Melbourne Derby Preview

Bring on the blood and the thunder, for the Derby is at hand. This Friday, what has quickly become one of the most anticipated fixtures of Australian sport will play out at AAMI Park, when the Red and Whites host the Navy Blues.
(Press Play for Mood Music)

Queensland Derby Preview

Later tonight will see the flamboyant Miron Bleiburg take his Gold Coast squad to face the reigning champions Brisbane Roar in the Queensland Derby.

A-League 2011-12 Season Predictions

Now that Pass and Move have conducted an examination of every A-League club, it's time to submit our tips for the coming season. The A-League is a notoriously difficult competition to predict, due to the salary cap. Before Brisbane ran away with the title, closely purused by Central Coast and Adelaide, most pundits were predicting those Top 3 to be battling to avoid the wooden spoon. Anyway, it's PM's turn to put ourselves out there and look like idiots.

Melbourne Victory 2011-12 Season Preview

Melbourne Victory; for so long, that name inspired trepidation and admiration throughout the A-League. Winning two Championship/Premiership Doubles, regular Finals appearances, the largest fanbase in Australia and huge financial clout will do that for you. Victory were dominant, rampant and unstoppable. Then something changed; Brisbane arrived and dragged the A-League into the modern era with a dynamic philosophy of possession based football. And for the first time, Victory were found wanting. Foundation manager Ernie Merrick was sensationally sacked. Foundation captain Kevin Muscat exited the game ignominiously. Mehmet Durakovic was installed to succeed Merrick and presided over an underwhelming Asian Champions League campaign.

Sydney FC 2011-12 Season Preview

How the mighty have fallen. Fresh from a debut season where he guided Sydney to an impressive Championship/Premiership Double, in 2010-11 Lavicka was unable to reproduce the disciplined performances which garnered so much success for the Sky Blues. Sydney's championship hangover can be directly retraced to poor recruitment and the depature of key players; Steve Corica retired, Aloisi, Colosimo and Bolton transferred to Heart while Kisel returned to Prague. These five players constituted the spine of Lavicka's Double winning team, and none were adequately replaced.

Perth Glory 2011-12 Season Preview

Where to begin. Perth must hate the A-League; optimistic pre-seasons coupled with limp performances have become the norm for the club on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Perth's A-League track record is a far cry from their name sake, not to mention their previous dominance in the old NSL. This season, once again the Glory begin anew. A whole new squad for radically different times in Australian football. Can Ferguson finally secure finals football for Perth?

Wellington Phoenix 2011-12 Season Preview

Wellington are another club to have undergone an off-season meltdown (in contrast to Newcastle, this occurred in the boardroom, not the dugout). Foundation owner Terry Serpios was compelled to sell his stake in the club to a consortium of local businessmen. Unfortunately, this happened too late to enable manager Ricki Herbert to embark on any meaningful recruitment campaign. The Nix reached the minimum complement of players just days ago, and it's going to take some time before the new signings gel.

Newcastle United 2011-12 Season Preview

Well what else could possibly go wrong. Even before the shocking events of the past week; namely the surprise sacking of manager Branko Culina and the attempted termination of the marquee contract for his son, star midfielder Jason Culina - Newcastle have been pegged as battlers for the wooden spoon. This time, PM is inclined to agree with the mainstream media; it is very hard to see how Newcastle can battle its way into Finals contention. Were this a European league, Newcastle would be staring down the barrel of relegation. Is there even a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel?

Melbourne Heart 2011-12 Season Preview

2010 witnessed the birth of what could grow to become one of the fiercest rivalries in Australian sport, with the inception of Melbourne Heart to the A-League. The inaugural Melbourne Derby saw the unfancied Heart emerge triumphant against the more established Victory, and the baptism of fire of fierce young fullback, Aziz Behich. The latest meeting between the two clubs heralded an ignominious end to the illustrious career of Victory captain Kevin Muscat, with his horrifying mauling of electric Heart winger, Adrian Zahra.

Gold Coast United 2011-12 Season Preview

Storm clouds obscure the normally searing sunshine of Skilled Park. The established spine of the playing squad has been ripped out and scattered to the wind. One-year contract journeymen and a host of youth team players are the only replacements. And a seemingly uninterested Gold Coast community at odds with the eccentric billionaire owner keeps crowd numbers hovering around 2000 and home games saddled with the atmosphere of a tramp's funeral. Is there any hope left?

Central Coast Mariners 2011-12 Season Preview

The perennial bridesmaids to the capital clubs brides, the Mariners have been Grand Final losers to Newcastle, Sydney and now Brisbane. Long cast as the plucky little club that could, nothing will suit Graham Arnold and his men more than to once again resume the title of scrappy underdogs, despite coming closest to defeating a rampant Brisbane.

Last season, Arnold was queried as to why he preferred to set his team out in a 4-4-2 diamond. His answer, that he choose a diamond midfield because Central Coast lacked wingers but had plenty of strikers and central midfielders, was perceptive, insightful and straightfoward.

Brisbane Roar 2011-12 Season Preview

Last season, Ange Postecoglou redefined Australian football. In doing so, he led Brisbane Roar to an impressive Premiership/Championship Double, while going 28-games unbeaten. At one point, the city of Brisbane had a record equal to European Cup holders Barcelona. You'd think, having reached the top, the only way for Brisbane to go would be down. Especially given the A-League's infamous Champions Curse.

Adelaide United 2011-12 Season Preview

A third of the way into last season, Rini Coolen was being hailed as one of the best managers to ever grace Australian shores. The team he inherited from Aurelio Vidmar was 10 games into what would become a record streak of 13 games unbeaten. The quintet of Lucas Pantelis, Travis Dodd, Matthew Leckie, Sergio van Dijk and of course the premiere trequartista, Marcos Flores, was tearing through opposition defences at will. To most commentators, it was a foregone conclusion that the Toilet Seat would finally go to Hindmarsh, after a half-decade absence of honours.

Of course, that didn't happen. Brisbane clicked into gear, and smashed that unbeaten record by doubling it. The 'title decider' between the Reds and the Roar became a 4-0 thrashing. Adelaide slipped into 3rd place as Central Coast overtook them as title challengers.

A-League Pre-Season Form Guide

FourFourTwo AU put together a useful guide to the club's results in offseason. These results should probably be taken with a grain of salt; obviously clubs were still making signings, players were still coming back from injury, and managers were giving some youngsters experience - so it's unlikely that clubs consistently sent out their strongest available line-up, or even played in their preferred style.

Nevertheless, there's still utility in seeing how many games clubs lost, how many goals were conceded, and who has scoring form going into the regular season. It should be noted how notoriously unrealiable pre-season results are as predicators of regular season success; in the 4 seasons in which the A-League held a Pre-Season Cup, only one of the Cup winners went on to become Premiers or Champions. Quick summary below.