A-League A-League Men Round 8 - The Aloisi Derby and the Big Blue!

[gaskin]

This should be the trophy statue for the Aloisi derby

Ross looks like he doesn't want a bar of John.

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

Tipping Carl Fart to be the next A League gaffer to get the chop

Adelaide United are so boring and insipid to watch right now.

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

Hysterical Commentator hyperbole aside, that is one of the softest red cards you will ever see.

Brilliante absolutely stiff.

The game is in trouble if those type of challenges equate to a sending off.

Jeez Louise.

 

[Zidane98]

God it's a bummer when you look at this crowd and remember that this stadium was rebuilt because of the crowds the Wanderers were getting.

They're top of the table, they're playing great football. Where did everyone go?

They played out of showgrounds during the rebuild , covid hit and they were shit.

They'll be back up there soon enough. Having spent 10 days up in Sydney staying in Parra during the last school holidays I was surprised at how many WSW wanderers jerseys I seen down the street.

 

[MP73]

WSW fan here. Pretty much from the 2016/2017 season, the Wanderers have been mediocre at best. Interest has died. People prefer NRL (Eels, Panthers, Bulldogs etc.). Sure they made the finals two of those mediocre years but they were one and outs. I seen more NRL gear at Rebel, and the Eels actually benefited from the the new stadium (I am an Eels fan). I was in an another country during COVID, so can't comment on that, but form wise I can. You would see Wanderers jerseys here and there, but people would rather wear Eels, Bulldogs or Panthers gear. Also Wanderers have probably the worst owner in the A-League, all he does is after every season has finished the squad must blow up. They went from 2012-2013 merch were sold out, or hard to get, now only place to get new merch is the team store online.

 

[SM]

God it's a bummer when you look at this crowd and remember that this stadium was rebuilt because of the crowds the Wanderers were getting.

They're top of the table, they're playing great football. Where did everyone go?

It was my first game at the stadium, really enjoyed it. Great acoustics.

 

[Pacman82]

Just got back from dinner & watched the last 30mins, jeez that one had a bit going on late, super wrapped we got the result. Crowd numbers looked absolutley appalling, I'd have gone had I been in the state and can't understand why more wouldn't have got along for a look, feet up/no queing for drinks and all. On WSW, I think they're one of the more watchable sides in the league this season.

 

[giggler99]

They played out of showgrounds during the rebuild , covid hit and they were s**t.

They'll be back up there soon enough. Having spent 10 days up in Sydney staying in Parra during the last school holidays I was surprised at how many WSW wanderers jerseys I seen down the street.

WSW fan here. Pretty much from the 2016/2017 season, the Wanderers have been mediocre at best. Interest has died. People prefer NRL (Eels, Panthers, Bulldogs etc.). Sure they made the finals two of those mediocre years but they were one and outs. I seen more NRL gear at Rebel, and the Eels actually benefited from the the new stadium (I am an Eels fan). I was in an another country during COVID, so can't comment on that, but form wise I can. You would see Wanderers jerseys here and there, but people would rather wear Eels, Bulldogs or Panthers gear. Also Wanderers have probably the worst owner in the A-League, all he does is after every season has finished the squad must blow up. They went from 2012-2013 merch were sold out, or hard to get, now only place to get new merch is the team store online.

I also think the ratbag element of the RBB played a big part in the crowd demise sure they created a good atmosphere but when the RBB made it more about themselves than the team the casual fan that use to attend can see through that and don't want to be mixed in with that some ratbag crowd. Mix it with the poor form and change of venue etc.. lack of promotion from the league and you get what we have today. Victory have and been through the some thing over the years but the difference is the Victory have a hell of a lot more fans and members that actually put the club ahead of anything else.

 

[nobbyiscool]

I also think the ratbag element of the RBB played a big part in the crowd demise sure they created a good atmosphere but when the RBB made it more about themselves than the team the casual fan that use to attend can see through that and don't want to be mixed in with that some ratbag crowd. Mix it with the poor form and change of venue etc.. you get what we have today. Victory have and been through the some thing over the years but the difference is the Victory have a hell of a lot more fans and members that actually put the club ahead of anything else.

It's probably a fair comparison. Crowd wise, the Vuck and Wanderers are the top 2 teams in the league - I guess our crowds suffered during COVID, shitty results and worse administration too. Not to the same extent, but I suspect that's cultural, I think Melbourne sporting fans are a little more rusted on while Sydney fans are a more likely to join a bandwagon.

There's a possibility that with the Paramount+ deal making the league almost invisible, head office constantly chasing away the diehards it has for the theatre goers it wants, and rubbish decisions like the grand final last year kind of broke the league.

I guess to bring it back to the stadium, the point is that there is very, very little benefit to investing in the league at the moment, which is problematic with Wyndham being built and WU looking like they were playing a closed door game yesterday, and with 2 new teams set to come in. They desperately need these teams to add to the league and not be further drains on it. Which is a massive question mark when it comes to NZ.

 

[giggler99]

It's probably a fair comparison. Crowd wise, the Vuck and Wanderers are the top 2 teams in the league - I guess our crowds suffered during COVID, shitty results and worse administration too. Not to the same extent, but I suspect that's cultural, I think Melbourne sporting fans are a little more rusted on while Sydney fans are a more likely to join a bandwagon.

There's a possibility that with the Paramount+ deal making the league almost invisible, head office constantly chasing away the diehards it has for the theatre goers it wants, and rubbish decisions like the grand final last year kind of broke the league.

I guess to bring it back to the stadium, the point is that there is very, very little benefit to investing in the league at the moment, which is problematic with Wyndham being built and WU looking like they were playing a closed door game yesterday, and with 2 new teams set to come in. They desperately need these teams to add to the league and not be further drains on it. Which is a massive question mark when it comes to NZ.

We shouldn't just point the finger at WSW, you can easily say Victory use to get 30K plus and now only attract 10-15K. Crowds are down across the whole league it just isn't what it was 10 years ago and probably wont get to that point again unless we see big marque players again and even than its probably just a quick fix. I think we just need to accept where the league currently is instead of looking in the past and just work from here to improve it. New teams in the next couple of seasons might help. I have a good feeling that Auckland will work from what I've read, good things are happening behind the scenes to make it work this time round. Pressure needs to be put on Paramount to improve the platform otherwise piss them off and go somewhere else or back to FOX. Promotion well there is only so much you can promote very hard in a City like Melbourne bloody obsessed with AFL news 24/7. Not sure in Sydney it's probably the some with the NRL news cycle maybe not as bad but I still can't see how a lot of promotion would help other than wasting money, there is only so much free tickets you can hand out. I don't know the answer its a struggle for the APL. It'll be interesting once the second division starts with the old traditional NSL clubs and see if any A-League fans of those old clubs go back to supporting them or just keep supporting the A-League clubs with a keen interest in the second division.

 

[Pacman82]

Well done Western United winning the Aloisi derby never underestimate Jonny boy even when being sent off lol

Anyone know what that first yellow he copped was for? I'm assuming the red was for booting that advertising signage thing.

 

[Zidane98]

Promotion isn't free tickets. It's in your face advertising, all day every day. Get players on radio stations, engage media outlets.


A bit of hype and crowds will come flowing back.

AFL crowds dropped 20% in the first non covid year (2022) compared to the last non COVID season (2019) And that's the absolute top level of the sport with the best of everything.

They responded by cutting prices & going on a marketing blitz. Things the APL hasn't done at all. If the AFL needed to invest heavily in marketing, subsidised food, reduced ticket prices etc etc why can't the APL do the same?

I read Macarthur GA costs $35. Seriously ridiculous for a new club trying to establish itself.

 

[giggler99]

Anyone know what that first yellow he copped was for? I'm assuming the red was for booting that advertising signage thing.

I think it was for disputing a disallowed goal.

 

[Pacman82]

I think it was for disputing a disallowed goal.

Yeah must have been. Funny how he just kicked back in the stand afterwards. Wonder if there's a rule regarding how many rows he had to sit back from the action. I had a footy coach who got suspended for a season, he'd sometimes sneakily coach us from the boundary at qtr & 3qtr time.

 

[Andonis1997]

There's a possibility that with the Paramount+ deal making the league almost invisible, head office constantly chasing away the diehards it has for the theatre goers it wants, and rubbish decisions like the grand final last year kind of broke the league.

This is my thoughts on what's going on, more than anything else. APL shat the bed last season, killing any possible momentum we could have gotten from the World Cup.

 

[Zidane98]

This is my thoughts on what's going on, more than anything else. APL shat the bed last season, killing any possible momentum we could have gotten from the World Cup.

I suspect they are waiting for a positive Asian Cup campaign. if we do have a good outcome APL really need to get it right capitalising afterwards.

 

[gaskin]

They should be flying right now. The two world cups and the up coming Asian Cup should be huge for the APL but as usual they have shat the bed. I hold out no hope of them capitalizing on any successful Asian Cup.

 

[SM]

They should be flying right now. The two world cups and the up coming Asian Cup should be huge for the APL but as usual they have shat the bed. I hold out no hope of them capitalizing on any successful Asian Cup.

It's the APL but also at the end of the day it's just the punters not giving a shit. People can blame organisers all they want but I turned up last night at Paramatta to watch my mob play WSW, $30 a ticket which is perfectly reasonable, great stadium, very easy to get to. I would try to go to more if I supported a NSW club, but for those that do there's not a whole lot of excuses when you've got Parra and Allianz as world class stadiums, reasonable ticket prices, and good public transport.

End of the day the biggest issue is most are to some degree EuroSnobs and want to have recognisable European quality players running around to connect to. If Salah, Kane and De Bruyne popped out here in a couple of years time I guarantee crowds would explode, which says a lot more about fans than it does the APL. Hell, for me even just having Zac Clough in the United side as a name I recognise from England generates more interest for me than most of the side (outside the obvious in Irankunda), I'm not ashamed to admit it.

 

[Zidane98]

It's the APL but also at the end of the day it's just the punters not giving a s**t. People can blame organisers all they want but I turned up last night at Paramatta to watch my mob play WSW, $30 a ticket which is perfectly reasonable, great stadium, very easy to get to. I would try to go to more if I supported a NSW club, but for those that do there's not a whole lot of excuses when you've got Parra and Allianz as world class stadiums, reasonable ticket prices, and good public transport.

End of the day the biggest issue is most are to some degree EuroSnobs and want to have recognisable European quality players running around to connect to. If Salah, Kane and De Bruyne popped out here in a couple of years time I guarantee crowds would explode, which says a lot more about fans than it does the APL. Hell, for me even just having Zac Clough in the United side as a name I recognise from England generates more interest for me than most of the side (outside the obvious in Irankunda), I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The future of the league needs to be top quality marquees with the best young Aussie talent mixed with elite Socceroos returning from Europe to finish their career.

We don't need to match the wages on offer in Saudi. Just make the difference not enough for the average footballer to give up the far superior lifestyle in Australia.

Eg Goodwin is on 50k / week in Saudi (tax free). I read his marquee wage at AUFC was around 20k / week. I reckon if that was doubled he doesn't leave.

 

[gaskin]

With the Big Blue later, why the hell have Paramount got Simon Hill commentating Jets/Glory? The best commentator should be doing the big games.

 

[Pacman82]

Nice save PG

 

[Munga]

With the Big Blue later, why the hell have Paramount got Simon Hill commentating Jets/Glory? The best commentator should be doing the big games.

You know what, I think I prefer Robbie Thomson these days. He's a bit more upbeat and lively, plenty knowledgable too, and witty.

 

[gaskin]

The best part about half-time is I get a break from listening to that dumb ****ing kid that keeps ****ing screeching every 30 seconds. If only it were possible to reach through the screen and throttle the little turd.

 

[SM]

You know what, I think I prefer Robbie Thomson these days. He's a bit more upbeat and lively, plenty knowledgable too, and witty.

Tend to agree. Which is fine, Hill has had his day in the sun and it's good to unearth new talent.

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

With the Big Blue later, why the hell have Paramount got Simon Hill commentating Jets/Glory? The best commentator should be doing the big games.

Can't stand Simon Hill myself..

He always finds ways to bag Melbourne City when I watch games when he is calling.

Also he is heavily biased towards the Vuck I feel

Johnny Kosmina is about the only current caller I like from fox sports.

Andy Harper is pretty good too.