# 2011–12 Adelaide United FC season

The 2011–12 Adelaide United FC season was the club's seventh A-League season. It includes the 2011–12 A-League season as well as any other competitions of the 2011–12 football season.

## Season overview

As of 1 April 2011, all A-League clubs were able to negotiate new kit supplier deals as the previous contract with Reebok had elapsed and as such, Adelaide United negotiated a three-year deal with Erreà.
Off-season transfers marked the departure of long serving players Travis Dodd, Lucas Pantelis and Robert Cornthwaite, and of fan favourites Mathew Leckie and Marcos Flores to overseas clubs. In a coup for the club and the A-League, Rini Coolen managed to secure the signatures of Socceroos Bruce Djite, Jon McKain and Dario Vidošić; with the latter being offered the Australian marquee player status at the club for the season. The signing of Ukrainian international, Evgeniy Levchenko completed Adelaide's foreign player quota.
It was announced at the season launch gala dinner on 26 August that the club's captain for the season would be Jon McKain, with Cássio and Eugene Galeković named as vice-captains.
During the last weeks of the off-season in September, Adelaide recruited its final players to complete the squad for the season. Ricardo Da Silva was scouted and signed from local South Australian Super League outfit, Adelaide City, whilst double-winning defenders Milan Susak and Antony Golec were signed to add extra depth to the squad.
On 30 September 2011, the club announced its intention to purchase the Veneto Club complex located in Beverley, South Australia for an estimated $4 million and rename it the "Reds Centre". It is proposed that the refurbished facilities will be used as the club's permanent training venue for the players as well as for hosting post-match gatherings. On 12 December 2011 it became evident that the deal had fallen through due to unacceptable changes made to the contract between land owners and the club. The Veneto Centre was soon thereafter sold to Royal Park Salvage, despite the final sale not being announced.
On 18 December 2011 it was announced that head coach Rini Coolen had been sacked and replaced by former coach John Kosmina as caretaker coach for the rest of the season, including the AFC Champions League group stage of 2012. As part of Kosmina's takeover of the head coaching position, Eugene Galeković was named club captain on 28 December 2011, replacing Jon McKain.

## Players
### Squad information

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Since | App | Goals | Ends | Transfer fee | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Galeković (captain) | 43 | 2007 | 102 | 0 | 2014 | Free | |
| 2 | CM | Malik | 34 | 2011 | 24 | 0 | 2013 | Free | Originally from Youth System |
| 3 | CB | Boogaard | 38 | 2010 | 32 | 0 | 2012 | Free | |
| 4 | CB | McKain | 42 | 2011 | 15 | 0 | 2014 | Free | |
| 5 | RB | Mullen | 35 | 2008 | 58 | 2 | 2013 | Free | |
| 6 | LWB | Cássio (vice-captain) | 44 | 2007 | 96 | 6 | 2013 | Free | |
| 7 | CM | Caravella | 41 | 2011 | 25 | 1 | 2013 | Free | |
| 8 | DM | Levchenko | 46 | 2011 | 10 | 0 | 2012 | Free | |
| 9 | CF | van Dijk | 42 | 2010 | 52 | 25 | 2013 | Free | Foreign marquee player |
| 10 | AM | Vidošić | 37 | 2011 | 25 | 5 | 2014 | Free | Australian marquee player |
| 11 | ST | Djite | 37 | 2011 | 59 | 16 | 2014 | Free | |
| 12 | CB | Golec | 34 | 2011 | 11 | 1 | 2014 | Free | |
| 13 | AM | Ricardo | 41 | 2011 | 5 | 0 | 2012 | Free | |
| 14 | RWB | Watson | 37 | 2010 | 52 | 0 | 2013 | Free | |
| 15 | DM | Melling | 29 | 2012 | 9 | 0 | 2015 | Youth system | |
| 16 | RM | Dilevski | 39 | 2011 | 12 | 1 | 2012 | Free | |
| 17 | LW | Ramsay | 36 | 2010 | 55 | 6 | 2013 | Free | |
| 18 | CM | Barbiero | 40 | 2007 | 74 | 8 | 2013 | Free | |
| 20 | GK | Birighitti | 33 | 2008 | 9 | 0 | 2012 | Youth system | |
| 21 | DM | Usúcar | 38 | 2011 | 29 | 0 | 2013 | Free | |
| 22 | CB | Fyfe | 42 | 2012 | 53 | 5 | 2013 | Free | |
| 24 | AM | Kamara | 28 | 2012 | 1 | 0 | 2015 | Youth system | |
| 25 | ST | Kostopoulos | 34 | 2012 | 3 | 0 | Undisclosed | Youth system | |
| 28 | ST | Wooding | 31 | 2012 | 1 | 0 | Undisclosed | Youth system | |
| 30 | GK | Izzo | 29 | 2012 | 0 | 0 | 2015 | Youth system | |
* Last updated: 25 March 2012
* Source: Adelaide United FC, Players in / out, Wikipedia players' articles
* Ordered by squad number.
* Notes: League appearances and goals listed (including Finals)

### Players in / out

| Name | Position | Duration | Contract expiry | Notes |
| Iain Ramsay | Midfielder | 2 years | 2013 | |
| Daniel Mullen | Defender | 2 years | 2013 | |
| Cássio | Defender | 2 years | 2013 | |
| Fabian Barbiero | Midfielder | 2 years | 2013 | |
| Cameron Watson | Midfielder | 2 years | 2013 | |
| Francisco Usúcar | Midfielder | 2 years | 2013 | |
| Andwélé Slory | Midfielder | 1 year | 2012 | - Accepted the option to extend contract. |
| Name | Position | Moving from | Notes |
| Osama Malik | Midfielder | North Queensland Fury | - 2-year contract |
| Zenon Caravella | Midfielder | Gold Coast United | - 2-year contract |
| Paul Izzo | Goalkeeper | AIS | - 3-year contract beginning 1 January 2012 |
| Jacob Melling | Midfielder | AIS | - 3-year contract beginning 1 January 2012 |
| Bruce Djite | Striker | Gold Coast United | - 2-year contract |
| Spase Dilevski | Midfielder | Universitatea Craiova | - 1-year contract |
| Dario Vidošić | Midfielder | 1. FC Nürnberg | - 3-year contract |
| Jon McKain | Defender | Al Nassr | - 3-year contract |
| Evgeniy Levchenko | Midfielder | Willem II | - 1-year contract |
| Ricardo Da Silva | Midfielder | Adelaide City | - 1-year contract |
| Antony Golec | Defender | Sydney FC | - 1-year contract |
| Milan Susak | Defender | Minangkabau | - 2-year contract |
| Teeboy Kamara | Midfielder | Adelaide United (Youth) | - 3-year contract beginning May 2012 |
| Iain Fyfe | Defender | Busan IPark | - 1-year contract beginning March 2012 |
| Name | Position | Moving to | Notes |
| Paul Reid | Midfielder | Released | - Contract was not renewed. |
| Travis Dodd | Midfielder | Perth Glory | - Contract was not renewed. |
| Mathew Leckie | Midfielder | Borussia Mönchengladbach | - Contract was not renewed. - Free transfer. |
| Robert Cornthwaite | Defender | Chunnam Dragons | - Transferred at the end of the 2010/11 season. - Undisclosed transfer fee. |
| Dario Bodrušić | Defender | Released | - Contract was not renewed. |
| Francesco Monterosso | Striker | Metrostars | - Contract was not renewed. |
| Joe Costa | Midfielder | Released | - Contract was not renewed. |
| Adam Hughes | Midfielder | Perth Glory | - Contract was not renewed. |
| Lucas Pantelis | Midfielder | Wellington Phoenix | - Released from final year of contract. |
| Marcos Flores | Midfielder | Henan Jianye | - Transferred at the end of the 2010/11 season. - Reported transfer fee of $500,000. |
| Bradley Norton | Defender | Released | - Released from senior contract |
| Andwélé Slory | Midfielder | Retired | - Released from contract. |
| Milan Susak | Defender | Tianjin Teda | - Transferred in February 2012 - Reported transfer fee of $200,000 |

## Player statistics
### Squad stats

| | | | | Total | Total | Total | Total | A-League | A-League | A-League Finals | A-League Finals | |
| N | Pos. | Name | Nat. | GS | App | Gls | Min | App | Gls | App | Gls | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Galeković | | 25 | 25 | -42 | 2250 | 25 | -42 | | | (−) means goals conceded |
| 2 | MF | Malik | | 16 | 23 | | 1482 | 23 | | | | |
| 3 | DF | Boogaard | | 20 | 20 | | 1773 | 20 | | | | |
| 4 | DF | McKain | | 13 | 15 | | 1229 | 15 | | | | |
| 5 | DF | Mullen | | 16 | 19 | 1 | 1386 | 19 | 1 | | | |
| 6 | DF | Cássio | | 14 | 14 | | 1140 | 14 | | | | |
| 7 | MF | Caravella | | 21 | 25 | 1 | 1865 | 25 | 1 | | | |
| 8 | MF | Levchenko | | 9 | 10 | | 730 | 10 | | | | |
| 9 | FW | van Dijk | | 21 | 22 | 8 | 1871 | 22 | 8 | | | |
| 10 | MF | Vidošić | | 24 | 25 | 5 | 1960 | 25 | 5 | | | |
| 11 | FW | Djite | | 21 | 24 | 5 | 1768 | 24 | 5 | | | |
| 12 | DF | Golec | | 10 | 11 | 1 | 908 | 11 | 1 | | | |
| 13 | MF | Ricardo | | 1 | 5 | | 106 | 5 | | | | |
| 14 | MF | Watson | | 18 | 24 | | 1747 | 24 | | | | |
| 15 | MF | Melling | | 1 | 9 | | 283 | 9 | | | | |
| 16 | MF | Dilevski | | 7 | 12 | 1 | 640 | 12 | 1 | | | |
| 17 | MF | Ramsay | | 17 | 24 | 2 | 1613 | 24 | 2 | | | |
| 18 | MF | Barbiero | | 14 | 18 | 2 | 1226 | 18 | 2 | | | |
| 20 | GK | Birighitti | | 2 | 2 | -1 | | 2 | -1 | | | (−) means goals conceded |
| 21 | MF | Usúcar | | 14 | 22 | | 1287 | 22 | | | | |
| 22 | DF | Fyfe | | | 1 | | 28 | 1 | | | | |
| 24 | MF | Kamara | | | 1 | | 27 | 1 | | | | Promoted from Youth squad |
| 25 | FW | Kostopoulos | | 1 | 2 | | 103 | 2 | | | | Promoted from Youth squad |
| 28 | FW | Wooding | | | 1 | | 44 | 1 | | | | Promoted from Youth squad |
| 30 | GK | Izzo | | | | | | | | | | (−) means goals conceded |

#### Delisted players

| | | | | Total | Total | Total | Total | A-League | A-League | A-League Finals | A-League Finals | |
| N | Pos. | Name | Nat. | GS | App | Gls | Min | App | Gls | App | Gls | Notes |
| | DF | Susak | | 8 | 9 | | 676 | 9 | | | | Transferred to Tianjin Teda in February 2012. |
| | MF | Slory | | 4 | 6 | | 377 | 6 | | | | Retired from professional football in November 2011. |

### Disciplinary records
#### A-League

| N | Pos. | Name | | | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Galeković | 3 | | |
| 2 | MF | Malik | 3 | | |
| 3 | DF | Boogaard | 4 | 1 | - One match suspension for Round 9 against Central Coast Mariners. |
| 4 | DF | McKain | 6 | | - One match suspension for Round 12 against Sydney FC. |
| 5 | DF | Mullen | 5 | | |
| 6 | DF | Cássio | 3 | | |
| 7 | MF | Caravella | 6 | | |
| 8 | MF | Levchenko | 4 | | |
| 9 | FW | van Dijk | 3 | | |
| 11 | FW | Djite | 4 | | |
| 12 | DF | Golec | 2 | | |
| 13 | MF | Ricardo | 1 | | |
| 14 | MF | Watson | 1 | | |
| 15 | MF | Melling | 1 | | |
| 16 | MF | Dilevski | 3 | | |
| 17 | MF | Ramsay | 1 | 1 | - One match suspension for Round 13 against Wellington Phoenix. |
| 18 | MF | Barbiero | 4 | | |
| 21 | MF | Usúcar | 2 | | |
| 22 | DF | Susak | 2 | | |
| 23 | MF | Slory | 2 | | - Retired from professional football after Round 7. |
Last updated: 25 March 2012 Source: Competitive matches Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

### Scorers
#### A-League

| Total | Player | Player | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round |
| Total | Player | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 8 | | Sergio van Dijk | | 1 | | | | | X | X | X | | | X | | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | 1 |
| 5 | | Dario Vidošić | X | | 1 | 1 | | | | | X | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | |
| 5 | | Bruce Djite | | | X | X | | | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | | | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | X |
| 2 | | Fabian Barbiero | X | X | X | X | X | X | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | X | X | X |
| 2 | | Iain Ramsay | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | X | | | X | | | | | | | | | 1 | | X |
| 1 | | Spase Dilevski | | | | | 1 | | | | | X | | | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 1 | | Zenon Caravella | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | X | | | | | | | | | X |
| 1 | | Daniel Mullen | | X | | | X | | X | X | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | X | X | X | X | | | | |
| 1 | | Antony Golec | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | | 1 | | | | | | X | X | X | X | X | | | | |
| A goal was scored from a penalty kick | Two goals were scored from penalty kicks | Player did not play |

## Club
### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Manager (Caretaker) | John Kosmina |
| Assistant coach | Luciano Trani |
| Youth coach and Academy Manager | Michael Valkanis |
| Goalkeeper coach | Peter Blazincic |
| Fitness and conditioning coach | Peter Cklamovski |
Last updated: 22 December 2011 Source: Adelaide United FC

### Managerial Changes

| Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| Rini Coolen | Demoted to oversee club youth development and academy and subsequently resigned. | 18 December 2011 | 9th, Round 11 (11–12) | John Kosmina | 18 December 2011 | Round 11 (11–12) |

### Attendance at home games

| Week | Date | Opponent | Score AUFC – Away | Attendance | Weekday |
| 2 | 14 October 2011 | Melbourne Victory | 1–0 | 14,573 | Friday |
| 3 | 22 October 2011 | Sydney FC | 1–2 | 12,054 | Saturday |
| 5 | 4 November 2011 | Melbourne Heart | 1–1 | 10,294 | Friday |
| 6 | 11 November 2011 | Gold Coast United | 2–1 | 6,368 | Friday$^*$ |
| 8 | 25 November 2011 | Newcastle Jets | 0–0 | 8,403 | Friday |
| 9 | 2 December 2011 | Central Coast Mariners | 0–4 | 8,437 | Friday |
| 11 | 16 December 2011 | Gold Coast United | 0–3 | 7,967 | Friday |
| 13 | 30 December 2011 | Wellington Phoenix | 2–0 | 9,739 | Friday |
| 15 | 7 January 2012 | Brisbane Roar | 1–1 | 11,274 | Saturday |
| 19 | 29 January 2012 | Perth Glory | 0–3 | 9,063 | Sunday |
| 20 | 3 February 2012 | Wellington Phoenix | 1–2 | 8,425 | Friday |
| 22 | 19 February 2012 | Sydney FC | 1–2 | 8,259 | Sunday |
| 24 | 1 March 2012 | Perth Glory | 0–2 | 5,898 | Thursday |
| 27 | 23 March 2012 | Melbourne Heart | 1–1 | 6,411 | Friday |
* Note: The Round 6 away match against Gold Coast United was moved from Skilled Park to Hindmarsh Stadium and re-classified as an Adelaide United home game.

## Competitions
### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Current position / round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| AFC Champions League | Qualifying play-off | — | Quarter-finals | 16 February 2012 | 3 October 2012 |
| A-League | — | — | 9th | 9 October 2011 | 23 March 2012 |
Source: Competitions

### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 24 | +16 | 51 | Qualification for 2013 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Roar (C) | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 28 | +22 | 49 | Qualification for 2013 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and finals series |
| 3 | Perth Glory | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 43 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 40 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Sydney FC | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 38 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Melbourne Heart | 27 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 37 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 35 | |
| 8 | Melbourne Victory | 27 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 35 | 43 | −8 | 29 | |
| 9 | Adelaide United | 27 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 26 | 44 | −18 | 25 | |
| 10 | Gold Coast United | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 21 | |
* ↑ First place qualifies for the 2013 AFC Champions League group stage. Winning the 2012 A-League Grand Final automatically earns qualification for the 2013 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, unless first place are champions.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 25 March 2012. Source: Competitive Matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | R | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | W | L | L | D | W | D | D | L | D | L | D | W | W | D | D | L | D | L | L | W | L | L | L | D | L | D |
| Position | 9 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches

* Note: The Round 6 away match against Gold Coast United was moved from Skilled Park to Hindmarsh Stadium and re-classified as an Adelaide United home game. † Note: The Round 24 home match against Perth Glory was moved from 4 to 1 March to accommodate AFC Champions League participation.

### AFC Champions League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ADE | BYD | POH | GMB |
| 1 | Adelaide United | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Bunyodkor | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| 3 | Pohang Steelers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 | | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–3 | — |