But on Saturday the big tops were a bit further out and could be found at Hindmarsh Stadium.

At some point a match was played. I don’t want to make light of that because Adelaide United’s resurgence continued with a 3-1 win over Central Coast Mariners.

The Reds are now just eight points behind the ladder leaders with 15 rounds played. Seven weeks ago, they were bottom and the gap to top spot was 13 points.

And the game gives me the chance to mention Pablo Sanchez again.

It was his pinpoint cross that set up United’s first goal. Then, after the Mariners equalised, Sanchez’s superb header from a Jimmy Jeggo corner put the Reds back in front.

He’s the club’s equal leading scorer in the 2015/16 A-League with four goals. This is despite playing just 565 minutes (out of a possible 1350). Sanchez topped the scoring chart at United last season as well.

Yet it’s unlikely he would have started the game if fellow Spaniard Sergio Cirio hadn’t been injured. Even more remarkably, Sanchez might soon be on his way out of Adelaide.

And that’s because United might sign Sergio van Dijk, three years after former coach John Kosmina pushed the popular striker out of the club.

Players and supporters celebrate a goal against the Central Coast Mariners. Photo: David Mariuz, AAP.

But the van Dijk return has, frankly, been a circus. So much so that it took until last night, 72 hours after he landed in Adelaide, for the club to post any news about what its plan is.

The question that needed addressing was whether he was coming to play in the A-League or just for the Reds’ Asian Champions League campaign (which might be over after one match). Also, was he nearly ready to sign or was there still a lot of negotiating to do?

And that long period of uncertainty says a lot about the club’s communication strategy. That’s if it has one.

On Thursday morning, when I learned that van Dijk was flying to Adelaide, I chose my words carefully in breaking the news on Twitter. I wrote he was “on the verge of returning to Adelaide United” because I knew a deal hadn’t been finalised.

I rang a club official for comment. He directed me to another United official who couldn’t speak to me at the time and didn’t return my call until around 2.00pm. The only detail I was given was that, yes, van Dijk was coming to town.

At exactly the same time, The Advertiser posted a story which included the following paragraph:

“Adelaide officials confirmed van Dijk will be assessed by the Reds during the coming days and signed as a potential Asian Football Confederation player in the 3+1 rule (three foreigners from outside the AFC plus one from the AFC) for Champions League commitments.”

Why couldn’t they tell me that when I rang several hours earlier?

The likely answer is the club – or a person at the club – decided to get the news out by dropping it to The Advertiser. Then, having told the paper it would get the story, providing details to someone else might have been seen as breaking that promise.

On Friday morning, van Dijk changed the profile picture on his Twitter account to an old photo of him playing for the Reds. With 279,000 followers, that little detail wasn’t going to be missed. That afternoon, Adelaide United tweeted a photo of him at Hindmarsh Stadium. But there was no word from the club about what its plan is.

Then on Saturday van Dijk was introduced to the crowd before the game. Still no word about the club’s plan.

The story posted on United’s official website last night confirmed the details given to The Advertiser on Thursday.

So perhaps the club’s communication plan hasn’t been refreshed since its founding in 2003 – before social media’s surge meant that using the city’s only tabloid, almost exclusively, might have made more sense.

The problem with that of course is (and I can barely believe I’m about to write this) you can’t trust everything you read from a secondary source. Example: two weeks ago, at the same time The Advertiser posted an article which described Adelaide gaining Melbourne City’s David Williams in exchange for Osama Malik as a “done deal”, Williams was rejecting United’s offer (the story has since been amended – instead of saying “done deal”, it now says “done pending”).

No wonder fans are sceptical.

It’s possible the club simply doesn’t think that directly providing the information is that important. Or it does think it’s important but internal chaos plays havoc with the way it communicates.

And there might still be one more twist.

There’s been no mention of van Dijk playing for the Reds in the A-League … which means it hasn’t been ruled out.

If the club is thinking of signing him for domestic competition, and says so, there’d be great speculation about who is leaving. Someone would have to because a club is only allowed five overseas players in the A-League – and United already has five.

And that means Pablo. You know, the guy who scores goals at a better rate than any of his teammates.

Marcelo Carrusca won’t be cut as he’s a marquee player. Isaias and Sergio Cirio are always in the starting eleven if available. And Iacopo La Rocca, who played his first A-League match for the Reds on Saturday, will be needed to ensure the squad has defensive depth, especially as United still seems determined to offload Osama Malik.

On top of all that, Sanchez is the only foreign player whose contract will end soon. “Thanks for scoring and setting up all those goals even though we keep starting you on the bench, Pablo. On your way now.”

I doubt the explanation for this unusual approach to van Dijk’s return to Adelaide is actually because he might be coming to play in the A-League, as when something is either conspiracy or stuff up, 99 per cent of the time it’s a stuff up. Still…

But there is some good news for Adelaide United – there’s at least one club making a bigger hash of its communications.

Please welcome into the circus tent, the clowns from Central Coast Mariners.

Yes, not content with words like “cash strapped”, “embattled” and “crisis club” frequently appearing in stories about them, the once proud Mariners are now inviting “farce” to get a more regular run.

How else can you describe their decision to announce the signing of former Liverpool favourite Luis Garcia during the match against United on Saturday?

That’s right, about 20 minutes into the game, word starts going around the crowd that Garcia is joining Central Coast.

When Mariners’ coach Tony Walmsley sat down at the post match media conference, he began by reading a prepared statement about the signing. I wouldn’t bother reading it unless you need more evidence that Comical Ali style spin has become a sad feature of the sporting industry.

Nevertheless there is something nearly as bad in it: confirmation that getting Garcia is all about marketing, not results. Sure, he may star in the A-League but for the Mariners that would just be a bonus. This is a commercial decision.

I sensed Walmsley was a little uncomfortable, perhaps embarrassed, while he was reading the statement. A few minutes later it was obvious why it was so awkward for him – one of his answers revealed that, although he was expected to deliver the club’s official words, he had absolutely no idea why it had announced the news during the match.

The Mariners hierarchy should have given him the rationale for the bizarre timing because, when pressed, Walmsley couldn’t find a reason for it. And for not being able to explain something that made no sense, he was humiliated.

The normal thing to do would have been to wait until yesterday or today, with all the Central Coast players and officials back in Gosford. But hey, hardly anything that has happened there this season has been normal.

Perhaps the final word belongs to Hindmarsh Stadium’s audio system. Because on a day with so many comical goings-on, the music chosen to accompany the half time entertainment was depressingly appropriate: Yakety Sax.

Paul Marcuccitti’s soccer column is published in InDaily on Mondays. He is a co-presenter of 5RTI’s Soccer on 531 program which can be heard from 11am on Saturdays.