Welcome to A-Leagues Alumni: A weekly piece that keeps you up to date with the best stories from our products flying the flag abroad. The acronyms of the A-Leagues club(s) each player has represented are in brackets after their name.
Monty responds to A-Leagues product’s viral moment ‘you’ll never see again‘
Last week, Hibernian loanee Nectar Triantis (WSW, CCM) was at the centre of some friendly fire that went viral.
In a 3-1 loss to Scottish Premiership contenders Rangers, Triantis – who is on loan from EFL Championship side Sunderland and playing in midfield for Hibs – attempted to take a quick free-kick but the former A-Leagues sensation accidentally took out two of his teammates in a hilarious moment.
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Heading into a showdown with St Johnstone, Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery (CCM), addressed the bizarre moment and how it has impacted the club.
“Honestly, you have to laugh,” he said. “We put that clip in the team video after the Rangers game. And I still think it’s impossible to do what he did! How he’s knocked two of his own players out, I don’t know. Thankfully nobody got hurt.
“We had a real laugh about it. And I don’t think you’ll ever see that again in football. It was bizarre. It’s good it’s gone viral, for whatever reason. Any publicity is good publicity. Hibs have gone worldwide for that incident. We want Hibs to go worldwide because of our goals and success in the future.
“But there are probably people in the world who had never heard of Hibs who are now following Hibs because of that moment. He does strike a ball well, to be fair. And we do say that if it’s on quickly, play quickly.
“But you just have to make sure we don’t have our own players standing in front. That was amazing really, when you think about it it.”
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Triantis was again at the base of Hibernian’s midfield over the weekend but even after gaining worldwide attention, the club could not get a win for their newfound supporters following a 2-1 defeat at home to Ryan McGowan‘s (SYD) St Johnstone.
Hibs succumbed to an 81st-minute minute goal in a result that left the team a point outside of the Scottish Premiership’s top six.
There is one round remaining in the first phase of the competition before the competition splits. After 33 rounds, there will be two sections of six teams – the top six and bottom six, with the sides playing every other team in their section once.
Dundee FC occupy the sixth and final place in the top six and have a game in hand on Hibs.
After leading Central Coast Mariners to their first Isuzu UTE A-League Championship in 10 years last season, Montgomery was appointed by Hibs in September and he believes he can “turn it around” in Edinburgh.
Montgomery guided Hibernian to the League Cup semi-finals and the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
“It was a game of football in difficult conditions where we had 72% possession and we conceded two shots on target and two goals, I think that tells a story,” he said reflecting on the loss to St Johnstone.
“We weren’t good enough in both boxes and it’s two moments, two lapses of concentration. It can be a cruel game, it was cruel today but we can’t give away goals like we did.
“We had to be patient and I thought we were but we have to concentrate for the full game and to concede the goals the way we did was a real kick in the teeth. The only positive we can take out of today is that results may go for us elsewhere and we still have a chance in the top six.
“I think we should have had a penalty, I think Emi [Marcondes] gets punched by a goalkeeper. We have had a lot of tough calls against us but we can’t use that as excuses.
“I see progress. I have seen progression on and off the field, a lot of players making debuts, new players coming in. I know where I can take this club moving forward.
“Today was a setback because it was a game we wanted to win and we needed to win.
“I’m confident I can turn it around. I came in at a difficult time for the club but I knew the expectation was to get in the top six, progress in cup competitions which we did.”
Elsewhere in Scotland’s top flight, Kye Rowles (BRI, CCM) and Cam Devlin (SYD, WEL, NEW) started Hearts’ 2-1 victory at St Mirren. Nathaniel Atkinson (MCY) came off the bench for Hearts, while Keanu Baccus (WSW) was also a substitute.
Former A-Leagues assistant on the cusp of history
Never before have Mumbai City defended their Indian Super League (ISL) Premiership but they are on track to do just that this season with a familiar face in the dugout.
Ex-Melbourne City assistant Petr Kratky (MCY) is the head coach of ISL leaders Mumbai City, who are part of the City Football Group, just like his former club, after he was appointed to replace Des Buckingham in December.
Kratky initially joined Melbourne City as a volunteer before moving into a coaching position with the Academy in 2018 and he worked his way into the senior coaching ranks in 2021, overseeing the development of Socceroos quartet Jordy Bos, Marco Tilio, Connor Metcalfe and Aiden O’Neill, who have since earned transfers abroad.
He was part of the side that won back-to-back Isuzu UTE A-League Premierships and stood in as interim head coach on three occasions, winning all three fixtures.
Now, Kratky has Mumbai City within touching distance of back-to-back ISL Premierships for the first time in their history after a crucial 2-1 win over FC Odisha.
Mumbai City are five points clear of defending champions Mohun Bagan, who have a game in hand heading into their top-of-the-table final-day decider this week.
“I always try to find out why I’m emotional. So, I have only questions over there. And if I don’t get an answer, I keep asking,” Kratky said, with his side nine games without defeat.
“But again, I’m with the team; I’m an emotional person, and I’m showing my emotions, and if it’s bad, like, this is just me.”
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“I’m part of the team, and I try to help them, and I want them to be successful. I want them to win. I just wanted them to do well, you know because they deserve it. That’s what I feel.”
Dimitri Petratos (BRI, NEW) kept Mohun Bagan in the race for the Premiership with his goal in the 1-0 win at Punjab FC.
Petratos has scored 10 goals in 18 ISL matches this season, having bagged 12 in 23 last term.
Aussie in the midst of unique season ending
Jason Davidson (PER, MVC) is fighting for survival with KAS Eupen in the Belgian Pro League.
It is a unique ending to the season in Belgium’s top flight with the bottom four sides (13th through to 16th) competing in relegation play-offs after the regular season. The number of teams relegated has also increased from one to either two or three.
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At the end of the play-offs, the last two teams will be relegated directly while the 14th-placed side will meet the third-placed team from the Challenger Pro League to determine who competes in the Belgian Pro League in 2024-25.
Eupen finished 14th during the regular season and they kicked off their relegation scrap with a 1-1 draw at home to Kortrijk.
An 80th-minute equaliser was needed to rescue a point for Eupen, who had Davidson in the starting XI.
The Australian full-back has played 29 of 31 matches this term, but has not played for the Socceroos since June 2022.
It is not the first time an Australian has been involved in a relegation battle at Eupen.
Initially an assistant at the Belgian Pro League side in 2022, having joined forces with Socceroos legend and board member Tim Cahill, Michael Valkanis (ADL, MCY) was put in the hot seat after Eupen sacked Stefan Kramer.
The threat of relegation was real, but Valkanis – with Jimmy Jeggo (MVC, ADL, MCY) in the squad – kept the club in the division.
In Germany’s 2.Bundesliga, Jackson Irvine (MVC) scored his fourth goal of the season but leaders St Pauli were upstaged 2-1 by Karlsruher.
“We played the way we wanted to in the first 10 minutes of the second half,” Irvine said. “We created a lot of chances and should have led by at least one or two.
“We had the game completely under control but conceded far too easily when we lost the ball in a central position. It always comes down to details when games are as tight as this was. We have to work on that and do better. I don’t know if all the big calls were right today.
“We’re obviously disappointed but we played some good stuff, so we’ll keep calm and it’s still in our own hands.”
Elsewhere abroad…
Craig Goodwin (MCY, NEW, ADL) is facing six weeks on the sidelines after breaking his rib during Al Wehda’s 1-1 draw with Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.
Harry Kewell‘s Yokohama F.Marinos took down J1 League champions Vissel Kobe 2-1 away from home over the weekend. After just one win in four games, F.Marinos are now seventh and six points behind Mitch Duke‘s (CCM, WSW) Machida Zelvia.
Peter Cklamovski‘s (ADL, PER, MVC) FC Tokyo are sixth after back-to-back wins in front of more than 50,000 fans in the Japanese capital. After conquering Urawa Reds 2-1, Tokyo trumped Kashima Antlers 2-0.
Mitchell Langerak (MVC) kept a clean sheet and Nagoya Grampus extended their unbeaten streak to four games, while Thomas Deng (MVC) played the full 90 minutes in Albirex Niigata’s 1-0 loss to Cerezo Osaka.
Chinese Super League champions Shanghai Port equalised in the 96th minute to earn a 2-2 draw away to Beijing Guoan as Kevin Muscat‘s (MVC) side remain unbeaten through four rounds.
Connor Pain (MVC, CCM, WUN) has four assists in six games for Al-Orobah FC, who are second in the second tier of Saudi football. The top three teams are directed promoted to the Saudi Pro League.
In Norway, Patrick Yazbek (SYD) started for Viking FK in their defeat to Bodo/Glimt. Nick D’Agostino (PER, BRI, MVC) came off the bench, while Gianni Stensness (WEL, CCM) made his return from injury.
Awer Mabil (ADL) made his long-awaited comeback from injury for Grasshopper – an 84th-minute substitute in a 3-2 Swiss Super League defeat against Yverdon. Mabil had not featured for the club since December.
Tomislav Mrcela (WSW) scored a double, with both goals assisted by 12-time Socceroo Fran Karacic as Rudes lost 3-2 to remain bottom in the Croatian Football League.
Mat Ryan (CCM) started in AZ Alkmaar’s 5-1 loss to Dutch Eredivisie leaders PSV. Sammy Silvera (NEW, CCM) came off the bench in Middlesbrough’s 2-0 triumph over Swansea City in the EFL Championship.
In League One, Kusini Yengi (ADL, WSW) played 63 minutes and won a penalty for Portsmouth in their 3-1 success against Shrewsbury Town.
