A million-dollar air swing, a cow paddock, and our own Joey Barton

While football can be a beautiful and sublime experience it can also be quite frustrating and dull at times. The Sydney FC vs Newcastle Jets game was a very frustrating game to watch.

Australia’s most expensive footballer in any code locally John Aloisi produced an air swing that offered hope to all uncoordinated kids around the country that maybe one day, they too could play for the Socceroos.

Besides the score line being 0-0, the other most frustrating aspect of the game was the state of the pitch. It has been two weeks since any rugby league has been played on the Energy Australia Stadium pitch.

Rugby league markings were still visible and so were the advertising markings. While the other codes clamour to get as much advertising as they can get on the pitch, football is a game where the playing surface is left alone.

The pitch is one of the only places left where advertising is shunned as a mark of respect for the game, the players and the spectators.

So how hard is it?

Is it a conspiracy by the NRL to paint the advertising on the grounds so thick and hard that even after two weeks with no games the marking are still evident?

The ground sharing situation between the codes means the problem will not go away until football gets its own stadiums and that will be 10-20 years away. But with the FFA making a bid for the 2018 World Cup, perhaps the other codes will have to treat their co-tenants with a bit more respect in the future especially if we win the bid.

Mitchell Prentice is doing his best to anoint himself as the thug of the A-League. Getting arrested for a restaurant fracas in the off-season almost cost him a contract with Sydney FC.

Kossie then gave him a second chance and Prentice chose to repay him by getting sent off in the last trial game before the season started, earning himself a two-game ban.
Kossie then gave him another chance and gave him a run against Newcastle and then again Prentice repaid Kossie and the patience of the Sydney fans by getting himself sent off after coming on as a sub and lasting only 17 minutes.