Another bumper week of goals, and yet another week of desolate stands. To surpass last week's incredible total of 19, the four matches produced four one-sided scorelines, and probably one could consider four one-sided games as well. The 21 goals equalled the record for a single round. Can the league keep this up?

Crowd Noise

Last week I briefly mentioned the distinct lack of spectators in the opening part of Season 4. In this week's main story I'd like to provide you with some commentary on this. I believe that while the decision appears to have been owing to ground availability in February, there is more to this than meets the eye.

The decision to commence the A-League amidst the final rounds of the winter codes is possibly a blessing in disguise. The fact that this is matched with the Olympics should not be considered relevant. The FFA has been keen to learn something rather important.

Next season the A-League will go to 27 games, hopefully, which means that if the grounds are not available at the end of A-League season, the competition will need to commence much earlier, and further impinging into the season's of the other codes.

The problems now include the direct competition for fans during this overlap, the double-usage of grounds and the weather. Each of these have affected crowd figures.

The A-League has been quite successful for the first three seasons. The spectatorship has grown throughout the country, except possibly for Perth and Sydney. It has, effectively, created a ground base for further expansion, not number of teams, but length of season. Last season's crowd averages were impressive, second only as a sport to Australian Rules.

Thus, in preparation for the increase in the number of teams for the next season, the FFA needed to investigate the reactions to the earlier commencement of the season. The answers are coming out now, what with the lesser crowd averages.

At present, the A-League is not a threat to the other codes, each of which are completing their winter seasons. Whether intentional or not, these codes will have to keep track of this new intrusion into their peak period of spectatorship. I am sure they are not sitting down and relaxing.

The other codes have always been wary of football and this delicate manoeuvre by the FFA will be one the clubs hope will be successful and one the other codes hope will not.

While spectatorship is a problem, ground sharing is even more so. The other codes do not need a surface that is flat, level but not flat. In fact, some codes prefer a solid amount of grass, which poses an interesting problem for the groundskeepers.

Over the opening rounds of the A-League nearly all of the grounds have been in poor condition, not suitable for flowing football. They are being churned up by the other codes, and in some cases leaving groundskeepers less than 36 hours to create a playable surface.

The early commencement to the season has meant that football is now competing more and more with the other codes for ground usage. Until the winter sports have completed, football must suffer, something the FFA will want to think about. With the increase to 27 rounds, this problem will only be exacerbated.

Unfortunately, the clubs are not rich enough to have their own grounds, or have a ground good enough for the A-League and owned by the state association. With only Hindmarsh Stadium football specific, the league will have to suffer for now.

The FFA has acceded to the television company to have the games at night, but until at least October, the conditions are generally cold, wet and more often than not, windy. This past weekend has been a clear example.

The FFA experiment of moving the start of the season forward has meant a number of evening games where the conditions are not condusive to spectatorship. This is an area that the FFA may want to possibly look at, and negotiate with television.

Season V will have ten teams and, hopefully, 27 rounds. This means either a need to finish later or start earlier. Either way, the problems outlined above are going to arise, and hopefully the FFA will create solutions to get around, or even solve, them.

North gone south:

I think everyone was asking after Friday night what was the story with Jade North? At least somewhat responsible for the first four goals, North was not having his best game. What can be done?

When I was watching this, I said to myself that North should have been subbed at the break, but really would this have been the best solution? Not taking into account his misdemeanours for goals three and, possibly, four, there was something wrong with North and I will stand by what I wanted.

Captain or not, there is a time when a coach really must say that a player is 'having a nightmare' and that there is no doubt that his mind was not on the game. Which is important, the player or the club?

Now I am not sayng this as a Newcastle supporter, but as an Australian. With his selection for the Socceroos, there is a significant need for the player to get his head together before Pim rethinks his decision.

One can only hope that Jade does work out what is wrong and gets himself back in the right frame of mind, come two weeks time.

United, FC make three:

So, I wonder how Victoria feels now with Queensland hogging the expansion teams. While we all knew the obvious, North Queensland FC and Gold Coast United will generate some interesting clashes for 2010 onwards. I am guessing that this means we will have two extra youth teams and womens teams come 2010 as well.

Mind you, there is a strange problem that has now been generated. How can the team from Brisbane call themselves Queensland Roar, when they no longer represent all of Queensland?

And to the future? The media believe that 12 or 14 will be a likly proposition in the not too distant future. There are many options, including a second from Melbourne, Western Sydney, Wollongong, Tasmania and Canberra.

Last Word:

Though I'd leave this for the analysis of the games. After two weeks of close encounters we have four one-sided games, and thus it was hard to work out which game was the best. Most likely choice would be the last, the Mariners at Queensland. At least Queensland put up a fight, but they were let down by their keeper. Perth and Wellington showed again their defensive frailties, Perth especially, while Newcastle had their captain on for too long.

It is hard to find a best player for the week, and while Bojic had another fine game and the scorers were superb, hats off to Dylan Macallister, who saw only 34 minutes, but netted twice in his debut and missed an open goal for a maiden hatrick.

Report in:

This open for those who may read this weekly opinion piece. Thanks to those who have emailed so far. If you are interested in making a comment or asking a question worthy of an answer, send the Monday Morning Manager an e-mail at: botn.mmm@gmail.com

01 September 2008