You have got to hand it to Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat - at least he is consistent when it comes to what he believes is the best way to structure his team's A-League campaign.
Muscat is determined to win the championship his way or not at all and results like the 1-1 draw with Perth Glory and the 3-2 loss to Wellington Phoenix before that have not tempted him to second-guess himself.
He made it clear he would keep trying to win games as opposed to trying not to lose.
"Character is trying to win at 0-0," Muscat said after his team's come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Glory, in which Victory pushed hard for the winner in the second half but couldn't come up with it.
"That's true character. Not rolling your sleeves up when your 1-0 down and having a go.
"Or, you know, getting 1-0 up, holding on for dear life, that's not showing character. Character is when it's all square, having the bottle to go out and try to win the football game.
"That's character, and I think we showed an immense amount of character tonight."
How did that feel?
Glory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic equalled the A-League appearance record against Victory and marked the occasion with a splendid performance that was typical of his tremendous form this season.
Less than 24 hours later, Central Coast Mariners captain John Hutchinson, with whom Vukovic played during the first half of his A-League career, equalled the record as well, Matt Thompson, Vukovic and Hutchinson are all on 221.
Hutchinson will be the first to 222, since the Mariners play Thursday this week and Perth on Saturday, but Vukovic will have the record on his own eventually, with Glory certain to make the finals and Mariners unlikely, and with Hutchinson retiring at the end of the season anyway.
Vukovic told False 9 that equalling the record was a "great milestone" for him.
"I never thought I'd play so many games when I first started. I'm proud to have been a part of the A-League since its inception and to see how far the game has come in this country," he said.
"Hopefully I can go another 10 years."
Typically, Vukovic didn't fail to mention his friend, the Mariners veteran.
"Happy to be sharing it with my good mate John Hutchinson," he said.
Vukovic turns 30 later this month, so he has got many years left at this level as a goalkeeper. Brisbane Roar's Michael Theo is 34 and Adelaide United's Eugene Galekovic is 33 and retirement isn't remotely a consideration for either of them at this stage.
Western Sydney Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic is 39, for God's sake.
If he continues uninterrupted in the A-League, Vukovic is odds-on to be the first player to reach 300 games - and even 400 would be within his reach.
But he remains keen to try his luck overseas again at some stage, after a move to Turkish club Konyaspor in 2010 ended, through no fault of his own, before he had even played a game.
Man of the hour (and a half)
If you're not loving the work of Wellington midfielder Roly Bonevacia, you're either not watching or there is something wrong with you.
He was the standout performer in Phoenix's win over Adelaide, the highlight being a viciously curling free kick that put the defence under stress and resulted in an unmarked Nathan Burns scoring with a header.
Bonevacia was also heavily involved with a glorious back-heel in a sensational move that finished with Burns shooting just wide. Had the ball gone in, it would have been the goal of the season.
We all have wings, but some of us don't know why
No wonder Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold was relaxed enough to lean back in his sideline seat and sing along to the INXS hit Never Tear Us Apart as it played over the Hunter Stadium sound system before the game against Newcastle.
The cameras caught him and he knew all the lyrics.
Sydney FC has been in outstanding form since the Asian Cup break and the win over Newcastle Jets gave it 16 points from a possible 18 since the resumption.
The only other team that can match that sort of form in the same period is Brisbane, with 13 points from a possible 15.
The next best is Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne City, each with eight points from six games.
A quick check of the facts shows "Arnie" was just 24 when the Kick album that broke INXS world-wide and included Never Tear Us Apart was released in 1987, so he was at the right age to be rocking out to it in-between scoring goals for Sydney United.
But False 9 saw INXS for 99 cents once at the War and Peace nightclub at Parramatta in the early 1980s. In fact, it was three bands for 99c night! Can you match that, Arnie?
To celebrate Arnold in fine voice and his team in even finer form, here is INXS with arguably its best song ever.
Tweet, tweet
Sydney FC striker Marc Janko is a very polite and thorough individual who hates making mistakes - on or off the field.
Here is the proof:
I don't see red, I don't see red, I don't see red (with apologies to Split Enz)
False 9 was shocked that Ben Williams, of all people, the smiling assassin, the king of the red card, only showed Adelaide defender Nigel Boogaard a yellow for his rudimentary foul on Wellington's Joel Griffiths in the 70th minute of their clash.
Surely Boogaard was fearing the worst when he looked around to see what colour Williams was going to deal from the pack. After all, it was Ben Williams!
That was a Williams red card every day of the week and twice on Sundays, normally, but instead he showed considerable restraint.
Iran would have appreciated similar restraint at the recent AFC Asian Cup!
It probably helped Boogaard's cause that Griffiths jumped straight to his feet to remonstrate with him, as opposed to staying down.
Had he been sent off, Boogaard would have broken the A-League record for red cards of five, which he shares with who else but Kevin Muscat!
The Lowe-down on gravy
False 9 loves the Kenny Lowe-isms the Perth coach brought with him from England and which he regularly feeds into his post-match media conferences.
He added one after the game against Victory when he described Danny Vukovic's performance in goal for Glory as "".
Power rankings (last week in brackets)
1. Sydney FC (1) Wasn't at its best against Newcastle but that sometimes happens when you're playing a desperate team on the road. Got the job done in the end.
2. Melbourne Victory (2) Kept banging on the door in the second half against Glory but couldn't quite knock it down. Still, showed character to come from behind for draw.
3. Perth Glory (3) Hanging on to the competition lead like a dog guards a bone but its lead is getting skinnier and skinnier. Time to stop drawing games and get a win.
4. Brisbane Roar (4) Bounced back in to the top six with its win over Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City's loss to Central Coast. Has a game in hand on City as well.
5. Wellington Phoenix (6) Reputations mean nothing to it. Followed up a road win over Victory by beating Adelaide at home. Nathan Burns is back scoring regularly.
6. Melbourne City (5) Expensive loss on the road against the Mariners. Just can't seem to get on a roll and that lack of consistency threatens to cost it a finals berth.
7. Central Coast Mariners (8) In real terms it's not remotely as good as Adelaide but in the power rankings you must recognise recent results, so here goes.
8. Adelaide United (7) False 9 mentioned last week that something was missing with this team and it still hasn't found it. Got what it deserved against Phoenix.
9. Newcastle Jets (9) Managed to get Sydney on an off night but wasn't good enough to take advantage. Hasn't won a game since before Christmas.
10. Western Sydney Wanderers (10) Usually doesn't lose by much but a loss is a loss is a loss and it has had more (12) than any other team this season.
Can't wait for ...
The second clash in successive rounds of teams running first and second.
In the round just gone it was second-placed Victory at home to first-placed Glory, but now its first-placed Glory at home to second-placed Phoenix on Saturday night.
Phoenix is only a point behind Glory, so a win will see it take the competition lead in what would be a fantastic development for a club that slumped to finish last only two seasons ago and second bottom last season.
