Five things we learned from A-League Round 9

Catastrophic capitulations, Socceroos snubs and one rapid rookie rise rounded off what was an entertaining festive round of A-League football.

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Dark days, darker nights

Central Coast Mariners fans are in danger of joining their sporting director in Europe, only they will likely stay for good (figuratively speaking, of course).

Mike Phelan put his role with the struggling A-League club on hold this past week after he returned to Manchester United as an assistant under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The move paid instant dividends for the Red Devils, who swept Cardiff City aside 5-1 on Sunday (AEDT), but for the Mariners, their historic season only worsened.

Mike Mulvey’s men surrendered a first-half lead in just 16 second-half minutes at Central Coast Stadium, enough to hand rivals Newcastle all three points and extend their winless run past 300 days.

Such a predicament has left even the most faithful of fans from travelling to see their team, all while European football takes their attention.

Given 8,923 supporters witnessed the coastal club’s latest capitulation, a figure aided by significant Newcastle contribution, it appears public perception is in need of a realignment.

Despite anti-Wellington Phoenix forums, the Mariners have statistically been the worst club over the last four seasons and, had Football Federation Australia introduced relegation, would have encountered unforeseen financial trouble.

The thought of an extended struggle, let alone the aforementioned reality, is enough to leave owner Mike Charlesworth fearing the worst for his club.

And as Phelan plots his eventual return once the Premier League season comes to an end, tasked with improving the state of the squad, Mariners fans may be hard-pressed to follow.

Did I stutter?

They say actions speak louder than words and, on Saturday night, they certainly did.

Fresh from his scathing midweek assessment of Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, James Troisi produced an inspired performance in Melbourne Victory’s 1-1 draw with cross-town rivals City.

The 30-year-old was Victory’s metronome in midfield, lacking only a goal to cap off a display packed with both passion and pent-up displeasure.

Arnold was accused of selecting a squad “not picked on performance or merit” by Troisi, in a rant rarely seen in today’s monotonous, media-trained environment.

“In my opinion I believe I should be there,” Troisi said.

“Everyone has their agendas and their favourites and their ideas… I think I’ve done quite a bit for Australian football...”

Troisi’s derby display now leaves Arnold with some food for thought heading into 2019.

A-League young footballer of the year?

Has an award ever been so secure, so soon into a season?

If last season crowned the introduction of Daniel Arzani, this is the rise of Sarpreet Singh.

The 19-year-old New Zealand international was simply sensational for the Wellington Phoenix on Saturday, boasting both a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over Brisbane Roar.

After spending round five with Wellington’s reserve side, Singh’s restoration has reinvigorated a Nix outfit who are yet to lose since.

A three-game winning streak, preceded by a luckless draw with league leaders Perth Glory, has seen Mark Rudan’s men meander into the top six at will, and the rookie coach was full of praise for his perpetrator.

“He’s a little gem isn’t he? I almost got down on my hands and knees and started bowing as well,” Rudan said of Singh.

“The kid is going places and there’s a lot of love from his coach and his teammates as well.

“He deserves all the plaudits… he really took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half.”

With two goals and two assists in his last three games, the league’s in-form midfielder will now look to hand high-flyers Melbourne Victory defeat on Friday.

Nine under

Perth Glory’s unbeaten start to the season came to an abrupt end on Friday night courtesy of Premiers Sydney FC.

Surprised? Don’t be.

After sweeping the rest of the competition aside, Tony Popovic’s men were completely nullified by the Sky Blues, who held on for their ninth straight victory over the Glory.

Such a statistic is more than enough to crown Sydney the ultimate bogey team and leave Glory ruing a revival that came all too late.

“They have the belief that every time they come here they can win,” Sydney coach Steve Corica said of his players.

“Coming here, a lot of people would have tipped Perth. But we showed how good a team we really are.”

In fact, if Sydney’s triumph taught us more than their stranglehold on Western Australia, it’s that this season’s title race is set to go right down to the wire.

Boxing Day test

It’s become a great Australian tradition and fans got a taste of it yet again on Wednesday.

No, it’s not the cricket; in fact, it’s the one thing Graham Arnold will need to rectify if the Socceroos are to retain their Asian Cup crown.

Western Sydney’s dour-turned-dramatic 2-2 draw with Adelaide United highlighted both sides’ overwhelming ineffectiveness inside the final third.

Don’t let the four goals fool you; this match said more about defensive fragility than it did offensive vigour.

Be it Nathan Konstandopoulos’ clumsy kick-out or Tarek Elrich’s struggle down the left-hand side, it’s no wonder why both sides boast the third and fourth-worst defence in the league.

Regardless of such stipulations surrounding the result, Wanderers coach Markus Babbel will be pleased with his side’s response, one which almost yielded a come-from-behind victory.

But United’s Marco Kurz may feel otherwise, ruing a somewhat harsh red card to Jordan Elsey just five minutes after taking control of the contest.

Either way you view it, strike rate issues told the story in this one, and both sides will hope it's for the last time as the transfer window approaches.