1. Old Heads Avoid Trodden Path … For Now
John Aloisi recruited experience to the Melbourne Heart squad for his debut season as a senior coach. That much we know. What we are yet to discover, and which could be immensely vindicating for the still-raw gaffer, is whether his pre-season acquisitions will offer an improvement on last season’s run home. Three wins from four to move into fifth is an impressive return from the New Year, but after charging into title consideration by Round 13 of last season, Heart went winless for eight matches and limped into a heavy elimination final loss. Their newly acquired years need to be proven as worthwhile by taking them in the opposite direction this time. A key downfall of the team’s season has been throwing away points from fast starts and winning positions, but Friday night, a confident 2-0 win over second-placed Adelaide, might just be the making of a wiser Melbourne Heart. The rookie coach has put his faith in contemporaries, they have ten rounds to repay him in finals-bound guidance.

2. ADP and Joel G, Just Let It Be
Sydney FC’s new attack pairing of Alessandro Del Piero and Joel Griffiths took just a tick over 10 minutes for the former to assist the latter on the opener. Quite a pass it was from the Italian, too. Frank Farina must have been sipping his limoncello with glee during his post-match dinner, knowing that if Del Piero can cultivate a dangerous relationship with the erratic Yairo Yau prior to Griffiths’s arrival, then he and the former Socceroo outcast possess plenty of the firepower needed to forget their inconsistency at the back. Four goals from Del Piero following that first suggest, yes, they will probably do quite well together, even if the misery they inflict does not reach Ricki Herbert levels. Wellington’s long-term coach knows now that his team’s problems run deep, as the usually stodgy central-defensive partnership of Andrew Durante and Ben Sigmund is better in quality than to concede seven goals. The method is just as broken, perhaps even more, than the tools.

3. Fast Times on the F3 Highway
The F3 Derby is usually quite interesting, if not in always in a pure football sense. Saturday’s affair managed to capture our attention in both classic and unusual regards. There’s only so much you can say about scoreless draw, though, and that’s why we appreciate a few of the odder antics. Antics such as Oli Bozanic receiving the finger from a member of the travelling Squadron, despite having his back turned as he took a throw-in. Clever. But sense becomes obsolete when it comes to derbies, we’re told – although not in the case of the wily old Graham Arnold. The Central Coast boss had the foresight to leave his suit jacket on the lawn chair adjacent to Phil Moss prior to kick-off. If he hadn’t, well, who knows, that very chair might have been sold from under his nose and he’d have been left standing at the next home game. Arnold’s proven cunning was probably just as much the reason Gary van Egmond believed the former Socceroo striker was communicating instructions to Moss than any concrete evidence. We’re tipping the Mariners to smuggle in a shoe/telephone a la Get Smart the next time Arnold is banished from the touchline. It will be commonplace in this fixture.

4. Fergie’s Plot Needs a Twist
If the A-League was translated into a high school year book, Perth Glory would be nominated as the club most likely to release or misuse a promising young player. And, like the stereotypical bully in a feel-good American film who fails to evolve in the manner the protagonist wishes they would, their detrimental qualities seems not to be recognised. Thus it is once again Ange Postecoglou who again plays protector of a junior – Jesse Makarounas becoming the latest of his fledglings. As the talented attacking midfielder, 18, watched his new employers see off Glory on Saturday night, we were baffled as to why it was Nick Ward and not he or Japanese winger Ryo Nagai who was introduced to left-midfield at the break. Chris Harold, too, watched most of the straightforward plot evolve from the bench. Something is terribly amiss in Perth. Whether or not Ferguson was comfortable with losing Makarounas remains a poignant question but it’s not one that will provoke a solution to the immediate trouble of a five-match winless streak. Risk and experimentation might do the job, while a sit down with Tony Sage, if it hasn’t already happened, must soon be requested by the coach.

5. Savour The Special Moments
Sunday yielded a crushing loss for Brisbane Roar. It was not their worst of the season, although it was to this point the most crucial. It was also a familiar one, in that they were unable to pick apart, nor draw out, a deep defence – and, of course, because it was at the feet of their new conquerors. To bounce back from a goal down and score twice in the second half, following a first played in blistering heat, was another marker in Western Sydney’s special season. The RBB and associates won’t forget the moments to which they are being treated anytime soon. If Tony Popovic doesn’t end up guiding his squad to a Premiership, a Championship or even a particularly successful finals series … big deal. The club has rewarded its dedicated followers with the kind of treasures seen only in the most memorable of seasons; the kind of seasons that shield you from the ills of life away from football. A hattrick of wins over the two-time reigning champions, including a first ever goal and victory, a late home winner, and a spirited second-half comeback now sit amongst the very best they will see in their football-supporting lives. Savour it. It’s as brief as it is rare.