Yep ok, that’s a tad over the top (or OTT for the modern folk). But Sunday’s 3-1 thumping over CCM, means we are at least bound for the finals.

And Tuesdays 2-1 loss for Newcastle, suggests maybe even the top 4 and a home final. And trust me, a home final will prove crucial for us. We SUCK away from home.

Anyway Sunday was good times. I got there literally on kickoff only to use the loo instantly and hear joyous scenes of approval. ‘Why are they so happy, so early’ i thought to myself, before quickly cleaning myself up and zipping myself up too, might I add.

I raced up to the nearest point where i could see the big TV and noticed Daniel McBreen putting us ahead after 45 seconds. ‘Sh$t yeah baby’ I screamed to the random standing next to me…. We soon went separate ways.

Anyway me and the lads with me soon got beers in hand and settled into The Shed. Bit of chanting, bit of banter, and then ANOTHER

Scott Neville steals the nut down the right, wins a penalty (ref waives it away) but Neville keeps going and centres for McBreen who scores another. Half my beer was soon gone, but whatever… 2-0…’Sh$t yeah baby’ was better received by my familiar mates might I add.

So the half wore on, feeling good, but the beer had got to me and to beat the rush I raced off to the loo before 1sthalf injurytime…..and soon there was another of those familiar bigtime “YEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHS” from the crowd. I missed another, or are they just happy halftime is here? Nope, clearly another, via Andrija Jukic. Again, same routine but I missed the TV replay this time. My mates explained it to me, my response ‘Jukic deserves it, he’s decent, better than Srhoj’.

Anyway second-half came round and CCM pegged one back early to worry us a tad, but they werent much chop really and we went onto claim the win 3-1. Three Points feels good and we are up to fourth.

Next up a difficult trip to Sydney…actually Parramatta Stadium. but three points there should almost be enough for the top 4 with Brisbane in Round 27 at ME Bank. We did beat SFC 4-1 in Sydney last season, so who knows? Stranger things have happened.

PS. I should mention my new favourite Glory chant “On the first day of the Xmas my true love sent to me, 8 Andy Todds, 7 Andy Todds, 6 Andy Todds, Fiiiiiiiiiiiive Andy Todds….. 4 Andy Todds, 3 Andy Todds, 2 Andy Todds…. and a f&#kin Andy Todd”. Brilliant.

We’ve still got a game with CCM, who are 6 pts behind us, and that game should secure our top six status. Although a loss there and it’ll get precarious.

Nevertheless, its been a good week for the Glory boys, after Tuesday’s 3-2 win at Adelaide (The Great Escape we’re calling it) and then Friday’s 2-0 triumph over the Nix (Dadi’s disaster?).

Took in the game on Friday nite, with several bevvies under the belt, so I’m not the man to offer a great insight except for the big moments. Gotta say, when Dadi missed his penalty, the Shed lapped it up. Almost as good as a goal.

But a pair of solid wins, (and rare consecutive victories) means finals footy should come to the Glory, although whether or not there’ll be a final in Perth remains to be seen. It’s been a while.

A Home final is what we’re hoping for, and I dont want to get too carried away thnking about the title, cos we just aint that good. For now, would love some finals footy in Perth. Adios amigos.

I’m not sure what the rationale behind it was, but Glory played into Melbourne’s hands by employing a high-defensive line against a team who (for their whole entire existence) love space to run in behind defences.

Indeed, Robbie Kruse and Archie Thompson ran riot and a couple of howlers by Glory defenders (the Coyne brothers) didn’t help.

In my new position working for 442 on the weekends, I listened into the coach’s post-game interviews and Mitchell claimed he thought Glory should play a high-line because Melbourne had lost their last two and might be vulnerable.

“F%$k!” I whispered to myself. “What the hell was he thinking! Play into their hands!” Remarkable coaching from an inept ‘coach’.

Furthermore, Mitch was also questioned about playing Chris Coyne after his long journeys to-and-from China. Coyne was pretty poor before being replaced before half-time ‘lacking energy’.

Mitch’s defence was ‘hindsight is wonderful’. He seemed kinda peeved here. But seriously, I know he only joined up with the team in Melbourne on Saturday before the game, but surely they could’ve given him a run-around before the match. A fitness test? It’s clearly a lesson to be learnt.

Anyway now there’s clearly five decent teams on the A-League table with the rest battling it out to make up the numbers in sixth. To be honest, I’d prefer we miss out if we keep playing like this. I don’t wanna make up the numbers and if we do, I don’t want that to be a reprieve for Mitch (with Tony Sage saying he prob wont sack him if we make the finals), who is totally inept at his job.

Ideally, Mitch can turn it around and Glory go into the finals in red-hot form. But I dont think that’s possible under him, so in a weird kinda way, I’m not really rooting for us to the make the finals.

On the other hand, the ideal solution would be for Sage to sack Mitch immediately but that aint gonna happen. Geez, its tough being a Glory fan. And it looks like I’ve gotta put with more 6-2 floggings. Stoked.

Hopefully the rest of the season isn’t as short as Round 27 and rather Perth go into the post-season playoffs and do alright. Although to be honest, I’m not expecting any miracles. We’re probably 5th-6th best in this league and haven’t got a shot at winning anything. Still it’s nice to be involved so finals would be good.

Anyway I think I should briefly catch up on everything since my hiatus which I believe began after the Glory-CC 0-0 thriller on Gosford (Geez no wonder I needed a break after that game!).

But since then I actually haven’t witnessed (via TV or live) the team win! First up was the PG-BR game which ended 1-1.

Then back-to-back losses in Qld, to NQF and GCU. Both dire performances which instigated me to call for Mitchell’s head. If you didn’t know I do a bit of writing around the place as freelance journo and here’s a piece I did on The Roar about this topic. http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/12/19/more-of-the-same-so-its-time-for-mitchell-to-go/

Seriously after those losses, it was clear we’re sh1te.

So at that stage, in a state of frustration, I demanded action. I’m lucky to be in a position to voice my views at mediums such as The Roar, because it does give volume to thoughts like this.

But inaction was what I got from Glory owner Tony Sage.

So, I decided the next best way for me to take action against Sage, was to go on strike. Indeed, I wouldn’t be attending Glory matches until either Mitchell was sacked, or the team miraculously turned it around (which I sincerely doubted we could do under Mitch).

So instead of attending the PG-NJ game on Boxing Day, I got on the turps with some mates, had a BBQ and lazed around the pool.

Later on in the evening, whilst lazing on an inflatable pool couch, I received a text from a mate who was at the Glory.

“Its raining goals here, 4-0 GLORY!!” It read.

“What the f$%k”, I exclaimed.

Indeed, apparently we romped it in against the Jets, who might I add seem to always lose to us. It seems we’re their bogey side. Anyway credit where credits due I guess, but I still demanded more of the same.

I didn’t want it just to be a once-off victory. Still, I was buoyed by the result and turned out on Sunday to watch us take on league leading Sydney FC.

Again, though, we returned to old ways and couldn’t get a win. It ended 0-0 if you didn’t know. I gotta admit we seemed to play pretty well and carved out some good chances, but couldn’t convert.

I’m still reserving judgement on the team, but with key defender Chris Coyne set to leave us for China, I doubt we’ll do any damage in the post-season, even if we make it.

For now, though, I’ll dream about the good old NSL days when the Glory dominated. Oh, how I miss Mori and Bobby up front. Yet for all the money we’ve spent lately, it’s lump-it-long Jamie Harnwell up front these days. Seriously what’s happened over here?

It wasn’t the best game to watch, although our ever-improving and increasingly-reliable defence was good ie. Chris Coyne and Andy Todd.

Mile Sterjovski went closest with a long-range volley which cannoned into the post.

Other than that, not a whole heap happened but at the end of the day, I’m quite content with a point from Gosford which is usually an unhappy hunting ground for us.

Next up, Brisbane Roar at ME Bank Stadium on Sunday. I shall be in attendance hoping we can make some ground on the top 4 and push away from the bottom 4.

Sydney were previously league leaders until Glory disposed of them, with a decent second-half showing after a pretty ordinary opening 45.

Boss Dave Mitchell opted to experiment with the side in the absence of Wayne Srhoj, Victor Sikora and Mile Sterjovski from the first eleven.

And the experiments failed to pay off with a pretty ordinary first-half, where Sydney had the better chances, although we did seem to have most of them covered with Andy Todd & Chris Coyne really solid.

At half-time, Mitch opted to instantly bring on Sterjovski, which surprised me considering Mile spent half-time booting the ball around with the other subs.

But Mile made an impact along with Sikora who came on later. In fact it was the difference.

Jamie Coyne’s deflected cross found Scott Bulloch for a slightly fortuitous opener before Todd broke down play, set up Sikora, who played in Mile and he centred for Branko Jelic to tap in. 2-0, party in The Shed!

It was a good win against a Sydney side who I thought were really poor. Perhaps they missed Steve Corica, but they really didn’t threaten us.

So we stay fifth and with the bottom four struggling, we’ve solidified our grip on a finals berth.

But I’m hoping for more than just that, next up it’s in-form Central Coast in Gosford.

The Phoenix are pretty sh1t hot at home and haven’t lost there for something like 14 matches. Obviously, coming into the game with that record, Glory (on the back of 3 losses) would’ve taken any kind of result from the match.

But occasionally Glory promised more, with some decent chances going close, before taking the lead through Wayne Srhoj’s nice free-kick.

But in typical Glory fashion, we surrendered our advantage (and the ball whenever possible it seemed) allowing the Nix to control the final 15 minutes and equalise through Paul Ifill.

All in all, the match was a bit of a stinker. The quality on display was rather low, with Glory deciding to boycott midfield at every occasion in favour of long-balls.

The tactic had something to it, with the ball hoofed to Jelic or Sterjovski before the other free would hopefully run onto it. It worked occasionally, but too often we were caught offside doing it.

Towards the end of the first-half we did seem to have some more success and a few chances opened up, in particular Jacob Burns’ long-range effort which hit the crossbar.

After the break, it was much of the same with very little happening. Until Wayne Srhoj’s free-kick, which was well-hit but Nix gk Reece Crowther really should’ve saved.

On the topic of goalkeepers, I felt Tando Velaphi wasn’t too bad this afternoon, which is refreshing for our defence’s confidence.

Anyway, after we went up, we went back into our shell and hoofed the ball forward aimlessly. We seemed to drop back and allow them the nut and inevitably they got the goal and perhaps could’ve got more.

We almost won it late too, with Branko Jelic’s wayward finishing rearing its head again late when he might have done better with a toe-poked effort.

But one point from the dreaded NZ trip ain’t too bad. I don’t want to accept mediocrity and a claiming a point against a side who probably won’t play finals shouldn’t be a huge success but it wasn’t too bad.

The performance was still pretty ordinary in terms of creativity and style, but we’ll welcome back Victor Sikora when he’s fit.

And encouragingly, I thought Andy Todd and Chris Coyne were really solid up back. It was good to see us not gift any goals this week.

Young right-back Scott Neville, though, doesn’t look up to for me and he needs to go back to the youth team. Struggled a tad today, while Adriano Pellegrino needs to get involved more.

But there was lots of poor players today, but we got a point, at least.

Next up the international break (see ya Mile!) and then Sydney FC (finally) at home.

I took in the game, arriving just in time to get a decent spot in the shade and amongst the festivities in The Shed.

But early on things didn’t really go to plan and, to be honest, we didn’t start well and it was ominous.

Carlos Hernandez got way too much space before having a wayward crack which deflected in off Chris Coyne.

The goal kinda brought Perth to life, which was good to see and Mile Sterjovski did the best thing he’s done since returning to Oz, with a brilliant turn and strike goal to level terms after 20 minutes.

We should’ve added another before the break with wave after wave of pressure. Eugene Dadi had the clearest chance after great work by the impressive Todd Howarth on the left.

But we didn’t add to our tally and Melbourne came out in the second-half the more determined and got the job done.

Sub Nathan Elasi was afforded too much space by left-back Naum Sekulovski and he whipped in a pinpoint cross which left Tando Velaphi clutching at thin air and Hernandez producing a Cahill-esque finish. 2-1.

We couldn’t really muster much else up and to be honest, Melbourne were better than us.

We had no decent subs on the bench. Ludovic Boi I think was a bit nervous and was hardly noticed, while Andrija Jukic has quality but lacks the smarts a tad. Jelic would’ve been good off the bench.

Anyway bad signs losing to Melbourne on our home paddock. I can’t see us doing much damage come finals time. But we’ve gotta get their first. I fancy us doing that, but I can’t see us going too far beyond that.

Victor Sikora had put us ahead in the first-half, but second-half goals from Robbie Fowler and Dyron Daal gave NQF their first ever A-League home win.

But to be honest, we really need to be getting something out of fixtures like this is we’re going to challenge. It seems we’ll need home finals come finals-time, so finishing as high as possible is crucial but losses like this hurt.

At 1-0, we looked okay but typically we didn’t put them away with Branko Jelic guilty of the biggest miss. His finishing is really erratic.

NQF fought back, as they do, with Fowler taking a FK fast and catching us napping before Daal unleashed a cracker. Jeremy Brockie should’ve made it three late on as well.

It’ll be good to be back at home next week and with Andy Todd back in the side too. Boy we missed him with some clumsy, elementary errors in the last two weeks.

Jamie Coyne & Scott Neville’s collision for GCU’s winner last week and this week’s lazy play which allowed Fowler’s quick FK to catch us out.

I don’t know if coach Dave Mitchell’s got the nous to cut these things out, but we need to if we’re going to challenge this season.

Anyway next week it’s an in-form Melbourne at home on the day after Halloween. Tough game to return to winning ways, but I expect no less at home.

And BTW, when do Glory play Sydney FC. These A-League fixtures are mighty odd.

I caught the game live on Fox, and thought the lads were a bit slow to get going, although our opposition were surprisingly poor too.

Nevertheless, the Goldies took the lead through Jason Culina’s deflected free-kick which came off Scott Neville, who had a horror return to the starting side in Andy Todd’s absence.

Wayne Srhoj, in my opinion Glory’s best player all season, had our best chance of the first-half with some classy play before his shot let him down with GCU keeper Jess Vanstrattan saving low.

But once the second-half kicked off, we seemed to step up. Todd Howarth equalised after some more good work by Srhoj set up Victor Sikora. The Dutchman’s slightly deflected throughball fell nicely for Howarth who slotted under Vanstrattan.

But while I was up on my feet in the loungeroom doing fistpumps, all of a sudden, GCU went ahead again as Glory pressed that all too familiar ‘Self Destruct’ button with Jamie Coyne and Neville getting all mixed and allowing Joel Porter to set up Shane Smeltz from close-range.

Glory were robbed by another inadequate refereeing decision later on in the half, as Branko Jelic had a goal scrubbed out for a woeful offside call.

And Jelic had earlier had a fair penalty shout waved away when Kristian Rees had clearly denied him fair play on the ball with a tug inside the box.

And there was more ordinary refereeing when serial dickhead Steve Pantelidis got away with an elbow to Jacob Burns’ head.

I hate going on about the refs, but when you play so well and get denied when you clearly shouldn’t of, it’s hard not to.

The thing I took out of the game was without Mile Sterjovski we played better!

To be honest, Mile’s been ordinary this season and I’ve always thought he’s fairly overrated. Anyway, we’ve been directing alot of play through him and we were better for his absence.

I like seeing Srhoj get further forward as he can beat players while Howarth was good on the left and Sikora continues to threaten when he decides to focus on the game rather than other matters. Jelic’s shooting lets him down, but he’s dangerous enough with good service.

Down back I like Tando alot, despite his occasional f%$kup, while Chris Coyne’s been our best signing along with Andy Todd, while Naum Sekulovski’s having a solid season at left-back.

Against GCU Jamie Coyne was okay, but found out for the goal, while Scotty Neville is a player I like, but he battled on Sunday.

Anyway, next up we’ve got NQ Fury up in Townsville and considering they’ve havent won up there yet, they’ll be up and about.

But we should leave far Nth Qld with 3 points if we’re going to threaten for the title and I fancy our chances on Sunday’s evidence. That’s as long as we don’t self destruct again.