Melbourne Victory have already...phwoar that was fast...unveiled their new manager - Tim Magilton, who I keep trying to call Magellian. This happened less than a day after the sacking of Durakovic, which surprised a lot of people. I'm watching him on TV now, seems like a nice guy.
Anyway, just a quick background. Born in Belfast, he has earned 52 caps, scoring 5 goals in his role as a midfielder. He has played for clubs in England like Liverpool, where he was at the youth academy, Southampton, Ipswich, Oxford and Sheffield Wednesday. He was known as a skillful player with great passing ability.
Upon retiring at the end of the 2009 season while at Ipswich, he became the manager, and oversaw a reasonably successful period at the club before becoming the QPR boss. This was a disaster from the start, but hey, no manager had a decent run at QPR until Neil Warnock came along. Anyway after that, he spent some time setting up a children's charity in Northern Ireland (aww!). He has now taken this job and...yeah, that's that really.
Let's see how this goes - Muscat gets one game in charge.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Friday, 6 January 2012
Manny informing on The Bundesliga
Hello there everyone that is even remotely interested in the Bundesliga I am here to inform to you about it. Well I am Manny all the way from Colombia but yeah I have always been interested in Football specially European Football which is where the game excels I will follow the league the best way I can. Hope you Enjoy and learn more from one of the most interesting leagues in all of Europe. Below I will put the table of how the league ended on 2011. You will see that the first 4 teams are separated by 4 points so the League is quite tight at the moment.
All about me !
My names Joe Cleverly, I'll be covering the npower championship. For all people who never heard of that league it's the league blow the premier league! As a Swansea City fan (yes, that's right i'm welsh) Although people might think why am i doing this league, there's so much more than you think, it's such a tight and difficult league! anyone can beat anyone from Barnsley beating West Ham to Cardiff City getting relegated! (Sorry Cardiff City fans). I'll try my best to keep you updated week in week out including transfer stories. Stay Tuned!
New Writing Staff
Alright, I'm gonna make this post nice and short. Basically the writing staff has had a bit of a shuffle.
English Premier League - Joe Hadden
La Liga - Nobody yet
Serie A - Harry Simpson
Ligue 1 - Peter Hutchinson
A-League - Peter Duke
SPL - David Finn
Bundesliga - Manuel Gomez
Tippeligean - Bendik Bjornstad
Eredivisie - Josh Hilton
If you have that creative itch that compels you to write football, and you can write at least one article a week for competition that we haven't already got covered, comment here, tweet us at @firstflightfoot or email godghostz@hotmail.co.uk
English Premier League - Joe Hadden
La Liga - Nobody yet
Serie A - Harry Simpson
Ligue 1 - Peter Hutchinson
A-League - Peter Duke
SPL - David Finn
Bundesliga - Manuel Gomez
Tippeligean - Bendik Bjornstad
Eredivisie - Josh Hilton
If you have that creative itch that compels you to write football, and you can write at least one article a week for competition that we haven't already got covered, comment here, tweet us at @firstflightfoot or email godghostz@hotmail.co.uk
Melbourne Victory sack Durakovic
I know! A Non-preview/review post! Well this isn't really a suprise. Victory have won only three games out of fourteen, and the loss on wednesday appears to have been the final straw. Word is that Kevin Muscat has been promoted from assistant to caretaker manager until a new coach is found.
In all fairness, it's not like nobody saw this coming. He had some big boots - Ernie Merrick's - and Durakovic was never likely to match Merrick's feat of securing two A-League titles. Having only been appointed six months ago, he pulled off one of the coups of the decade in bringing Harry Kewell to AAMI Park, but while the forward has only recently begun to find his feet, the rest of the strikeforce has been dire at best, and Durakovic's tendency to stick to the same formation - a 4-4-2 diamond - which just hasn't been working, has seen them slump to 8th in the league and with some tough fixtures coming up against Newcastle, Adelaide and Perth, the board are obviously keen to avoid the wooden spoon and try to salvage something.
Many in the media and in the club itself are not suprised to see English-born (hell yeah) prodigal son and local hero Muscat, who played 122 league matches for Victory, promoted from within. Many are hoping this will turn into a permenant appointment, but that remains to be seen.
Muscat earned 51 caps and scored 10 goals for the Socceroos through a career that took him to the Sunshine Coast, Heidelberg, and Melbourne, as well as stints with Wolves, Crystal Palace and Millwall in England and Rangers in Scotland. He joined Victory in 2005 and helped them to win the inaugural A-League season and has somewhat of a fiery reputation, being repeatedly fined, sent off and suspended throughout his career.
Whether he has what it takes to pull Victory out of their crisis remains to be seen, but all eyes will be firmly on the Victory when they play Newcastle on saturday.
If you have any feelings about the sacking, don't hesitate to leave a comment!
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
A-League Review: Round 14
Ahh the mid-point of the season. We're starting to get a picture of the winners and losers of this season, where teams are going wrong, and what they can do to improve. We also have a lot of matches in a small space of time. W00t.
Dukey's One 2 Watch - Wellington Pheonix 4-2 Sydney FC
You may have wondered why I chose this match, there are many other matches going on - higher profile matches too, but this match I felt would always be the stand out in terms of...watchability. Both sides really go all out and don't pull any punches. And what a game it was. Wellington regained their form and scored four excellent goals but it was Sydney who struck first - Socceroo Brett Emerton scoring a penalty after a handball in the area. Daniel Cortes replied with a penalty of his own a few minutes later, and the tension rose. Both teams really wanted the points here to give their Finals chances a boost. Sanchez then put Pheonix ahead 4 minutes before half time.
Bruno Cazarine grabbed a goal on the hour to set up a tense final 30 minutes, but the true magic came in the final 15 minutes. Sigmund scored a flying header to sink Sydney and set Pheonix back up for another victory. Paul Ifill added insult to injury by netting in injury time to send Ricki Herbet's men to 4th in the table.
As for Sydney, it's another defeat in a string of disappointed performances and is the second time in as many matches that they have conceded 4 goals. Serious questions must be asked if they are going to continue to push for a place in the finals series. However, this may not be helped next week by a trip to high flying Central Coast, while Wellington face second-from-bottom Perth Glory. Interesting times ahead. I love this league.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Adelaide United
Well, well, well. What a difference a change of coach can make, eh? Just a few weeks after being reinstated, John Kosmina has completely rejuvenated Adelaide, and this drastic transformation has culminated in the abrupt end of Melbourne Heart's five match winning streak. Indonesian Sergio van Dijk scored a brace, the first from a penalty in the 38th minute, and Dario Vidosic scored aswell to deflate Heart's ego and bring them crashing back down to Earth.
While Eli Babalj did pull one back for Heart, it proved to be nothing more than a consolation effort and this loss means that they have lost ground on league leaders Central Coast. While Adelaide, bottom club a couple of weeks ago, have moved into 7th place, level on points with 6th placed Newcastle. They face Brisbane next week, and as much as I'd love to give a prediction, Brisbane's topsy-turvy form makes it nearly impossible. Heart will have the chance to recapture their form against bottom placed Gold Coast United.
Newcastle Jets 3-2 Gold Coast United
I'll admit, part of me hoped Gold Coast would be able to start pulling back up the table and beat Newcastle, but I was left heartbroken. Newcastle took the lead through Brockie just before the break following lots of Gold Coast pressure, but control of the match slowly shifted to Newcastle, and Brockie's second on 64 minutes seemed to have wrapped the match up.
But Gold Coast have come too far recently to give up that easy, and goals from Halloran and Traore set up a tense finale, but in the 79th minute, heartbreak for milli...thousands of Gold Coast fans, as substitute Haliti scored to break Gold Coast's run and give the Jets there first win in weeks. Jets and Gold Coast face Melbourne Victory and Heart respectively.
Perth Glory 3-3 Brisbane Roar
Brisbane continued their...unbeaten streak...with a spirited performance against Perth. When Dodd and Sterjovski put Glory 2-0 up inside 24 minutes, Brisbane fans could have been forgiven for shedding a tear or two, but they gave the fightback of their careers to go 3-2 up with Nichols bagging two goals and Paartalu adding to the tally to be ahead on 69 minutes. However, it was not to be as the brilliant Sterjovski netted after 80 minutes to level and send Roar fans home wondering what could have been.
Brisbane definitely played better than they have in recent weeks, up front anyway, but in defence, they are still lacking. Yes, they still have some injury worries, but taking nothing away from Perth, they ARE 9th...Roar shouldn't be conceding 3. But for Glory, it was a fitting scoreline for a team who appear to be on the up. Next week, they'll be playing Wellington, while Brisbane face Adelaide.
Central Coast Mariners 2-0 Melbourne Victory
After a momentary blip, it seems like Central Coast are back on form, and they're now 6 points clear of Brisbane and Melbourne Heart. Matt Simon may be on the way out of Central Coast, but he went out with a bang as he got both goals in an exciting match in which Victory failed to stop Simon - who is soon moving to K-League side Chunnam Dragons - scored inside 20 seconds, and when he scored in the 84th minute to seal the victory, it was the perfect parting gift to a Mariners side in which he has served with such distinction for the past 6 years.
But it wasn't all about Simon, it was about getting CCM's A-League campaign back on track after a disappointing draw with Gold Coast United on New Year's Eve, and that's exactly what happened at the Bluetongue stadium, Victory never really got into the game, and the early blow seemed to shatter their confidence, and they spent most of the rest of the match on the back foot. Their next fixture is a home tie with Newcastle Jets, while Central Coast face an away tie down the road at Sydney FC.
Dukey's One 2 Watch - Wellington Pheonix 4-2 Sydney FC
You may have wondered why I chose this match, there are many other matches going on - higher profile matches too, but this match I felt would always be the stand out in terms of...watchability. Both sides really go all out and don't pull any punches. And what a game it was. Wellington regained their form and scored four excellent goals but it was Sydney who struck first - Socceroo Brett Emerton scoring a penalty after a handball in the area. Daniel Cortes replied with a penalty of his own a few minutes later, and the tension rose. Both teams really wanted the points here to give their Finals chances a boost. Sanchez then put Pheonix ahead 4 minutes before half time.
Bruno Cazarine grabbed a goal on the hour to set up a tense final 30 minutes, but the true magic came in the final 15 minutes. Sigmund scored a flying header to sink Sydney and set Pheonix back up for another victory. Paul Ifill added insult to injury by netting in injury time to send Ricki Herbet's men to 4th in the table.
As for Sydney, it's another defeat in a string of disappointed performances and is the second time in as many matches that they have conceded 4 goals. Serious questions must be asked if they are going to continue to push for a place in the finals series. However, this may not be helped next week by a trip to high flying Central Coast, while Wellington face second-from-bottom Perth Glory. Interesting times ahead. I love this league.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Adelaide United
Well, well, well. What a difference a change of coach can make, eh? Just a few weeks after being reinstated, John Kosmina has completely rejuvenated Adelaide, and this drastic transformation has culminated in the abrupt end of Melbourne Heart's five match winning streak. Indonesian Sergio van Dijk scored a brace, the first from a penalty in the 38th minute, and Dario Vidosic scored aswell to deflate Heart's ego and bring them crashing back down to Earth.
While Eli Babalj did pull one back for Heart, it proved to be nothing more than a consolation effort and this loss means that they have lost ground on league leaders Central Coast. While Adelaide, bottom club a couple of weeks ago, have moved into 7th place, level on points with 6th placed Newcastle. They face Brisbane next week, and as much as I'd love to give a prediction, Brisbane's topsy-turvy form makes it nearly impossible. Heart will have the chance to recapture their form against bottom placed Gold Coast United.
Newcastle Jets 3-2 Gold Coast United
I'll admit, part of me hoped Gold Coast would be able to start pulling back up the table and beat Newcastle, but I was left heartbroken. Newcastle took the lead through Brockie just before the break following lots of Gold Coast pressure, but control of the match slowly shifted to Newcastle, and Brockie's second on 64 minutes seemed to have wrapped the match up.
But Gold Coast have come too far recently to give up that easy, and goals from Halloran and Traore set up a tense finale, but in the 79th minute, heartbreak for milli...thousands of Gold Coast fans, as substitute Haliti scored to break Gold Coast's run and give the Jets there first win in weeks. Jets and Gold Coast face Melbourne Victory and Heart respectively.
Perth Glory 3-3 Brisbane Roar
Brisbane continued their...unbeaten streak...with a spirited performance against Perth. When Dodd and Sterjovski put Glory 2-0 up inside 24 minutes, Brisbane fans could have been forgiven for shedding a tear or two, but they gave the fightback of their careers to go 3-2 up with Nichols bagging two goals and Paartalu adding to the tally to be ahead on 69 minutes. However, it was not to be as the brilliant Sterjovski netted after 80 minutes to level and send Roar fans home wondering what could have been.
Brisbane definitely played better than they have in recent weeks, up front anyway, but in defence, they are still lacking. Yes, they still have some injury worries, but taking nothing away from Perth, they ARE 9th...Roar shouldn't be conceding 3. But for Glory, it was a fitting scoreline for a team who appear to be on the up. Next week, they'll be playing Wellington, while Brisbane face Adelaide.
Central Coast Mariners 2-0 Melbourne Victory
After a momentary blip, it seems like Central Coast are back on form, and they're now 6 points clear of Brisbane and Melbourne Heart. Matt Simon may be on the way out of Central Coast, but he went out with a bang as he got both goals in an exciting match in which Victory failed to stop Simon - who is soon moving to K-League side Chunnam Dragons - scored inside 20 seconds, and when he scored in the 84th minute to seal the victory, it was the perfect parting gift to a Mariners side in which he has served with such distinction for the past 6 years.
But it wasn't all about Simon, it was about getting CCM's A-League campaign back on track after a disappointing draw with Gold Coast United on New Year's Eve, and that's exactly what happened at the Bluetongue stadium, Victory never really got into the game, and the early blow seemed to shatter their confidence, and they spent most of the rest of the match on the back foot. Their next fixture is a home tie with Newcastle Jets, while Central Coast face an away tie down the road at Sydney FC.
Monday, 2 January 2012
A-League Review: Round 13
Well it's been a fascinating week of football in Australia, and the pre-New year matches sure threw up a few suprises, and some very good quality matches. Also, I'm going to post these two sets of match reports as separate posts so we don't all get confused.
Dukey's One 2 Watch: Brisbane Roar 3-1 Melbourne Victory
We wondered when this would happen, and it's about time aswell. This was a match between two clubs who were desparate for a win. Brisbane took the 3 points which they SO badly needed thanks to goals from Nichols, Visconte and Franjic. Harry Kewell's first open-play goal (and what a goal it was) came in only the 2nd minute. Hang on.
YOUTUBE!
So yeah, that was cool. The former Liverpool striker's...strike, was answered by boos from around the 50,000 seater Suncorp stadium. But the positive start made by a determined Victory side disappeared after Nichols' fine header after 44 minutes. Victory kept absorbing pressure, but they cracked eventually, after Visconte latched onto a brilliant through ball from Berisha and used beautiful piece of skill to net the Olyroo's 2nd goal for Roar. Three minutes later, Roar bagged a third thanks to another Berisha assist, this time Franjic slotting home.
It was a fitting end to the year for a Brisbane side who, until recently, were the absolute epitome of brilliance in Aussie sport. For Melbourne it was a stark reminder of the challenges that await them in the coming year. Brisbane face a challenging match against Perth on Wednesday, whilst for Victory, it's a trip to Gosford to face Central Coast Mariners.
Sydney FC 0-4 Melbourne Heart
I don't know if anyone saw this coming. This is just such a suprise. Melbourne Heart are definitely title contenders based on this evidence. They absolutely thrashed Sydney, with the Blues unable to find any response to the onslaught of attacks Heart unleashed on them.
Heart have never lost to Sydney since they were incepted into the league, and that run looks set to continue. Babalj, Dugandzic, Hoffman and Terra all cored in a pulsating match which leaves Heart 2 points away from the top of the table. Sydney meanwhile maintain their mid table...ness, and although this season they have been fantastic in their comeback ability, but this time they had no answers.
The only negative point for Heart was the loss of their Skipper, Fred, to injury. But this didn't slow down the industrious Heart side. They will go into their next match against the struggling Adelaide United, while Sydney face a trip to Wellington Pheonix.
Adelaide United 2-0 Wellington Pheonix
Adelaide are no longer on the bottom of the Hyundai A-League table after a win against Wellington. Pheonix had been on the up and up, but for Adelaide coach Kosmina, Djite's excellent strike in the first 20 minutes was the perfect New Year's gift. Is that a thing? Should be. Anyway, they also scored in the 62nd minute through Golec.
The Wellington keeper, Warner, had an exceptionally busy man. He definitely earned his christmas bonus. Sergio van Dijk...erm...I'm not really sure how to explain this...I'll see if I can find a video...Well I think this video makes this whole post kind of...unnecessary, but it explains it and really shows Adelaide's dominance.
Once again, YOUTUBE!
He went for a toilet break and got a yellow card. Lol! But yeah, Wellington Pheonix's decent run came to an abrupt end. It seems like the bottom clubs have recently started to come good. That's why I love this league, it's so open. Adelaide have...Melbourne Heart, ouch. While Pheonix have Sydney. It's going to be a good week.
Newcastle Jets 1-1 Perth Glory
Newcastle finally seemed to have put the breaks on their appauling run of form. It was the opposite of their recent run, they actually came back towards the end of the match rather than just looking tired as they have recently. However, credit must got to Perth, who played almost an hour with only ten men after Billy Mehmet (Irish), scored early and then got subbed off, until Francis Jeffers (English, hell yeah), who many of you may remember from the Premier League, equalised in the 60th minute.
There was a lot of frantic defending from both sides, but some smart attacks, primarily from Newcastle, but their day could have been ruined had Mehmet scored the free header he had in the 15th minute, and had he not been sent off the game could have ended so differently. Newcastle will have to up their game, however, if they want to beat in-form Gold Coast on wednesday, while Perth host Brisbane, who as we already know are finally back in the saddle.
Central Coast Mariners 0-0 Gold Coast United
This game was a let down to be fair. Gold Coast have been coming back into it recently, but they will definitely be pleased with a point against the league leaders. Mariners' six-match winning streak was ended by one of the Gold Coast's best performances of the season. Zwaanswijk (what a name) is fantastic at getting the ball across the field out from defence, and Maceo Rigters stuck to him like glue. Gold Coast were obviously wary of the Mariners' immense scoring ability, and could definitely be accused of playing for the draw, with a tight defensive formation basically freezing out Bernie Ibini and Matt Simon.
Man-marking was widespread in this match, and it made it somewhat of a dull match to watch, but the single point will be appreciated by both sides. It keeps Mariners in the lead at the top of the table, though that lead has been cut by Heart's win, and Gold Coast riss in fortune continues, so in the end, it was a very good day for both sides.
Dukey's One 2 Watch: Brisbane Roar 3-1 Melbourne Victory
We wondered when this would happen, and it's about time aswell. This was a match between two clubs who were desparate for a win. Brisbane took the 3 points which they SO badly needed thanks to goals from Nichols, Visconte and Franjic. Harry Kewell's first open-play goal (and what a goal it was) came in only the 2nd minute. Hang on.
YOUTUBE!
So yeah, that was cool. The former Liverpool striker's...strike, was answered by boos from around the 50,000 seater Suncorp stadium. But the positive start made by a determined Victory side disappeared after Nichols' fine header after 44 minutes. Victory kept absorbing pressure, but they cracked eventually, after Visconte latched onto a brilliant through ball from Berisha and used beautiful piece of skill to net the Olyroo's 2nd goal for Roar. Three minutes later, Roar bagged a third thanks to another Berisha assist, this time Franjic slotting home.
It was a fitting end to the year for a Brisbane side who, until recently, were the absolute epitome of brilliance in Aussie sport. For Melbourne it was a stark reminder of the challenges that await them in the coming year. Brisbane face a challenging match against Perth on Wednesday, whilst for Victory, it's a trip to Gosford to face Central Coast Mariners.
Sydney FC 0-4 Melbourne Heart
I don't know if anyone saw this coming. This is just such a suprise. Melbourne Heart are definitely title contenders based on this evidence. They absolutely thrashed Sydney, with the Blues unable to find any response to the onslaught of attacks Heart unleashed on them.
Heart have never lost to Sydney since they were incepted into the league, and that run looks set to continue. Babalj, Dugandzic, Hoffman and Terra all cored in a pulsating match which leaves Heart 2 points away from the top of the table. Sydney meanwhile maintain their mid table...ness, and although this season they have been fantastic in their comeback ability, but this time they had no answers.
The only negative point for Heart was the loss of their Skipper, Fred, to injury. But this didn't slow down the industrious Heart side. They will go into their next match against the struggling Adelaide United, while Sydney face a trip to Wellington Pheonix.
Adelaide United 2-0 Wellington Pheonix
Adelaide are no longer on the bottom of the Hyundai A-League table after a win against Wellington. Pheonix had been on the up and up, but for Adelaide coach Kosmina, Djite's excellent strike in the first 20 minutes was the perfect New Year's gift. Is that a thing? Should be. Anyway, they also scored in the 62nd minute through Golec.
The Wellington keeper, Warner, had an exceptionally busy man. He definitely earned his christmas bonus. Sergio van Dijk...erm...I'm not really sure how to explain this...I'll see if I can find a video...Well I think this video makes this whole post kind of...unnecessary, but it explains it and really shows Adelaide's dominance.
Once again, YOUTUBE!
He went for a toilet break and got a yellow card. Lol! But yeah, Wellington Pheonix's decent run came to an abrupt end. It seems like the bottom clubs have recently started to come good. That's why I love this league, it's so open. Adelaide have...Melbourne Heart, ouch. While Pheonix have Sydney. It's going to be a good week.
Newcastle Jets 1-1 Perth Glory
Newcastle finally seemed to have put the breaks on their appauling run of form. It was the opposite of their recent run, they actually came back towards the end of the match rather than just looking tired as they have recently. However, credit must got to Perth, who played almost an hour with only ten men after Billy Mehmet (Irish), scored early and then got subbed off, until Francis Jeffers (English, hell yeah), who many of you may remember from the Premier League, equalised in the 60th minute.
There was a lot of frantic defending from both sides, but some smart attacks, primarily from Newcastle, but their day could have been ruined had Mehmet scored the free header he had in the 15th minute, and had he not been sent off the game could have ended so differently. Newcastle will have to up their game, however, if they want to beat in-form Gold Coast on wednesday, while Perth host Brisbane, who as we already know are finally back in the saddle.
Central Coast Mariners 0-0 Gold Coast United
This game was a let down to be fair. Gold Coast have been coming back into it recently, but they will definitely be pleased with a point against the league leaders. Mariners' six-match winning streak was ended by one of the Gold Coast's best performances of the season. Zwaanswijk (what a name) is fantastic at getting the ball across the field out from defence, and Maceo Rigters stuck to him like glue. Gold Coast were obviously wary of the Mariners' immense scoring ability, and could definitely be accused of playing for the draw, with a tight defensive formation basically freezing out Bernie Ibini and Matt Simon.
Man-marking was widespread in this match, and it made it somewhat of a dull match to watch, but the single point will be appreciated by both sides. It keeps Mariners in the lead at the top of the table, though that lead has been cut by Heart's win, and Gold Coast riss in fortune continues, so in the end, it was a very good day for both sides.
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