Marquee
4.5K
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6.6K
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over 11 years
Although he's got a point it is still bit naive after 15 years of A League to complain that the finals are all about "keeping the dollars rolling in". Of course they are, that's literally their primary function. In a highly competitive world of round the clock TV sport if the A League wants to survive it very definitely needs to keep the dollars rolling in.

Having a top 6 means more clubs have more to play for right through the season, meaning more fan interest, more TV views, more bums on seats, all equalling more dollars. in the last few seasons the Nix's fight for the finals has translated to huge interest and big home crowds. The same goes for all finals contending teams down the years. 

I for one am perfectly happy to see the likes of the Nix or an excellent Mariners side sneak into the finals. Where's the harm? The stats show that they are highly unlikely to win it anyway.





and 1 other
Starting XI
2.9K
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2.5K
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over 5 years
In reality It's not all about coming first.  
Most of the best stories in sport are about overcoming adversary to achieve beyond expectation.
Whether that's sneaking into 4th bottom to avoid relegation. Or coming from two goals down in injury time to book a place in the big cup final.
Having something to play for is important for the fans and there emotional investment in there team.
Marquee
6.9K
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9.3K
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over 13 years
Someone should tell him it used to be worse, we had 10 teams and a top 6.
Marquee
3.7K
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5.8K
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almost 17 years
Shows he is a bit of Dick and needs to be reminded its an Australian competition and that system is how most of there sports operate. Wouldnt it be great if the Nix did the job so it could be shoved down his throat. Never ceases to amaze even after 15 years some are still anti Phoenix. 
Marquee
3.7K
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5.4K
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over 11 years
I don't see it as anti Nix the article, more anti the play off system which as stated is more about generating income than anything... i done for excitement, they could keep it to the top 4.
Marquee
1.5K
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5.2K
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over 16 years
Would this be the first time that the team with the worst defensive record in the league has made the play offs? 
Legend
6.8K
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14K
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over 16 years
Just shows how well we defended in the other games that we’ve won, so many by a single goal margin.

Goal difference doesn’t mean defensive record tbf. 
Phoenix Academy
550
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360
·
over 3 years
Yes, in terms of goal difference and goals conceded, the nix are the “worst” team to make finals 
Gooner 4 Life
Would this be the first time that the team with the worst defensive record in the league has made the play offs? 
RR
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Bossi Insider
9.2K
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33K
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over 15 years
martinb
Just shows how well we defended in the other games that we’ve won so many by a single goal margin.

Goal difference doesn’t mean defensive record tbf. 

We have only conceded 11 goals in the 15 matches we scored first. We can defend a lead but get ripped apart if we have to chase (36 goals conceded in 10 matches)
Legend
6.8K
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14K
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over 16 years
RR
martinb
Just shows how well we defended in the other games that we’ve won so many by a single goal margin.

Goal difference doesn’t mean defensive record tbf. 

We have only conceded 11 goals in the 15 matches we scored first. We can defend a lead but get ripped apart if we have to chase (36 goals conceded in 10 matches)

Any theories on that? We can’t beat a low block? Or 10 or 11 behind the ball? 
tradition and history
1.5K
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9.9K
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almost 17 years
At the moment we have conceded less than Perth did in 16/17
RR
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Bossi Insider
9.2K
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33K
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over 15 years
martinb
RR
martinb
Just shows how well we defended in the other games that we’ve won so many by a single goal margin.

Goal difference doesn’t mean defensive record tbf. 

We have only conceded 11 goals in the 15 matches we scored first. We can defend a lead but get ripped apart if we have to chase (36 goals conceded in 10 matches)

Any theories on that? We can’t beat a low block? Or 10 or 11 behind the ball? 

Pretty much the whole league struggles to rescue points after going behind

first.png 19.4 KB

The A-League is played in transition, teams want to defend and counter and we just seem to get caught short on numbers when we are trying to get back in the game more than most. I'm sure someone who has some actual tactical knowledge can better explain it.
LG
Legend
5.5K
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23K
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over 16 years
If they changed it to solely the top four finishers, then they could play a home and away semi final and winners into the grandfinal. Thus giving each team one "home game" advantage and fans a chance to really get behind their team. TBH this "let's scrape in at 6th place" BS really does my head in. Your are either good enough or not.
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
part of the rationale for a top six playoff was to keep the latter games meaningful and therefore keep attendance "high" they didnt want the bottom teams basically playing games at the end of the season with no chance of getting into finals. That's why the bottom two teams enter the FFA cup one round earlier.
Marquee
1.5K
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5.2K
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over 16 years
LG
If they changed it to solely the top four finishers, then they could play a home and away semi final and winners into the grandfinal. Thus giving each team one "home game" advantage and fans a chance to really get behind their team. TBH this "let's scrape in at 6th place" BS really does my head in. Your are either good enough or not.

I'd go as far as making it a top 5. 1st place goes straight into the final as a more meaningful reward for finishing the season top of the league. Teams 2-5 then play a semi final series and the two winners play eachother to face the 1st placed team in the final.
Starting XI
3.8K
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3.5K
·
almost 10 years
LG
If they changed it to solely the top four finishers, then they could play a home and away semi final and winners into the grandfinal. Thus giving each team one "home game" advantage and fans a chance to really get behind their team. TBH this "let's scrape in at 6th place" BS really does my head in. Your are either good enough or not.

I don't really get the "TBH this "let's scrape in at 6th place" BS really does my head in. Your are either good enough or not." part of your comment.

If you scrape into the 6 then you are good enough because it's a top 6 format.

Same if they had a top 4 like you suggest.  There will be teams scraping in at 4th.  Same shiz, different number of teams.

If you want the people that are just "good enough" then you would scrap the finals and just look at the table at the end of the season.  Who finishes first was good enough.  Which to be fair you can do, you just don't watch the finals.

That doesn't fix the scrape in issue though because if City loses tonight then you could argue that Victory scraped into first given City was at the top for ages.

Also given the nix have been in the top 6 for a significant portion of the season, I wouldn't argue they scraped in.  
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
Just need to look at the EPL for this, Arsenal and Spurs scrapped for years to scrape into the top 4
Marquee
6.9K
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9.3K
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over 13 years
Think limping in is a better analogy for the Nix than scraping in.
First Team Squad
3.4K
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1.3K
·
over 6 years
Ryan
Think limping in is a better analogy for the Nix than scraping in.
I think limping in is pretty impressive considering we’ve had both our legs cut off and our crutches thrown away these last three seasons
and 2 others
Legend
6.8K
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14K
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over 16 years
Ryan
Think limping in is a better analogy for the Nix than scraping in.

Limping in like m-f- Odysseus, is more impressive than like blind Pew… 
Legend
11K
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21K
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almost 9 years
Legend
8K
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14K
·
over 16 years
Add Waine (6) to that list as well now.
WeeNix
1.6K
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980
·
about 3 years
theprof
Add Waine (6) to that list as well now.
 
Including the FFA Cup both Waine and Sotirio have 8
Appiah without the pace
6.4K
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19K
·
over 16 years
Speaking of strikers.
 Sandoval, Hooper, Ball and Piscopo  have only played together 3 times this season for a grand total of 85 minutes. 3 goals were scored in that time (2 vs Western United, 1 vs WSW). 
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
2ndBest
Speaking of strikers.
 Sandoval, Hooper, Ball and Piscopo  have only played together 3 times this season for a grand total of 85 minutes. 3 goals were scored in that time (2 vs Western United, 1 vs WSW). 

what could have been!
Good that our next opponent is WU and those 4 are all fit and ready to go!
Phoenix Academy
630
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470
·
about 9 years
theprof
Add Waine (6) to that list as well now.
So our top 3 scorers have tally's of 6,6,6....

Did we do a deal with the Devil?
First Team Squad
3.4K
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1.3K
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over 6 years
billyspleen75
theprof
Add Waine (6) to that list as well now.
So our top 3 scorers have tally's of 6,6,6....

Did we do a deal with the Devil?
I'd rather we did a deal with the Devlin
and 3 others
First Team Squad
2.9K
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1.9K
·
over 6 years
Really has been an odd season. Worst team defensively in the league, with one of the worst goal scoring records - yet comfortably in the finals. Anyway, here's the breakdown of our squad's direct goal involvements this season, make of it what you will:

  • Sandoval - 11 (6 goals, 5 assists)
  • Sotirio - 9 (6 goals, 3 assists)
  • Ball - 8 (2 goals, 6 assists)
  • Waine - 6 goals
  • Hooper - 6 (4 goals, 2 assists)
  • Piscopo - 5 (4 goals, 1 assist)
  • Sutton - 3 (1 goal, 2 assists)
  • Wootton - 2 goals
  • Old - 2 (1 goal, 1 assist)
  • Pennington - 1 goal
  • Rufer - 1 assist
  • McGarry - 1 assist
  • Lewis - 1 assist

Legend
6.8K
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14K
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over 16 years
Again lazy analysis to say worst defensively- a loss by an inch or a mile has been one thing, but in our wins I think it was MetalLeg said we conceded 11 in 15 games. That’s not poor defense at all.

The point of defense is to win games, which we’ve done. Having shipped a lot in our poor games doesn’t make us the worst in the league, though it sure doesn’t helped. 
One in a million
4K
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9.5K
·
almost 17 years
Jazzy Jeff
Really has been an odd season. Worst team defensively in the league, with one of the worst goal scoring records - yet comfortably in the finals. Anyway, here's the breakdown of our squad's direct goal involvements this season, make of it what you will:

  • Sandoval - 11 (6 goals, 5 assists)
  • Sotirio - 9 (6 goals, 3 assists)
  • Ball - 8 (2 goals, 6 assists)
  • Waine - 6 goals
  • Hooper - 6 (4 goals, 2 assists)
  • Piscopo - 5 (4 goals, 1 assist)
  • Sutton - 3 (1 goal, 2 assists)
  • Wootton - 2 goals
  • Old - 2 (1 goal, 1 assist)
  • Pennington - 1 goal
  • Rufer - 1 assist
  • McGarry - 1 assist
  • Lewis - 1 assist


Nice. I guess if you divided these by games played Hooper would move up the rankings quite a bit.
Starting XI
2.9K
·
2.5K
·
over 5 years
One more win though and it will be our most successful season in a long time.
Marquee
3.7K
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5.4K
·
over 11 years
I have hated and loved this season in equal measure... when does the next one start?

Off season must be a lot shorter this year, hasn't the season been extended significantly because of Covid?
Starting XI
2K
·
4.7K
·
almost 17 years
martinb
coochiee

E2106E8B-6B7D-4F95-979C-5A62B0982D68.jpeg 40.32 KB

All he’s reporting in this column is he’s a bit of a dickhead. Leaning heavily into cultural cringe. Not doing this for other codes cos they aren’t making the finals series? His argument isn’t that there shouldn’t be a finals series, just that it should be changed so the Nix don’t qualify.
I kind of agree. 6th is nothing to write home about in a small competition like ours.  In any other league that pretty much equals mid table obscurity or if your lucky, usually in competitions wtih 20+ plus teams, a stab at a promotion playoff (my other team PAFC, got knocked out of the playoffs in the final game on the final day of the season in Legaue One, which was arguable even tighter then the A League).  

Personally, I think the team that has won the League has proven that they are the best team in the competition and should not have the toilet seat stolen from them in a grand final.
Starting XI
2K
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4.7K
·
almost 17 years
coochiee

How many starts have each of them had: Williams & Krishna (in 2019) and Sandoval, Wayne, Hooper & Sotirio in 2021?  

I'm pretty sure that that the former played and started nearly every game whereas none of our scorers have started and played a whole season due to joining late, call ups, injuries, being played out of position (Wayne and Sotirio) or a drop in form/change in tactics (Wayne).  

Also, the boys have spread the goal scoring around more then we did when Krishna carved up in 2018/19 (was it 19 or actually 15 he scored?).  Krishna and Williams were the only players that season to score more then 3 goals in all compeitions (Fenton with 3, was third!).  

This season Sotirio, Wayne, Hooper and Sandoval have all score more then 5 across all competitions backed up by Piscopo and others.
First Team Squad
3.4K
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1.3K
·
over 6 years
Marto
coochiee

How many starts have each of them had: Williams & Krishna (in 2019) and Sandoval, Wayne, Hooper & Sotirio in 2021?  

I'm pretty sure that that the former played and started nearly every game whereas none of our scorers have started and played a whole season due to joining late, call ups, injuries, being played out of position (Wayne and Sotirio) or a drop in form/change in tactics (Wayne).  

Also, the boys have spread the goal scoring around more then we did when Krishna carved up in 2018/19 (was it 19 or actually 15 he scored?).  Krishna and Williams were the only players that season to score more then 3 goals in all compeitions (Fenton with 3, was third!).  

This season Sotirio, Wayne, Hooper and Sandoval have all score more then 5 across all competitions backed up by Piscopo and others.
Roy Krishna 2018/19 Regular Season:
- 26 Games
- 25 Starts
- 18 Goals
- 5 Assists
- 2205 Minutes
- 0.94 G+A per 90

David Williams 2018/19 Regular Season:
- 26 Games
- 21 Starts
- 11 Goals
- 1 Assist
- 1806 Minutes
- 0.59 G+A per 90

Gael Sandoval 2021/22 Regular Season:
- 19 Games
- 19 Starts
- 6 Goals
- 5 Assists
- 1588 Minutes
- 0.62 G+A per 90

Jaush Sotirio 2021/22 Regular Season:
- 19 Games
- 15 Starts
- 6 Goals
- 3 Assists
- 1277 Minutes
- 0.63 G+A per 90

Ben Waine 2021/22 Regular Season:
- 24 Games
- 13 Starts
- 6 Goals
- 0 Assists
- 1302 Minutes
- 0.41 G+A per 90

Gary Hooper 2012/22 Regular Season:
- 13 Games
- 7 Starts
- 4 Goals
- 2 Assists
- 650 Minutes
- 0.83 G+A per 90

I don't have the non-penalty goal stats though.

Bonus Gary Hooper 2019/20 Regular Season:
- 21 Games
- 13 Starts
- 8 Goals
- 5 Assists
- 1106 Minutes
- 1.05 G+A per 90
First Team Squad
2.1K
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1.4K
·
about 3 years
Do we have a confirmed time and venue for the semifinal first leg if we beat WU? All I know is it's next Wednesday.
Getting paid to be here
700
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970
·
over 6 years
lthomas20
Do we have a confirmed time and venue for the semifinal first leg if we beat WU? All I know is it's next Wednesday.
Not sure about confirmed, but it will be Sky Stadium, 7.05pm or maybe slightly earlier (ie 6.30pm)
RR
·
Bossi Insider
9.2K
·
33K
·
over 15 years
First Team Squad
1.3K
·
1.1K
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over 5 years
RR


Based on that, bit of a stretch to call Adelaide's squad one of the youngest. Kudos to CCM (and ourselves obvs).

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