NEWCASTLE JETS 1 MELBOURNE VICTORY 1

PERTH GLORY 3 MELBOURNE HEART 0

BRISBANE ROAR 1 ADELAIDE UNITED 2

WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 1 SYDNEY FC 0

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 1 CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 1

MELBOURNE VICTORY 3 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 1

MELBOURNE HEART 3 NEWCASTLE JETS 1

PERTH GLORY 0 BRISBANE ROAR 0

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 5 MELBOURNE VICTORY 0 <- WTF

SYDNEY FC 0 CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 1

ADELAIDE UNITED 1 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 0

Nomentum

When Matt McKay was asked on the Fox Football podcast what the team could improve upon after their 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory, he said ‘consistency’.  He’s not wrong.  The Roar have generally had a very strong season, notching up ten wins and a lead at the top of the table as great as 7 points but they haven’t actually managed to go more than 3 games without a loss.  And aside from a tense away defeat in Round Two against Melbourne Victory for Ange Postecoglou’s final game, you’d have to say that they’re losing the games you’d expect them to win.  Twice against the Newcastle Jets.  A home defeat to Adelaide.  And a nil-nil draw against a clearly inferior Perth Glory team that felt like a defeat.

It’s probably helping to keep the side humble for now but you’d want to hope that coach Mike Mulvey can iron out the kinks before Finals Football in two months time.

Fortunately for Brisbane, they’ve had a run of poor results at the exact same time as Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory, both of whom lost twice in the past three rounds.  In fact the form teams of the competition right now are Wellington Phoenix (9th) and Adelaide United (5th), two teams that had exactly one win between them in their first ten rounds of the competition.  The Phoenix absolutely destroyed the Victory at the Cake Tin over the weekend, handing Melbourne their worst ever defeat.  Next, the in-form Kiwi club travel to Suncorp Stadium for an intriguing fixture against the Brisbane Roar.

Notes

• Gary Van Egmond becomes the latest coach to get sacked in the A-League.  You’d think Frank Farina for Sydney FC isn’t far off.  This means that despite taking the job in the middle of last season, Brisbane Roar coach Mike Mulvey is the second most tenured coach in the competition.  Pretty stupid really.
• Melbourne Heart finally won!!!  A weird piece of footballing trivia is that Massimo Murdocca and Andrew Redmayne both played at the clubs that held the record for the greatest undefeated streak (Brisbane Roar) and the longest winless streak (Melbourne Heart)
• The Roar need to stop getting players sent off in the first half hour of the match 🙁
• It’s kind of a disappointing reality that the quality of football in the competition has gone backwards this season.  With Central Coast Mariners a shadow of the side they used to be, only the Roar and the Wanderers seem capable of putting together quality football on any kind of consistent basis.
• Good to see Tom Rogic back in the A-League!  Pity its for the Victory.
• I’m sad to hear Shinji Ono is leaving the Wanderers at the end of the season.