Sydney Vs Phoenix - Match Thread 10pm Sat

Greeny is 32.

Ridiculous decision whichever way you look at it.  Doesn't matter if it wasn't deliberate, he scored with his hand and gained an unfair advantage.  Did it change the result?  Possibly, but probably not if we are honest.  But 13,000 is laughable.  Shame on you Sydney - is that the best you can do?  And while I wouldn't call Brosque a diver, he does go down far to easily in my view i.e. last week v Melbourne and at Palmy.  That's all I want to say on the matter and now I'm off to sulk for the rest of the day.

Liam Reddy is trying ot make friends already..

wtf Reddy. Reddy hope you have a good time at cheat FC next season.CboZ2010-03-14 14:52:36

Congrats to the Phoenix on a great season, and roll on next season.

Also, Durante's comments are pretty funny when you think of the closing events of the 2007/08 GF involving James Holland.
Certainly didn't hear him crying about fair play and honesty then.
Jaza2010-03-14 15:02:37

Who cares about 2007/08 and lets be honest he plays for a different team now and hes captain of our team so of course he will now speak out. How do we know he didn't like what happened in that final?

It works both ways though.
It seems he was happy to gain benefit from the handball when it was in his favour, and showed no need to speak up about sportsmanship at the time - he took what was given to him - right or wrong. Now that the handball has gone against him, he's more than happy to speak up about it and call foul.

It's a sh*t decision, but bleeting about it just spoils what was a generally good game to watch, played in good spirits at the end of what's been a great season for both sides. Maybe he's focusing on the handball to take away from being made a bitch by Brosque + Bridge twice in the second half?

Maybe he was made their bitch because we had to push everyone into attack after a BS goal anyways time to attempt to move on.

and some sydney forumites accused Melbourne of unsportsmanship for a quick free kick. i doubt they'll be making any complaints about their second from last night, not totally unexpected all things considered. melbournite2010-03-14 15:34:44

You did watch the final didn't you?

yes I did I remember that happening but I can't remember Andrew's celebrations.

I WANNA GO HOME

06:41
To the right of the pack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNYLWew_juA

Lets move on & prove to the aussies we're not whinny bitches.
I'd like to think my small crew are as safe to come to the Backbencher as we always have been every season we've come.
Just as the Fever boys & girls were last night.

I'm pretty sure everyone here including myself don't have an issue with the fans of Sydney FC, you guys seem to be a good bunch. So i'm sure your safe to come to the Backbencher whether Payne is welcome could be a different story

I was seated next to the tunnel 1/2 way up, on the halfway line. In front of me were a group Phoenix supporters.
I gave them something to smile about when I showed them the stats of the last over of the ODI.



Traitor2010-03-14 17:47:09

Has next season been sorted yet? when's it kicking off?

Proof (from Stuff.co.nz) that Mark Bridge likes the batty...

Are you going to stand up on Brosque's repeated diving? He should have been sitting on a card. He's won two penalties this season with dives and keeps trying for more

Don't defend your bunch of cheats. McFlynn did the same Maradona attempt against us before, and Brosque is just a niggly prick.

If a Phoenix player did this we would be condemning it.

Just looked at Sydney website, story about game says: A Francis Lia header found Durante in space and his close range header managed to find the back of the net. - Sydney FC website

FAIL!!! MUFC NZ2010-03-14 18:11:34

Brosque has won two pens with dives? Which ones? He does go down easily, that's a known fact (and can be frustraing as plenty of refs pick up on it now and give him f**k all), but I don't think he's won a pen this year that hasn;t been fair?
I take it you're referring to McKain in Palmerston (which was a pen, albeit in the HAL they're often not given because players get away with murder in this league), and Leijer just recently (which was a pen - elbow in to back = foul).

You can't condemn something that someone didn't mean. Payne is a gumby - I like the kid - but he's super uncoordinated at times. I've seen more of him that just about any SFC fan as I watch NYL just about every week. There's no intent to handball - he just completely misses with his head and has his arm out. It shouldn't be a goal, but as I've said before ... this is no different to the terrible refereeing that occurs every single week in this league. From the numerous bad tackles that aren't booked, to the sh*tty offside calls each week, to stuff like this. Anyone who has watched the HAL since inception knows the one thing that hasn't improved is the sh*t officiating. Over 3yrs your club has been screwed by it, and surely rewarded by it as well - it's just the way this league is.
 You can take your romantic notions about sportsmanship and not taking the goal, but the reality of the matter is in a game like that all 22 players on the pitch would have taken the goal in the same circumstances. You wouldn't like it (just like I don't like this one - it's taken the gloss off a great game), but you'd accept it because the blinkers would be off and you'd understand that it happens.

All this has really done has made Herbert and Durante look like sore losers. Stuff like asking for an apology is bollocks. You got dicked by the ref, but you also got outplayed, and Herbert got outcoached by a manager in charge of a team that has beat you 9-2 over 4 games this year ... Focus on what has been a great season and move on.

shh it's sydney so no-one mention the controversy ever again, they need  to be the super-club.

Exactly.. They dont have the luxury of the FFA faffing over them like some do.

So you are accepting that Brosque goes down easily, simulates minimal contact to get penalties. And you are happy to have a player on your team who cheats as a tactic. If as you claim you are going to get some roughies, so you have to cheat like all heck to balance things out in your favour- congratulations you're in the final.

But the sport you have won is not football, but the best at getting away with cheating contest.

Man hope this doesn't come back to bite in the next few years, but I don't think the YF would be happy with a player like Brosque (see our reaction to Seo and the proposal to have Kruse here), or with winning through tactics like this.

Credit to Payne on his first goal for his strength on the ball- it's something a bit strange to see at SFC.

damn I wish I had your class...needs a new thread who is worse GCU or SFC...

You've got to be joking if you think Brosque-McKain is a penalty. Brosque has a hand full of McKain's shirt then as Brosque starts to go around him continues to hold him and then barely got his leg clipped, because he was pulling McKain towards him and fell over. I was at the game, and I was sitting on that side and I saw it clearly, one of the jammiest penalties I've ever seen.

And when he was through on goal, and then kicked the ball 'around' Reddy but actually ten metres out of play then dived over Reddy's foot last night... come on he's a man looking for penalties
GenericFan2010-03-14 18:57:08

The refereeing throughout this match was shocking.

From the early minutes when Byun clearly handled just outside the box and wasn't penalised, that was followed by Bridges over the top challenge on McKain, which on any other ground anywhere in the world would have been a red card, then Brosques blatant dive....the list goes on.

as for that goal.....well according to Durante, Peter Green told him he saw it clearly but considered it accidental. Of course everybody goes up  for a cross with their arm stretched out in front of them....

What bothers me though is WHY? Why was the refereeing so poor and so unbalanced? I admit I love a good conspiracy theory! Sydney beating Wellington solves a potentially awkward situation for the FFA as regards Asian Champions League qualification doesn't it?

But thats a long shot for a conspiracy.....

If it was just one mistake I would put it down to well, being a mistake...but there were so many and they were so blatant and every decision went one way... you can't help but wonder....

All this talk of sore losers is irritating. Most neutral people are saying we were cheated, I think the passionate fans of this team should be allowed to vent, within reason of course. If we weren't upset we wouldn't be the diehard fans the Yellow Fever are known as.
There is such a thing as sore winners, and Sydney supporters trawling the forum looking to stirr up Yellow Fever supporters are a bit sad. You would do yourself credit to be humble in what is a very hollow victory.
And on a last note, Bosque falls down so easily you'd think he was wearing rollerskates. I wish refs had the balls to card him, but they don't have the eyes to spot handballs... alright enough!

Brosque goes down soft. It's frustrating is f**k. I'm a Perennial strugglers Liverpool supporter too - I grew up watching Perennial strugglers Liverpool youth games where Gerrard was playing. He used to be a tough nut, now he goes down easily as well these days - it's incredibly frustrating. One thing it does though is it actually starts harming us as a team - Brosque in particular has wasted several good scoring chances (and even real penalty claims) by going down too easily because the ref waves it away. He's been hacked in the box on a few occasions, clear cut pens, but haven't been called because he's exaggerated it as he's gone down. I often want to slap him for it. Several teams have players like that (isn't Daniel a bit soft? tbh I haven't seen him for ages so that might be a sh*t memory), it's the way football is atm.
I don't like it at all, but I grew up on sh*t fields in Perennial strugglers Liverpool suburbs where marking was standing on someone's shoelaces and clean tackles were two feet through the ball, man or not. Different world to today. It's frustrating, but at the same time Brosque's skill at this level means he does get fouled a lot (including all the pens I can think of this year - he's won about 5 of them?), and you can't take that away from him. You can say what you want - but if Brosque was up front for you you'd all be stoked because he is one of the league's best players.With a better goal return he'd be long gone from this league to better places. Comparing him to the world's most punchable face Robbie Kruse is a bad comparison and I'm sure you know that. Not every player can be perfect - especially at this level.

I don't consider it cheating with Payne because I don't see the intent. Stupid? Yes. Clumsy? Yes. f**king sh*t attempt at a header? Yes. McFlynn tried to cheat against you guys earlier this year (and was rightly booked), but this is different IMO. I know you won't see it that way, and you don't know anything of Payne aside from the handball, but opinions are like arseholes, etc.
Above all else, be angry at the sh*t officiating, but at least be smart enough to see that it's not a one off occurence - HAL officiating is sh*t for everyone.

We didn't win by cheating. We won by playing you off the pitch for much of the game. It wasn't a whitewash, but we should've had at least 5 goals and you were lucky to get 2 (Dadi reacted f**king well to that epic deflection for the 2nd - few players in the league would've buried that chance).

Congrats on a good season, especially after a shaky start. If Ricki nails the few signings he needs to make, and you pick up where you left off in terms of consistency, you'll be up there with us gunning for 1st IMO (whilst we laugh at Ange ruining Brisbane and Arnold making CCM even more mediocre).

Handball? Where? Did I miss something?

Brosque is seriously over rated by Sydney fans and Fox Sports commentators (same thing?!) . I think if you ask around other A league clubs you'll find that no one has much of an opinion of him at all. Yeah he's okay...he does some nice things but he is only average.Personally I can't see that he would get in wellingtons team. Compare Brosque to Thompson Smeltz Van Dijk Ifil or Kruse and he is insignificant.

He had an okay game last night but he was exploiting gaps left by a team trying to chase a game they shouldnt have had to chase.

As for playing Phoenix off the park...well yes but but but but...

As i saw it when SFC took the lead it was well deserved - it could have been 5 by then.....but after that Phoenix got into the game and were doing fine....until the handball goal. From then on Phoenix were chasing the game and this plays into Sydneys hands - they are best at sitting deep and exploiting the gaps left by the opposition.

as a result yes they dominated.
the old saying - goals change games was never truer.

Nothing that the three blind mice officiating last night didn't also miss....

Cheers Jaza,

Daniel is a much tougher player these days. He sorted out his act in our first season. Tim Brown has been the closest to shame recently, but that's not how he plays in general.

look forward to Sydney being our bunnies again like they were when we first got on the scene, though wouldn't want to have to give up our hold over GCU for that!

Jaza - Sydney outclassed us on on the day but if you don't think that wasn't a deliberate handball you are just kidding yourself. He brings his arm up and around to ensure he makes contact. His arm actually ends up in front of him!



It got you back in front and, fair enough, from there you took advantage of our enforced change in tactics and shut us out. But not a deliberate handball? Give me a break.

i think it was almost certainly accidental. he's genuinely trying to head the ball. the arm was just there.