The Football Sack

.

  • South sees red as Hume unite
    Second placed giants South Melbourne went down to fourth placed Hume City FC in spectacular fashion on Sunday at Broadmeadows Valley Park (J...
  • WA 'All Flags' State League: Round Eight
    ECU Joondalup and Mandurah United played out a hugely disappointing goalless draw at ECU Joondalup Stadium A on Saturday afternoon. It was...
  • VPL Club Focus: Oakleigh Cannons
    With the Alanic Victorian Premier League approaching the half way mark of their season we have put together a mid-season review of the leagu...
  • Olympic fire past Parramatta 1-0
    ANZAC Day was remembered at Melita Stadium on Monday with a visit by third placed Sydney Olympic taking on NSW Premier League cellar dweller...
  • WA 'All Flags' State League: Round Nine
    Mandurah City 0-1 Floreat Athena Floreat Athena notched their first win of the season after the long trip down to Mandurah’s Hyundai Stadiu...
Westfield W-League  

Enter your email address:

We will not send you any further emails or spam, just our W-League articles.

Hyundai A-League  

Enter your email address:

We will not send you any further emails or spam, just our A-League articles.

A-League Webcomic  

Receive the weekly Sack Attack Hyundai A-League Webcomic directly to your email.

Enter your email address:

We will not send you any further emails or spam, just the webcomic.

State Leagues  

GCU Mid Season Report Card

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

by
The Football Sack team have put together a report card assessing each club's season to date. Do you agree with the grade we've given to our version six students?

Semester Summary
Gold Coast United are one of the four teams that have managed to separate themselves from the pack. They are eight points clear of fifth place Wellington Phoenix with two games in hand. United have been consistently fighting for a top place finish, and if certain results go their way they could easily see themselves with some silverware come season end.

Areas of Excellence
Bleiberg's men have only lost two games at home this season, from nine, which is fantastic considering what little advantage it is to play there.

Areas in need of improvement
The elephant in the room is the lack of crowds. However, on the park, Gold Coast need to start scoring more often. Lacking attacking structure, in some part due to Jason Culina's tendency to try and do everything himself, throwing himself around the park leaving no tactical organisation, and also in part to not being able to regularly keep the same attacking combinations for lengthy period of times, scoring goals has been United's Achilles heel.

Top Students
Jason Culina has led by example. He's played every minute of every game, and is the teams highest goalscorer with five to his name. Bruce Djite has shown moments of magic, and Michael Thwaite's Socceroos call-up is tribute to his form. James Brown also deserves a mention.

Class Clowns
It has to be Clive. Owner Clive Palmer has continued to run the club into the ground this season. Despite having a passionate, albeit small supporter base, Palmer has let the Robina precinct become a ghost-town. Only last Boxing Day The Football Sack witnessed a Skilled Park filled with 10 000 fans. Granted a third were there for the Roar, but there is a fanbase out there, desperate for the club to engage with them.

Grade
B-

Individual grade for Clive Palmer: F

Outlook
Short term outlook is good, with the club seemingly already guaranteed a finals position. Long term however looks cloudy, with a lot of talk surrounding the future and viability of such a small supporter base. Things need to change. Either Clive needs to put his pride aside, start again and engage with the community, or the FFA need to re-sell the license to a bidder who is willing too.