COME in, Mark Shield, your time as Australia's top referee is up. You had a shocker...and killed off a showpiece match with dumb decisions.
The clubs can't say it, the players can't say it...but we can. Mark Shield destroyed the Sydney-Victory showdown with inconsistent, irrational and over-the-top decisions.
Eight yellows and a straight red, Mark. Get a video of the match today and see if you really believe they were all justified. Was it really that dirty a match, Mark?
Did you help or hinder the game from being played at its best? It's a simple question, Mark. Did your involvement improve the match or wreck it?
Sydney will probably have the book thrown at them this week after Shield was bombarded with beer, plastic bottles and plastic mugs as he went down the tunnel. Frankly, he's lucky it wasn't anything more dangerous.
The FFA are set to launch an inquiry into the fans' behaviour at Sydney Football Stadium...but the real inquiry should be into Shield's performance that caused so much anger.
Nobody expects every decision to go their way, and everyone stuffs up - but Shield should have stayed in bed on Saturday.
Even Kevin Muscat appeared to be arguing against Steve Corica's dismissal. You know you must have really stuffed up if Muscat is arguing against you about a decision like that...
Corica's red card killed off much of Sydney's attacking spark and when their defence finally crumbled and Danny Allsopp got Victory's winner, there was no hope of a late comeback for the home side.
The win was enough to lift Victory to second place after an unbeaten start to the season and two wins under their belt.
It might not be the dramatic start to the season they had last year, but it's clear that even when Melbourne play poorly, they're still better than most of the A-League.
Meanwhile last week's first and second played out a predictable 1-1 draw at Bluetongue Stadium as neither Newcastle Jets nor Central Coast Mariners could find a way through.
The tie attracted a season record crowd for the Mariners (helped slightly by the gates being thrown open for the late arrivals still queueing for tickets 20 minutes after kick-off).
Perth's Ron Smith didn't really help his chances of keeping his job. Glory's legendary striker Bobby Despotovski called for Smith's head this week and yet another game without a goal, never mind a win, can only hasten his sacking, it would appear. Damian Mori to take over, anyone?
Adelaide were surprisingly lacklustre against their bottom of the league foes and find themselves locked on eight points along with half of the rest of the A-League.
With Mariners still three points clear at the top, Victory now second and Jets in third, Adelaide lead the chasing pack on goal difference from Phoenix, Sydney and Roar, while Glory prop up the bottom, four points adrift.
versus 
Queensland Roar finally found a winning attack in front of their home ground as they shook off their Suncorp hoodoo thanks to new boys Michael Zullo and Robbie Kruse.
Wellington Phoenix missed the creativity of the suspended Daniel upfront which was compounded by the early loss of Felipe to an apparent hamstring injury. Smeltz grabbed a late consolation goal but they never came close to stealing three points.
versus 
It was the ref who was the star of this show but for all the wrong reasons. Too many poor decisions wrecked a showpiece match as Shield over-reacted to Steve Corica's challenge, let other offences slide, yet still got card happy.
Sydney's game plan was wrecked by Corica's dismissal while Melbourne Victory struggled to break down the stalwart Sydney defence until the final few minutes of the match.
versus 
It was first against second for the F3 derby but the tipped draw looked an inevitability even after Central Coast Mariners took the lead late in the second half.
Newcastle Jets soon hit back to level the scores despite effectively playing with 10 men after Mario Jardel came on and had little to no impact in the game for the final 20 minutes. Seven weeks into the season and he's still a long way off match fitness.
versus 
Oh look, Perth Glory failed to score again. It's a headline up there with SUN RISES and WORLD TURNS. Still, with 14 games left in the season, they are just a win and a draw away from finals place - which is quite a worry.
What was more surprising was Adelaide United's inability to break down the Glory defence. Adelaide's currently got the best attack in the A-League yet they couldn't squeeze a single goal past Perth...and they'll be without Djite and Burns next week because of Olyroos call-ups.
Top Goalscorers After Round Seven
4- Bruce Djite (AU), Shane Smeltz (WP).
3- Sasho Petrovski (CCM).
2- Daniel Allsopp (MV), Alex Brosque (SFC), Nathan Burns (AU), Daniel (WP), Felipe (WP), Adam Kwasnik (CCM), Matt McKay (QR), Nik Mrdja (CCM), Kevin Muscat (MV), Archie Thompson (MV).
1- Richie Alagich (AU), Ross Aloisi (WP), Mark Bridge (NJ), Adam Casey (SFC), Adrian Caceres (MV), Billy Celeski (PG), Vaughan Coveny (WP), Diego (AU), Travis Dodd (AU), Adam Griffiths (NJ), Joel Griffiths (NJ), Robbie Kruse (QR), Jamie Harnwell (PG), Josh McLoughan (QR), Stuart Musialik (NJ), Sasa Ognenovski (QR), Patrick (SFC), Tom Pondeljak (CCM), Reinlaldo (QR), Ufuk Talay (SFC), Matt Thompson (NJ), Rodrigo Vargas (MV), Michael Zullo (QR).
Round Seven Table
A-League Crowds After Round Seven
Eight yellows and a straight red, Mark. Get a video of the match today and see if you really believe they were all justified. Was it really that dirty a match, Mark?
Did you help or hinder the game from being played at its best? It's a simple question, Mark. Did your involvement improve the match or wreck it?
Sydney will probably have the book thrown at them this week after Shield was bombarded with beer, plastic bottles and plastic mugs as he went down the tunnel. Frankly, he's lucky it wasn't anything more dangerous.
The FFA are set to launch an inquiry into the fans' behaviour at Sydney Football Stadium...but the real inquiry should be into Shield's performance that caused so much anger.
Nobody expects every decision to go their way, and everyone stuffs up - but Shield should have stayed in bed on Saturday.
Even Kevin Muscat appeared to be arguing against Steve Corica's dismissal. You know you must have really stuffed up if Muscat is arguing against you about a decision like that...
Corica's red card killed off much of Sydney's attacking spark and when their defence finally crumbled and Danny Allsopp got Victory's winner, there was no hope of a late comeback for the home side.
The win was enough to lift Victory to second place after an unbeaten start to the season and two wins under their belt.
It might not be the dramatic start to the season they had last year, but it's clear that even when Melbourne play poorly, they're still better than most of the A-League.
Meanwhile last week's first and second played out a predictable 1-1 draw at Bluetongue Stadium as neither Newcastle Jets nor Central Coast Mariners could find a way through.
The tie attracted a season record crowd for the Mariners (helped slightly by the gates being thrown open for the late arrivals still queueing for tickets 20 minutes after kick-off).
Perth's Ron Smith didn't really help his chances of keeping his job. Glory's legendary striker Bobby Despotovski called for Smith's head this week and yet another game without a goal, never mind a win, can only hasten his sacking, it would appear. Damian Mori to take over, anyone?
Adelaide were surprisingly lacklustre against their bottom of the league foes and find themselves locked on eight points along with half of the rest of the A-League.
With Mariners still three points clear at the top, Victory now second and Jets in third, Adelaide lead the chasing pack on goal difference from Phoenix, Sydney and Roar, while Glory prop up the bottom, four points adrift.
versus Queensland Roar finally found a winning attack in front of their home ground as they shook off their Suncorp hoodoo thanks to new boys Michael Zullo and Robbie Kruse.
Wellington Phoenix missed the creativity of the suspended Daniel upfront which was compounded by the early loss of Felipe to an apparent hamstring injury. Smeltz grabbed a late consolation goal but they never came close to stealing three points.
versus It was the ref who was the star of this show but for all the wrong reasons. Too many poor decisions wrecked a showpiece match as Shield over-reacted to Steve Corica's challenge, let other offences slide, yet still got card happy.
Sydney's game plan was wrecked by Corica's dismissal while Melbourne Victory struggled to break down the stalwart Sydney defence until the final few minutes of the match.
versus It was first against second for the F3 derby but the tipped draw looked an inevitability even after Central Coast Mariners took the lead late in the second half.
Newcastle Jets soon hit back to level the scores despite effectively playing with 10 men after Mario Jardel came on and had little to no impact in the game for the final 20 minutes. Seven weeks into the season and he's still a long way off match fitness.
versus Oh look, Perth Glory failed to score again. It's a headline up there with SUN RISES and WORLD TURNS. Still, with 14 games left in the season, they are just a win and a draw away from finals place - which is quite a worry.
What was more surprising was Adelaide United's inability to break down the Glory defence. Adelaide's currently got the best attack in the A-League yet they couldn't squeeze a single goal past Perth...and they'll be without Djite and Burns next week because of Olyroos call-ups.
Top Goalscorers After Round Seven
4- Bruce Djite (AU), Shane Smeltz (WP).
3- Sasho Petrovski (CCM).
2- Daniel Allsopp (MV), Alex Brosque (SFC), Nathan Burns (AU), Daniel (WP), Felipe (WP), Adam Kwasnik (CCM), Matt McKay (QR), Nik Mrdja (CCM), Kevin Muscat (MV), Archie Thompson (MV).
1- Richie Alagich (AU), Ross Aloisi (WP), Mark Bridge (NJ), Adam Casey (SFC), Adrian Caceres (MV), Billy Celeski (PG), Vaughan Coveny (WP), Diego (AU), Travis Dodd (AU), Adam Griffiths (NJ), Joel Griffiths (NJ), Robbie Kruse (QR), Jamie Harnwell (PG), Josh McLoughan (QR), Stuart Musialik (NJ), Sasa Ognenovski (QR), Patrick (SFC), Tom Pondeljak (CCM), Reinlaldo (QR), Ufuk Talay (SFC), Matt Thompson (NJ), Rodrigo Vargas (MV), Michael Zullo (QR).
Round Seven Table
A-League Crowds After Round Seven
Related Articles
Fresh talent flock to ambitious A-League outfit's pro pathway
Why A-League 20/21 is crucial for Olyroos’ medal hopes
.jpg&h=115&w=225&c=1&s=1)
