The Dominion Post

...which proves that the Dom Post really have no idea what they are doing.

Technically speaking, we did win only one play-off game - the game against Perth is technically a draw.

They won the World Cup, but officially did not win the final of the World Cup - they won the penalty shoot-out which determined the winner of the tournament after the game itself ended as a draw.

It's the way FIFA officially counts such games in the statistics.

You didn't mind this when it meant you could say the Wharf wimmin were undefeated last season....

With all this talk regarding Ricki's performance and the odd stat chucked in, our win %, I thought it would be interesting to have a look at our stats over the seasons.

So I created a couple of charts showing the performance of the team over the past regular seasons (not including playoffs) including the games we have played currently in this season.

I am just going to link them as they are large(ish) images.

Phoenix - Win/Loss/Draw stats

Points per game and season odds prior to season commencement

I have used odds from Centrebet and TAB at this point, waiting on them to see if they will supply their historic odds. Would be interesting to see how our perceived strength is compared to actual results.

Pretty fair analysis - I've been pretty critical of Mr Thompson in th epast but hard to disagree with him here.

There was some pretty good editorialising about the Phoenix in a number of places this weekend.In addition to the piece above The Dom Post ran this as their editorial:http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/5996296/Editorial-Patience-is-the-name-of-the-Phoenix-gameAnd The Herald ran this piece by Michael Burgess:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/soccer-football/news/article.cfm?c_id=86&objectid=10767385

New Zealand's Craig Foster.

Because he's happy to slag Ricki. 

The cynical might say the he's slagging Ricki to push the barrel of his old friend Neil Emblen who is 'bubbling under' as a viable candidate for a job at the Phoenix.

New Zealand's Craig Foster.

maybe there was 5k cos the Dom does nothing but slag the team off

I may be a bit off the mark, but shortly after Ricki became AW manager there was that tour to Central and South America and afterwards a lot of senior players were given the chop? Was Danny Hay part of this lot?

As I recall, weren't quite a few of the senior players unhappy with the way Ricki got the job?

I may be a bit off the mark, but shortly after Ricki became AW manager there was that tour to Central and South America and afterwards a lot of senior players were given the chop? Was Danny Hay part of this lot?

Pretty sure Hay was captain. On a radio interview about 6 months ago when he was asked about Hay continually slagging him off, Herbert indicated that attitudes on that tour were pretty poor, and reading between the lines of the interview, that Hay was one of the main problems.

This is from memory, so could be wrong.

Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante said he was surprised to read a newspaper article quoting former All White Danny Hay saying the Phoenix game plan was stale and keeping the fans away.

Hay also said the days were gone when people were happy to just see the ball lumped down the field.

�I�ve been quite happy with the way we�ve been playing this season,� Durante said.

�The only thing missing is that we haven�t been putting the ball in the net.

�We are not a team that lumps it long, just as we don�t have a lot of intricate play in our build like Brisbane Roar do.

�A lot of teams are trying to play like Brisbane, playing out a lot from the back and getting caught.

�We aren�t a team that takes risks at the back but we do try to get the ball out to our fullbacks and wingers.

�We don�t build up through the middle, we like to get it out wide and get crosses into the box. You can see that from our stats which show we often have more balls into the penalty area than our opponents.

�That is positive in that it puts teams on the back foot. Obviously sometimes it has to be a bit scrappy and a case in point was when we went to Brisbane..

�There are times when you have to change and the plan we used that day worked pretty well. Not many teams are going to get a point from Suncorp as we did.�

Team-mate Manny Muscat agreed with his captain�s assessment of the season so far.

�Considering our limited numbers through injuries and suspensions we�ve played some pretty good football, had lots of possession and created plenty of chances,� Muscat said.

�The reason we haven�t been winning is simple. We haven�t been scoring goals and that has to change.

�There will always be games where you play well and don�t get the points, and vice versa.

�Taking three points from our home games is crucial because historically we haven�t done well away.

�Actually we have played better away this season � don�t ask me why � but need to get more from games.

�Sydney have been a bit like us � playing well without results going their way, but the league is so tight that a couple of wins on the trot can put you in the top four.

�If we keep believing in ourselves and keep playing good football the results will come. Hopefully it starts on Sunday.�