Round 24 vs Perth

[Wombat]

Coach got his selection all wrong - playing Simon is a major mistake. He has no pace and cant exploit any space a back 3 leaves.
Murray needs to get away from this car crash of a club

Why, were is Murray going to go???

 

[Ancient Mariner]

What I saw was that their cattle are far superior to our cattle.
They took their chances well, and did not miss too many.
We lacked penetration in the final third as usual but their defence was rock solid.
I do not have a problem with Staj as coach, no one would be able to turn the squad he has available enough to beat the leaders. I have however seen a marked improvement in structure and defence.
Being realistic who in that team tonight side is really A-League level?
Kennedy, good reactions sometimes, but does not control his area. Bench at best.
Aspro, will be good if he can play beside a centre half like Patty Z. However he is off elsewhere.
Rowles, has a lot of talent, makes mistakes, as above needs an experienced partner and some more years. Early rumours had him moving on as well.
Clisby, really only a bench player but fills a difficult position, not really good enough if you want to be a top team.
Millar, will look good in a stronger side when he will have others making space for him. Moving elsewhere.
Melling, enthusiastic but lacks ability, he may develop but I suspect CCM was his last stop before NPL.
Hiariej, one of the true talents in the team, he has been playing forward of his true position, but as a DM with a good side, his class will show.
O'Neill, the other real talent in the team but needs better players around him for the talent to be realised. Back to Burnley.
Paine, another one who is up to standard with great enthusiasm. Apparently moving on.
Murray, has not made the step up. Difficult for a striker to look good in shit team.
Simon, has really been a bench player for the last three seasons.

Considering the above I was not to surprised with tonight's result nor even massively disappointed. I thought most of our players tried and played up to the level of their ability which on a one to one basis was a fair way behind Glory.

This squad we have at present is by far the poorest we have put on the park in the last 5 years but has probably had the most amount of money spent on it.
Just spending money is not the answer.
We desperately need a full time director of football with a massive amount of skill, connections, and ability to see value to work with whoever is coach.
This must be the immediate priority. No more part time EPL names having a holiday.

 

[Wombat]

Pretty poor. Mallon was shocking and should have been hooked for Pain at half time. Murray and Simon are toothless. Tommy and Aspro (and Pain) we the only players that looked HAL standard. O'Neill looks the standard but didnt play well tonight.
The only highlight was Rowdy's sledge on Reddy.............."I went to your Gym and i got fat! " (Reddy owns Fitness First Erina Fair apparently).

 

[Josho Howe]

Pretty poor. Mallon was shocking and should have been hooked for Pain at half time. Murray and Simon are toothless. Tommy and Aspro (and Pain) we the only players that looked HAL standard. O'Neill looks the standard but didnt play well tonight.
The only highlight was Rowdy's sledge on Reddy.............."I went to your Gym and i got fat! " (Reddy owns Fitness First Erina Fair apparently).

Thanks to Rowdy for then including me on that Reddy sledge since it was ''Roast Howe'' night in Bay 16

 

[Antlion]

That was about as expected. Not much to add really. Melling was a liability.

Looking forward to a near totally new team next season. We know we are unlikely to re-sign most of the players we should though I'm still holding out hope for TommyH.
The only performance to really keep your eye on for the next 3 games is Stajcic's

 

[pjennings]

Why, were is Murray going to go???

Nowhere!! - but why play him at right wing (where he got to decent attempts off from). If you have to play both Matty and him Muzza needs to be in the middle.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

What I saw was that their cattle are far superior to our cattle.
They took their chances well, and did not miss too many.
We lacked penetration in the final third as usual but their defence was rock solid.
I do not have a problem with Staj as coach, no one would be able to turn the squad he has available enough to beat the leaders. I have however seen a marked improvement in structure and defence.
Being realistic who in that team tonight side is really A-League level?
Kennedy, good reactions sometimes, but does not control his area. Bench at best.
Aspro, will be good if he can play beside a centre half like Patty Z. However he is off elsewhere.
Rowles, has a lot of talent, makes mistakes, as above needs an experienced partner and some more years. Early rumours had him moving on as well.
Clisby, really only a bench player but fills a difficult position, not really good enough if you want to be a top team.
Millar, will look good in a stronger side when he will have others making space for him. Moving elsewhere.
Melling, enthusiastic but lacks ability, he may develop but I suspect CCM was his last stop before NPL.
Hiariej, one of the true talents in the team, he has been playing forward of his true position, but as a DM with a good side, his class will show.
O'Neill, the other real talent in the team but needs better players around him for the talent to be realised. Back to Burnley.
Paine, another one who is up to standard with great enthusiasm. Apparently moving on.
Murray, has not made the step up. Difficult for a striker to look good in shit team.
Simon, has really been a bench player for the last three seasons.

Considering the above I was not to surprised with tonight's result nor even massively disappointed. I thought most of our players tried and played up to the level of their ability which on a one to one basis was a fair way behind Glory.

This squad we have at present is by far the poorest we have put on the park in the last 5 years but has probably had the most amount of money spent on it.
Just spending money is not the answer.
We desperately need a full time director of football with a massive amount of skill, connections, and ability to see value to work with whoever is coach.
This must be the immediate priority. No more part time EPL names having a holiday.

Thanks for saving me the time of writing the same post AM.

Both Matt’s were shocking tonight. And Kennedy is a massive liability. We need much better if we’re to turn our fortunes around.

On Staj, we are clearly far better organised and imo improving. However there’ll be no silk purse out of this sows ear.

Staj has done as much as you could realistically hope for in the time he’s had.
But agree with FFC, mistake to start Simon and leave out Pain. Though at least we had one player off the bench who can offer something.

Sign Jem and re-sign Tom and start building a proper team around them from the ground up.

 

[sydmariner]

crowd was 3939

 

[finally retired]

crowd was 3939

no way

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

crowd was 3939

Like hell it was. 1 in 6 seats full? Bullshit.

 

[Wombat]

Top tier was pretty full. We thought 3500+. Not too fanciful.

 

[Coast Football Ramble]

crowd was 3939

That number or one very similar of 3909 was put up on the big screen between Perths starting 11 and bench player announcements.

 

[finally retired]

That number or one very similar of 3909 was put up on the big screen between Perths starting 11 and bench player announcements.

yes...I said to the bloke sitting next to me...here's our gate size....lol....
I was actually thinking not much more than 1500.

 

[marinermick]

That number or one very similar of 3909 was put up on the big screen between Perths starting 11 and bench player announcements.

That was the membership number of the winner of the membership badge draw.

We joked that it will probably be the crowd figure and everyone laughed.

 

[marinermick]

From what I understand Matt Simon is carrying a back injury. He had to have an epidural before the match just to get on the park.

Given his performance this was definitely a poor option.

 

[turbo]

From what I understand Matt Simon is carrying a back injury. He had to have an epidural before the match just to get on the park.

If that's accurate that's insulting to the players he got a run in front of especially Pain, as well as the fans who turned up to see him take up a starting spot.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

It is also a stupid decision for his own well being. Dumb.

 

[Insertnamehere]

If that's accurate that's insulting to the players he got a run in front of especially Pain, as well as the fans who turned up to see him take up a starting spot.

It's indicative of the club the last 5 years. Just utterly stupid.
Seasons gone. Give the kids a run.

 

[turbo]

It's indicative of the club the last 5 years. Just utterly stupid.

I can accept that there's been mistakes with recruitment & spending but the basic day to day stuff like this really irritates me. The kind of thing that if a mate said it you'd be asking "Are you sure that's a good idea" but no one seems to be asking it at the club, or listening if they are. You don't have to be a tactical genius to see that's a poor idea. It's not like the bloke is Ronaldo anyway where playing at 50% will outshine any other option we have, he's been struggling for impact at 100% and this is the tightest defence in the comp. From the club that's not overly surprising but I expected better than that from Staj being a fresh face.

A vote of no confidence in Hoole and Mcglinchey and just plain disrespectful to Pain and to a lesser extent Murray who got pushed out wide to accommodate him. Surely the simple answer is Pain out wide, Murray up front solo and that still gives you Hoole and Mcglinchey to work in to the subs as needed.

 

[Antlion]

You can see how from training Staj would consider the front 3 that he did. Logically Simon drops back to collect, hold up or flick on the ball to the oncoming Murray to put it in the net. Against a weaker side it may have produced something. In reality Simon is past it and Perth are too good. A younger Simon drew defenders and disrupted the backline. These days he is easily contained and really just wastes an attacking position.