The A-League is back for its sixth inception and continues last season’s trend of adding new franchises to the tournament. Melbourne Heart have made Melbourne the first city with a proper rivalry and introduce an extra edge of competition to what was already a tight league. Heart’s introduction takes the total of clubs to 11 and means a 30 game regular season which will further increase the importance of the squad for all A-League teams. On the downside, the uneven numbers means equal games played is no longer possible.

A change to the marquee player rules now allows teams to have two players on terms outside the salary cap, one international and one Australian. Whether teams can afford this is an issue, and may create a gap between the haves and the have nots.

Since last a ball was kicked North Queensland Fury have only narrowly managed to stay in existence with the FFA stepping in to keep them ticking over, for now at least. No surprise then that they’ve lost the league’s prize asset, Robbie Fowler, who has joined Perth Glory. What is more surprising is that Fowler chose Perth over the reigning champions Sydney, with a more personal approach from Glory owner Tony Sage paying off.

The season starts with new boys Melbourne Heart taking on Central Coast Mariners before Robbie Fowler gets to make his home debut against his old team, and then a massive Saturday night showdown between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, last season’s first and second in the league and grand finalists, getting to pick up their rivalry right where it left off last time round.

Here’s an overview of the teams competing for the 2010/11 A-League:


Adelaide United

After finishing bottom of the league last time out Adelaide rallied for the Asian Champions League campaign and did themselves proud getting through the group phase with a severely depleted squad. In the round of 16 they finally went down 3-2 to K-League champions Jeonbuk Motors, deep into extra time.

Coach Aurelio Vidmar left to join the Australian national team set-up and Rini Coolen has been appointed in his stead, although with only a month to go before the season began. Not that he’s going to be rushed, promising that he’d take time to get to know his players, evaluate his squad and make playing decisions based on this.

So far, so rational, but Coolen will need to get Adelaide up and firing soon, they are a squad that’s worth better than last place and a repeat would be a shame.

Key Arrivals: Sergio van Dijk (Brisbane Roar); Marco Flores (Curico Unido); Nigel Boogard (Central Coast Mariners)
Key Departures: Scott Jamieson (Sydney FC); Michael Marrone (Melbourne Heart); Cristiano (released)
Prediction: 9th


Brisbane Roar

Brisbane managed to avoid the wooden spoon by a mere point last season, finishing below Queensland rivals North Queensland Fury and Central Coast, despite being an established team. Much blame falls squarely on the shoulders of coach Ange Postecoglu who joined Roar and immediately set about getting some backs up. Previous coach Frank Farina’s DUI issue was a fair enough reason to change the man at the helm, but the board were quickly made to doubt their choice.

 

In quick succession four players had left, including Socceroo Craig Moore, unable to deal with the new management. Postecoglu’s response: “Some people will judge us today on those decisions. That’s their prerogative. Most people will judge us in 12 months time as to whether we’re right or wrong.” Having let his team break up and cast his fate to history, this season will be defining for him.

Key Arrivals: Milan Susak (Unterhaching); Thomas Broich (Nurnberg); Shane Stefanutto (North Queensland Fury); Erik Paartalu (Greenock Morton)
Key Departures: Tommy Oar (Utrecht); Sergio van Dyke (Adelaide United); Adam Sarota (Utrecht); Michael Zullo (Utrecht)
Prediction: 11th


Central Coast Mariners

You never know quite what to expect with Central Coast Mariners. They finished last season third bottom but just four points off a playoff spot. In a very open league they weren’t quite good enough, but on their day were always competitive. In February coach Lawrie McKinna moved in to a back-office role, replaced by former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold to take the team forward.

The impression that the Mariners often seem low on luck might be simply a reflection of their limited, but spirited playing style. What they’ll look like under Arnold is anyone’s guess and after a bright opening their pre-season has stalled. The signings of Patrick Zwaanswijk from NAC Breda and Joshua Rose from Romania side Universitatea Craiova have added some much need quality to the squad. Keeping the first eleven fit might be the key.

Key Arrivals: Joshua Rose (Universitatea Craiova); Patricio Perez (Defensa y Justicia); Patrick Zwaanswijk (NAC Breda); Jess Vanstrattan (Gold Coast United)
Key Departures: None
Prediction: 8th


Gold Coast United

Australia’s champagne team, Gold Coast United impressed in their maiden season, finishing third and providing some real quality throughout. With Jason Culina pulling the strings they always looked a threat and in Shane Smeltz had the A-League’s undisputed No.1 marksman. Smeltz left the club for Shandong Luneng in China but came back again, refusing to say why it was he’d left. Gold Coast’s fans will be breathing a sigh of relief whatever the reason.

Coach Miron Bleiberg looks like a winner and it would be surprising if they don’t make a real title push. Former Man Utd and Blackburn defender John Curtis has signed for a season and the goalkeeping vacancy left by Jess Vanstrattan’s amicable departure was quickly filled by Glen Moss of Melbourne Victory. A balanced, ambitious team, with a smart coach and a burning desire, owner Clive Palmer will expect nothing but a trophy.

Key Arrivals: John Curtis (Northampton Town); Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory)
Key Departures: Jess Vanstrattan (Central Coast Mariners); Charlie Miller (released)
Prediction: 2nd


Melbourne Heart

When a team is first created you can’t really gauge how they’ll go. Last season Gold Coast went straight up and North Queensland Fury straight down before form told and both finished somewhere in between. Melbourne Heart have liberally skimmed some experienced A-League campaigners and should at the very least hold their own, even if age is not on their side. Clint Bolton, Simon Colosimo and John Aloisi all signed from Sydney FC represent the spine of the championship winning side from last season and all were snapped up early on.

The appointment of Bon Jovi as Heart’s No.1 International Ticket Holder (sic) combines a nice charitable act with a wanton publicity stunt and may be a sign of what’s to come. Dutch coach John Van ‘t Schip is keen to keep expectations realistic, but there’s a suspicion he just doesn’t know how they’ll fare. On paper they have the talent to at least reach the playoffs.

Key Arrivals: Clint Bolton (Sydney FC); Michael Beauchamp (Al-Jazira); Simon Colosimo (Sydney FC); Gerald Sibon (Heerenveen); Michael Marrone (Adelaide United); Josip Skoko (Hadjuk Split); John Aloisi (Sydney FC)
Key Departures: None
Prediction: 7th


Melbourne Victory

After being beaten to both the minor premiership and the championship by Sydney in a pulsating end of season Melbourne will be looking to get back to the top. The most successful team in the league know what they have to do, have the firepower to do it and will be putting last season behind them.

A very poor Asian Champions League campaign was not the end of the world as some of these players certainly needed a rest. Kevin Muscat just keeps on going and the core of the team remains the same. They know they have a winning formula, and now they have local rivals, Melbourne Victory will be champing at the bit to prove their superiority. How long striker Archie Thompson takes to start firing on all cylinders again may be the real decider though.

Key Arrivals: Diogo Ferreira (Green Gully)
Key Departures: Mitchell Langerak (Borussia Dortmund); Glen Moss (Gold Coast United)
Prediction: 3rd


Newcastle Jets

The Jets rocketed up to sixth in the table last time out despite having the second worst defensive record in the league. Coach Branko Culina knows his football, and is a formidable pundit, but the main strengths of the team he puts out seems to be their remarkable fitness. This is combined with an inattention to details and a tendency to switch off.

With Michael Bridges now captain and a good pre-season behind them, Newcastle Jets have added Chinese international Zhang Shuo and Italian Marcello Fiorentini and welcome back Tarek Elrich from injury. This is not a balanced team, with too little quality at the back for a serious push, but it should make good viewing either way.

Key Arrivals: Jeremy Brockie (North Queensland Fury); Ruben Zadkovich (Derby County); Kasey Wehrman (Fredrikstad FK); Zhang Shuo (Persik Khediri); Marcello Fiorentini (AC Palazzolo)
Key Departures: Matthew Thompson (Melbourne Heart); Jason Hoffman (Melbourne Heart); Song Jin Hyung (Tours)
Prediction: 5th


North Queensland Fury

After the storm the calm. North Queensland Fury failed to live up to expectations last season. Whilst Robbie Fowler was a qualified success in an often misfiring team, poor financial management, an inability to get the Townsville folk to come to the stadium and the very public breakdown in player-coach relations was damning and not a good advert for the sport. Indeed, for quite a while it looked very unlikely that Fury would be playing this time round.

 

New Czech coach Franz Straka has it all to do but comes battle hardened with international experience. Fowler is gone, but Togo international Eric Akoto is in, and the impressive young David Williams has committed to another season, as have the FFA, who have pledged to bankroll them as needs be. And sure, Fowler is suing them a little, but that’s a sideshow compared to the effort needed to rebuild the entire team. Expect a struggle, throughout.

Key Arrivals: Adam Casey (Syndey FC); Simon Storey (Aidrie United); Matthew Ham (Brisbane Roar); Mark Hughes (Walsall); Eric Akoto (OFI Crete); Gareth Edds (Tranmere Rovers); Isaka Cernak (Brisbane Roar)
Key Departures: Robbie Fowler (Perth Glory); Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets); Shane Steffanuto (Brisbane Roar); John Tambouras (Guangzhou FC); Rostyn Griffiths (Central Coast Mariners)
Prediction: 10th

 


Perth Glory

Perth Glory finished a decent fifth in the last season and have certainly built on what they achieved, signing Robbie Fowler and more recently Michael Baird to complete a formidable range of attacking options. Add to that the signing of Fowler’s old boss, Ian Ferguson, under coach David Mitchell and it‘s clear there’s a formidable back-office staff too.

Trips to Perth will never be easy and whilst Glory should be easy on the eye scoring goals was in any case not a problem last season. Fowler has been brought in to get fans coming to the games, but the real progress will need to happen on the training pitch. 10 losses did for them last time out, but it was their early season form that was their undoing. Hitting the ground running will be vital.

Key Arrivals: Robbie Fowler (North Queensland Fury); Josh Mitchell (Universitatea Craiova); Michael Baird (Universitatea Craiova); Steven McGarry (Motherwell)
Key Departures: Wayne Shroj (Melbourne Heart)
Prediction: 4th


Sydney FC

Sydney come in to this season on the back of a victorious campaign, but know the chasing pack haven’t given up and will be looking for blood. The Melbourne – Sydney rivalry is bad enough without having it doubled. How they react will be interesting. One thing is for sure, their re-jigged team has lost some valuable experience.

How coach Vitezslav Lavicka makes up for the retirement of Steve Corica and departure of Karel Kisel will no doubt determine their plight. Nick Carle has been bought in, but is not a like-for-like replacement for either. None-the-less he’ll be expected to pull the strings and make things happen. If Kofi Danning can get a good run under his belt there’s every chance of another title push, after all, how do you write off the champions?

Key Arrivals: Liam Reddy (Wellington Pheonix); Scott Jamieson (Adelaide United); Nick Carle (Crystal Palace)
Key Departures: Karol Kisel (Slavia Prague); Clint Bolton (Melbourne Heart); Simon Colosimo (Melbourne Heart); John Aloisi (Melbourne Heart); Steve Corica (retired)
Prediction: 1st

 


Wellington Phoenix

Wellington Phoenix were the success story of last season, flying across the pond to play some of the most exciting and passionate football in the competition, finishing fourth and making it to within one game of the grand final. Key to that was the superb coaching of Ricki Herbert, the man who also led New Zealand at the World Cup. That’s he’s still with Phoenix is great news for the local game, if also a surprise. There’s been very little transfer movement, but keeping Herbert is worth a few marquee players.

Eugene Dadi’s introduction to the team late last season added power and spice to an already sparkling attack of Paul Ifill and Chris Greenacre and that should continue despite his departure. Leo Bertos and Michael Brown controlled the midfield with artistry and they had the second best defence in the division. Can they go to the next level and make a real push at a title? You can’t dismiss the idea as fantasy as you would have 12 months ago, but it’s still a little beyond them. A recent friendly win over Boca Juniors should give them belief.

Key Arrivals: Dylan Macallister (Central Coast Mariners); Oscar Roberto Cornejo (Neuva Chicago); Mirjan Pavlovic (Syndey United); Jade North (Tromso)
Key Departures: John McKain (Al Nassr); Eugene Dadi (released); Liam Reddy (Syndey FC)
Prediction: 6th