Tangerine

Two NZ teams makes sense to me. It's either got to be zero or two. I think support will pick up with a NZ derby and bragging rights. I worry the more the league expands though. Western United have shown there isn't demand for 3 Melbourne teams, and while i think this will improve when they actually play in the West, the next couple of choices are very marginal. Would love to see a Tassie team and think it could work but i worry about what their attendance will be like by season 3 when the shine has worn off and the thousands of free tickets start drying up. Canberra seems an obvious choice, but again, there are already a lot of teams in NSW. Will they get anyone to matches?

While I share your frustrations, I think the simple answer is probably the correct one here: In Canberra's case it was a mistake by the football club - and so the football club received the penalty. In Victory's case it was the actions of the fans and not the players on the pitch or the coaching staff. While football clubs do have significant responsibility for culture and self-policing, there is some sense in separating a competition penalty (based on breach of the competition rules) from a 'club' penalty, which in Victory's case was financial penalties.

Keep Berisha, let Berenguer leave.

Anyone not using their membership tomorrow? Or know of any cheap tickets going? Private message me if so. I’ve got an out-of-state guest who would like to come but isn’t flush with $.

What i think should be highlighted is that the WSW goal was very good. They played it out from the back quickly and incisively. The ball into Najjarine and then the weight of the pass he played was excellent. These are the sort of goals that should be recognised, even when they go against your team, as they demonstrate that the A-league has moments of real quality. For that reason I don't feel hard done by with the result. I'd much rather yesterday's game than have drawn because of a blunder at the back or a lucky deflection.

@jw1739in short yes. They have 'capped' the price that uncontracted gas and coal can be traded at domestically. This has significantly decreased the forward price curve for electricity (given those two fuels still supply more than half of the electricity in Australia). In particular capping gas prices will affect electricity prices because it is often the marginal or price setting fuel. Future wholesale gas prices have also fallen although gas suppliers are trying everything they can to bypass the cap and I'd expect some legal challenges from both suppliers and consumers. What the residential customer will probably see is that electricity and gas prices will go up relative to the past, but not by as much as they otherwise would have. Hence your communication from your gas supplier - always best to shop around though if you have the time and patience. I think the Federal Government is also negotiating an energy concession policy ($1Bn +) with the states but the details are yet to be sorted so i don't know who will be eligible or by how much. Of course any Federal Government could do more than the ALP have decided to, but if they do business will scream louder about sovereign risk, 'think tanks' will talk about authoritarianism or socialism and any antagonistic parts of the media will have a field day. So it's a political and budgetary choice about how much to intervene and whether to be on the side of consumers, business or choose a path in between. Would probably be difficult for any colour of government to navigate.

I think he’s been good. I must have been watching different games to everyone else. He needs a goal to lift confidence as he’s missed a few reasonable chances but I think the midfield is functioning well and looks balanced. He often makes himself available which means that even when he doesn’t receive it he’s pulling the opposition around. His work rate is high and he plays some nice passes. I’d expect he still has another level to go to…..but for comparison it took Berenguer a season and a half to look like he could actually do anything.

I agree that Matty Ryan has to take most of the responsibility for their 2nd goal. However, i think Rowles playing back to him after Aziz had passed backwards was defenders abdicating their responsibility to try and play forward. Ryan could have cleared up the field with ball in hand but Australia needed to try and have possession to put pressure on Argentina. One of the two defenders could and should have got into a position to play forward even under pressure. I think that is the difference between the Socceroos and the next level. They need the technical proficiency to play forward and retain possession across the team. I wouldn't criticise Ryan for these reasons and he was faultless the rest of the tournament.

"He scores in World Cups, He scores in World Cups, Mathew Leckie, He scores in World Cups"

2. Glover 1. Berisha

I have been a critic, but Jamo played well last night at centre back. I will worry if he’s there when we face more physically imposing forwards - I hope this isn’t a regular plan.

I agree, Glover deserves a fair bit of positive recognition for last night. I have justifiably criticised him but I think he won us that game with 3 big stops when needed. We know how difficult it is when Western get ahead. Passing was sharper than last year with more willingness to go forward. Berisha looks good. Made some positive runs that weren’t picked up by team mates. Hope we can lift our game to get on his wavelength as he will do damage if we move the ball to him quickly. Forward line still a bit frustrating but Maclaren more involved that last year against WUFC. Lam at the back was passing to his feet and using him to link up, something that we have always failed to manage. Positive signs though I think the league will be much stronger this year.

I think most would agree that Erick Mombaerts left the club in a very healthy position: strong player list, good style, mentality and results. We finished second that year and lost a grand final. The next year under PK we went one better but arguably the league and Sydney were not as strong (so difficult to judge if we actually improved). My question (particularly for those who think PK is doing a good job) is what are the things that have improved under PK, from where Mombaerts left us? Can you point to anything tangible in player list, style, tactics, decision making, individual performance, game managment?

Conceded two goals to a team that had one shot on target!

On having a plan, one (of several) issues, is that our plan has just become too predictable. It’s all well and good playing possession based football, but we NEVER move the ball quickly. We ALWAYS give the opposition time to get back in numbers. I particularly noticed last night that when Leckie was in possession, Jamieson always went inside him which seemed to choke up the middle. He never overlapped on the outside to add width. I just think we played into Western United’s approach far too much and once they got ahead it wasn’t really in doubt. I think Western deserve significant credit, but we were not a champion side last night. There isn’t tactical flexibility or innovation and I don’t think that PK is the person who is going to be able to provide that. I actually worry for creative players coming to City because I think ‘our plan’ seems to stifle their creativity.