The latest chapter of the A-League has been written. With a World Cup on the horizon, unmissable friendlies before it and the off-season rumour mill firing up, there is incredible anticipation ahead of an exciting few months in Australian football, and plenty of talking points.
Mariners lift the Toilet Seat
Only the most optimistic of Central Coast Mariners supporters would have predicted a first Championship in 10 years back in October. None could have envisioned the Grand Final turning out the way it did, a comprehensive 6-1 demolition of the reigning Premiers Melbourne City.
As nice as it was seeing the Mariners fans jumping for joy on Saturday night, I feel for the Melbourne City supporters who should have been watching their side play the Grand Final at AAMI Park. The Australian Professional League’s (APL) decision to take the Grand Final to Sydney will never sit right with me, and in my opinion takes a little shine off the success of the Central Coast and Nick Montgomery.
On the night, they were the superior team by a comfortable margin. Their rise from a third consecutive wooden spoon to champions in three years is incredible and should rightfully be celebrated. My only knock is that in any other season, they wouldn’t have played at CommBank Stadium in front of what was essentially a home crowd in their home state; it would have been in Melbourne, at a venue they haven’t won at since 2014.
Would it have made a difference? Most likely. Is there an excuse for City’s efforts on the weekend? Absolutely not. They have been the benchmark of the competition for a while now in the regular season. The expectations on them are high, and they’ve underdelivered massively when the finals pressure has been on them.
Perhaps my favourite part of the Mariners being the champions is they didn’t beat the Glory this season. One win away all season, and it was against the team crowned best in the land. Despite not playing in over a month, there’s always a talking point in Perth.
Zadkovich out, new owners in?
Nothing is ever simple or straightforward at the Glory. The first season of the rebuild under Ruben Zadkovich had been decent, with signs of promise and hopes of progression moving forward. That all came to a screeching halt when the bomb dropped on Friday of the 37-year-olds’ resignation as head coach.
It’s another curveball thrown into the mix for Tony Sage, now on the hunt for a manager to go along with his search for new ownership. Finding the right fit for both roles will be of utmost importance. The big question on my mind is who takes over the reins of this rebuild from the sidelines?
We’ve seen the Mariners change their fortunes around in a short space of time, and Tony Popovic do it in a season when he came to Perth in 2018. The year previously we narrowly missed out on finals, and then won the Premiers Plate and hosted the Grand Final.
The fan favourite as far as I can tell is Ufuk Talay, fresh off another final’s appearance with the Phoenix in his final year at Wellington. The talk has been he is most likely to take over from Popovic at the Victory if he and the club go their separate ways.
Personally I can’t see him coming to Perth. Unless new ownership comes in quickly, I think a promotion from inside the Glory ranks or giving an assistant coach at another club a crack is the path we’ll go down.
Whoever it may be, they will have decent tools at their disposal. Looking back at the season that was, the best players in the squad were new signings. Mark Beevers was a great addition to the defence and chipped in with a couple of goals, well deserving of the Most Glorious Player award and the Players’ Player of the Year.
Ryan Williams took home the Members’ Player of the Year, adding some flair to our attack and linking up well with Adam Taggart towards the end of the campaign. Taggart shared the Golden Boot with David Williams and took home Goal of the Year for his 96th minute strike against Adelaide in the penultimate match.
Giordano Colli was stiff to miss out after his ridiculous goal at Coopers’ Stadium, which won the A-Leagues Goal of the Year at the Dolan Warren Awards. Colli’s was the better goal technically, but Taggart’s strike in the moment of the game and the pandemonium it created made it much more memorable.
I’d also like to mention Ryan Williams’ chip over Jamie Young at Macedonia Park. The technique and execution to get the ball over the top of the keeper and find the side netting was perfect.
Unsurprisingly the Young Player of the Year went to Keegan Jelacic, who is now on the way to the Belgian Pro League having signed with K.A.A. Gent. The progress he’s made has been staggering, and I’m glad he’s been rewarded with a move to a good club and a competitive European league.
He joins Brad Jones and Liam Reddy as the only departures to date. Both have called time on their careers, the former having to do so after a long spell out with a knee injury. A career he can look back on with great pride, having represented Liverpool and winning the Eredivisie with Feyenoord.
Reddy too can look back on a stellar A-Leagues career, spanning 350 appearances and a record 90 clean sheets. His spell in Perth was his longest at any club and produced many memorable moments, none more so than four penalty saves in the 2019 semi-final against Adelaide.
As with any A-Leagues team, the departure list will get bigger and more names will come in to replace them in due time. The retirements of Jones and Reddy have already been covered with Oli Sail coming on board to give Cameron Cook some competition for the keeper spot. Once again the main focus should be on getting an attacking midfielder to create a plethora of opportunities for Taggart, who I believe has the potential to challenge for the Golden Boot if the right personnel are signed.
Overall, the Glory’s season wasn’t a disappointment in lieu of a ninth placed finish. The expectation was to see improvement and we did, going from last to being in with a shout of the top six until the final day. It was the start of a process which could herald great success. Improvement in performances outside of Perth will be the key, and getting the club organised off the field. There is still plenty more to play out in this space, and hopefully a lot to be excited about by the time July rolls around.
Unmissable football next month
The action in July kicks off with the first of two marquee fixtures at Optus Stadium. The Glory will take on Europa Conference League winners West Ham on the July 15, before setting off to Darwin for an Australia Cup playoff match against Macarthur three days later. On the same night, Perth will play host to a mammoth London Derby between the Hammers and Tottenham Hotspur, now led by Australia’s own Ange Postecoglou.
It will be Ange’s first game in charge of Spurs, returning to action following a disappointing Premier League campaign. The world will be watching on to see how Ange implements his famous attacking style on this Spurs outfit, whose fans have been crying out for more positive football having endured the pragmatic approaches of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
At this point in time, the first port of call for the new boss will be dealing with Harry Kane. His decision to stay or leave plays a major role in how Tottenham tackle the upcoming transfer market, who Ange can bring in and how many. The money coming in from such a sale would be of great help, but there’s no replacement for a world-class number nine who just bagged 30 goals in the league.
Following the action at Optus, one of the largest events in football kicks off just days later. The anticipation ahead of the Women’s World Cup continues to grow as we get closer to the opening matchday. More tickets have gone on sale recently, including the highly anticipated HBF Park clash between the Olympic gold medallists Canada and the Republic of Ireland.
While Perth won’t get to see the Matildas in a World Cup game, there will three games in October and November as part of the Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics. Sam Kerr will be returning home for clashes against Iran, Chinese Taipei and what looks to be a tough match against the Philippines, managed by former Matildas coach Alen Stajcic.
No matter where you look, there will be football fever sweeping Australia and WA in the near future. The Socceroos’ success in Qatar was able to register incredible momentum and interest in football; hosting this World Cup and a successful tournament for the Matildas has the potential to create landmark change moving forward. Ange managing a big Premier League club can do the same, and we’re just a month away from witnessing it unfold right before our very eyes.
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