By Paul Frederickson
The weekend has come and gone,and around the world close misses, brilliant goals, glorious chants, controversial moments would have echoed throughout football conversations. I hope your weekend was full of everything that football has to offer.
THE GOOD
Records are always a bi-product of success, and Australia's Brisbane Roar set an Australian sporting record over the weekend of 36 games unbeaten. Not only did they break the record, but they did so with the aplomb and style that the Brisbane sporting public has come to expect in the last two years. Perth Glory were the latest team to come up short against the reigning A-League Premiers and Champions.
THE BAD
My opinions on the refereeing standards in Australia have been discussed over the last few weeks so I will not dwell on how I continue to be disappointed with its adverse effect on many games. Instead this week's bad is the spate of injuries to key players over the last 12 months. Dario Vidosic is the latest young player to be struck down by a potential long term injury. We at Play the Advantage wish all injured players a swift and long term recovery.
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
Depression is still not widely spoken about in men's circles. Whilst we can often talk about the pain that our team's cause us we often have trouble expressing how we feel or seeking help for what can be a chemical problem. The loss of Gary Speed over the weekend is so tragic. What a great loss to the football community but even more importantly to his family and friends. Play the Advantage send its condolences to his friends and family on behalf of the wider footballing and sporting community.
If you or your friends are experiencing depression there are avenues to help. In Australia one of the avenues is Beyond Blue:
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx 1300 22 46 36
What do you think? What were your weekend's The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly?
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly
By Paul Frederickson
I screamed at the radio on Saturday night as Brisbane Roar took the lead against the Newcastle Jets late in the 2nd half. The issue being, I was on air hosting a local Brisbane radio show at the time! Apologies to all who have damaged ear drums from my yelling of "GET IN"! Happy days from my part of the football world, I hope that you had a great footballing weekend as well.
THE GOOD
One unbeaten team is left in the English Premier League and that is Manchester City. They are the good of the week as they beat the valiant but ultimately outclassed Newcastle United 3-1.
Honourable mention: Brisbane Roar, who equalled the Australian professional football record of 35 games unbeaten, previously set by Easts who were in the New South Wales rugby league competition at the time.
THIS WEEK WILL BE A SAD
Rest in Peace little angel, Luca Jones. Condolences to Brad Jones and his family and friends from everyone at Play the Advantage Football.
THE UGLY
What do you think? What was your weekend's Good, Bad and the Downright ugly?
I screamed at the radio on Saturday night as Brisbane Roar took the lead against the Newcastle Jets late in the 2nd half. The issue being, I was on air hosting a local Brisbane radio show at the time! Apologies to all who have damaged ear drums from my yelling of "GET IN"! Happy days from my part of the football world, I hope that you had a great footballing weekend as well.
THE GOOD
One unbeaten team is left in the English Premier League and that is Manchester City. They are the good of the week as they beat the valiant but ultimately outclassed Newcastle United 3-1.
Honourable mention: Brisbane Roar, who equalled the Australian professional football record of 35 games unbeaten, previously set by Easts who were in the New South Wales rugby league competition at the time.
THIS WEEK WILL BE A SAD
Rest in Peace little angel, Luca Jones. Condolences to Brad Jones and his family and friends from everyone at Play the Advantage Football.
THE UGLY
Teflon Sepp Blatter. No matter how many mistakes the head of world football makes it seems he is immovable. His latest comments in regards to racism are sadly ill-informed and what makes them even sadder, I'm not surprised that he made them. If it is not time for him to go the there will never be a time.
What do you think? What was your weekend's Good, Bad and the Downright ugly?
Monday, November 14, 2011
The good, the bad and the downright ugly!
By Paul Frederickson
Wow, a 4pm Sunday game, my team has 35 shots and draws 1 all besides a plethora of chances. But enough of my team, I hope your weekend was full of football joy.
THE GOOD
Giovanni Trapattoni's men will take a 4-0 lead into Tuesday night's play-off second leg with Estonia at home after one of the greatest wins in the country's rich footballing history. Unless the unbelievable occurs Irish eyes will be smiling in Poland and the Ukraine next year. Honourable mentions: England beat Spain 1 nil, Brisbane Roar played their 34th unbeaten game in a row after a 1 all draw against Wellington Phoenix.
THE BAD
The standard of refereeing in the A-League has been a bone of contention in recent times. The standard is not good enough and the decisions from game to game are hard to fathom at times. The FFA spend a lot of money on the teams, advertising and player development, this must be extended to the refereeing ranks. The referees are an integral part of the game, if we are not talking about them then they are doing a great job. At least they are not like the referee in the following clip, but the man can run!
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
Turkey are a proud footballing nation with a well respected and successful manager in Guus Hiddink. Over two legs of a Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Croatia the supporters were quietly confident that the team would perform well. But once the whistle to the first leg was blown it all went horribly wrong. A 3 nil loss at home to Croatia is not insurmountable but has seen their qualifying campaign take a dramatic hit. A hit that the passionate Turkish fans cannot bear, and the potential sacking of Hiddink dominates Turkish footballing forums. It could get even uglier when they play the second away in Croatia.
What do you think? What were your weekend's Good, Bad and Downright Ugly?
Wow, a 4pm Sunday game, my team has 35 shots and draws 1 all besides a plethora of chances. But enough of my team, I hope your weekend was full of football joy.
THE GOOD
Giovanni Trapattoni's men will take a 4-0 lead into Tuesday night's play-off second leg with Estonia at home after one of the greatest wins in the country's rich footballing history. Unless the unbelievable occurs Irish eyes will be smiling in Poland and the Ukraine next year. Honourable mentions: England beat Spain 1 nil, Brisbane Roar played their 34th unbeaten game in a row after a 1 all draw against Wellington Phoenix.
THE BAD
The standard of refereeing in the A-League has been a bone of contention in recent times. The standard is not good enough and the decisions from game to game are hard to fathom at times. The FFA spend a lot of money on the teams, advertising and player development, this must be extended to the refereeing ranks. The referees are an integral part of the game, if we are not talking about them then they are doing a great job. At least they are not like the referee in the following clip, but the man can run!
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
Turkey are a proud footballing nation with a well respected and successful manager in Guus Hiddink. Over two legs of a Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Croatia the supporters were quietly confident that the team would perform well. But once the whistle to the first leg was blown it all went horribly wrong. A 3 nil loss at home to Croatia is not insurmountable but has seen their qualifying campaign take a dramatic hit. A hit that the passionate Turkish fans cannot bear, and the potential sacking of Hiddink dominates Turkish footballing forums. It could get even uglier when they play the second away in Croatia.
What do you think? What were your weekend's Good, Bad and Downright Ugly?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly!
By Paul Frederickson
Wow, I'm still seeing red from some of the social media comments people have made over the weekend and some of the decisions that have been made by players as well as referees! We need to start a respect campaign between fans of our wonderful code! Hope your teams did well, I had a mixed bag with mine! Welcome to this week's edition of the good, the bad and the downright ugly, with a total focus on Australia's A-League competition.
THE GOOD
As much as he can get under opposition fans and players skins you have to admire the goal-poaching talents and finishing of the A-League's all time lead scorer, Archie Thompson. Against the current champions and ladder leaders, the Brisbane Roar, Thompson was back to his best. Down to ten men early Melbourne Victory took a 2-1 lead almost single-handedly down to Archie's class and maize runs. Unfortunately for the game, Melbourne went down to nine men and as would be expected shut up shop, leaving Thompson with the barest of service from that moment on.
Hounorable mentions: Sydney FC's last minute winner in their 3-2 win after trailing 2 nil against Gold Coast United. Central Coast win their 2nd game in a row and Newcastle Jets continue to surprise the doubters. Sir Alex Ferguson and his wonderful 25 year stint as manager of Manchester United.
THE BAD
He is a walking headline and someone that the FFA and A-League should thank every week for his commentary and observations about life and football, but sometimes Miron is so blinkered he gets things very wrong. His tirade against the league, referees and his belief in football conspiracies can make Miron Bleiberg seem far less intelligent than he obviously is. Bleiberg directed most of his post game interview to his thoughts on referee Peter Green, calling him a 'homey' referee.
"You know why the 'homey' one? Because all the time they favour the home team," Bleiberg explained.
His tirade may have been better served to his own team who allowed Sydney to escape with a win after trailing 2 nil in a competition that may be the tightest in A-League history.
Honourable mentions: The referee bashing that occurred over the weekend and some of the disgraceful comments supporters launched at each other via Facebook and Twitter. Love, live for it, but in the end it is a game. Respect your fellow A-League supporters!
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
One of the pre-season favourites for the A-League Championship and Premiership, Adelaide United has had a start to the season that could be considered a nightmare at best. After being demolished by a rampant Brisbane Roar the week before Adelaide scrambled to a 1 all home draw against the struggling Melbourne Heart. To compound their woes, one of their young players, Antony Golec used his Twitter account to label Ben Williams the "worst referee ever", as well as directing homophobic comments towards the referee. Common sense, it would seem, is not that common. He is due to be censured by his club this week.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT WAS YOUR WEEKEND'S GOOD, BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY?
Wow, I'm still seeing red from some of the social media comments people have made over the weekend and some of the decisions that have been made by players as well as referees! We need to start a respect campaign between fans of our wonderful code! Hope your teams did well, I had a mixed bag with mine! Welcome to this week's edition of the good, the bad and the downright ugly, with a total focus on Australia's A-League competition.
THE GOOD
As much as he can get under opposition fans and players skins you have to admire the goal-poaching talents and finishing of the A-League's all time lead scorer, Archie Thompson. Against the current champions and ladder leaders, the Brisbane Roar, Thompson was back to his best. Down to ten men early Melbourne Victory took a 2-1 lead almost single-handedly down to Archie's class and maize runs. Unfortunately for the game, Melbourne went down to nine men and as would be expected shut up shop, leaving Thompson with the barest of service from that moment on.
Hounorable mentions: Sydney FC's last minute winner in their 3-2 win after trailing 2 nil against Gold Coast United. Central Coast win their 2nd game in a row and Newcastle Jets continue to surprise the doubters. Sir Alex Ferguson and his wonderful 25 year stint as manager of Manchester United.
THE BAD
He is a walking headline and someone that the FFA and A-League should thank every week for his commentary and observations about life and football, but sometimes Miron is so blinkered he gets things very wrong. His tirade against the league, referees and his belief in football conspiracies can make Miron Bleiberg seem far less intelligent than he obviously is. Bleiberg directed most of his post game interview to his thoughts on referee Peter Green, calling him a 'homey' referee.
"You know why the 'homey' one? Because all the time they favour the home team," Bleiberg explained.
His tirade may have been better served to his own team who allowed Sydney to escape with a win after trailing 2 nil in a competition that may be the tightest in A-League history.
Honourable mentions: The referee bashing that occurred over the weekend and some of the disgraceful comments supporters launched at each other via Facebook and Twitter. Love, live for it, but in the end it is a game. Respect your fellow A-League supporters!
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
One of the pre-season favourites for the A-League Championship and Premiership, Adelaide United has had a start to the season that could be considered a nightmare at best. After being demolished by a rampant Brisbane Roar the week before Adelaide scrambled to a 1 all home draw against the struggling Melbourne Heart. To compound their woes, one of their young players, Antony Golec used his Twitter account to label Ben Williams the "worst referee ever", as well as directing homophobic comments towards the referee. Common sense, it would seem, is not that common. He is due to be censured by his club this week.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT WAS YOUR WEEKEND'S GOOD, BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY?
Saturday, November 5, 2011
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