Third place

[Old Gregg]

So we finished third on the table, behind the cashed-up big boys Melbourne Victory & Sydney FC. Seven points shy of first place and twelve points above sixth.
What's everyone's take on our final position? Did we perform above expectations, or is the result a bit disappointing in the end?

[ganas]

i had high expectations this season. i think we deserve to be where we finished as we faltered every time top spot was there for the taking.

the season as a whole is yet to be decided, we have won the FFA cup, we have played the most entertaining football (for the most part of the season), okay we have missed out on top spot but we have an excellent chance of making the final. i do hold the premier's plate though in higher regard than the champions trophy.

[supsup]

Third is pretty good, any lower would have been a bummer and any higher would have been a considered a bona fide success.

[Geogeo]

below par due to dropped points:

Dropped points in these games:
MV - 3-2 away - two own goals
CCM 2-1 away - letting a lead slip & conceding two goals in minutes
MV 1-1 & 2-2 at home after leading.

All games that we should have won.

[Stuckey]

Realistically its what I know the club was aiming for. Slight improvement and hopefully ACL qualification.
But I'm a little disappointed as I think the only thing that has stopped AU from being higher is ourselves.

[Geogeo]

Agreed we only have ourselves to blame.

Lets not forget, we actually finished 4th... perth gifted us the ACL play off spot.

[Stuckey]

Agreed we only have ourselves to blame.

Lets not forget, we actually finished 4th... perth gifted us the ACL play off spot.

I still don't think that the ACL spot is assured yet. FFA might hand that to the FFA Cup winner next season.

[Old Gregg]

Agreed we only have ourselves to blame.

Lets not forget, we actually finished 4th... perth gifted us the ACL play off spot.

Nah, they cheated their way there. They wouldn't have had the same player list and performed as well had they been above board.

[Stuckey]

Agreed we only have ourselves to blame.

Lets not forget, we actually finished 4th... perth gifted us the ACL play off spot.

Nah, they cheated their way there. They wouldn't have had the same player list and performed as well had they been above board.

Agreed.

[View From The Top]

Lets not forget that on on-field results we are only 4th....

I'm not sure what to make of this season. On the one hand we won the cup, improved our position, scored more goals, conceded less and finished with more points than last year, but it still feels like a disappointment - so many games were squandered either through inability to score or by keystone cops defending. Too many games we dominated but failed to finish off, meaning we were always one well taken shot, one defensive blunder or one diabolical ref decision away from dropped points.

What worries me going forward is we have kept virtually the same squad again for another year or two. Now generally stability is good and we have previously suffered from massive turnover of players, but other sides MV, Sydney have improved their squads and no doubt others like WSW, City Brisbane, will do likewise before next season. Where will our improvement come from?

[sudden reversal]

The amount of leads we have squandered this season is astounding.

Don't forget gifting the jets their first win of the season as well.

I feel like if we can just work on and convert from our set pieces we would be on top, and will be on top next season.

We win many a corner but fail to do much with them. I'd love to see that stats on corners won and goals scored as a result. I bet it's under 10%!

[Old Gregg]

I hope that our improvement will come through greater consistency. At our best we're the best in the league but yeah - the disappointing thing is not being able to maintain that standard. Maybe in that respect having little player turnover could be a good thing.

[Stuckey]

Lets not forget that on on-field results we are only 4th....

I'm not sure what to make of this season. On the one hand we won the cup, improved our position, scored more goals, conceded less and finished with more points than last year, but it still feels like a disappointment - so many games were squandered either through inability to score or by keystone cops defending. Too many games we dominated but failed to finish off, meaning we were always one well taken shot, one defensive blunder or one diabolical ref decision away from dropped points.

What worries me going forward is we have kept virtually the same squad again for another year or two. Now generally stability is good and we have previously suffered from massive turnover of players, but other sides MV, Sydney have improved their squads and no doubt others like WSW, City Brisbane, will do likewise before next season. Where will our improvement come from?

I think the improvement will come from AU's younger brigade.
Championships aren't won with one or two good players. Obviously that helps but it comes from an entire squad.
Look at MV they have a great squad with experience in every area on the park coupled with promising youth coming thru. AU has that also we just need our youth to continue to step up and take their HAL places.
I have high expectations AU's youth kids will be the reason to expect success next season. Mabil, Goodwin, Jeggo, McGowan are the main players I'm talking about. We know and have seen them do it. Its just now time for it to happen on a consistant basis.

[shinAUFC]

Agreed we only have ourselves to blame.

Lets not forget, we actually finished 4th... perth gifted us the ACL play off spot.

I still don't think that the ACL spot is assured yet. FFA might hand that to the FFA Cup winner next season.

Surely the ffa cup winner would play acl the following year. It would be a super pill to swallow since we won this years ffa cup.

IMO if there is a .5 acl position we will get it, FFA would be aware if managements background in sports law.

3rd place is a great result! Compare the salary of janko and berisha to that of our squad just to emohasize things.

The down side is our players effing choked when the premiership was there for the taking. IMO in many ways they really let Gombau down. Yet Gombau would hear none of that and protect his players at all costs. im certainly glad josep has better character traits then all previous aufc managers!

[shinAUFC]

Lets not forget that on on-field results we are only 4th....

I'm not sure what to make of this season. On the one hand we won the cup, improved our position, scored more goals, conceded less and finished with more points than last year, but it still feels like a disappointment - so many games were squandered either through inability to score or by keystone cops defending. Too many games we dominated but failed to finish off, meaning we were always one well taken shot, one defensive blunder or one diabolical ref decision away from dropped points.

What worries me going forward is we have kept virtually the same squad again for another year or two. Now generally stability is good and we have previously suffered from massive turnover of players, but other sides MV, Sydney have improved their squads and no doubt others like WSW, City Brisbane, will do likewise before next season. Where will our improvement come from?

I think the improvement will come from AU's younger brigade.
Championships aren't won with one or two good players. Obviously that helps but it comes from an entire squad.
Look at MV they have a great squad with experience in every area on the park coupled with promising youth coming thru. AU has that also we just need our youth to continue to step up and take their HAL places.
I have high expectations AU's youth kids will be the reason to expect success next season. Mabil, Goodwin, Jeggo, McGowan are the main players I'm talking about. We know and have seen them do it. Its just now time for it to happen on a consistant basis.

100% agree!

Mabil , Kamau, Jeggo, Goodwin, Mcgowan even Malik are still young and years away from their prime.

If they all take it up a notch next year then we will be odds on for the prem