looking fr a decent barney on the telly tomorrow? BT sport at 0945 has the Sydney derby.

The quality may not be top league standard, but there will be no doubting the passion of this one, fueled by comments like this from the Sydney captain

 

“We go out there, and I’ve told the boys previously in games, we hate every single one of them."

 

yaaas....heid first

This was the equalising goal. Weirdly, aussie TV had guys in a sydney based studio, so didn't have the mic feed from the ground and their sound was bloody quiet. This is the kiwi one, stadium went berserk. 

 

Well, seems like we've well and truly missed the boat with the Nix keeper. Linked with Chelsea, Liverpool and Bournmouth. The latter being owned by Foley who also own Hibs, Lorient and the newly form Auckland FC. I wouldn't see him coming back to play in the a-league, but I'd be pissed off if he was in goal for Hibs. Also, fuck Foley.

I may have selective memories but the last time I can recall Hibs having a consitant good keeper was in the 90s when they had both Goram and Leighton.
Since then they have had some real bombskares (almost made Bossu look like Buffon). 

 

8 hours ago, tom_widdows said:

I may have selective memories but the last time I can recall Hibs having a consitant good keeper was in the 90s when they had both Goram and Leighton.
Since then they have had some real bombskares (almost made Bossu look like Buffon). 

 

They’ve had many a shite keeper. I’m only assuming Bournemouth will loan him out, but seems like he may even come in and challenge their current crop. Missed opportunity for us imo. 

Brand new team to the A League, Auckland FC are proving to be a bit of an enigma. Played 3, Won 3 in their inaugural season. They are my "local" team and the second NZ based team to feature in the A League.

Watched them again today as they took on the Wellington Phoenix in their first ever derby match. The quality is definitely lacking, kind of reminds me of the quality of the Scottish Premier maybe around 25 to 30 years ago. Certainly interesting though, following a brand new team, with brand new fans, brand new songs, brand new rivalries, etc 

On 03/11/2024 at 01:56, Reekie_Red said:

Brand new team to the A League, Auckland FC are proving to be a bit of an enigma. Played 3, Won 3 in their inaugural season. They are my "local" team and the second NZ based team to feature in the A League.

Watched them again today as they took on the Wellington Phoenix in their first ever derby match. The quality is definitely lacking, kind of reminds me of the quality of the Scottish Premier maybe around 25 to 30 years ago. Certainly interesting though, following a brand new team, with brand new fans, brand new songs, brand new rivalries, etc 

Was a shite ending to the game and set off what has turned out to be a shite week 🤣 I think they'll do fine this season, seem to be well drilled, which you'd expect from a Corica team.

What are the attendances like in A league? Watching Melbourne v Brisbane just now and ground only looks a third full at best. 

Pretty poor in all honesty, but that’s also because most teams play in stadia they shouldn’t (I.e too big for them). But a few clubs have been run incredibly poorly of late. Feels like a it’s a bit of make or break for the league right now.

Crowd at Adelaide game looks better but probably a smaller ground than previous game. Interesting to see no goal line technology used though how they needed VAR to see that was over the line anyway. 

9 hours ago, Jute said:

Crowd at Adelaide game looks better but probably a smaller ground than previous game. Interesting to see no goal line technology used though how they needed VAR to see that was over the line anyway. 

Aye, United always have a good crowd. Think Hindmarsh holds around 15k, which is the perfect size pretty much for most teams in the league (apart from Western United and MacArthur who have no fans. There are of course exceptions (Melbourne Victory, western Sydney and possibly Auckland depending how they fare). 

Had assumed they would be using the seemingly forgotten (perhaps mythical) North Harbour stadium but Penrose it is.

Learned from the NZ knights experiment perhaps

On 10/11/2024 at 08:35, tom_widdows said:

Had assumed they would be using the seemingly forgotten (perhaps mythical) North Harbour stadium but Penrose it is.

Learned from the NZ knights experiment perhaps

Would seem so 🤣 there’s been more talk about a waterside stadium, which I’d imagine was the same conversation they were having when you were here! We know how long it takes to build anything in this country.

The other thing I meant to add is that Aussie (and NZ) suffer from the lack of purpose built stadia. So most grounds are usually built with Rugby (any code) in mind rather than football. In Wellington's case, it was the opportunity for cricket and potentially AFL (never materialised) which lead to an oval. Nimby's prevented a purpose built 10k seater stadium elsewhere.

Went to the women's game yesterday, as they play up the road from me on a site which would be amazing if they developed it. One of the players' dogs ran onto the pitch, definitely the highlight of the game. Love this league  

@Reekie_Red you going to the derby today? 

I still can't get into the A-League... Just doesn't do it for me.

I have Newcastle v Adelaide United on in back ground while getting ready to head up the road. I usually watch games early morning. Can’t say I have been that impressed with standard. 

1 minute ago, Jute said:

I have Newcastle v Adelaide United on in back ground while getting ready to head up the road. I usually watch games early morning. Can’t say I have been that impressed with standard. 

Standard this season has been particularly poor. League is broke so more are going to try and use academy / youth to try and turn profits on players but that’s going to take time. Anyway, Newcastle are pretty shite and Adelaide are a bit hot and cold this season. 
 

I’ve needed something to latch on to and the nix are that. Quality generally isn’t as good as home but I am glad we’ve now got another kiwi team, even though we haven’t beaten them yet. Nice having an actual away side. 

How big is ground this game is at as looks like really small crowd. 
 

ETA - Just remembered your comment about lack of purpose built stadiums. Think that might help as this crowd might not look as bad in a 10,000 seat stadium and would definitely help the atmosphere. 

That VAR decision is outrageous. Good to see somewhere is even worse than us at it. Never a red card. At worst two yellows but never a red card.

3 hours ago, Jute said:

How big is ground this game is at as looks like really small crowd. 
 

ETA - Just remembered your comment about lack of purpose built stadiums. Think that might help as this crowd might not look as bad in a 10,000 seat stadium and would definitely help the atmosphere. 

Mt Smart is supposedly a 25,000 capacity stadium for sports. Its predominantly a rugby league stadium (home to thr Warriors who are part of the NRL) but has been picked up by Auckland FC for the A-League.

I wasn't at today's game but watched it on the tele. Was at last week's game vs Newcastle 

It's not often in life you get to watch the birth of a brand new football team in a "top" league, including the swell of crowds week on week, the creation of fanzones, the invention of brand new terrace songs ... I'm really enjoying watching them  create something out of nothing. 

5 hours ago, scotfree said:

I still can't get into the A-League... Just doesn't do it for me.

Same with me here in the states with MLS and I’ve been here since the beginning of MLS, zero interest!!

haven’t looked too hard but any info on the young winger we were loosely linked with in the summer? Did he stay there or move to Europe??

Edited December 7, 20241 yr by OrlandoDon

Marcus Younis? Think he plays in the PSV reserves 

Got Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane on just now. They really need to do something about the stadium sizes. Being played in 30,000 capacity stadium but stadium isn’t even a third full. Any atmosphere being generated by fans is just lost. 
 

Currently 2-1 after 20 minutes. Not a great game so far with neither team looking like they can defend which probably explains both teams league positions. 

Brisbane are one of the worst teams in the league this season, which is saying something 😂 WSW are probably equivalent to Hibs, there’s always some drama and occasionally play decent football but ultimately fail.

Lad Waddingham up front for Brisbane looks decent and took his goal well. 

As bad as teams in previous game were Perth are a whole new level of shite.