Mainland Premier League (Part 1)

congragulations to Bays.

Sincerly hope there is no legal shenanagins around the relegation scrap... We've had to put up with that marlarky before, poor look for the game.

 

Rep trials for juniors tomorrow, no rain please.

A penalty to Wiremu Piercey

Ponts: Bays 43, Technical 38, Suburbs 37, Coastal 31, Halswell 25, Western 20, FC 13, United 12

Sorry mate I totally missed that, these forums give me the sharks. Who do you play for? We beat HSOB 3-1 to take the cup for the who knows how many times now but we can't win the league. Considering all the ciritsism Mainland take they put on a bloody good show for the finals, free beer and sausages FTW. Halswell was the last to leave . We had heard that all the MPL games had set up bays to win if they beat Halswell so whilst hoping for the best it was pretty obvious who was going to be the more motivated in that game. Can't wait until next season!

-edit For the record it's not open entry. The 2 top placed teams from the regular season have to actually ask Mainland for promotion to the division above and they replace the bottom 2 teams from the regular season. The cup has no bearing on next year.

Yer I'm happy with that. While watching the FC Utd game last week I decided that despite wanting both to go down, it would probably do FC better to spend a year in the lower league and keep an old school club like Utd in the MPL for another year. 

Got the goal difference wrong there Stretford, remember we are dealing with negatives so the higher the number is not necessarily better!   Utd have the better goal difference (believe it or not) with a whopping -23. 

Who's going down?

FC20...youknowtherest 13 pts, ChchUtd 12 pts; FC 7 goals ahead on goal difference (CORRECTION - thans Vim - ChcUtd 7 goals to the good; so a draw for them and an FC loss would see Utd stay up).

FC play Coastal at Linfield; Coastal finish 4th no matter what the result.

ChchUtd take on Cashmere at English Park; with Cashmere needing to win to secure 2nd.

As only 1st and last positions have any consequences, there is only pride on the line for Coastal and Cashmere.

Any known variables?

Predictions please.

Utd  to upset Cashmere 1-0

FC 1, Coastal 1

FC down.

4 Coastal players into the U-17 Womens World Cup. Top stuff that.

Last weekend for junior rep trials, hoping for good weather and good football. Looks like any Boys 13-14-15 selected for NTC Oamaru will not play the South Island tournament.

 

Venues for knock-out finals are up after originally being elsewhere, so check the snapshot!!

 

Is there a 15s NTC? Thought it was off because U17 training squad for 2013 World Cup qualifiers has been selected.

Great to see our Chch girls can still make national squads!

Boys born in 1997 have been selected so I assume there is. I suspect the D.O.B. 1996 is off due the reason you cited.

Yes, slightly encouraging to see local players  represented in National sides...More the merrier.

FC Nelson will not seek promotion. No surprises there. Give it a better crack next season. Although I'm a bit worried at how poor the Nelson first division will be if we have two sides in the MPL.

FC Nelson will not seek promotion. No surprises there. Give it a better crack next season. Although I'm a bit worried at how poor the Nelson first division will be if we have two sides in the MPL.

FC Nelson will not seek promotion. No surprises there. Give it a better crack next season. Although I'm a bit worried at how poor the Nelson first division will be if we have two sides in the MPL.

Hey AW82, what was the deal with the challenge about something that happened off the field?  Never heard any more about it....

 

Heard that it was thrown out but unsure if club is going to be appeal it and take to the next level - i.e. NZ Football

Woeful 1 10 Man Western 0 English Cup semi-final.

 

Yer but what was the goss?  Sucks only getting your gossip via here and it is so vague!

It was over some eligibility rules over several players.

Thank goodness that the Mainland Premier League does not have any prize money attached other wise some clubs may be appointing lawyers before coaches.  

 

Bunch of Brazilians been playing for FC20samba haven't they?

Yeah, unfortunately they seem to have found the only Brazilians who can't play footie!

Will be cheering on Coastal this arvo (as I have done EVERY game this season) and planning for a thrashing.  Hoping for a good draw across the way at English Park with FC going down and for the second year in a row goal difference keeping Utd up.

FC etc get a late winner and stay up! Wasnt the strongest coastal side that took the pitch but they had their chances according to my sources. Congrats to FC. Wonder what future hold for chch utd now that they don't have MPL status.

 

It didn't exactly look like a 'weak' coastal side though (good reflection on their first team depth IMO).

 

United will either turn things around without the financial burden of MPL or die totally. How the club reacts to relegation and plans long term will decide its fate.

Results

Coastal 0 FC 1

ChCh United 0 Cashmere Tech 1

Nelson Suburbs 0 Ferrymead Bays 4

Western 3 Halswell 2

 

 

Yer real shame if you ask me. I know others are happy a 'progressive' club stays up however i'd still like some old skool in the premier league.

Now that the league has finished what was evenyones impression.

I felt overall the league was weak and it will be interesting to see how Bays get on in the South Island Final next Saturday and then aginst the three of the North Island Fed winners in mid September.

Bays won the league but a third of the their games were drawn, also had the lowest number of goals scored by the champs in a 21 game league and at Barnett Park must have the worst surface in the league.

Technical struggled to put the ball in the back of the net, only 2 losses but 8 draws, missed Pitman big time in the middle of the park.

For once Suburbs showed that they could be beaten at home, once Feni when home lacked lighting pace and also had a bag of injuries at the end of the end, for me Ben Wright the best complete striker in the league

Coastal, like Bays need to improve their home pitch, only scored 11 of their 31 points at Linfield. Only seemed to score when either Ash or Gareth was on the park. 

Halswell started well but then fell away and hardly won a game in the second half of the season. One of the most experience squads in the league so may be need to give youth a chance.

At one stage looked like Western were going to battle for the wooden spoon and rallied in the latter half of the season, also seemed to suffer from a run of injuries

FC Twenty11 likely to improve in their next season, happy to knock the ball about but struggled in the attacking third when at time players should have had a crack. Some of their players seem to 'give up' once going a couple of goal down, will mis the experience of Keith Grosvenor at the back next season.

You could not fault Christchurch United commitment, battled hard all season but were always going to be up against it. Once they lost "Champ" mid season lacked out and out pace. With Tom in goal were always going to have one of the best keepers in the league, sorry to see them go, but have been hoovering near the bottom for a few season now. Will be interesting to see if they retain the bulk of their squad, if not will be hard to bounce back considering the depth of the club.

Gagame's loss was huge. Also factor in the number of players that left throughout the season to go to Wellington/USA + injuries. Didn't see much of Paul Dirou after he made a brief appearance.

Anyone from the Suburbs squad good enough to make Canterbury United? I wonder if they'd look at Ben Wright. Injury prone, but he's so clinnical. (scoring against Chelsea in a UEFA Cup match is the coolest career highlight)

Rumour has it three of the Suburbs players will play for the Nelson youth team as overage players if they gain entry into that. I'd say the top candidates would Mike White, Jordan Swaney, Ben Wright, Coey Turipa or Mark Johnston. Saying that, all five could be playing ASB Premiership for Canterbury if selected.

Is that a hat-trick of relegations for Tom Batty?  

Good succinct summary, thanks AW82. Agree grounds are an issue but ASB was always there as an option if the club wants to pay, give away perceived home ground advantage, clubhouse aftermatch etc. As Bays won the league, they'll hardly be complaining though, will they? But agree, standard will be shown up once Bays take on Nth Is feds. Chatham Cup has already highlighted Cavvy and Dndn Tech's superiority over Chch sides this year but when is the last time Chch teams had it over Dndn anyway? Not in the last few years.

I hear whisper that there has been recent talk of 9 team league next year? WTF?

No only two, Nomads and United but if FC had gone down Adam Nash would have claimed a hat-trick - Burnside, Nomads and FC. 

Re a nine team league I cannot see this happening and ceretainly hope is does not for the following reasons:

1) would not improve the standard, what we saw this season I think there would be a better case to go to a six team league. Looking back over the history of the Mainland PL, it started out with 12 teams - the first season, then reduce to 10 for the next four and when finally the present eight. Over the years four the the relegated sides did not win a single game with two of those not picking up a single point  

2) bloody silly for teams to have a bye in the premier league

3) I am sure that when a review was last carried out Mainland agreed that any future changes could only take place two season out

4) if it was nine team over three rounds would make the season three weeks longer - with ASB Park ChCh teams could play midweek but what about Suburbs

Now that the relegation has been decided and it is ChCh United facing the drop I think any talk of a nine team league will stop, if it was FC going down then I think it would have been a different story.

Hopefully FC Nelson will look at promotion in the next season and maybe a 6 Christchurch - 2 Nelson club split would be a better mix. 

 

My 2 cents on the league. 

I really enjoyed it and thought that despite there being two relative easy-beats down the bottom, across the board each week anyone had a chance of beating anyone else. Compare this to the Women's Premier League (23 points between 1st and 2nd) and Div 1 (9 points in a 14 game season) it was pretty close in my book. 

Yes pitches are bitches, however with little money in the game, and the council not really wanting to help out and work on the fields, we may just have to like it.  I can totally understand the difference looking at Linfield vs ASBl, but, what to do?

My opinion on the make up of MPL next year is also casting an eye over Div 1. If we have noone interested in promotion, do we really relegate a team? But then, it makes the bottom of the league boring with no real incentive to keep playing. I totally agree with what AW82 said that if FC20 had been relegated then a 9 team (or more) would have been more popular in the 'upper circles' however that just makes it worse don't you think?

Will be interesting to see what the competitions review suggests in a few weeks!

 

 

 

Yes Vim does make it worst so that is why the 'two season's away rule' is great because it would not allow for back room deals - all clubs then treated the same. 

United should go, they add nothing to football in the city. At least FC are trying to improve players even if Tsetso struggled as a coach at this level, Utd is just a team trying to win an average competition, id Harry McCosh the future of any club? Of the top 4 teams all of them would probably struggle to win against Dunedin teams but should the league be revamped because of that? I don't think so. As Vim says, even in it's current state of woefulness it can stil be entertaining.

Mainland need to get in behind the league more - prize money, sponsorship, no player payments, all games on at ASB at no charge to clubs (gold coin entry fee should cover costs especially if the league standard increases). No relegation - entry on merit based around Football Development programme. Work harder with match officials to improve their standards as well. Get the FDO's off there arses and working in conjunction with MPL clubs as "umbrella" organisations in their areas to accelerate development of grass roots players. Reward those clubs that work hard in these areas with MPL spots (and you must also have a womens team - no half arsed efforts Moneybags Bays!)

A subsidiary competition based around the English Cup (i.e. 2 pools of 5 playing round robin again at ASB to decide semi finalists) to increase number of games and give 2nd tier clubs opportunity to test themselves against MPL clubs.

And get the schools out of the Saturday competition - this will make the biggest difference as clubs get to mentor their young players into senior football far more effectively! Elite 1st Xl Friday night comp at ASB on Wednesday/Friday nights and all other schools football played on Wednesday afternoons like it is supposed to be. This alone would lift the standard of the MPL by 5 - 10% on its own.

Mainlands focus on putting their own School of Football out on ASB at every opportunity is prostituting our game and effectively holding it back as the best players are not in that system - knock the whole thing on the head now! How come Canterbury United can't even train on their at the appropriate time? The kids need to earn their stripes on grass first then step up. I bet most Brazilians have never even seen a synthetic surface until they turn pro. Get the kids out of there - it's holding back the game!

Cheaper subs for 18 - 30 year olds subsidised by increased subs for masters age players to encourage younger people to stay in the game at that 2nd tier - Div 1 - Div 3.

Bed time.

nah! I want to se the kids training on ASB. Much better this than the venue hired out to make $ from other codes. I reckon Mainland have done well with this, our park for our footballers.

 

Philospically I like the concept of the best juniors having the best access to the best facilites. Honestly it's a big deal for the kids to run on ASB, it's a reward in and of itself.

 

Dragons issue is partially becasue of season extension + making finals. Plus FTC sessions were changed/adjusted to help them. Maybe it could have been planned better but it wasn't 100% in Mainland's hands either in a strictly plannning/operations sense.

 

Schools out! Agree for sure.

2nd comp re: English Cup, again yes. Needed for next season IMO. Real danger we are going to end up with 4 'serious' clubs in Chch.... as the junior teams narrow this has to extend into seniors, do we want 4 clubs each having 2 sides in Div 1 Juniors for every age grade? Furthermore we be more dependant on Selwyn and Waimak to give us harder games

Junior Rep Teams up on website this arvo

27% of Canty junior rep teams are from Cashmere (78 of 293 players)

And how many coaches? Seem to remember a fair few from the list I saw when they were originally announced?

Yah!!!!!!!!!!!

 

ASB is a fantastic facility - it'd be awesome to get another few artificials set up (plenty of farm land around tullet park or out halswell way) - $$$ will be the big issue.

 

4 back to back MPL fixtures was awesome and if marketed correctly has the potential to be a massive festival style day - maybe on the 1 saturday in julyish where the juniors dont play due to school holidays.

 

Academy use of ASB is a big issue but at the same time where else are there well lit pitches which arent already used?

 

Schools have to go - won't happen though. Friday night football has been suggested but will clubs really be happy with their top young talent playing at 8pm on a friday and then backing up for PDL/MPL the next day? I. Don't. Think. So. - Maybe a sunday night lights schools comp is the way to go - put them on ASB on a sunday and get them out of saturday competition.

 

Junior kick off times and grades need an overhaul - why have U/17s kicking off when PDL does? and have U18 finishing as PDL starts? its stupid! move PDL and MPL back 30 minutes. scrap 17s and make 15s U/16s.

Luis I do not think the Youth League rules allow for overage players.

 

11 of 39 in the Boys 12's are CTFC, none of the 3 coaches are from Cashmere. That's approx the same % SEnd gave.

Coastal well represented, players in all the age grades is great to see.

 

Don't know all of them but think Cashmere have 7 coaches of 21 teams; 3 each from Coastal and FC20, 2 Western, 2 Halswell, 1 each from Parklands, ChchUtd (Harry McCosh), Mainland (Tim Bush), unattached ??? (Grahame McMann)

Well done to anyone who puts their hand up.