WHO am I to buck the trend?
It seems that a number of my co-bloggers have chosen to comment on the recently released draw for the upcoming A-League season, from their own club's perspective. In these off-season times of 'lean pickings' when it comes to potential blog topics, I thought I'd do the same.
I should preface my comments by saying that devising a draw that keeps all ten (God it's good to say ten instead of eight) clubs happy is akin to deciding which of the four kids gets to ride in the front seat of the car, as opposed to 'slumming it' in the back. Even if you change positions every twenty minutes of the journey to be scrupulously fair, there will always be one of the little tackers complaining that he got the bum shift because the sun was in his eyes.
All in all though, I must say that I'm pretty happy with the Reds' draw. In terms of home games, most of our matches will be played on Friday nights. I wonder whether or not this has been the result of an official request from the club. If so it's a pretty smart move. Friday nights are one of the prime times of the week to own, from both a television and attendance perspective, as has been demonstrated in the AFL.
The Reds have already been given the customary three points in Round One (home game against Perth .. hehe!), then we detour to Sydney to hopefully bounce a Czech. From there it's back home for consecutive weeks to get a firsthand look at the two new teams, Gold Coast and then the Fury. Getting to see these teams so early is fantastic and should ensure some bumper early season home crowds.
Hopefully the Gold Coast wins their first two matches so that the Reds get the chance to be the team that destroys the 'undefeated season' aims of the tanned ones. It'll be great also to see Robbie Fowler grace the hallowed turf of Hindmarsh in Round Four. It's a pity that we no longer have big Sasa on board to show him some of the sights.
The toughest aspect to the draw is the fact that the Reds play so many home games early (five of the first seven). Initially that will be great but the impact will be felt towards the end of the season when the club in turn will play the requisite number of away games. A little competition known as the Asian Champions League kicks off at about the same time, late in the season, so the Reds will yet again face some travel challenges (great to see the powers on high supporting our clubs in Asia yet again .. can you sense the cynicism?).
I'm not complaining though, sometimes one has to squint in the front seat.
Hopefully the Reds might just be able to go one better in season five than they did last year. It would be nice to be able to compete in the ACL as a champion for a change, not just a runner up!
