Three Journeys

A little over two weeks ago, I embarked on a journey from my home town of Perth to my current surrounds in Nottingham, England. In moving over here with my other half for the purposes of work and travel, I’ve had to sacrifice attending the rest of the A-League season. Happily (or perhaps unhappily for some) the wonder of the internet allows me to continue to watch, read, and write about each Glory game as it happens. 

While I’ve been settling into my new digs, several other journeys have taken place back home that deserve some attention. The first of these is possibly the story of the round - the arrival of Eugene Dadi at Wellington Phoenix.

“He’s big, he’s black - we want our Dadi back!”. Posts like that were commonplace on the Glory fan forums immediately following Eugene Dadi’s two goals against Brisbane on the weekend. It seems typical - player falls out with manager, player can’t get games despite fan support, player leaves and scores a double for his new team first game out. Was David Mitchell wrong to let Eugene go? Absolutely. Would I have given the big guy a new contract come season’s end? Never. 

As much as that seems to be a confusing stance to take, it’s actually quite simple. Perth have a problem with depth upfront; a problem that is all the coach’s making. On the books, we have one out-and-out striker. One. That is Branko Jelic, and he’s currently injured, so that’s not much help to anybody. Behind Branko we have club stalwart Jamie Harnwell, an effective target man in his own right (and desperately underrated outside of Perth) and Mile Sterjovski. Neither man is what you’d call a true striker; Jamie knocks the ball down and uses his body, a skill well-honed during his days as a defender. Mile can create opportunities and go on driving runs, but it’s plain as day that his true position is out wide on the flanks.

You might say the same for Scott Bulloch; while the lad tries, he’s ineffective upfront and might be more comfortable out wide (though we have players better than he for those positions). Fellow winger Victor Sikora has been tried as a forward with slightly more success, but again his best position remains behind the strikers (and besides, he too is injured). Young attacking midfielder Andrija Jukic can also play a forward role, but Mitchell appears to have no interest in playing him anywhere.

Thus, we come to Eugene Dadi - an out and out striker who bagged goal after goal for the club last year, but who found himself in the same position as Andrija Jukic still does; playing regularly for the youth team with no hope of a first-team start. Yes, he is old. Yes, he is slow. No, I would not think him one for the future. But for god’s sake, when you’ve only got one other senior striker on your books - and he's not even fit - why would you let someone like Dadi go? It beggars belief; especially now that Wellington Phoenix are bringing out the best in the big guy.

You go with the fans’ best wishes Eugene - please go easy on us when you make a return to ME Bank Stadium.

Regular readers of my posts on here will be pretty familiar with my thoughts on one James Downey. For the uninitiated - he’s fast. That’s it. Nothing else to see here.

No crossing ability, no close control, no real reason to be on a football field other than the fact that he can run quickly - he is without doubt the perfect example of the tradition Australian “brawn over brains” approach to coaching; one that relies on athleticism rather than strength of technique or speed of thought. Which brings us nicely to Daniel McBreen.

An English-born journeyman striker with remarkably little success goal-wise at any professional level of English football, he seems a perfect fit for David Mitchell’s squad. Actually, wait a second - isn’t he just like Eugene Dadi? Wait, no - Dadi could actually score, and last year he created a bunch of chances for ‘Ruka’ as well. McBreen meanwhile has been playing with God himself, and he’s managed just three goals and one assist in 21 games for the lime greens. Brilliant!

Mind you, shipping out Downey and gaining something - even if it is just a lump of flesh to throw at opposing defenders - isn’t to my mind a losing deal. But if this is Dave Mitchell’s answer to the possibility of losing Mile Sterjovski this month, he’s going to have some very angry fans to deal with. To this author, McBreen isn’t even good enough to be regarded as cover for the striker we’ve just lost, let alone our marquee player!

Finally, this week sees Glory’s annual ‘Tour of Duty’ begin. Possibly the greatest fans’ away trip in Australian football, the TOD began with a trip to Sydney Olympic and has been a regular fixture with the fanbase ever since. This year sees about 100 fans making the trek east to Tardistan, followed by a short sight-seeing trip through Barrelaide (the second away trip to Adelaide by Perth fans this year - the poor buggers have probably only just recovered from the last time we visited). 

The last few tours have seen some largely disappointing results by the men in purple; and judging by the short turnaround and difficult opposition (as stupid as it sounds, I’d rather play Sydney or Newcastle than the Reds in Adelaide) they’re going to need to run through every sporting cliche in the book to make it a happy trip for fans this time round. If I’m pessimistic (or should I say realistic?), I’d say that Mitchell will play for a draw against Melbourne and then try to grind out a win against Adelaide - totally the wrong approach to take, but there you go, that’s my level of confidence in the man.

Using that plan we’re more likely to slip up than I am on the frozen puddles outside the front door of this hotel - and let me tell you, I’ve slipped a fair few times so far this week. Instead, my wish would simply be for the players to give their all for the travelling fans, attack both sides, and come away with maybe three points. Three points from two away games isn’t bad - especially if you can put your hand up and say that you’ve tried your hardest in front of the supporters. If nothing else, it'll ensure a warm return to ME Bank Stadium when they play their next home match.

Still, for those of us not touring this year, there’s nothing to do but wait and see how it all pans out. Though I do wonder if BBC East Midlands will be able to provide any coverage of the upcoming mysterious Melbourne beer shortage?