Here’s what we learned from a very special weekend …

1. Old Habits Die Hard
Seeing John Kosmina nestle coffee in hand into his pre-Christmas-sale lawn chair on the sideline before Adelaide’s away meeting with Sydney will have provoked all kinds of memories for A-League fans. If it wasn’t for Reds winger Iain Ramsey we might have had less downright hilarious memories brought to the fore, but obviously Kossie’s pre-match A Clockwork Orange-inspired montage of his greatest moments had such an effect on the former Sydney youngster that he greeted Sydney’s Jamie Coyne with a throat-grab straight from his new leader’s highlight reel. It was an amazing homage, but not one which will concern either coach more than their respective defence’s leaking of soft goals, which cost Sydney a chance of winning at home and Adelaide a chance of winning.

2. Keep it In-House
What have we learned from Socceroo Jon McKain’s appointment as captain at Adelaide? Well, coaches probably shouldn’t install a new signing as skipper, lest their form disintegrate, the squad fall miserably short of expectations and you get eventually replaced by a previously sacked peer. And yet, in the absence of suspended captain Jobe Wheelhouse, Newcastle boss Gary van Egmond handed the armband to Brazilian import Tiago Calvano for Friday afternoon’s trip to Wellington. Sometime stand-in Nikolai Topor-Stanley clearly reacted worse to the snub, turning in a Jon McKain-like departure from previous standards. While reality likely has it that van Egmond was probably just a touch unimpressed with his defender’s performance, we’re going to wield the tool of creative licence and say the frosty non-reception Topor-Stanley received upon substitution was directly evolved from being overlooked for the responsibility. Learn it now, Gary, as it can get a whole lot worse from here.

3. 270 Minutes Can Define a Season
The A-League ladder says Melbourne Heart have at least a few more obvious obstacles than Melbourne Victory to overcome in their quest for a maiden championship. The Melbourne derby, however, says three matches will define their hopes for glory. While Heart’s rise from potential-laden youth crop to concrete challengers has materialised in the space of a few weeks, conquering their noisier rival stands as the true test of their mettle. It took the class and experience of star midfielders Fred and Matt Thompson to eventually wrestle back the run of play from a rampant Victory, and so saw Heart pass the first test. There are two checkpoints to clear yet, though, and you can count on Victory to make their neighbour earn the right to be feared.

4. It’s Not Easy Being Glory
There’s no club in the history of the A-League which is as capable of inflicting so much hurt on its supporters as Perth Glory. Okay, the fans of clubs which now cease to exist may disagree, but they’re special circumstances. Nope, Perth are just old fashioned heartbreakers. A 3-1 loss at home only two days from Christmas, and given recent developments at the club, is just so unbelievably catastrophic that even the scriptwriters for 2012 would have dismissed the situation as nonsense. How much more can those in purple endure? If there was one upside to Friday night’s debacle, it’s that the home fans were treated to a red-hot Mariners, who now have workmanlike fullback Pedj Bojic netting wonder-goals. Sometimes you can only laugh … or hurl abuse, whichever is more effective.

5. Derbies Delight. Always
We learned, and heard, it from Melbourne and while we didn’t exactly see it on the Gold Coast, we certainly felt it. Outsiders may dismiss the M1 derby as miniscule in comparison to that which gripped Melbourne on Friday night, perhaps even carrying less spectacle than the F3 derby, but when a crowd of 6,927 exudes the passion and thirst for victory witnessed at Skilled Park, let alone during a match that was dull for considerable stretches, something is working. So, to hasten the introduction of a Western Sydney outfit, then? Or potentially just an entire fixture list of repetitive hate-fuelled encounters? Whichever the option, derbies are the solution.