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Andrew Durante’s comments post-match against Adelaide United may land him in hot water, but he can take solace from the fact that he’s right.

Too often are players, coaches and the media cautious to attach the unmentionable label of ‘cheat’ to their analyses of players. The word is, apparently, that one step too far in the cut-throat, highly competitive environment of modern professional football in which incidents of cheating are rife.

And it seems this caution has flowed through to the A-League’s match review panel and their treatment of the incident to which Durante was referring – Jeronimo Neumann’s second half dive that earned Durante’s teammate Ben Sigmund a red card, and the Reds a huge advantage.

Durante’s words weren’t too far off the mark. Diving is cheating. Plain and simple. It’s not necessarily a condemnation of Jeronimo’s character; we’ve seen enough of the Argentine in the first month of the season to know that his contribution to the … Continue Reading

Put down your knives and pitchforks – this article is as much about Australian Rules Football as it is about the city of Wellington. It’s actually more about the growth of discarded players in an inclusive environment – something that the Hyundai A-League has never been very capable with.

The Sydney Swans in the AFL, on the other hand, are well known for picking up players in trade week who perhaps have underperformed – Sam Reid, Ted Richards, Mitch Morton – and moulding them into future premiership stars.

And, yes, the A-League has had its journeyman players such as Michael Beauchamp (Mariners, Heart, Sydney & Wanderers) or Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Sydney, Perth, Newcastle & Wanderers), but rarely do you hear of a player being dumped after being considered ‘not good enough’.

Wellington seems to be the new home for players like this – with Jeremy Brockie, Leo Bertos, James Downey and Vince Lia, to name a few, all with at least … Continue Reading

A hard team to predict, a harder team to play against. Ricki Herbert has made the last three finals campaigns, and I can’t see him missing out on a fourth. The Phoenix has made the trip to Wellington one of the most daunting in the league, and has learned to grab points away from home. The Phoenix are one of those teams that just frustrate you with their uncanny knack to score at any time, no matter what the situation.

Sure, they have lost some experience in the midfield, but Herbert has covered his losses well in the off-season. This prediction could go horribly wrong, but I just can’t write off any team managed by the tactically astute Herbert.

PREDICTION: 4th. The team from across the ditch will once again frustrate teams along their travels. Wellington has become a fortress for the home team, and Phoenix should reach the playoffs on this alone.

BEST FINISH: 3rd in 2009/10.

THE SIGNING: Jeremy Brockie had a great year with Newcastle … Continue Reading

When Wellington Phoenix was born in 2007, the club pledged to bridge the gap between New Zealand’s ASB Premiership (previously known as the NZFC) and the lucrative professional leagues of the UK and mainland Europe. The club was advertised as a gateway for young Kiwi talent which had, at the time, failed to be exploited by the Phoenix’s predecessors – the New Zealand Knights and the Football Kingz.

You might think that with the success of the national side, especially at the World Cup in South Africa, this pledge had been well and truly upheld. But until the end of last season, only a handful of Kiwi youngsters had actually made the club’s imagined progression from the amateur national league to the international spotlight.

Kosta Barbarouses made 21 appearances for Ricki Herbert between 2007 and 2010, the majority of which came off the bench. In this time he scored two goals, before seeking out regular first-team football in a shift … Continue Reading

Position: 4th
(knocked out of the finals by Perth 3-2)

Change in position from 2010/11: ↑ 2

Win-draw-loss record: 12-4-11
(34 goals scored, 32 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Paul Ifill (8)

Average attendance: 8,780

Off the park, the Wellington Phoenix’s 2011/12 season couldn’t have got off to a worse start. Owner Terry Serepisos was forced to sell the club due to financial issues, new owners stepped in just weeks before the season kicked off, and the playing squad was barely reaching the minimum required size with a matter of days before their season opener against Gold Coast United. A pre-season knee injury to new signing Lucas Pantelis exacerbated the squad issue, with the former Adelaide midfielder confirming he was to miss the entire season. However, the last minute signings of American midfidler Alex Smith and ex-Phoenix player Nick Ward pushed the squad up to the acceptable size, just in time for the season to begin.

On the park, and the Nix’s season didn’t get off to a … Continue Reading

Almost exactly one year ago, in a blog piece far far away, I was writing on the issue of refereeing inconsistencies in the A-League, and how they were hurting the image and perception of the league amongst the community. At the time, I suggested the FFA appoint a Director of Refereeing, preferably former A-League and NSL referee Mark Shield, to oversee the entire refereeing group and try to dictate a set of standards and interpretations to them. Call me Nostradamus, but we fast forward exactly one year to where that precise arrangement is in place. But the problem is, the issue of overseeing the refereeing group, dictating standards and ensuring consistency is one that is still a problem. And a significant one, at that.

It’s taken only four weeks of A-League action this year to get A-League fans of nearly every club up in arms about a particular unjust, or seemingly unjust, refereeing decision. For your quick reference, I’ve compiled … Continue Reading

Today’s football news has been dominated by the story that Wellington Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos handed back his club license to the FFA so that, in the best interests of the fledgling club, a consortium of new owners could take control. But the delay of Serepisos’ resignation as Wellington owner has quite clearly already harmed the Phoenix’s preparation for the upcoming season.

Across the Tasman, Sydney, the two Melbournes, Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Perth and the Central Coast are all making quality signings to strengthen their squads, get their squad numbers up to the minimum 20 required by the FFA, and in some cases, bring a bit of the “star” factor back to the A-League.

Whilst on the other hand, the Phoenix have an owner with mountains of debt and a manager who is reportedly owed $100,000 in wages. Add to that the fact the Phoenix are still 3 players short of the minimum, have lost trialists … Continue Reading

The FFA has a dilemma on its hands. No, it’s nothing to do with the expansion of the A-League. And no, it’s nothing to do with the salary cap either. It’s to do with one solitary match this year, one match out of the 135 matches that will make up the 2011-12 A-League season.

On December 14 this year, the Wellington Phoenix will play reigning champions Brisbane Roar, in one of the league’s ‘regional matches’, at a venue to be decided. And that’s the kicker. Because no stadium has been allocated to this fixture as yet, and because neither club has rights to the match as a home game, two towns (one in New Zealand, and one in Queensland) have put their hands up to host it.

Let’s meet the contestants…

Contestant number one is Dunedin, New Zealand. A South Island city with a population of roughly 125,000 people, Dunedin has the distinction of … Continue Reading