Two weeks from ground zero. This is not great.
Massimo Murdocca (broken leg)

Charlie Miller (groin)

Danny "I was going to retire but got talked out of it' Tiatto (back and hamstring)

Michael Zullo (shoulder)

Josh McCloughan (groin)

David Dodd (quadriceps)
Tommy Oar (quadriceps)
Reinaldo (osteitis pubis and ankle)

The Courier Mail is reporting that Brisbane Roar are trialing Motherwell's Bob Malcolm (28).
Malcolm has played 14 games this season for 3 goals and 5 yellow cards. Wikipedia report 20 games in 2008 and 2009 and injury limiting him to 45 games since 2006. He has played for Rangers, Derby County and QPR.

The A-League is shaping up for it's best season yet. There's still a way to go and expect a few more twists and turns but new teams, new players added to an established old guard seem to be getting the fans excited like never before.
The new teams: Gold Coast and North Queensland Fury, the bank and the paupers, top v bottom maybe.

Big Bob Malcolm, Scottish, has pushed Aussie Luke DeVere out of Centre-Back for Brisbane. Why? He hasn't improved the leaking Roar defence has he?
Was young Aussie Luke so poor last year when The Roar did so well.
And the embarrasingly fat Charlie Miller takes much of young Mitch Nicholls game time.

Not enough that Charlie Miller, last year's fan favourite, has disgraced himself, now he is back on the injured list. So is Danny Tiatto. Should have let them go.
Moore is out too - sorry he shouldn't be our marquee (I understand he is paid what so clubs pay players inside the cap).
Now we will probably play the A-League's worst player - Bob Malcolm.

Brisbane RFC 4 v Brisbane Wolves 1 - Very wet pitch (most games were canceled this weekend). Sounded even for most of the first half, Wolves went ahead before Craig Moore equalised. Van Dijk scored 4 including a late penalty scored by sub Charlie Miller. See Roar website for details.
Adelaide 1 v Perth 0 - even game with both sides perhaps lacking match fitness.

Too young, too quick, too slow, too fragile, whatever the reason, whatever your code I'm sure you've heard the criticism of the A-League.
But with the Socceroos heading to the FIFA 2010 World Cup few fans would expect to see the squad without a pack of A-League players.
Yes that's right the A-League will be sending a host of players to the World Cup,to one if not the greatest stage in World Sport.

Its great to see the National Australia Bank getting involved in supporting the identification of the next generation of Socceroos. The fact that the FFA now have attracted corporate sponsorship for its A-League Youth award is yet another indication of the growth of the game within this country.
Of course the NAB have been long time supporters of young sporting talent in this country with their long standing sponsorship deal with the AFL for their Rising Start award.

Did Charlie Miller do any pre-season training? I mean any!
And if so why does he look exactly the same as year. Maybe even fatter. He should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
I hope Mitch Nichols keeps Charlie Tim Tam, who is listed at 67kg compared to Mitch's 75kg's in the FFA Media handbook, out of the ball game.

Very disappointing.
I knew the crowd would be low. And that favours the opposition. You could see see the disappointment on the players faces as came to Brisbane's lowest ever crowd.
While market development is the clubs' responsibility, this reflects a poor governance model for football's positioning in Australia.

At 86:35 minutes Orangecrush leaned over to me and said 'Do you think the players realise that this is the most important 3 minutes of the club's history and they have to score?' I agreed with his sentiment and said 'And they aren't going to score.'
The low crowd didn't help. This was a dull game.

There is a danger in Ange's changes to Brisbane that the team ends up full of players that no one has heard of. And therefore would have the pulling power of a park match.
While it was Frank's team, it was Craig's team. Soon his mates, neighbours and former top flight teammates will be gone - Tiatto, Miller, Malcolm as well as Reddy.

'Your posts fill my head with random questions. What was Oudendyke like? Who are the board members still involved? Are Queensland Lions still involved with the Roar?'

There is so much that could be said. My feelings about how poorly the club is being run demonstrate, to me at least, that I still care.

At half time on Wednesday Craig Moore looked like he had picked up a knock. This prompted me to say to the people in front 'this could be the last moment we see Craig.' Fortunately, he came out again for the second half. Whether he will have ties with the club by the next home game on 16 January is a real question.

Examples from rugby league and AFL show us that sponsors should not be owners and sponsors should not control boards of sporting teams.

The NRL Newcastle Knights Board is currently responding to Coke withholding a new deal till it sorts club discipline. This will require the Board to be creative and balance the needs of fans, the financial position of the club and the needs of the sponsor.

Gold Coast vs Brisbane at Skilled Park. Well it sounded good, and I pretended it was a Christmas present to myself, Dawn and Jacob.
How could one resist it? Boxing Day afternoon and it's the first highly accessible 'away game' for the Brisbane Roar, hence the first away game I have attended.