R7 v WSW away

[Offsider]

Who else could be captain??
We have no natural leaders apart from Matty and cisse.

Bloody hell wombat ........... make up your mind !!!
Do you want unicorn horn to buy the team or ......... unicorn to captain ????
Sheeeesh .......... it’s enough to drive me to drink

 

[MagpieMariner]

Sh*t mate I thought it was in the spoon draw, not up your bot.

Not my bot, I got it out at the beginning of the season and the Mariners shat on it.

 

[Wombat]

Bloody hell wombat ........... make up your mind !!!
Do you want unicorn horn to buy the team or ......... unicorn to captain ????
Sheeeesh .......... it’s enough to drive me to drink

The old Wombat would have wanted to petrol bomb the whole joint.

The new calm and positive Wombat finds supporting the Mariners a Jekyll and Hyde experience.

 

[Antlion]

I have calmed down now and had a chance to watch the tv.

I still say sack the lot of them.

Seriously working from the back.

Kennedy: although he did a couple of good things is unfortunately not up to standard. The thing I noticed was the second goal. When he pushed it away he could not get up quickly enough to save the rebound shot. This is the same thing that did Bozza (and all great keepers when they age) in when he tried to make a late career comeback with us.
On his showing so far this season - sack.

Golec: was played out of position and is not a full/wing back. He has the pace to be one, but if that it is to be his future it will take a long time to learn the craft. He is a centre half and will hopefully return to form after his broken leg, but it will take time.
On his showing so far this season - keep for the bench, and hope for recovery.

Rowles: did some good things but was part of a very non coordinated back line.
On his showing so far this season - Keep, hopefully he will improve with age.

McGing: looked the best of the central defenders, and that is frightening. Not a bad run in a non coordinated back line.
On his showing so far this season - Keep for the bench and as a useful utility.

Cisse: Appeared to be totally lost.
On his showing so far this season - sack, he has gone a season to far and is now past it even for A- League level.

Millar: Great game, absolutely owned Elrich, who is not a bad fullback (crap central defender), he has the full/wingback position for the season.
On his showing so far this season - Keep, he has shown there are gems to be mined in the NPL.

Melling: Tries hard but cannot pass, although he put in a couple of reasonable passes under no pressure last night. Enough has been said about his passing ability. In defence he does not anticipate (crucial for a DM), he hangs back and when he does hassle a player it is usually someone who is dwelling on the ball and he has had to run about 5 meters to get in their backs. Too many times last night he held off the player he was marking and the pass went forward with no interference. Looked like a mobile traffic cone too often.
On his showing so far this season - Sack, he is not A-League standard and is showing what is wrong with Mulvey's philosophy of picking enthusiasm over skill.

O'Neil; Great game, worked his but off and was everything a DM should be that Melling is not. Copped a totally unfair yellow for calling out a diving scumbag
On his showing so far this season - Keep, he is getting better every game, I wish we had him on a 3 year contract rather than a loan.

Pain: another great game, the only player in our team (apart from Millar) who will attack with the ball at their feet. And a player who has both passion and skill.
On his showing so far this season - Keep, the greatest swap ever made. Hopefully we can hang on to him.

Wee Mac: probably his best game since returning but he showed the brain is still there but he is no longer young. The Aleague opposition is better than it was when he was last here but unfortunately he is years older than back then.
On his showing so far this season - Sack, past it. Gone a year too far at this level.

Simon: last night did nothing, was out competed for the long ball and showed why he should not be captain by that stupid "stamp". OK the opposition player had been niggling and getting away with it, but that was just stupidity, all he could have achieved was a red card. If you are going to thump somebody and get sent off, at least make it worth it and make sure they go with you. Look up Dud Beattie v Rocky Turner in the rugby league test Aus v Poms early 1960's to see what I mean.
On his showing so far this season - Sack, past it. Gone a year too far at this level.

Clisby: when he came on, I am sure everyone was asking why was he not there from the start.
On his showing so far this season - Keep, competently fills a position that is notoriously difficult to fill.

Hoole: when he came on showed nothing much. He is another example of where the Mulvey philosophy falls down. Shows heaps of enthusiasm, is a favourite of the coach, but he is not good enough. He is what is known in cricket as a "flat track bully". Scores heaps of runs on on easy pitches and against weal attacks, but fails when the pressure is on.
On his showing so far this season - Sack, he has more opportunities than most across heaps of clubs. He will rip it up in the NPL.

The coach; I am starting to worry that he is being blinded by his own philosophy and fear he is too much "my way or the highway". I would like to think that he has better man management skills than that and is able to bring out the best in players, but I have a vague memory of problems between he and some players in the old days. However apart from that he has had the team long enough now for them to be showing some cohesion. Unfortunately I am seeing none of it. Yes, he correctly said last night something we are lacking skill. The players in the most part were brought in by he, Monty, and later Phelan as well. If you buy injured crocks and those who are past it. Who is to blame? The owner opened his purse more than in previous years, if we do not get results before the new year I really worry for the season.

Great post Ancient

 

[Forum Phoenix]

The defence certainly isn't helping him but Kennedy isn't without blame. The second goal was directly caused by his errors. Frankly there are better keepers in the NPL every week, sign someone like Oldfield, Scott or offer Delianov game time and a full time contract.

How many times do we need to watch him hesitate or misjudge. He’s an ok shot stopper. Everything else about his game is weak.

Have to be crazy to defend him. Carry on Offy.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

The old Wombat would have wanted to petrol bomb the whole joint.

The new calm and positive Wombat finds supporting the Mariners a Jekyll and Hyde experience.

I love this post.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Highlights

 

[turbo]

Have to be crazy to defend him

I defended him a little but that’s mostly because I don’t think he is where most of the negative attention should be focused for this game. I’d be all for dropping him based on overall performance but even if he had an amazing game and kept a clean sheet the best case for us was a draw as we never looked threatening at the front. This one isn’t on the keeper IMO.

 

[Ozhammer]

I'm curious to know how a team can put in very acceptable performances for segments of a match? Mostly the early stages, but completely do the opposite for the rest.

Aside from team selection, MMM's match plans and tactics seem effective early on and the players can for the most part execute them well. There have been periods when we have been able to dominate any team, including the top four.

Why?

Are opposition managers quickly nullifying our tactics?
Are we too slow to adapt?
Are we not fit enough?
Do we give up too soon or fail to focus continually?

I think the fitness issue points to us not having had a head strength and conditioning coach until two weeks ago after the previous incumbent left due to the Bolt situation (my press says he was having to divide up his time too much preventing him from focusing on his primary function). It’s widely known that fitter players fatigue less and accordingly make better decisions, particularly in the latter stages of games. Fitter players are also able to maintain a higher intensity for longer periods of a game, so it’s not rocket science.

Hopefully Andy Thompson can raise the player’s fitness levels from where they are but any team’s baseline level is established in pre-season, which is when we lost our coach.

 

[Insertnamehere]

I think the fitness issue points to us not having had a head strength and conditioning coach until two weeks ago after the previous incumbent left due to the Bolt situation (my press says he was having to divide up his time too much preventing him from focusing on his primary function). It’s widely known that fitter players fatigue less and accordingly make better decisions, particularly in the latter stages of games. Fitter players are also able to maintain a higher intensity for longer periods of a game, so it’s not rocket science.

Hopefully Andy Thompson can raise the player’s fitness levels from where they are but any team’s baseline level is established in pre-season, which is when we lost our coach.

Didn't we have a bloke MMM brought with him? There's no way we should have not had an S&C until now. That is actually negligent in this day and age.
Edit: After some digging his name is/was Andrew Young. Announced around same time as Cisse. What happened to him?

 

[pjennings]

The second goal was a deadset howler and he could have saved the 1st. True about the scoring part. We were excellent for the first 5 minutes and Weemac should have scored but then we just went to water.

First goal
In the early days Fox had cameras behind the goals. I thought BK could have seen the first goal late because of offside WSW players. VAR could not overturn the goal because the camera angle to prove interfering with play was not there.

Second goal, BK blew up at the defence for not reacting after the parry but he made two mistakes.

1) If he couldn't catch the ball the next best thing is to parry it around the post for a corner (decision making to do this seems to be a lost art for the modern goalkeeper).
2) Once the first mistake is made then his first priority needs to be to get to the ball. His wasn't, it was to get to his feet. To get to the ball all he needed to do was to get his legs into a position to dive on top of the ball. Instead he wastes his time getting fully upright.The importance of staying of your feet and being on your feet is stressed to keepers - but this adherence to the maxims probably caused BK to want to get to his feet.

I used to play by one maxim. Keep the ball out. I might not have always been successful - but that needs to be the primary maxim used in decision making for a keeper.

 

[pjennings]

The stomp was deplorable and I'm amazed he wasn't sent - I wouldn't be surprised if he has to face the MRP. Having said that, usually he's just a bit annoying to opponents. Grubby I could accept, but he doesn't tend to commit serious fouls or actually try to hurt anybody. So yeah, I do feel like his reputation is somewhat undeserved.

If you look at it in normal speed from one angle rather than slow motion that Speed played ad nauseam from another it is not even obvious that he knew the player was there - less so that it was deliberate.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

First goal
In the early days Fox had cameras behind the goals. I thought BK could have seen the first goal late because of offside WSW players. VAR could not overturn the goal because the camera angle to prove interfering with play was not there.

Second goal, BK blew up at the defenc

They were onside (there's actually 2 players on Simon, which are the ones you're looking at)

It was a cracker of a shot...but it shouldn't have gotten through our players. 3 defenders right there, only 1 showed any desperation. At this level, players need to have a single minded focus. Look at Melling - he closes down the distance, but there's no last-ditch effort, it's a half-arsed half-lunge at the end. I'm not saying the goal is his fault, but given his proximity..well, we expect a better last-ditch effort at this level. Some actual desperate movement and a slide, and it seems to me there's a chance it could have been stopped.

On that note, 2 WSW attackers sprinted after the ball, another one is running in - none of our defenders are following suit. Meaning if Kennedy saved it but the ball stayed in the goal area, WSW would have scored anyway.

If you look at it in normal speed from one angle rather than slow motion that Speed played ad nauseam from another it is not even obvious that he knew the player was there - less so that it was deliberate.

There's a definite change in his movement that can't be explained by anything other than a deliberate stomp. Of course he knew the player was there given he walked right past him.

 

[Insertnamehere]

We're just too slow all the time everyone is either standing, walking or jogging. If you watch all the high level leagues it's almost an AFL game. Alot of running and alot of sprinting.
The fact is our effort all the time is way below standard. Until that improves we're just hoping for opposition to have off days.

 

[Ozhammer]

Didn't we have a bloke MMM brought with him? There's no way we should have not had an S&C until now. That is actually negligent in this day and age.
Edit: After some digging his name is/was Andrew Young. Announced around same time as Cisse. What happened to him?

He left the club around 12 weeks or more ago, since then fitness work was overseen by Monty but under the control of an intern and some guy from the Australian Institute of Rugby, who was originally bought in to help Andy Young to manage the Bolt thing on top of his first team duties. The club never officially announced his departure to my knowledge, which perhaps suggests there was something smelly about the situation.

 

[Insertnamehere]

He left the club around 12 weeks or more ago, since then fitness work was overseen by Monty but under the control of an intern and some guy from the Australian Institute of Rugby, who was originally bought in to help Andy Young to manage the Bolt thing on top of his first team duties. The club never officially announced his departure to my knowledge, which perhaps suggests there was something smelly about the situation.

Oh right. He must have only been with us like 2 months.
Now I know that it changes the perspective. We're always gonna fail with someone unqualified looking after it. And now we have someone who knows what they're doing its gonna take 6 wks to catch up I reckon. But we can't really afford to be 0-2-11at that point. Even if we went 14-0-0 to finish. I'd be balder and grayer.

 

[Offsider]

I don't like Simon's verbal abuse of players and officials but I don't think he ever goes out to intentionally hurt players like Muscat did. He is a physical player who fights hard for every ball and gets over enthusiastic sometimes.

Your comment was not totally wrong ......... until the stomp. And make no mistake .........it was a stomp.
He changed his stride and direction.
He changed his foot mechanic from a step to a stomp.
He could have done it harder but he did it knowingly.
There is no line between his verbal rants, his elbows and no intent.......... in that game or his history.

 

[Offsider]

Oh right. He must have only been with us like 2 months.
Now I know that it changes the perspective. We're always gonna fail with someone unqualified looking after it. And now we have someone who knows what they're doing its gonna take 6 wks to catch up I reckon. But we can't really afford to be 0-2-11at that point. Even if we went 14-0-0 to finish. I'd be balder and grayer.

It is another indicator that mc is plugging the el-cheapo attitude of previous seasons.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I think the fitness issue points to us not having had a head strength and conditioning coach until two weeks ago after the previous incumbent left due to the Bolt situation (my press says he was having to divide up his time too much preventing him from focusing on his primary function). It’s widely known that fitter players fatigue less and accordingly make better decisions, particularly in the latter stages of games. Fitter players are also able to maintain a higher intensity for longer periods of a game, so it’s not rocket science.

Hopefully Andy Thompson can raise the player’s fitness levels from where they are but any team’s baseline level is established in pre-season, which is when we lost our coach.

To be honest as a team we haven’t looked unfit to me. But key individuals coming in late, Ross, Oar, and several others recovering from serious injuries or picking up injuries has really impacted,

It’s why I’m cutting mike slack still. Difficult terrain with lots of issues to address and he hasn’t had the best luck yet either.

 

[Big Al]

To be honest as a tram we haven’t looked unfit to me. But key individuals coming in late, Ross, Oar, and several others recovering from serious injuries or picking up injuries has really impacted,

It’s ehy I’m cutting mike slack still. Difficult terrain with lots of issues to address and he hasn’t had the best luck yet either.

Your right imo we haven’t looked unfit.
But we have had a few injuries. Are they fitness or bad luck?

Skill wise we look 2nd rate