ardtho is cherry picking to pick fights

neglects to look at guys like mitch austin who could hardly get a game in english 4th or 5th division and then walks straight into the starting 11 in the HAL. after only one season at CCM there are even victory supporters saying they would take him...

CCM won 3 games, and end up -1.3 goals down...i think it safe to say, playing guys like Mitch Austin is a big part of the reason

ccm are a basket case. Kalik who couldn't play for ccm is starting each weak for a stronger club in croatia. Austin struggled in agricultural leagues in england and played pretty consistently
Liam Rose their best youngster probably should have gotten more time

Well done Rogic. A class above the rest =d>

Still a bit too stagnant IMO if he's to be a regular in the EPL though.

I would hope we're beyond the: this guy played in league a and was bad and now in league b is good, therefore league a is better thing

Football doesn't work that way.

As for the SPL adtho, yes the a-league in general is a higher level. But celtic is a much bigger/better club than our best (MV). Which actually means its a great place to go for our players.

In general scotland is a great place for our players. Look at Rogic, Macdonnald, Viduka, Irvine, Mcgowan, Moore, Vidmar, Muscat and the list goes on and on.

It's easily the best league outside of England for Aussies to go to.

But I think about things a bit differently to most here. I care less about the percieved and ethereal "level" of particular leagues and more about how the players are performing. For me "starting" in a game means nothing, that's the flawed coaches choice. Much more important are individual performances and the consistency of them.

Edited by The Fans: 16/5/2016 09:13:29 AM

Watched quite a bit of SPFL this year.. Celtic head and shoulders above any SPFL or HAL team. If you took out Celtic though, the HAL would be on par in terms of quality.

Absolute madness though to say he'd be better off in the A-League.

Still got a bit to go though. Impressed last night as he has done all season but it was against Motherwell. His technical ability stands out, he has a good physical presence, but now needs a massive preseason, work on his pace, work rate, stamina, etc. If he can get that right, I have no doubt he could play for an EPL club.

that was true 3 years ago when Rogic 1st went to Celtic, but that may not not the case any more, i think it very close

the thing about the A+league , is the best team changers (almost every year) so people don't feel it, only computers see it

oh, as size of club, Celtic bigger then NVFC

look, Celtic world finish 3rd or 4th in Switzerland or Austria leagues...you guys just don't understand how far Celtic is falling each year

Edited by adrtho: 16/5/2016 09:33:07 AM

You're not a fully fledged Aussie Abroad from ECU Joondalup until you get injured.

#WelcomeJordan

In the 2 Bundesliga Degenek's 1860 munich have stayed up and Hollands Duisburg is in the relegation/promotion play-off. The team they are playing, Würzburger Kickers, haven't lost since February but Duisburg picked up 13 points in their last 6 games so have a bit of form going into the play-off.

Ben Halloran's Heidenheim finished mid table. Ben got 22 appearances but only 12 starts and a few appearances of under 10 minutes. It looks like his side has already confirmed two strikers are leaving this summer, hopefully with a pre-season at the club and some movement in the forward line he can become a regular next season. I think he has shown in short bursts that he is good enough for the league but just hasn't been consistent. Apparently missed the last two games with food poisoning.

Edited by moofa: 16/5/2016 10:08:47 AM

Much as it pains me to agree with a Celtic fan :lol: .....I've been a big supporter of the A-League over the last 10 years and i've seen it improve season after season, i've also seen the Scottish league get weaker but the fact is, although the standard has dropped, the Scottish league is still stronger than the A-League. The pace and tempo of the games are way faster and players have far less time on the ball.

I've actually been to see Rogic play for Celtic this season and i've also seen him play for Australia. He struggled badly in the league game i watched, against a team that only just avoided relegation. Yes, it was only one game but to suggest he is tearing SPL teams apart week after week isn't quite true. He's a good player but he's still developing and i don't think he's ready for, for example, an EPL team yet. A step up to the Championship, maybe.

I've been to every AUFC home game (bar the first two) this season and have seen how they have come on but even as A-League champions i think there are many well organised teams in Scotland (St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Hearts etc) that are at a better standard and have stronger squads...not by much, but thats my honest opinion having been to games in both countries this season.

Having said that, if things keep improving here the way they are it won't be long until things even out but Aussie players in Scotland are more in the 'shop window' over there than they are here.

Just realized Cansdell-Sherriff played 29 games this season and got promoted to the championship. His age (33) means he will never get a cap but still great to see. Hopefully he will get a chance in the Championship next season or if not he could be an interesting pick up for an A-league side depending on his wages. Since he has mostly been between league two I am guessing they would be pretty reasonable.

Actually just found this interview from March where he says he would be interested in a move back next season and that he wants to finish his career in Australia

http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4024/aussies-abroad/2015/03/19/9969812/a-league-switch-on-cansdell-sherriffs-radar

Good find.

CCM could do a lot worse.
Shane is an absolute warrior.

anyone who doesn't think rogic is good enough for EPL needs to watch his gamer against motherwell, he absolutely bossed the midfield.

I watched some of the Celtic game and yes they passed the ball around nicely and tackles were tough and tempo was good.But there was a lot of space for Celtic and they were under no pressure in their half.
Structurally the oppositon seemed all over the place.They tackled hard but had nothing to trouble Celtic.
I saw Scotty Mac in his own box chasing a winger to the goal line.
So it's hard to judge a team that is so far above the others in the SPL.
It reminded me of watching Brisbane when they were schooling other teams.
If Celtic are getting away with that each week ,then it's impossible to know how good they are until a team puts them under pressure.
When they play in Europe and they are put under pressure, it appears they struggle.So what does that indicate?
The other thing to consider is temperature .
I doubt Celtic would be playing the same high tempo game in summer here.
As to Rogic,he probably has a bit more stamina now and that is helped because of the colder conditions.
He has improved.But he still doesn't play 90mins each week.
I doubt very much that if he came back to the HAL he would tear it up.
Rogic is a luxury player to unlock defences.

Any highlights of the celtic game?

https://youtu.be/JbcP40BivqY

Why do you always structure your paragraphs like this? Something to do with your phone?

Pretty much this. Especially the last paragraph.


It could be worse... Like agreeing with a Motherwell fan :lol:

Celtic played great football last night. They moved the ball very quickly and they were outstandingly direct.

Happy for Tommy to play in that team.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
It's deliberate.
Using my iPad and trying to avoid long paragraphs.
I find it easier to read shorter statements.

Depends. There genuinely are players out there who are just don't find their feet in a country and won't play to their potential. Arguably, there are also players who don't prosper when they're surrounded by crappy players. They just drop down to the standard of the league or worse, despite being capable of doing far better in higher quality leagues.

However, the worrying thing is when you have a bunch of footballers who are average in one league and then are standouts in another. That's symptomatic of the first league being better in quality than the second.



A-League is not, in general, a higher level.

If we're being generous, we might say that the two are comparable once you remove Celtic.

But it's more nuanced than saying one is better than the other.

I think that technically, the two are equally lacklustre (although this may no longer be the case when the our U16s are prominent in the A-League :d ). A-League players might tend to have better first touch, Scottish Premier League players, imo, tend to be better at taking opposition on. In this respect, my grandmother is about as good as many A-League players.

The Scottish Premier League is probably played at a quicker tempo than the A-League where players are known to have acres of space.

There is one area where, imo, the A-League shades the SPL. Tactics. They're far better at playing the ball out effectively and counter-attacking, moving the ball around in triangles, etc.

Happy to be disputed by those who watch more of the Scottish Premier League than I do, but that's how I see a comparison between the two when we unpack a bit more.



How many footballers become world class from Scotland?

How many footballers from Germany, Holland and Belgium become world class? Never mind places like Spain, Italy, France, etc.

There's no physiological or anatomical difference between Australian and non-Australian footballers. They're all human beings. Absolutely no reason why Australian players cannot or should not succeed in continental Europe.

N.B. I don't think Scotland's the worst move in the world. What it has, and what you're alluding to, is that it has offered reasonable consistency for Australian footballers. I accept this point.

The problem is that it going to Scotland and staying in Scotland (like staying in the A-League for too long), effectively, puts a ceiling on the level which a player can reach. You might find a very rare player proving an exception to this rule. But by and large, world class footballers are in better leagues than the Scottish Premier League at a young age.

Therefore if Australian footballers wish to be better than previous Australian footballers, they're ill-advised to stay too long in Scotland.



You place great emphasis on how the players operate in the context of their team, not as individual. You, correctly, point out that a well-organised, happy team which plays to its strengths (and has strengths in the right areas) can overcome a team of superstars.

My opinion is that, at the very highest level, you find teams of superstars which are still well-organised, happy and gel really well.

No matter how much our team may match them in those respects, if both teams gel well together, it will be the team with the more gifted players which triumphs. Almost always.

This is why our players must carry on striving to be as talented as the best. Then, we throw in good old-fashioned Aussie-grit and we're on a winner.

Edited by quickflick: 16/5/2016 03:32:59 PM

Only difference being that when Brisbane pass the ball, its no where near as accurate or fast.. then you have 90% of the blokes trying to trap it only for it to bobble 2m ahead of them.. the first touch in the a-league is generally atrocious... bar the euro guys or top players.. even in the SPL most of the donkeys can trap the ball without it going 2m ahead of them.

Edited by jas88: 16/5/2016 04:07:05 PM

Edited by jas88: 16/5/2016 04:07:41 PM

Amini starts for Randers. Rosenberg also in action. No idea about the line ups yet.

Anything longer or more extensive

Speed is a poor way to judge a league. The english lower leagues are faster than Serie A for instance but few would argue that they're better leagues and they "get closed down quicker"

Duncan in goal too.

its a bit early ?

This is much too simplistic, imo.

You don't get the link between speed and quality, imo. This isn't just a criticism of you. It's a criticism of all those on 442 who just say "yeah nah, just because it's quick doesn't make it high quality".

For those who play(ed) football, think it over, carefully. It needn't have been at a really high level.

When the ball is being played around really quickly, how do players who can't trap fast, sometimes difficult, passes in tight spaces, who can't take that intuitive first touch to take the ball away from hostile opponents, how do those players fare?

They do poorly. If they don't have the technique, they do poorly.

The Serie A is played at a slower tempo. But, as with La Liga, it alternates between slow and really fast.

The best way to control a game is to alternate the tempo between fast and slow. But you do realise this entails being able to play at a fast tempo.

Serie A teams can do this. If a decent Serie A team played against a Championship side, they wouldn't have to worry about pace. They can still cope with it.

The problem with the A-League is that if you up the ante too much, it seems to me that a lot of players cannot cope.

In the Championship, technique can still cope with the fast tempo (it's not exactly absolutely consistent across the board but you get my drift).

In the Serie A, the players can cope with the quicker tempo (and passages of play are played out at lightning speed in the Serie A), they just choose to regulate it better than it is in the Championship, imo.

Edited by quickflick: 16/5/2016 09:59:23 PM

if you feel that, then you must feel the Azerbaijan Premier League is a little bit better standard then the A_league... Azerbaijan Premier League and Scottish Premier League are about the same

this is the thing i can't get over, how Rogic bully the defender of the ball in SPL.....we know Rogic footwork on the ball is a high skill of his game, but not this