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Kamau needs to bulk up a bit more I reckon. He’s knocked off the ball too easily week after week. He puts in a shift but that doesn’t go far if you’re dispossed with a little shoulder or hip bump every time you’re on the ball.

This time of year always serves to remind me that I must be crazy to keep putting my hand up for Exec positions at my club. Off season feels shorter every year

And to be fair, Riera is also one of our best defenders. He clears the ball more often than our fullbacks some games.

It comes down to what’s in his contract surely? IIRC, it was a condition of Gombau’s contract that we made the finals in his first season. We didn’t, and the club exercised its option to terminate the contract. Babbel has a 3 year contract. Whether he stays beyond the first year will no doubt come down to whatever KPIs are in his employment agreement.

Good idea actually. Walking fewer stairs will be easier on my dodgy knee too.

Any views on lower tier vs upper tiers for the Eastern stand? I was lower tier Black on the Western stand (last row, really close to exit and toilets which was a huge bonus when taking little kids to the games) and I’m going to miss those seats. I only had two seats then compared to four now. Cost of upgrading would be too much. Oh well, it is what it is. I’m trying to work out if it’s better to be upper or lower in the new stadium, but can’t really work it out. Which is less likely to lead to my two red-headed kids spontaneously combusting at a late afternoon game?

He was on loan from his Eredivisie club. He’s going back to Holland. Sure, he’ll probably get loaned back out again but in this instance it’s fair to say that leaving is just standard club business. Loan players being bought by the lending club at the end of the loan are the exception, not the rule.

Follows him on Instagram, I see? Frankly I’m surprised that a professional footballer is paid so badly the poor guy apparently can’t afford any shirts…

This is it precisely in my view. They seem to be going over to Europe to be cheap squaddies who never play unless a plague of injuries strike. I think regular World Cup football also has a role to play. When the golden generation were establishing their careers, World Cup qualification was still a bit of a pipe dream, so the young guys were more prepared to work hard in the background in the hope that they’d break through eventually. Now that we are expected to qualify every Cup, players are petrified of not getting enough minutes and being left out of squads, so they keep running home again for game time. While it’s great we have a league that continues to grow and become more professional, it also carries the risk of providing a safe and warm fallback for the talented yet less driven or overly cautious players. That’s how it looks from my arm chair at least. People with actual talent and experience will no doubt have a different view.

That’s the one. I thought he tried to hit it with the outside of his right boot. Either way, his shoot ***** still needs work.

Are you sure about the shot? There was one shot where I thought he’d used his left, but the replay on TV* showed he’d actually used the outside of his right, which is why he shanked it so bad. * I was at the ground for the W-League game, but a combination of tired and cranky 5 year old, and the fact that I’m still on crutches after fracturing my knee joint playing indoor in October meant that we took the path of least resistance and went home before the main game kicked off. W-League was great though. I love watching them. Not a dive or dramatic flop after a tackle to be seen.

Here’s a fun (ha!) experiment. Watch Jumpei for a whole match when he was the ball. Count how many times he uses his left foot the whole game. He will turn himself inside out instead of passing with his left. He will stop, start, spin around and twirl towards freedom rather than fake with his right and jink the ball away with his left. He contorts himself to make weak shots with the outside of his right boot rather than just tap it in with his left. Frankly I don’t reckon he’d even use his left foot to step onto the bus. Opposition players know to just keep push him out wide, show him the byline and wait for him to **** up trying to cut back in and use his right instead of having a red hot go with the left peg. I play O35 Div 6 and I reckon I’ve got a better left foot than he does...

Oh right. If that’s the case then yes, clearly a load of bollocks.

Gatty is rusted on Mariners. He might say he likes WSW, but there’s never been any doubt where his heart lies. He’s quite open about it.

Thing is though, nearly 30 years ago when I played U10, the strategy of all teams was to hoof it long from the back to the fast kid on the wing who would either run and score or run and pass to a striker. Mid field was non-existent, defenders were only taught "if in doubt kick it out or kick it long", and players were pigeon-holed early because the focus was on winning, not on developing any skills. This wasn’t just my club, this was basically how everyone played in Brisbane in the 80s. I look at the standard of football played in the older miniroos and it looks much better than I grew up with. Kids are picking up skills all over the park and seem to understand the game better. There’s more passing and attempts to build up play. If sacrificing the "win at all costs" mental toughness to build better skills is the price, then I for one am prepared to pay that price. Anyway, the kids know at the end of each game who won and lost, and kids know when they are having a good season or a **** season. They don’t need points on a table or a finals series for that. Trust me. I’ve seen too many tears and too much motivation to improve when things are going poorly over the last couple of years from young teams to believe any different. Just my 2c obviously, but I think there is more good than bad in our small-sided game compared to what I grew up with.