The game is officially a sellout.

When Recoba missed I turned to my mate and said we had this. When he was replaced I breathed a lot easier. Watching back on replays you can hear the ball fizzing as it spins from his corners.

NAC Breda call Balard the Aussie Kante.

I am less worried about Triantis than Balard. Nectar's is looking into his club future. Hibs want a permanent move and Sunderland moving to the Premier League. Bellingham is moving on from Sunderland but there is no guarantee that Triantis would get game time at Sunderland.

We'll miss the top 2 with that squad. Hopefully that means the end of Popovic and he can be replaced.

They spoke to him last night. He said they leave to camp today so I would expect him to be in it..

For someone that is a supposed "big game player" (as per the commentators) Arzani has won an Australia Cup, a Scottish cup where he played 5 minutes, a Scottish Premiership where he played 23 minutes and a Scottish Premiership where he never got on the field as well as one goal in a friendly for...

He was just a boy!!

His assistants didn't

Up from $27M. Some would be payouts to Arnie's assistants. Without the purchase of AFC rights which will turn a profit in the coming years there would have been a profit.

I would say he has laid good foundations - but much work is yet to be done. If his successors build on those foundations I think he will be remembered fondly. But there is the rub, football has had opportunities over the years only to shoot themselves in the foot.

Locally Alex Davani looks to be the pick of probable candidates. Internationally I have no idea.

If he goes to FIFA hopefully we can look forward to the 'Pacifica' confederation being formed with East Asia and Oceania.

The bigger clubs will concentrate on youth - which means the Jets and CCM won't have a point of difference to offer more likely game time.

CCM team and academy has been gutted for two seasons in a row. But the real reason I don't think Newcastle is on the rise is the parting of the ways with Stanton and the rumours that many of their more exciting players may be going as well. Let's see who is there at the beginning of next season...

Crowds are up - not astronomically - still smaller crowds than the smaller CCM who have had a poor season and whose crowds are down. Stanton leaving is a mistake!!

TBH an amalgamation of viable AL teams and Championship sides under the FA would make the most sense.

I agree with the bolded bits, however, I think he is well worth a look at with the first team squad. He is a player with a 'x' factor that maybe the 'very good' players in front of him don't have. He can change a game very quickly and having him on the bench against one of the lesser teams like...

He built the basis of the team at CCM in the NPL side that won then many of them backed up and won back to back in the ALM after Peil shafted him and brought in Luke Wilkshire - a period they are still recovering from.

I do remember a novel which I thought was called Goalkeepers are different I read at school. There is a book called that by Brian Glanville. However this one was set in Sydney around Erskineville. I've been looking for it but no luck.