A night in The Cove

Thursday, December 23rd, shortly before 7pm, 'The Cove'... the Northern end of Sydney Football Stadium, in front of the video screen, behind the goal. The vociferous band of loyal Sydney FC fans are joined by two excited and ever so slightly inebriated rookies.

Thus began my first ever A-League game last night, and I am pleased to say it certainly won't be my last. The football itself was, at times, disappointingly poor. A number of times a wide ball was allowed to run out of play due to a terrible poor touch, both goalkeepers struggled with the ball on the floor; and there were notably a couple of players with the penchant for 'Hollywood' long balls but without the ability to pull them off correctly, instead sending a ball flying into the stands.

The defending was solely defending with no view towards building play from the back or carrying the ball into midfield; rather relying on getting the lines cleared with a non-directional punt upfield. Finally, the incisivenes

s was lacking - a contest between two evenly matched teams was played out largely in front of both defences and neither team were readily able to produce the quality needed to break through.

That being said, it was by no means unwatchable football. The teams; Sydney FC who have struggled this year to adjust to losing some notable players, and my beloved Melbourne Heart (who have been the recipient of many of those former Sydneysiders), showed that they are clearly well-drilled professional outfits who know how to play. Both sides contained players who demonstrated notable technical ability - Sydney's South Korean left back Sung Hwan Byun in particular impressed in the early stages with a num

ber of threatening forays forward.

Having watched a reasonable amount of lower league English football in recent years I was keen to understand how this league would compare, and I think both teams would be certainly more than capable of putting a decent threat together in League One. Considering Sydney sit rock bottom of the league, and Heart are in their first season, I'd be confident in saying that the A-League's stronger teams such as Adelaide United and above all Brisbane Roar, could unsettle many of the Championship's finest. The movement, pace, physicality and technique of top flight professional teams in England would be too strong for anyone over here in my opinion - but again I must defend the A-League and reiterate that the football on display was certainly not as woeful as many had led me to suspect it might be.

The game started with Sydney piling the pressure on a Heart team playing at the SFS for the first time - pressure, but without a real threat. There were a couple of headers that flashed a couple of yards wide, and one or two deflected chances that could have gone anywhere but fell to safety, but it was the classic case of having a good spell but failing to find the goal to reward it. Heart looked happy to settle into a rhythm as the first half wore on, and strengthened sufficiently to go into the break on level pegging - both on the score sheet and in terms of the momentum of the game.

The second half began under some of the most epic purple sky ever to crown a football match - photo evidence provided below - and both sides were quick to make changes to seek the breakthrough that you felt was there for the taking. Sydney introduced star striker Nicky Carle who has been out injured and it showed, he looked sluggish and off the pace of the game. Heart removed their star man - and up till last year Sydney FC hero - Jon Aloisi and replaced him with the giant build of Gerald Sibon. Sibon struggled to impose himself on the game initially, proving himself the antithesis of the 'good touch for a big man' role. Shit touch, big man. Having taken a while to get to grips with the weird round object that people kept moving towards him, Sibon eventually grasped the concept of football that had laid dormant in his brain so many years.

As is so often the case with a cagey and well matched game, it was a mistake which sealed it. Former West Ham ranga Hayden Foxe played a ball to put Sydney Captain Terry McFlynn under pressure, he lost the ball around 25 yards from goal and Sibon demonstrated neat skill and excellent distribution to set up Adrian Zahra to slot home in the 86th minute and send the travelling Heart fans wild. All 12 of them. Honest, bless 'em, there was a brilliant little band of brothers tucked down the far end of the stadium who presumably made the trip up from Melbourne in one car and will be chuffed that they did.

The defeat was harsh on Sydney as they dominated most of the game, but as previously noted they dominated without doing enough. It's all well and good having the ball for long spells but unless you get behind the opposition defence you can't feel aggrieved if the result goes the other way. This result leaves the Sky Blues bottom of the 'ladder' and propels Heart up to 5th - although in a league with a fixture calendar as erratic as (insert erratic and hilarious pun) they are surrounded by rivals with many games in hand. The thing that will keep me coming back though is simple.

Going to football has never just been about the football, has it. If that was the case then the moment in 2005 when Southampton were relegated from a 27 year stay in the top division, I would have simply picked a new Premier League team to follow. Going to football offers so much more than watching it on TV, and it was this aspect of yesterday evening that I thoroughly enjoyed and will gladly return to.

The Cove is the behind the goal section of Sydney's hardc

ore support. Led on relentlessly by two passionate if slightly unhinged nutcases with megaphones, The Cove ran through their full repertoire of songs - far, far more than any English team that I have ever heard can boast. Admittedly this seems to be because they shamelessly rip off any and all songs they hear and tailor it to their own club, but hey, it works. The SFS is a nice, compact stadium which, although less than half full (or half empty depending on your viewpoint, misery guts) created a good atmosphere. Easy to get to, you are free to sit wherever you please in the General Admission sections, and (brace yourselves) you can drink beer in your seat. The General strolling back in the second half with a tray full of beers, that's a sight to improve anyone's demeanour, and that's why he's The General. Great fun and I'll definitely be going back. Whilst I nailed my Melbourne Heart

colours to the mast way back in August, and I refuse to mutinise my own...I have to confess that, after last night, I'll be following my local team with interest also. With the way he was putting heart and soul into it screaming premature heart attack, who knows, maybe next year they'll need a new megaphone man...
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Despite the sunshine and warm weather, I'm reliably informed that it is in fact Christmas Eve. To every one of my readers, I genuinely hope you have a brilliant Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Thanks a million for reading, every comment I ever get and every time someone reads my words, it really means a lot and I am grateful to all of you. Keep following, keep spreading the word and I'll keep spouting off on all things football. Seasons Greetings, Cheers.

"Top of the league my arse"

Oasis recorded 'Half The World Away' as a B-side to the phenomenal 'Whatever' in 1994. 16 years on and the lyrics of the tune so famously used as the soundtrack to the Royle Family could easily be ringing through the heads of City fans and most of all their captain tonight.

Carlos Tevez spent the first part of this month apparently thinking 'I would like to leave this city'. Having changed his mind in a classic Mancunian U-turn (no new contract announced yet but we'll see) he turned out for City in a home match against Everton that, with the snowmageddon across England ending most games, could have seen them top for Christmas.

The result, a 2-1 defeat to a currently lowly Everton side, could leave the fans feeling like they are 'still scratching around in the same old hole.' This City side, despite the illustrious squad and the impressive defeats of some close rivals, just don't convince me at all. I could feel the warning signs, running around my mind. They never seem to be able to produce when it really matters - games against their big city rivals, the 4th place decider against Spurs last year - the results have not been there when they are needed the most. A couple of wins against Chelsea does not a Champion make.

Although they have won few admirers this season due to Roberto Mancini's frustratingly stoic and negative tactical preferences, I find myself wanting City to threaten the elite. In a season where anything approaching excellence seems likely to be enough, and at a stage when only 3 points separates the top four so anyone can rightfully claim title credentials as a reality, I don't think it is an unreasonable expectation that Manchester City could pose a significant and longer-than-February threat to the established elite of Chelsea and United. For sheer variety it would surely be a good thing, so from that viewpoint I have been willing them on all season. Despite this hope I somehow knew that they would blow this chance.

Mancini's tactics are an easy scapegoat, but this is the man who led Inter to successive titles albeit in the Calciopoli-assisted years in Italy. Point being, his methods may frustrate but past history suggests he gets results. Blaming the players could also be an option but many of City's squad are established Premier League players to whom the pace and physicality of the league is no new thing. Indeed some of the most recent acquisitions have started to show signs of late that they are adapting well and now leading the charge - Yaya Toure is much improved and David Silva in particular has been excellent.

Maybe the key factor is simply this...it's City. Of course they are going to blow chances like Everton at home. They may well demolish teams from time to time, sort out rifts with their best player, sport the most stylish baby blue snoods you'll ever see; but even amongst this all, they are still City and with the hope and optimism comes that deep-buried malevolent whisper...'It's City, things will go wrong'.

Perhaps the most appropriate lyric to sum City's current state up from their most famous fans comes from a track on Be Here Now...'I hope, I think, I know.'

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So the day has finally come, after 2 and a half months that has seen wonder goals, a glorious derby win followed by an inglorious basterd of a defeat, hilarious own goals and an entire tabloid's worth of pun-tastic headlines...I'm finally going to watch the Melbourne Heart!
They are playing Thursday night at Sydney FC and on the back of a stunning 1-0 down on 88 minutes to finish 2-1 up win over Adelaide United, have a chance of salvaging this inaugural season. I've been told to expect little, and the crowd might not be huge so close to Chrissy as they call it over here...but I can't lie, I am excited. With my next blog I'll give a full insider view of a game in the A-League - the chants, the standard of play, whether the refs are idiots, and crucially, whether you can drink beer. I'll not sleep tonight...

Park Life

Yesterday morning, large numbers of men who work in my office strolled in slightly late and trying to look innocent, when in fact the crime we had all been guilty of was sitting downstairs watching Man United v Arsenal on the free ESPN in the food court. 'Bloody traffic' They'll never know...

The game finished in a 1-0 win that takes United two points clear at the top of the league, with a game in hand over all of their rivals to boot. They may wonder how they find themselves in such a position given that they have hardly hit full stride all year (Blackburn excepted). Watching the game, there were a few things that stood out from this bloggers perspective.

Firstly, Ji-Sung Park or Jason Park as he is more often called (by no-one other than my deluded friend who insists this is his name and admittedly I have adopted it myself) is one of football's good guys. He is clearly a player of certain limits, but at the same time he offers a number of qualities that put him arguably in the upper echelon of Premier League players. His work rate makes him a pain in the arse for opponents, and he has that Lampard knack of arriving in the box at the right time and in the right place - it is not coincidence if time and again a loose ball or deflection finds it's way to one player in particular.

The reflexive twist of his back and neck to meet the deflected ball from much improved Nani McPhee was superb and reminded me of Jurgen Klinsmann in his prime - one headed goal in France 98 in particular showed fighter pilot reactions and Park deserves considerable plaudits for his goal.

He is not and will never be a Ronaldo or Messi but every team needs it's workhorses and for me there are a lot worse players around than Jason Park.

Something else that warranted comment was the standard of football. For two teams more capable than almost every other in our country and therefore representative of the best that the Premier League has to offer, this was at times a frankly shocking display. Arsene Wenger has bemoaned the state of the pitch and claimed that it played a part in the sloppiness of the play, but it is no exaggeration to say that at times in this game there were spells of minutes in length in which neither team managed to string together more than 3 passes without losing the ball. To see players on both sides simply pass the ball out of play or direct to an opponent was quite staggering, a Sunday league team would expect to retain possession better than these two were. The contrast with the football on display by Barcelona week in week out - but more pertinently on a technical level by all teams in La Liga - was impossible to ignore. Is this really the level we are at?

One further observation and something that had me utterly dumbfounded at the time: how Darren Fletcher got away with that is beyond the comprehension of my tiny if trivia packed mind. He sprinted twenty yards, screaming profanities, and then barged into the referee Howard Webb, who must have thought he was somehow involved in his former life as a policeman being harassed by a Trainspotting skaghead. Surely to Jebus the FA will have to reprimand Fletcher as those actions were simply unacceptable and set a dangerous precedent for Sunday League refs to have to deal with if and when the snow ever melts. Players in my opinion should be booked the second they swear directly at a referee - to sprint after them, push them, and continue to act like they are withholding your fix even when pulled up about it afterwards - he does not have a leg to stand on and deserves to be sitting out for some time. Serves him right - with that much money and a job that demands physical strength and fitness he should not be looking so heroin-addled.

Arsenal can take some positives from the game in that they looked for the most part comfortable with United's threat - but they never presented a compelling enough case to make you believe they were going to worry United unduly. They still sit in a healthy position however and can go into 2011 with optimism. United meanwhile can - with a trip to Chelsea up next - build on this win and claim an unlikely title in what is turning out to be a year in which anyone could potentially win the league with a slightly decent run of form.

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League title aspirations are sadly out of the reach of Melbourne Heart this season. A terrible recent run of form including only one goal scored in the past six came to a depressing low on Saturday with a revenge win in the Melbourne derby for cross city rivals Victory. The Heart now find themselves well off the play-off pace and looking over their shoulders at the bottom three rather than at those above them. Difficult times for the club and they need a win soon - no-one expects miracles in this first season but at the same time they cannot allow this miserable run of form to ruin the excellent start that was made. Mind you, when your leading scorer and best player is Gerald Sibon, you can't expect too much.

El Tri

Tomorrow FIFA will announce the 2010 Ballon D'Or winner - they've muscled in on France Football's annual award recognising the best player in the world over the past 12 months.

In what I believe to be a first, the final three shortlisted candidates all play for the same club. Who else but those purveyors of Catalan Footballing Perfection or CFP as it isn't known: FC Barcelona.

Last year Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi formed three of the top 4 - with the excellent if opinion-dividing Cristiano Ronaldo splitting them. This year Madrid's talisman has missed out on the cut leaving all the trophies to be put on display in the already well stocked Camp Nou Trophy Room.

All three are clearly worthy of winning the award.

Messi is the best player in the world, for me there is no argument on this. He is constantly making the game look ridiculously easy and moreover playing it in a way that appeals to the spectator and sets an example to those wishing to learn the game.

Xavi is the fulcrum of quite possibly the best club team of my lifetime - with perhaps only Galactico Madrid, Treble winning United and Invincible Arsenal as challengers to that title. His stats usually show that he alone makes as many passes in a match as the entire opposition team combined. His vision, patience, work-rate and creativity allow so much of the flowing football that Barca produce to be possible in the first place. He would deserve this award, no doubt.

Iniesta, last but not least, is the player who I think will get the award, clinching it due to the fact that it was he who smashed the ball past Stekelenburg with only minutes remaining in Extra Time, to win Spain their first ever World Cup. Such a high profile moment for a player already regarded as one of the world's absolute elite may well be that which sticks in the minds of those voting this year.

I think Iniesta will win, but I would probably want Messi to win it of all three. To repeat: he is the best player in the world. Furthermore, he is possibly further ahead in holding this status than almost any other player that I have seen over the past twenty years - there has always been a solid argument for 3/4 players, right now I think it would be hard to find anyone that did not concede that Leo is number 1.

Having said that, with such an outstanding top three the decision will be a fair and justifiable one whoever wins (presumably a novel experience for the FIFA execs involved).

Whatever happens, the biggest winners here are FC Barcelona. Not that they needed any right now, but the folks over at the Bernabeu must be taking this news as another painful reminder of precisely who is ruling the Spanish roost these days.

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I've just seen the confirmation that Alan Pardew, former Saints manager, is now boss at Newcastle. Not getting into that one as such, but one thing leapt out...they've given him a FIVE AND A HALF YEAR contract. That is just insanity. He was out of work and surely, given the chance to manage a relatively big club in the Premier League, would have been happy to sign for 1-2 years. They say who would be a manager...Me. That's who. 5 and a half years!! Unbelievable. The big top seemed to be taken down around St James' for a while, but make no mistake, the fat ringleader is back in the spotlight and he seems determined to run the best damn circus in all of footballdom.

F U F I F A

Here in Australia, and back home in England, the announcement of which country would be successful in it's bid to host both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments has been met with dismay.

An organisation that reeks to high heaven of corruption has exploited to the fullness of all possibility their bidding process that simply encourages deal-making and outright bribery.

For the record, I don't necessarily think that either Russia or Qatar are the worst possible choices in the world. On the plus side, they both represent areas of the world that have never had the chance to host such an event, and this is something to be lauded.

Unfortunately however, both the process and the result leave an incredibly sour taste in the mouth; and it is sadly impossible not to wonder what gas and oil-fuelled deals have been made to bring the tournament to these new horizons. The British press have immediately screamed 'Fix' and argued that there is no way this decision could have been made to this result if not unfairly.

For me this could easily be used to highlight the arrogance and sense of entitlement that was apparently a fatal element of our previous failed attempt, to host in 2006.

The thing with this though, is that the papers are blatantly right. Of course there have been dodgy deals done, of course this was all decided before our Prince, PM and God got up to speak...and of course we should be entitled to request that something be done to address it.

Here in Australia the decision was not greeted with such venom, rather more a sense of disappointment at such a poor result (1 vote, eliminated straight away) bordering on the pragmatic. Maybe they have too much to worry about with the cricket (Waheyy!) - but certainly even with the more gracious acceptance of their fate, questions have been raised about the legitimacy of both the process and the eventual winner.

Personally, I think Russia is a bad choice because of the expense, the size, and the racism. After South Africa and Brazil, fans who travel to these tournaments will be getting pretty tired of the toll of having to traverse vast countries to follow their team. Russia offers more of the same, albeit with certain geographically grouped 'clusters'.

Qatar on the other hand is as compact as one could possibly imagine - but this destination too is not without it's drawbacks. The heat for one, but also the cost as well - don't expect budget hotel rooms to be available far and wide. If anything I'm more likely to try and go to the 2022 tournament, but anyone who is able to make serious travel plans 12 years ahead of time probably needs to live a little more in the present!

Fundamentally though, to return to my original viewpoint; whilst these nations have their drawbacks they also have what can quite easily be viewed as strong bids. It is just such a shame that the stench of corruption that emanates from FIFA headquarters has tainted this victory and made it look so clear that the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were sold.

Many areas of the British press, and our bid team, aimed condemnation at the BBC's Panorama programme for turning the spotlight on the corruption at FIFA, at such a crucial time before the decision. Now that they are all calling the same tune, I say: let's declare war.

Get all of our best investigative journalists, as well as our scumbag tabloid muck-rakers, and turn all attention to bringing down this stinking group of fat, corrupt, out-of-touch idiots that run OUR game...we all know they must be up to all kinds of unscrupulous behaviour. Find it, expose it, lay it bare for the world to see. That way either FIFA is forced to clean up it's act, or it's influence can be weakened and we can start to get football back. Not because England lost, not because the next time a World Cup can be held in a proper and established footballing nation is 16 years away, but because it is about time.

Sepp, best get shredding and deleting mate...the journos are coming.