The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly

By Paul Frederickson

I screamed at the radio on Saturday night as Brisbane Roar took the lead against the Newcastle Jets late in the 2nd half. The issue being, I was on air hosting a local Brisbane radio show at the time! Apologies to all who have damaged ear drums from my yelling of "GET IN"! Happy days from my part of the football world, I hope that you had a great footballing weekend as well.

THE GOOD
One unbeaten team is left in the English Premier League and that is Manchester City. They are the good of the week as they beat the valiant but ultimately outclassed Newcastle United 3-1.
Honourable mention: Brisbane Roar, who equalled the Australian professional football record of 35 games unbeaten, previously set by Easts who were in the New South Wales rugby league competition at the time.


THIS WEEK WILL BE A SAD

Rest in Peace little angel, Luca Jones. Condolences to Brad Jones and his family and friends from everyone at Play the Advantage Football.



THE UGLY

Teflon Sepp Blatter. No matter how many mistakes the head of world football makes it seems he is immovable. His latest comments in regards to racism are sadly ill-informed and what makes them even sadder, I'm not surprised that he made them. If it is not time for him to go the there will never be a time.

What do you think? What was your weekend's Good, Bad and the Downright ugly?

The good, the bad and the downright ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

Wow, a 4pm Sunday game, my team has 35 shots and draws 1 all besides a plethora of chances. But enough of my team, I hope your weekend was full of football joy.

THE GOOD
Giovanni Trapattoni's men will take a 4-0 lead into Tuesday night's play-off second leg with Estonia at home after one of the greatest wins in the country's rich footballing history. Unless the unbelievable occurs Irish eyes will be smiling in Poland and the Ukraine next year. Honourable mentions: England beat Spain 1 nil, Brisbane Roar played their 34th unbeaten game in a row after a 1 all draw against Wellington Phoenix.

THE BAD
The standard of refereeing in the A-League has been a bone of contention in recent times. The standard is not good enough and the decisions from game to game are hard to fathom at times. The FFA spend a lot of money on the teams, advertising and player development, this must be extended to the refereeing ranks. The referees are an integral part of the game, if we are not talking about them then they are doing a great job. At least they are not like the referee in the following clip, but the man can run!

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
Turkey are a proud footballing nation with a well respected and successful manager in Guus Hiddink. Over two legs of a Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Croatia the supporters were quietly confident that the team would perform well. But once the whistle to the first leg was blown it all went horribly wrong. A 3 nil loss at home to Croatia is not insurmountable but has seen their qualifying campaign take a dramatic hit. A hit that the passionate Turkish fans cannot bear, and the potential sacking of Hiddink dominates Turkish footballing forums. It could get even uglier when they play the second away in Croatia.


What do you think? What were your weekend's Good, Bad and Downright Ugly?

The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

Wow, I'm still seeing red from some of the social media comments people have made over the weekend and some of the decisions that have been made by players as well as referees! We need to start a respect campaign between fans of our wonderful code! Hope your teams did well, I had a mixed bag with mine! Welcome to this week's edition of the good, the bad and the downright ugly, with a total focus on Australia's A-League competition.

THE GOOD

As much as he can get under opposition fans and players skins you have to admire the goal-poaching talents and finishing of the A-League's all time lead scorer, Archie Thompson. Against the current champions and ladder leaders, the Brisbane Roar, Thompson was back to his best. Down to ten men early Melbourne Victory took a 2-1 lead almost single-handedly down to Archie's class and maize runs. Unfortunately for the game, Melbourne went down to nine men and as would be expected shut up shop, leaving Thompson with the barest of service from that moment on.

Hounorable mentions: Sydney FC's last minute winner in their 3-2 win after trailing 2 nil against Gold Coast United. Central Coast win their 2nd game in a row and Newcastle Jets continue to surprise the doubters. Sir Alex Ferguson and his wonderful 25 year stint as manager of Manchester United.
THE BAD
He is a walking headline and someone that the FFA and A-League should thank every week for his commentary and observations about life and football, but sometimes Miron is so blinkered he gets things very wrong. His tirade against the league, referees and his belief in football conspiracies can make Miron Bleiberg seem far less intelligent than he obviously is. Bleiberg directed most of his post game interview to his thoughts on referee Peter Green, calling him a 'homey' referee.

"You know why the 'homey' one? Because all the time they favour the home team," Bleiberg explained.

His tirade may have been better served to his own team who allowed Sydney to escape with a win after trailing 2 nil in a competition that may be the tightest in A-League history.



Honourable mentions: The referee bashing that occurred over the weekend and some of the disgraceful comments supporters launched at each other via Facebook and Twitter. Love, live for it, but in the end it is a game. Respect your fellow A-League supporters!

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
One of the pre-season favourites for the A-League Championship and Premiership, Adelaide United has had a start to the season that could be considered a nightmare at best. After being demolished by a rampant Brisbane Roar the week before Adelaide scrambled to a 1 all home draw against the struggling Melbourne Heart. To compound their woes, one of their young players, Antony Golec used his Twitter account to label Ben Williams the "worst referee ever", as well as directing homophobic comments towards the referee. Common sense, it would seem, is not that common. He is due to be censured by his club this week.



WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT WAS YOUR WEEKEND'S GOOD, BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY?

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

Sometimes you have to declare your allegiances because trying to be impartial, can in fact, lead to you to be unfair to your own interests. Therefore I have no qualms in making my own local, and loved team, to be this week's good. I hope your own team was good to you over the weekend!

THE GOOD
Down 1 nil after 5 minutes to a clever goal from a former young star of the club and to be dominated by a potential challenger had the Brisbane faithful concerned for 21 minutes last Friday night. Within the space of 8 minutes the Brisbane Roar put four goals on the board, three of those to new Albanian recruit Bershart Berisha giving him the fastest hatrick in A-League history. By half time, 40 minutes after taking the lead, Adelaide walked into the visitor's change room as a shattered unit, the determined Adelaide United resistance worn down to the cheers of the delighted crowd of over 11,000. By full-time the Roar had their biggest win, 7-1, and extended their unbeaten streak to 32 games. People were talking about their progress, skill and dominance as a team for the whole weekend. Football was being talked about, and the talk was good, Adelaide fans excused for their lack of enthusiasm on the subject!


THE BAD
One of the giants of Dutch Football and their record speaks for itself. Feyenoord has won 14 Dutch Championships, 11 Dutch Cups a European Cup, two UEFA Cups and an Intercontinental Cup so the club and its supporters have every right to expect perennial success. The Rotterdam team would still be in shock after being humbled by mid-table team FC Groningen 6 nil on the weekend.



THE UGLY
Maybe John Terry should visit, http://farenet.org/, and brush up on what effects racism has not only on football, but the wider and global communities. Many news agencies reported stories of alleged racism by John Terry against QPR player Anton Ferdinand in a recent London derby. The effects of his alleged comments on his own team cannot be underestimated as Chelsea fell to this season's roller coaster side, Arsenal, 5-3 over the weekend. Whether you believe in Karma or not it certainly seemed to come back and slap Chelsea hard in this match because whilst Terry scored in the match it was his defensive slip that allowed Arsenal to take a late lead and complete the rout with a late 5th goal that completed Robyn Van Persie's deserved hatrick.



DON'T PARTICIPATE OR TOLERATE RACISM GUYS, VISIT http://farenet.org/, FOR SOME INFORMATION ON A EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN AGAINST RACISM!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT WAS YOUR GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY?

The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

My Aston Villa team were humbled in a Midlands derby whilst my home team, Brisbane Roar, won their local Queensland derby. The football gods giveth and they taketh away! How were your football fortunes this weekend?
THE GOOD
Manchester City relegated in 1996, and on top of the Premier League in 2011. What a day for one half of Manchester who should feel anything but blue. Sir Alex and the other half of Manchester would definitely be seeing red. No one could have EVER predicted the scoreline, 6-1 to the noisy neighbours and a 5 point lead in the early days of the 2011/12 EPL season. Noel Gallagher, enjoy!


Runner up: AC Milan's 4-3 win against Lecce after trailling 3 nil!



THE BAD
A really good build up and great crowd for the A-League's pin-up match of the rivalry round between Melbourne Heart and Melbourne Victory saw no goals. Whilst a nil all draw can still be a fantastic match it means the much touted attacking stocks of the Melbourne Victory are yet to score in over 270 minutes of football.Admittedly it is early in the season but after three rounds the Victory already trail the defending champions, the Brisbane Roar, by 7 points. Victory players have even gone as far as apologising to their fans.


Runner up: The one and only Mario Balotelli who set fire to his house on the eve of the Manchester derby when he and his friends were letting off fireworks outside his apartment window!

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/premier-league/manchester-city-striker-mario-balotelli-forced-to-flee-after-setting-fire-to-own-house-with-firework/story-e6frf4a3-1226174143636

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
The Asian Champions League has been building momentum nicely in recent years and with a huge potential for audience growth the competition should be going from strength to strength. The semi-final of the competition between South Korea's Suwong Bluewings and Qatar's Al Sadd will be remembered for abhorrent violence and unsportsmanlike conduct for a very long time and is a black mark on a great competition.



What do you think? What were your Good, Bad and the Downright Ugly?

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

Mondayitis has kicked in for sure, that can only mean its time for this week's version of 'The good, the bad, and the downright ugly!'.

THE GOOD

30 games undefeated, a premiership and championship in the one season. The long break between seasons hasn't slowed the A-League's Brisbane Roar down at all, in fact they may be getting better!Noticeable: Manchester City's 4-1 demolition of Aston Villa has seen them ascend to the top of the English Premier League and be, arguably, the best team in Manchester.

THE BAD
17th with 4 points garnered from 6 games. They have changed managers but things seem to be going backwards for not only one of Italy's but the world's most followed teams, Inter Milan. Things just got worse over the weekend with a 2-1 loss to Catania.
Noticeable: Big signings by Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory have yet to reap rewards for either side and Suarez is fielding claims of racism from Patrice Evra.

THE UGLY
A 2 nil win would normally find a team on cloud nine but two bizarre red cards in the last ten minutes on the weekend against the Newcastle Jets found Wellington's fans and neutral observers dumbfounded. Two seemingly innocuous tackles, and two quickfire red cards has the already depleted Wellington team wondering what wrongs they must have committed in the pre-season.
What do you think? What were your weekends 'good, the bad and the downright ugly'?

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

It is that time of the week again when we look back at the weekend's, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. This week's edition has a decidedly A-League feel with the Australian football competition completing its first round over the weekend.

THE GOOD

Two of Australia's biggest cities and two of the countries biggest football clubs played an entertaining nil all draw in front of over 40,000 passionate supporters. The game had it all, Kewell headers and a missed Emerton penalty rounded off by a red card. Who says a nil all draw is boring!
Even the Victorian police saluted the crowd!


THE BAD
James Brown scored a wonder goal that deserved to be watched by more than the paltry 4000 that attended Gold Coast United's opening home fixture. The scary part is that crowd was double the amount that attended most GCU home games in the 2010/11 season. Come on Gold Coast, get behind a team that has performed brilliantly in their first two seasons!

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
Wayne Rooney, he as an abundance of skills, fame and money and a distinct lack of common, or any sense whatsoever. In a week where his family issues were spread across the globe Rooney should have let his football do the talking. For a large part of the Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro he did just that, until he decided to kick his opponent. Not the most malicious tackle of the weekend but one of the dumbest. The tackle has already thrown England's Euro 2012 campaign in to disarray as the red card will see Rooney miss at least two of the group games.


What do you think? What were your weekend's, good, the bad, and the downright ugly?

This weekend's the Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly!

By Paul Frederickson

Another weekend, and if your team played, there was a win, loss or draw to digest, analyse and depending on the result, celebrate.

THE GOOD
Too old, too slow, too good! Frank Lampard's hat-trick in Chelsea's 5-1 demolition of Bolton Wanderers must have at least a few critics biting their tongues. Champions are always champions.

THE BAD
This was a very tough call this week. Inter Milan's protestations against the weekend's refereeing in their 3 nil home-loss to Napoli just pips Tottenham's Clive Allen in his rant regarding the lack of a handshake from Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. Wenger's team had just lost a heated derby match against bitter rival Spurs and shook the hands of Harry Redknapp and his assistant. Allen needs to grow up a wee bit!


THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
There is no place in the world for racism. It keeps rearing its head in so many facets of society, and football is no exception. As if losing to Tottenham is not bad enough, Arsenal fans have further disgraced their club with chants against former son, Emmanuel Adebayor. Three people died when gunmen attacked Togo's national team bus in Angola during 2010. Some of the visiting Arsenal fans chanted at Adebayor: "It should have been you." DISGRACEFUL!





Do you agree? What was your weekend's, the Good, Bad and the downright Ugly!