The Crossbar: A New Year revolution

Three Hyundai A-League matches on New Year's Eve gave football fans something to stay up late for, other than a spinning rainbow of course. Whilst the first two games were uninspiring draws, the evening culminated in Brisbane Roar breaking their five game losing streak with a 3-1 win against Melbourne Victory.

Spinning rainbow or this?

Healthy crowds across the country for these festive A-League fixtures is exactly the boost league needs heading into the new year. I predict a New Year A-League revolution - an exciting run to finals football with several teams fighting for top honours, including the unlikely Melbourne Heart, the likely CC Mariners and the possibly-likely-but-only-if-Broich-comes-back-soon Brisbane Roar. Start selling the Che Guevara hats, whether you like it or not, the We are Football slogan has started a revolution and next week's Big Wednesday is our Tahrir Square.


These snuck under the Crossbar and into The Sack (Likes)

1. The emergence of Melbourne Heart as title contenders. John van't Schip's boys are so hot right now that new Adelaide United coach John Kosmina stated he wants to model his team on their success. @Mands_22_ 

2. Football over the festive season. Well done A-League, well done indeed. Big Bash may have the more exciting Twitter hashtags, but we've got a guy with a Santa hat down his pants. So there.
@borgsta1978

3. Harry Kewell scoring. In open play. For the first time this season. More now please Harry.
@TheCONDO

4. The final weeks of Westfield W-League action. We at The Football Sack wish our bloggers Thea Slatyer and Jodie Tayler all the best in their final appearances for the season. If you haven't read their blogs yet, do it. @WOMENLVFOOTBALL  

5. Mich Nichols sticking it to the crowd. He scored and made sure the whole of Suncorp new the name on the back of his shirt. Good on you Mitch, boos and taunts directed at your own players is poor form given the 36 undefeated.


6. Festive balls. Who doesn't love a football with a party hat? 


What went over the Crossbar (Dislikes)

1. Liam Reddy playing NRL. We know it's in your blood Liam, but you don't need to prove your hereditary talent to all of Australia by flick passing a (round) ball to Alex Terra for Heart's fourth.
@MatthewRT (Yep, that's me)

2. No New Year's Day game. Why stop a good thing? Decent crowds on NYE show it would have been a hit, and five games this coming Wednesday could prove a little overwhelming, or at least keep all A-League viewers indoors instead of at a ground.
@favin3 

3. Victory's inability. Let's face it, a winning team in their current form they are not. With Mehmet Durakovic at the helm they've a better chance of being fined for cliché overuse than climbing the A-League ladder.
@MattKMarsden 

4. Tiago Calvano's dive and theatrics. Billy Mehmet's straight red card changed the game between Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory. The ten remaining Glory men couldn't hold onto their well fought 1-0 lead meaning yet another A-League game has been decided by a controversial refereeing decision.
@growe19

5. Cues outside Hyundai A-League games when they've already started. On more than one occasion recently I've had people tell me they've walked away from stadiums because there was a large wait to purchase tickets. We as a sport need to do everything we can to keep people coming back, and not getting punters in on time, or delaying the game slightly, well there's something wrong with that. 

6. Scott Condon, permanent writer of The Crossbar, taking a holiday. He'll be back in coming week's with your weekly likes and dislikes for the Hyundai A-League.