All Whites vs Solomon Islands | Fri 1 Sept | 7:30pm | QBE Stadium

I get conspiracy theorists but even this is absolutely stretching it by Ryan Nelsen to teach NZF a lesson about ditching Waitt for Ricki and the pay back is getting West Ham to have him go down 2 weeks before hand in the warm ups and stretchered off knowing that West Ham have 3 games away and wont win any (but its ok by West Ham) right as NZ are about to play Solomons for the right to represent OFC in the intercontinental play off - right?

Please tell me you were just having a laugh......

These aren't major losses in my opinion.

Rojas sometimes threatened in the confed cup, but didn't do it consistently.

No, 50 Shades of Gay was a very different film

Is there a Fever pub somewhere near the stadium? I am meant to catch up with a friend but looking at the Auckland transport website it's going to take a while to get there, so I'm thinking I might go straight to the stadium and hang out at the pub till kick off and he can meet me there...

The Merchant Bar & Kitchen

The bus from Britomart takes about 15-20 minutes, if you're staying in town it shouldn't really be a hassle.

How are people watching this without SKY/pub on Friday night? Sky UK aren't showing it I don't think. Out of luck.

Looks like it's going to take 1.5hr which is ludicrous. I'm staying in Remuera but probably won't go there till after the game.  Will look into the quickest way to get tk Britomart then altgought their flyer costs $18 one way...a bit different from what we are used to here in the shire

Pure laziness then.  

I had no major issues leaving work at Auckland Int. and driving to Browns Bay at 5pm.  Always home by 7 at the very latest.  Also half of Auckland will be on the piss given its a Friday so less people driving at rush hour.

a quick look gives some indication..disclaimer..didn't try time and day and there is some walking or maybe taxi at end.!

http://www.aucklandstadiums.co.nz/sites/Venues/journey-planner

Any indication of crowd numbers?

Freudian slip.

Doesn't he play for the Solomons?

Dane Ingram has been sent home from the All Whites camp due to slack of fitness

— Andrew Voerman (@andrewvoerman) August 29, 2017

Fraud

Hudson's current bugbear/excuse is clearly 'fitness'. Allows him to bin anyone off.

Anthony Hudson on Ingham: "He was unfit, body fat was high. We've given him a couple of fitness tests and he's not where we need to be"

— Andrew Gourdie (@AndrewGourdie) August 29, 2017

Given the Roar's efforts so far this pre-season, it is really not that far out there to believe that his fitness program hasn't been up to standard

There's a responsibility on the players to be in shape, but the used car salesman stated in March that "we're looking at ways to do everything possible" to get the players fit. So he waits until 3 days before the biggest game of the year to discover that a player isn't fit? As per usual with Anfony a whole lot of hot air and nothing actually achieved

I am surprised that an injured Dura who hasn't played a minute of pre-season (and you have to assume has not been training if he can't play) is somehow fitter than an 18 year-old who started for an A-League side within the last fortnight.

So what is the actual squad now?

I think I have been very fair to AH until now and have kept my criticism to a minimum.

I am not sure what he will achieve by dismissing Ingham - a player he personally flew out to Australia to convince him to join his squad not so long ago - other than souring yet another personal relationship.

Is this an effort to send a message to the rest of the squad that everyone in the NT fold should keep themselves in peak condition all year long just in case they get picked?

Let's not forget that the A-League season isn't exactly around the corner - so what was he expecting?

I must say I am puzzled. If he isn't fit either don't call him up and don't play him. With the amount of injuries we've had this time around we can hardly afford to lose any more players so close to the game!

*looks into crystal ball*

"well what can I do with injuries and a lot of the squad not fit, we're down to the bare bones. It's not like fitness wasn't on my list of things to solve early on in the year and I could organise and check on these things, I'm only the head coach of an international football team - it's amazing we managed to get a draw at all"

Remembering he's already chucked Tuiloma for not being fit.

This is preparation work for abrogating any personal responsibility if things go wrong over the next few days.

It's ok guys. Chris Wood is tall and he's now a star of the EPL so we'll just hoof everything somewhere near him and he'll score 5 goals. Easy innit guvnor? 

Physical load are heavily monitored and controlled by clubs, so this could well be a reflection on the Roar rather than Dane himself. 

This simply isn't good enough from 3 players regarded as the future of the AWs. Hopefully this makes them realise Hudson is serious and they get their A into G.

Disregarding what Hudson coulda/shoulda/woulda done in the past, this is 100% the right move and good on him. There shouldn't be any excuses on Inghams part.

Especially at his age.

The only thing Hudson is serious about is protecting his own reputation. Even if it means throwing young players under the bus.

Agreed. Any player that is a professional and/or in the frame for the national team should be expected to be in the right physical condition for international windows, regardless of where their club pre-season is at. It's not that hard to see the club looking back at the less than great results against island nations recently, and identifying fitness/conditioning as a major factor.

I think this will be the team selected by Anferneeeeee

                                     Marinovic

                       Boxall        Dura       Smith

Colvey/Roux                                              Wynne/Doyle 

                                  Musa/Rufer

                         Thomas        McGlinchey

                             Barbarouses Wood

3-5-2

but for those that cant be fooled by Anferneeeeee

5-3-2

No excuses whatsoever if its not at laest a 3 goal winning margin

That's a far, far more cynical view than I would be willing to take. 

I wish it was cynical.

You're right. Absurd is closer.

I can't see any of the players standing for Hudson chucking a kid to protect his own reputation.

The kid is a professional and international footballer regardless of his age. If NZ is serious about competing at an international level, the management should take fitness and conditioning levels seriously. Plus you have no idea how the player was dealt with personally within the camp before being sent back to the Roar.

Smith won't be there. And Dura's been injured. Does that mean he's match fit? Hmmmm.

Two things: if he is unfit, that should have been known to Hudson well before, not three days before the game. If he knew Tuiloma and Lewis were unfit, why didn't he know Ingham was unfit?

Secondly, this is the fourth time he's publically made this point in less than 12 months. Why is that? Are players not listening to him? Are his expectations unrealistic? Or is he laying a platform to explain away poor results when he tries to get his next gig?

I admire your youthful enthusiasm.

I wish I could say the same for your conspiracy theories