One sided games

[dash riprock]

There seems to be a few too many one sided games going down in Div 3 and 4....
26 - 0 and 17 - 1 isn't good for any team at any standard in any league...ever! Thats a goal every 3 mins!!! This comes on the back of double digit losses in previous rounds...
The clubs involved will struggle to hang on to players if this trend continues which will cause other problems. I don't reckon the winning club has that much fun either.
As the Div 3 /4 comp isn't fully competive, the league should consider how to balance the two divisions out as a matter of urgency. Having genuine C teams (and D teams for that matter) in the same Div as A teams is never going to work and the fall out will be teams losing players (usually the better ones) and the most frustrating of all, forfeits becoming the trend, especially when playing away to team that has already spanked you out the park!!
The high scorelines are common in C grade football but once it hits double figures, it should one offs......
I speak from club experience and if left to fester, the problems will just get bigger!
Any thoughts?

[Ross30]

I agree that it's not good to see so many one sided games, but I don't think there's a huge amount that can be done about it at the moment. It is not ideal to have Windsor Gardens in division 3, playing other clubs' C teams while their own team is full of ex semi-professional players. But beyond that the rest of the teams in division 3 are C teams and division 4 consists of C, D or E teams. Uni SA C's and D's are new to the CSL and so too are Mt Barker C's and it's these teams that seem to be suffering the largest defeats at the hands of fellow C or D teams. It will take time, but they will surely improve. Some of the teams that are now doing well in divisions 3 and 4 were themselves the whipping boys only 2 or 3 years ago.

Unless the CSL clubs are prepared to dispense with the requirement of having all or most of their teams playing at the same venue more often than not then it's very hard to change what's happening. There are teams in div 3 and div 4 that would beat teams in divs 1B, 2A and 2B, but once you intermingle those 5 divisions you might find, for example, that PAOC A's are never playing the same opponent as PAOC's B's. And if you had a system of promotion and relegation for all teams from all clubs, what do you do when, for example, Unley end up with 3 or 4 of their teams in the same division?

[Herli]

While the one-off sides in lower divisions tend to dominate, those two big results from the weekend were wins by genuine 3rd and 4th string sides. Without knowing the finer details of how the CSL operate, I'd suggest the criteria (if there is any) for admitting new clubs to the CSL needs to be reviewed...

[dash riprock]

There has to be a team that finishes last.... but surley a competitive Div 3 and 4 would be the go.... The clubs in these Divs are not linked as in the Div 1 and 2 with their A and B games.
As for the CSL checking new clubs..on what grounds?? Ask them nicely if they are good enough??!!
The sides you mention have been given a good spanking BUT they turn up each week (unlike some higher division teams in recent weeks) and try...they will get better.... The Div 3 and 4 comps can't just be the devine playgrounds of a few teams who for whatever reason don't want to test themselves beyond their current position... However, having the current weakest teams in the same Div as the strongest is the problem. Nothing can be done this year but the planning should start before the next season is upon us! The CSL is looking to grow and rightly so..... we need to assist these clubs become established unless we want a few divisions with a handful of teams in them....

[yak]

Yep, agree Dash - the horse has bolted for this season, lets's all make sure the CSL gets it right next season.
I think it was alwasy going to be tough - with new teams coming in, no one really knew how strong they'd be.
Next season i think we'll have a much better picture.
I won't go into the Windsor debate any more - what scares me is how Pembroke/Mercedes managed to put so many goals in.. Is their club depth really that strong? Or were there some players playing down a div or 2 this week?

[dash riprock]

Combination of things... They had a strong side (Mercedes), not sure any people playing down or not though and the 50/50 decisions went with the home team due to no ref which is just the way it happens in those circumstances....
My take on it was that the previous high score beatings, combined with another on ein progress led to heads to drop and the score quickly blew out...
Thats my biggest concern... Players will eventually walk and leave these clubs in greater limbo.....
We'll see!

[UniSA]

As president of UniSA FC I feel I should make some explaination as to the current situation of our club and reasons for some of these results.
We are a new club, brand new in fact as this is only the second season we have had a team in a senior competition with the club in its current form, and obviously the first in the CSL.
We are very fortunate to have and A and B squad which is made up of strong players with an increasing work rate and effort for the club, which is highlighted by the first few results. This is complemented by my coaches and organisers who put in an amazing effort each week to get everyone organised.
Unfortunately there is a massive gap between our A+B teams and our C+D teams. Due to the rapid growth of our club we have not been able to secure coaches for all teams and so our A+B squad coaches are doing the best they can to help develop those teams. Our C team is coming along ok and had a very good game on the weekend, i expect them to get some good results towards the middle and end of the season. Our D team is comprised of mainly students who have either never played football before who have only had very limited experience.
The best thing about UniSA FC is the attitude of everyone involved with the club. Everyone is willing to go out there and try their best. It is unfortunate but when we lose players (which being a university club happens alot due to holidays, exams etc) it is always the Cs and Ds which suffer. The D team only had 11 players for the match on Saturday and after 2 players had to leave they played a large portion of the game with 9 players. I must commend the effort and attitude of everyone at the club and make the sincerest apolagies to those who were involved in the 26-0 game, including Pembroke. These sorts of games are not enjoyable for anyone.
What I can promise everyone is that UniSA FC is committed to being a strong football club, and will endeavor to be as competitive as we can be. But please understand it will take some time.
(If there is anyone out there who would be interested in helping out with coaching and development with our C&D teams please let me know )
Mitch

[Graeme Jackson]

Good stuff Mitch, hopefully the lads in the D's don't get too disheartened and play out the season.

I saw your A team play the Whites A's in the cup and was very impressed. Onwards and upwards for you guys from here I think.

[yak]

Thanks for the explanation Mitch - playing with 9 against any team is tough, not to mention Pembroke, who always produce fast, fit teams! First season is always a learning experience, good luck to the boys for the rest of the season. Agree with Graemes comments - the Uni SA A's are a fearsome team - good combination of skill and toughness - they'll be hard to beat this year.

[chelsea]

im not sure what agneda the Unisa club had, but putting 4 teams into the league in its first year was not a good move. Every club over the years has slowly progressed from 1to 2 teams or 2 to 5 in the case of Pembroke & Unley. But this was done over many years.

What I think should of happened this year is that Uni Sa should have had 3 teams. 3rd team to play in Div 4. The same applies to Mt Barker. 3rd team in Div 4. This would of made it easier for these teams and allowed them to find there feet.

Uni teams struggle to keep all their players all year round. Players either work, study or go back overseas mid year.

If Uni Sa had 9 players in Rd 3 of the league then this is a major problem for them. Every club drops numbers but this doesnt happen to the 2nd part of the year.

I saw a comment from the league that Simba nearly had enough players for 2 teams. They had 20 players. You need at least 16 players per team. Some weeks everyone might be there but on others you might struggle.

Im not sure what the discussions were between Uni Sa and the league, but the league must tell all new teams that each team requires at least 17 players. UniSa might of been told that approx 50 players is enough for 4 teams.

Many UniSa players are from the old Uni Black. I think they had an agenda of creating a new big club so they went for qty of teams as main priority. 2-3 teams would of been a good starting point and many other players could just train to see whether they enjoy the sport or not and whether they would fully commit in the future.

It will be interesting to see if all fees are paid up by the new clubs and whether clubs dont go backwards in team numbers in 2012 as in 2010 all the new clubs that enetered the league didnt have a good record. Either didnt pay up or their clubs halfed in size in 2011.

Its Uni Sa first year so im sure they will learn from the journey and make adjustments for 2012.

Responsibility has to be taken by Uni SA and the league for this situiation.