Mariners vs Sydney

[striker]

went to training today and tommy was on absolute fire........

hope he saves some energy for saturday nite

 

[fedelta]

matt simon needs xrays to see if he has a broken bone in his foot and is also in doubt

When did Matt Simon injure his foot?

 

[Rowdy]

Petrovski said the team's run of form was attributable to the experience McKinna had added to the squad.

"Maybe they were lacking a bit of experience, and not just in the front line. There were crucial areas they've recruited in - Greg Owens, myself, John Aloisi - they've done their homework on what went wrong last year. The signings have made a big difference and the boys who have come in have been brilliant.

"I'm playing week in week out and SCORING, I'm challenging for the Golden Boot."

WTF!, tell him he's dreaming. I think he thinks the golden boot is already 'in his pool-room'  ;D

wouldn't be a fair dinkum interview with Sasho if there weren't lines like those in it. always talking himself up  :

Sash, played 14 games, scored 6 goals means a scoring % of 38.
Nik  , played 3 games, scored 2 goals means a scoring % of 75
JA  , played 8 games, scored 4 goals means a scoring % of 50

I think he should have put more goals in the back of the net than what he has, when looking at his time on the park.

 

[marinermick]

matt simon needs xrays to see if he has a broken bone in his foot and is also in doubt

When did Matt Simon injure his foot?

at training

he said said he kicked sasho and came out second best

 

[Pete]

matt simon needs xrays to see if he has a broken bone in his foot and is also in doubt

When did Matt Simon injure his foot?

at training

he said said he kicked sasho and came out second best

Was Matt trying to create his own playing opportunities? ;D

 

[Omni]

Kossie was pretty pissed off at Bolton too so it'll be interesting to see what happens, I'd be pissed off if one of my players hid an injury from me too!

 

[BrisRecky]

"hypothetically"....suppose a player had a family thing organised for this weekend because he thought the 22nd would be a free weekend...what do ya think he could do???

 

[Omni]

Isn't the Heff's brother getting married or something of that effect???

Ultimately Recky - you have a contract and you have to hope that your club will be sympathetic otherwise, you just have to honour it and play, at this stage of the season I don't like any player's chances.

 

[BrisRecky]

Got it in one OMNI, Sonic is best manning it ...or so he thought...lets  see...wedding in Sydney at 5.oopm + wedding banquet...lets see how SONIC he really is

 

[Omni]

Heff's brother plays too so I'm sure he'd understand, I guess Heff will attend the wedding and then sprint up the F3 missing the reception, surely the wedding is the important part, I'd rather people come to my wedding than the reception.

And Spenny did the F3 sprint last year, as did a team of referees so it's been done on match day before.

 

[Andy]

Jedinak takes a swipe at whoninho.

Juninho a sub at our club: Mile

Greg Prichard​

CENTRAL Coast's midfield is functioning so well one of the players involved, Mile Jedinak, says they would not want to change it to accommodate any player from any other team in the competition - including Sydney FC's Brazilian superstar Juninho.

"I've played against him [Juninho] a couple of times now and it's a great honour," Jedinak said yesterday. "But if Juninho was asking for a run at our club, well It's a toughie, but I think you've got to stick with your mates who have taken the team this far and I'd be quite happy to stick."

Sydney midfielder Steve Corica was bemused to hear Jedinak would not be able to find a place for Juninho, saying: "Is that right? Juninho's won a World Cup. I've got a huge respect for him."

No one will have to worry about Juninho when the Mariners play Sydney at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday night, as he is still out with a knee injury. Washed out from its original date (December 1), the intriguing clash will be the only A-League game on what was meant to be a clear weekend for all teams.

Fifth-placed Sydney will move into the top four with a win, while a victory to Central Coast would kick them six points clear at the top of the table with four rounds left. Ticket sales indicate there is a big chance the regular-season crowd record for the venue of 15,404 will be broken.

Injury and suspension have meant Central Coast's preferred midfield combination of Jedinak, Tom Pondeljak, Greg Owens and John Hutchinson has only started a handful of games this season, but they were together in last weekend's 2-1 away win over Adelaide and will be retained against Sydney.

The Mariners are usually at their best when that quartet is intact and Jedinak says they complement each other so well.

"Tom has the flair that makes him very dangerous in attack, while my game is more about defence and organisation," Jedinak said. "'Grego' and 'Hutch' bring a really good mix of attack and defence in their games. Apart from that, we've got a really strong belief in each other and a pretty good understanding as well.

"When one of us has got the ball the rest of us can usually sense what he is going to do."

Asked if the Mariners midfield was the best in the competition, Jedinak replied: "That's hard to say. I personally believe that's a bold statement you probably shouldn't make, but I can say that after playing against everyone else I wouldn't want anyone by my side ahead of the guys we've already got here."

Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna also wasn't biting on whether his midfield was the A-League's best.

"There are a lot of good midfields in this competition. You look at Queensland's, you look at Sydney's," he said. "But what I will say is that ours is as good as any other midfield. The balance we've got is what makes it."

McKinna didn't flinch when told Jedinak wouldn't want to swap anyone for Juninho. "That's how it is in our team," he said. "They're a great bunch of guys who have tremendous respect for each other."

Jedinak and McKinna don't expect Sydney to be left with any mental scars from their 4-2 loss to bottom side Perth last weekend. Corica said Sydney had put the result behind them.

"We're professionals, so we move on," he said. "If we win this week, the loss to Perth will be a distant memory, but we're well aware we're going to have to play really well to get a win. It's a big game and it'll be a big crowd, so we're looking forward to it."

I f*cking love the media in the week leading up to a Derby game!

 

[marinersman]

From today's SMH.

Juninho a sub at our club: Mile
Greg Prichard
December 20, 2007

CENTRAL Coast's midfield is functioning so well one of the players involved, Mile Jedinak, says they would not want to change it to accommodate any player from any other team in the competition - including Sydney FC's Brazilian superstar Juninho.

"I've played against him [Juninho] a couple of times now and it's a great honour," Jedinak said yesterday. "But if Juninho was asking for a run at our club, well It's a toughie, but I think you've got to stick with your mates who have taken the team this far and I'd be quite happy to stick."

Sydney midfielder Steve Corica was bemused to hear Jedinak would not be able to find a place for Juninho, saying: "Is that right? Juninho's won a World Cup. I've got a huge respect for him."

No one will have to worry about Juninho when the Mariners play Sydney at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday night, as he is still out with a knee injury. Washed out from its original date (December 1), the intriguing clash will be the only A-League game on what was meant to be a clear weekend for all teams.

Fifth-placed Sydney will move into the top four with a win, while a victory to Central Coast would kick them six points clear at the top of the table with four rounds left. Ticket sales indicate there is a big chance the regular-season crowd record for the venue of 15,404 will be broken.

Injury and suspension have meant Central Coast's preferred midfield combination of Jedinak, Tom Pondeljak, Greg Owens and John Hutchinson has only started a handful of games this season, but they were together in last weekend's 2-1 away win over Adelaide and will be retained against Sydney.

The Mariners are usually at their best when that quartet is intact and Jedinak says they complement each other so well.

"Tom has the flair that makes him very dangerous in attack, while my game is more about defence and organisation," Jedinak said. "'Grego' and 'Hutch' bring a really good mix of attack and defence in their games. Apart from that, we've got a really strong belief in each other and a pretty good understanding as well.

"When one of us has got the ball the rest of us can usually sense what he is going to do."

Asked if the Mariners midfield was the best in the competition, Jedinak replied: "That's hard to say. I personally believe that's a bold statement you probably shouldn't make, but I can say that after playing against everyone else I wouldn't want anyone by my side ahead of the guys we've already got here."

Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna also wasn't biting on whether his midfield was the A-League's best.

"There are a lot of good midfields in this competition. You look at Queensland's, you look at Sydney's," he said. "But what I will say is that ours is as good as any other midfield. The balance we've got is what makes it."

McKinna didn't flinch when told Jedinak wouldn't want to swap anyone for Juninho. "That's how it is in our team," he said. "They're a great bunch of guys who have tremendous respect for each other."

Jedinak and McKinna don't expect Sydney to be left with any mental scars from their 4-2 loss to bottom side Perth last weekend. Corica said Sydney had put the result behind them.

"We're professionals, so we move on," he said. "If we win this week, the loss to Perth will be a distant memory, but we're well aware we're going to have to play really well to get a win. It's a big game and it'll be a big crowd, so we're looking forward to it."

Bring it on. In the context of our season, it doesn't get any bigger than this.

Is it possible we can get 16,000? As Kev Karmody once penned "from little things big things grow".

 

[marinersman]

Sorry boys and girls, my bad. Andy posted while I was doing mine.

Apologies to all!

 

[FFC Mariner]

Worth reading twice

 

[Andy]

Milligan is in doubt with a virus, however i'd expect him to play.

If he doesn't play, it certainly leaves Sydney's back line looking very, very shaky. Could you imagine having Tommy, Sasho and the right Aloisi playing against a back four that looks like this:

Middleby  Fyfe  Popovic  Tsatallios.

 

[Omni]

Because their back four did *SUCH* a great job last week

(that's sarcasm for all who didn't see it)

 

[Pete]

Milligan is in doubt with a virus, however i'd expect him to play.

If he doesn't play, it certainly leaves Sydney's back line looking very, very shaky. Could you imagine having Tommy, Sasho and the right Aloisi playing against a back four that looks like this:

Middleby  Fyfe  Popovic  Tsatallios.

LOL, there's even a suggestion by the writer of bringing in Biddle!

Poppa will probably man mark Aloisi, but Poppa can't be everywhere. Saso and Tommy to cut loose?

 

[Omni]

Saso does owe us a Hatrick against FC!

 

[Andy]

Official Squads

  V 

Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC
Saturday, December 22, 7pm AEDT
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1. Matthew Trott (gk), 2. Matt Simon, 3. Paul Ogrady, 5. Bradley Porter, 6. Andre Gumprecht, 7. John Hutchinson, 8. Dean Heffernan, 10. Tom Pondeljak, 11. Damien Brown, 12. Greg Owens, 13. Tony Vidmar, 15. Andrew Clark, 16. Nigel Boogaard, 18. Alex Wilkinson (Captain), 19. Adam Kwasnik, 20. Danny Vukovic (gk), 22. Sasho Petrovski, 23. Mile Jedinak, 25. John Aloisi.
*four to be omitted

In: Bradley Porter (Promoted), Andre Gumprecht (Promoted), Damien Brown (Promoted), Nigel Boogaard (Promoted)
Out: None
Unavailable: Nik Mrdja (Knee, Season), Matthew Osman (Knee, Season)

Sydney FC squad: 1. Clint Bolton (gk), 2. Iain Fyfe, 3. Nikolas Tsattalios, 6. Tony Popovic (Captain), 7. Robbie Middleby, 9. David Zdrilic, 10. Steve Corica, 11. Brendon Santalab, 14. Alex Brosque, 15. Terry Mcflynn, 16. Mark Milligan, 20. Ivan Necevski (Gk), 21. Adam Biddle, 23. Ufuk Talay, 28. Michael Bridges, 29. Mark Robertson.
*one to be omitted

In: Nik Tsattalios (promoted)
Out: Mark Rudan (transferred)
Unavailable: Juninho (knee, 2 weeks), Patrick (knee, 1 week), Jacob Timpano (thigh, 4 weeks), Adam Casey (leg, 8 weeks), Michael Enfield (knee, 6 months). Ruben Zadkovich (suspended, 1 week)


Stats, Facts & Milestones

Having not lost any of their previous six away matches, Sydney FC will be aiming to become only the third Hyundai A-League club to record an streak of seven away matches without defeat. The only two other clubs to achieve a seven or more undefeated away streak were Central Coast Mariners (in the 2005/06 season) and Melbourne Victory (2006/07). The last time Sydney FC lost away was a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle in the Hyundai A-League 2007 Minor Semi Final - 2nd leg, in February 2007.

Meanwhile Central Coast Mariners' Andrew Clark is set to make his 50th Hyundai A-League appearance in this match.

Boogaard supposedly has a 50-50 chance of playing, and if he does play, Lawrie will be picking from a pretty much full-strength squad.
I have a really good feeling about this one. I'm picking a 3-1 win. 2 for Aloisi, Sasho with the other and either Brosque or Bridges to score for Bling.

 

[Andy]

MILLIGAN RULED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!