Rubbish Roar
This weekend provided proof (not that it were needed) that Brisbane are now Western Sydney Wanderers’ “bitch”, to use the parlance of our times. A 2-1 win for WSW at Suncorp Stadium meant that the new boys have now beaten the defending champions thrice this season, twice in their backyard. Tony Popovic’s men also achieved another milestone, having never won the game after falling behind in the game before now.
The atmosphere couldn’t be any more different in Brisbane, with their third straight loss meaning that they are now only one point off last place. It looks increasingly likely that the defending champions won’t be taking part in the finals this year.
Looks like the Suncorp Stadium won’t be seeing much success this season, Courtesy of Figaro
Deadly Del
This column has given Sydney FC plenty of stick this season, and with good reason. On Saturday however, the Sky Blues turned in by far their best performance thus far, routing Wellington 7-1. The star was undoubtedly Alessandro Del Piero, who contributed four of the goals and played as if he was still in his twenties. New signing Joel Griffiths also got on the scoresheet and Frank Farina’s men can now realistically make the finals, a statement that would have seemed ridiculous two weeks ago.
That said, Wellington are rubbish.
Arnie In Trouble Again
If you were paying attention last week, you’d remember that Central Coast manager Graham Arnold got sent to the stands for berating the officials. This meant that Arnie was in the stands for the F3 derby against Newcastle, but this was not enough to keep him out of trouble. Newcastle boss Gary Van Egmond was unimpressed by the sight of the Mariners’ assistant coaches wearing earpieces and communicating with someone via walkie talkies.
Needless to say, they had an excuse. Obviously, they were communicating with midfielder Adriano Pellegrino, who was also in the stands. The incident is being investigated by the FFA.
Goodbye Tommy
Tom Rogic’s new home, Parkhead. Courtesy of lism
After all the speculation, Tommy Rogic’s future was finally secured when he signed for Celtic, with whom he’d been on trial. The deal for Australia’s brightest young prospect is worth around $ 700k but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to light up the SPL in much the same way that Aaron Mooy once did.
Born Offside