At about 1pm last Sunday, I caught myself wondering what blog topic would emerge from the match against Gold Coast United.
Would it be an appropriate time to discuss Todd Howarth's emergence from middling local league recruit into genuine A-League threat? Perhaps a discussion of Jamie Harnwell's third revival would be prudent? The ability of Branko Jelic to turn the game from off the pine was a possibility.
Sadly, 90 minutes of poor Glory football combined with 90 minutes of resolute Gold Coast defending made it a week- the first week this season- when positive stories are simply not in order. There was no Glory player (perhaps excepting Tando Velaphi who continues to mould himself into a serviceable and occasionally spectacular A-League goalkeeper) who could really put their hand up and say they'd played even as well as the standard they'd set for themself this season. Conversely, others were shadows of the players that had led the way to the top of the table.
Scott Neville and Howarth had days to forget. Adriano Pellegrino, Jamie Coyne, Jacob Burns and Harnwell had their inadequacies ruthlessly exposed. Mile Sterjovski, Steve McGarry and Robbie Fowler failed to show the guile or energy required to break apart a team devoted to negating the match. It was an all-round poor performance.
All Perth Glory fans will be hoping this match was an aberration, rather than the beginning of the end for a team that has promised so much to its long-suffering supporters.
Given the performances that the likes of Neville, Howarth, Sterjovski and Jelic have put in earlier this season, the team should be able to continue to be serious challengers. The chance to further involve Josh Mitchell, Andy Todd, Michael Baird and the forgotten Victor Sikora should add further impetus to the side and one day we might even see vice-captain Chris Coyne again don the purple colours.
The weekend gone might not have been the best performance, but it was not a reason to push the panic button. Any team is entitled to a bad game. The fact that David Mitchell tried to turn the match with sensible (if ultimately fruitless) tactical switches was another tick for me on his impressive personal start to the season.
Hopefully he continues to work the side with a view of securing not just a finals finish, but first place. Todd and Jelic should be strongly looked at to start against Newcastle on Friday, and I think that will happen. Baird on the bench should also be given a chance to show there is more to his game than that one controversial incident against Heart.
Suddenly, an away trip to Newcastle in week 7 looks like a defining match for Perth Glory. Against a side struggling on and off the field and who we have a very good record against, a good win should have the side well and truly back on track. Another poor performance, however, and Perth could be exposed as fast starters and early faders who will yet again have to be pleased to merely make the finals. Now is the time for Mile, Robbie, Jacob and Andy to show real leadership and make a statement.
Sage's Say
Speaking of statements, Glory owner Tony Sage has made a big one in the wake of the allegations of maladministration directed at those in charge of the A-League. In summary, Sage has indicated that the A-League clubs are underfunded and overregulated- a sentiment few fans could argue with.
Whether or not giving clubs more freedom to do their own thing would send the competition closer to or further away from something resembling the dying days of the NSL is really just a matter for opinion at this stage.
Perth Glory as an individual club, though, has undeniably been hurt more than any other by the invasive policies of the FFA and has seen off-field decline due at least partly to this fact. Tony Sage may not have been around as an owner when the club was running itself as one of the most successful in the history of Australian domestic football, but it's great to hear him leading the charge along with Clive Palmer, Geoff Lord and Scott Barlow to allow the club the chance to return to better times.
Between Tony Sage's ownership and David Mitchell's squad of players, Perth fans have some very good reasons to get excited. After 5 years of abject disappointment, it's easy for those fans to fall quickly into despair at even the slightest hint of on- or off-field trauma, but the truth is as well poised as it has been since the final NSL season to lead the way in Australian domestic football. One bad game cannot and should not detract from that.
