelaide and the Heart played out a 1-1 draw on Friday, Shane Smeltz put Melbourne Victory to the sword, Sydney booked their finals trip with a hard-fought win over the Jets, Brisbane left it late to beat Gold Coast, and Central Coast won away in Wellington to secure the premiership plate. Now, tomorrow, we will announce our 2011/12 A-League Team of the Season, so stay tuned. But first, who excelled in week 25 enough to earn their place in the TOTW:

Goalkeeper – Matthew Ryan (Central Coast Mariners)
Matt Ryan showed great tenacity under pressure, with a series of great saves … Continue Reading

With the imminent departure of Gold Coast United from the Australian football landscape, and the loss of two other A-League clubs over the first six seasons, questions are being asked about Football Federation Australia’s model for introducing clubs into the top flight. But is it a case of clubs being brought into markets that aren’t sustainable for a A-League club?

Well, first, let’s put aside the issue of having sole owners of A-League clubs and the problems that have arisen because of that, with Clive Palmer at the Gold Coast, Don Matheson at North Queensland Fury and Terry Serepisos at the Wellington Phoenix. That is, and will continue to be, a contentious point when discussing the A-League model and the success that can be derived from it when there is a single point of failure in the system.

The issue I want to approach is that of the ‘readiness’ of a market to adopt an A-League club. For … Continue Reading

Points were ‘in season’ during week 24 of A-League fantasy, with 14 goals scored, plenty of assists to go around, three clean sheets, and strikers finally getting themselves on the scoresheet. And it showed even in our own Ultimate A-League fantasy league, with over 40 different managers scoring 50 points or more, with the best totting up an impressive 72. But with that said, let’s see where the points were, and who is a worthwhile trade.

Firstly, just a quick point on the fantasy competition – it doesn’t end this week! The competition will continue all the way through to the grand final, with the maximum number of players you can select from any one team increasing over each week of the finals. So, our trade suggestions this week will be for players who are assured of finals football, and we would suggest trading players out from Gold Coast United, Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory and being … Continue Reading

Week 24 was full of twists, turns, comebacks and surprises. But still we are no closer to knowing the make-up of the final 6, with Sydney and Newcastle battling it out next week for a place in the finals, and Brisbane and Central Coast both heading away to try and snatch the premiers plate. 14 goals across the five games was a great return for the neutral, with Melbourne Victory and Gold Coast recording 3-nil wins, Sydney coming from behind to draw with the Heart 2-2, Brisbane winning on the road against Newcastle, and the Central Coast pipping Adelaide 1-0 at the Bluetongue Stadium. But which individuals stood out enough this week to warrant a place in our Team of the Week?

Goalkeeper – Michael Theoklitos (Brisbane Roar)
The Brisbane stopper stood up when he had to, making an incomparable double save to deny Jeffers, and a fingertipper … Continue Reading

No team managed to score more than 1 goal in week 23, with only 8 goals being scored in total across the entire league. What did that mean for fantasy scores? Well, defenders and midfielders were able to pick up a bunch of points, while strikers found good points a little harder to come by. And with only two clean sheets being kept among the ten teams, there were two goalkeepers who did better than the rest.

Speaking of goalkeepers, the two clean sheets in question were for Perth Glory and Sydney FC, so no surprise that Danny Vukovic and Ivan Necevski were the best scoring ‘keepers, tallying a respectable 6 points each. As we pointed out last week, Danny Vukovic is still the pick of the goalkeepers given the high probability he’ll keep at least one more clean sheet in the last two games of the season. If he’s out of your price range (Vukovic … Continue Reading

Week 23 will go down in history as the ‘binary’ week of the A-League, after all 10 teams managed to score either 1 or 0 goals. 8 goals in total across the 5 games was slim pickings for the neutral, but made for some nerve-wracking and exciting games to the final whistle. Perth defeated league-leaders Central Coast 1-0, Sydney finished off the Victory’s mathematical finals chances with a 1 nil win, and the other 6 teams all shared the points with 1-all draws. So, out of all those close games, which players did enough over the 90 minutes to warrant a spot in the Team of the Week?

Goalkeeper – Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix)
Paston made a few key saves, including a ripping one off a Fred thunderbolt, to keep the margin at one, and give Wellington the chance to be in a position to force the draw; … Continue Reading