Five things we learned from A-League Round 5

Hardcore conditions, magic marquees and player fallouts highlighted what was an eventful Round five of A-League football after the international break.

(Left to right) Chris Ikonomidis, Keisuke Honda and Warren Joyce Source: Getty Images

Square peg in a round hole

Western Sydney Stadium can’t come quick enough for the Wanderers.

Fans at Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets got a taste of every emotion imaginable as the away side punished a positive Wanderers performance on a pitch that was far from spotless.

Shards of plastic and screws left over from a recent hip hop concert littered the playing surface.

Jets coach Ernie Merrick couldn’t believe authorities accepted such conditions, telling Fox Sports: “I’m not sure you could call it a football pitch, it’s more like a carpark.

“The pitch was a disgrace.”

Far from the type of gimmicks A-League chief Greg O’Rourke had in mind to spice up the competition, Friday’s WWE-like stipulation was yet another reason why football and oval, multi-purpose pitches aren’t compatible.

The bottom line should never trump the experience of a fan but yet, here we are, watching games some 30-metres out … at a cricket ground.

Parramatta’s newest sporting venue, much like Moore Park’s, is a positive step forward.

Now to fix field conditions, ticket prices and fan engagement, just to name a few.

Sacked in the morning?

Pressure is mounting on Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce after Brisbane Roar’s 2-0 victory on Saturday night.

Adam Taggart’s double sent the hosts on their way to all three points, but it’s not exactly the defeat that has fans fuming.

One match on from Luke Brattan’s bizarre absence, captain and star striker Bruno Fornaroli was metaphorically left stranded in Melbourne for the trip.

According to Joyce, the decision to drop the Uruguayan was purely for tactical purposes.

“We just looked at the game,” Joyce said.

“We’ve had two weeks to prepare for the game, we’ve trained really well. You look at the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and you try to pick a team to win a game.

“That was it.”

Not everyone’s buying the 53-year-old’s defence and it remains to be seen how much longer City’s hierarchy will allow dressing room issues to plague on-field performances.

Fornaroli now joins Ross McCormack, Luke Brattan and Tim Cahill on the growing list of stars to have fallen out with the Englishman.

Money well spent

Melbourne Victory earned Big Blue honours on Sunday thanks, in large part, to their big two.

Goals to Ola Toivonen and Keisuke Honda either side of an Adam le Fondre equaliser helped the Victory to their third straight success of the season in front over 19,000 fans at Kogarah's Jubilee Stadium.

Kevin Muscat’s marquee men earned every penny on their first start together and the 45-year-old deemed the pair “a pleasure to watch” as a result.

“He (Honda) had a huge influence on the game. He was excellent,” Muscat said.

“If he keeps influencing games the way he is I’ll be happy.

“(As for Toivonen) we’ll use him better going forward… I have no doubt he’ll get better.”

After losing their first two games of the season, the Victory are now in red-hot form approaching December’s busy slate of fixtures, starting with Western Sydney this Saturday.

Culture shock

Mark Rudan may have earned his maiden A-League win at the first attempt, but he’s quickly finding it tough to keep old cobwebs out for good.

Very rarely have Wellington Phoenix challenged for top honours, let alone the top six, but that is the target Rudan set upon his arrival.

Their bright start, however, has since faded out with three successive defeats and Saturday’s 3-1 slump at home to Adelaide United was their latest setback.

Mandi looked to have given the hosts the perfect start at Wellington Regional Stadium, until a rapid Ken Ilso-driven response awarded Adelaide the advantage.

And with Saturday marking the Nix’s first goal since their aforementioned round one win, Rudan received his first taste of the very culture he’s trying to change.

“I’ve been working extremely hard to change the mentality,” Rudan said.

“As they go a goal down or make a mistake, they seem to go back to that default setting of putting the head down and almost feeling sorry for themselves – ‘oh, it’s happened again’.”

Such an attitude has caused the 43-year-old to re-evaluate expectations and, with the Phoenix hoping to end a skid of three straight seasons outside the top six, it just might be his best decision yet.

Catch me if you can

Perth Glory are setting a pace only champions can match and Sunday night’s five-goal thriller was the latest example.

Chris Ikonomidis’ 95th-minute winner helped Tony Popovic’s side sink Central Coast and open up a four-point lead at the top of the table after just five games.

The Glory’s newfound resilience was on show once again against Mike Mulvey’s men after a similar outing against the Victory, and Popovic was full of praise following the final whistle.

“I’m very proud of the way we picked ourselves back up after the second equaliser,” Popovic said.

“It was a tough win, but one that we deserved. We knew that if we stayed focused and showed discipline that we would get the win in the end.”

The league leaders will now enter a busy festive month looking to maintain their impressive start, starting with Sunday’s trip to Wellington.