shawThings.net : a collection of shaw things ...

Another season of the A-League has now come and gone. So how did it fare? It was a promising start: Kewell and Emerton were back in the country playing, Brisbane Roar looked unbeatable and set a new Australia record and crowds were up a little on last year. At the tail end though, Palmer lost the plot and Gold Coast folded and Tinkler tried to hand his license back. Clearly all is not well. However, I think on balance it was a good season.

The Socceroos were a bit scratchy in the first and the Saudis deserved their lead at the break. A devastating spell from the Aussies saw them comfortably home and they finished top of their group.

The floods in Thailand forced a change of venue, but that didn't put off the Thais. They played out of their skin and deserved something from this match. Unlike last month though, we hung tough and scored the winner through Brett Holman.

What a difference a month makes. After an excellent effort last time, we failed to show up and went down 0-1 in an insipid performance. We really need to eliminate these poor performances from our repertoire and become more consistent. Annoying.

A potentially tough match against a team we've struggled to beat in the past and we were without Schwarzer, Cahill and Emerton (and Kewell if you care). And we nailed it. A superb performance and a great 3-0 win. Top of the group and virtually guaranteed of progressing to the next stage.

A warm up match for next week's qualifier against a weak opponent doesn't tell you a great deal. However, we looked very sharp and comfortably put them away, something we've struggled to do in the past.

A difficult road trip was met with a much improved performance from the Socceroos. They triumphed comfortably 3-1. This is what we need to see. The poor performance of just a few days ago was taken on board and a much better effort (that was called for) was delivered. Good work.

Our first match in our qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 had the desired result, but our standard of play was well below par.

The 2011 women's World Cup was brilliant. The level of football was superb and some of the dramatic results captivating. Australia did well but suffered from several defensive lapses. The story of the tournament was Japan though. After the natural disasters in their country earlier this year they claimed the title in amazing fashion.

An entertaining nil-all draw - an oxymoron is some sports perhaps - but a fair reflection of an enjoyable game.