Easily 10,000 there, maybe 12,000? The game was almost sold out in advance but I suppose a lot of people bought tickets but didn't show.
A nice game to watch even in pouring rain. AFC defence looked dodgy for the first time this season for about the first 10 minutes, probably due to Sakai's absence. But once again they just wore a team down and took advantage in the last few minutes. De Vries is a giant. Our special boy Liam was fun to watch as usual. And Callan Elliot did an excellent job.
It wasn't nearly sold out. Either A3 or ticketmaster only release some sections and rows initially so it looks more sold out on the ticket map than it is.
I like watching them tbh. I wonder if Nando stood out in LOI, he certainly does in the A League.
Nando has been class.
I think AFC have taken a very pragmatic approach to the game - they seem to flirt a line between parking the us occasionally, playing possession, and playing very basic football up the flanks.
I was pretty impressed by the crowd today. Proper miserable day. Port looked like they had more than usual... (the people standing had definitely spilt over into the neighbouring bays)
The other teams that you would think have the best chance of winning are too sloppy at the back (like Sydney) to consistently get the three points. Auckland might struggle to score but it seems unlikely they will drop many points from leaking and likely will punish every bad team from organisation alone. It's too early to say if they will win. But, they don't have much squad depth, don't look that convincing in the opposition goal mouth and they haven't played victory/Sydney away but they might just have enough points from consistency to make the games irrelevant.
I was pretty impressed by the crowd today. Proper miserable day. Port looked like they had more than usual... (the people standing had definitely spilt over into the neighbouring bays)
13,128 yesterday. Average home 17,294 second only to SydneyFC with 21,000 plus. The full house guaranteed next week will raise the home average to over 19,000. Staying top much longer AuckFC could be topping AL attendances as well as the table.
Anyone watch Callan Elliot closely? I was in and out with the game. Kind of unfortunate to fall out with the club, and not get game time overseas.
How’d he go? Thought he was a more than competent A league FB when he left us.
In the first half, Elliot was playing down in the T-AFC corner and he made several crucial tackles/deflections. He might have saved Auckland's bacon once or twice.
Ramming liberal dribble down your throat since 2009 This forum needs less angst and more Kate Bush threads
I thought the stand out kiwi at RB played in white, not blue.
Still think we need a decent RB. Elliott, Ingham, Roux, Payne all ok but not at the same level as our other defenders at LB and CB.
I dunno Ingham got roasted by Gillion a couple of times. I thought Callan was decent, defensively sound but perhaps didn't add as much going forward as Sakai does.
Elliot did well enough. Was tiring in the last 20, lack of game time showing, but also made some crucial tackles then. He lacked a bit of go forward because of that I thought. chopah
Marto
I thought the stand out kiwi at RB played in white, not blue.
Still think we need a decent RB. Elliott, Ingham, Roux, Payne all ok but not at the same level as our other defenders at LB and CB.
I dunno Ingham got roasted by Gillion a couple of times. I thought Callan was decent, defensively sound but perhaps didn't add as much going forward as Sakai does.
I agree. Callan had huge potential before he left the Nix the first time, but wasted an entire year in Greece, an entire year in Scotland and now will waste the vast majority of this season not playing unless Sakai has significant injury issues. Who knows what sort of player he could have been, but a player cannot lose that much time in the crucial early years of his career without losing a lot of potential development. He was getting back to some decent form at the end of his second Nix spell after being quite inconsistent in his first season back, but even then he was still very defensively suspect and in my opinion hadn't made it back to the level he was playing at before he left for Greece. He wasn't put under much pressure against the Jets so it is hard to say if he has ironed out any of those defensive issues.
Sheridan's problem is that he has Payne in front of him at the Nix, and could do for the next two seasons if Payne stays fit. If he didn't, I believe he is good enough to be a regular starting A-League RB right now, but he is going to have to bide his time, and he is at the stage where he needs regular game time at a decent level. It's quite the conundrum. If I was the Nix I'd be tempted to play Sheridan as he is the sort of player that could fetch a decent fee in the near future, even if Payne is the better player. And if Sheridan doesn't get the chance to play regularly in the next 18 months then I cannot see past Payne & Roux for the two RB spots in the 2026 World Cup squad. Ingham would need the Jets to have a very successful season, or make a move to a better A-League team next year, to get ahead of either. Friar Tuck
Marto
I thought the stand out kiwi at RB played in white, not blue.
Still think we need a decent RB. Elliott, Ingham, Roux, Payne all ok but not at the same level as our other defenders at LB and CB.
Payne’s got that Ifill quality though, in a slightly more limited way.
He looks puffed and starts limping around, and next thing he’s run half the field and fizzed in a goal on a plate or arrived to nod home at the back post out of nowhere.
Just wish we’d won last season. That would have been decent recompense for a bunch of players’ efforts.
Easily 10,000 there, maybe 12,000? The game was almost sold out in advance but I suppose a lot of people bought tickets but didn't show.
A nice game to watch even in pouring rain. AFC defence looked dodgy for the first time this season for about the first 10 minutes, probably due to Sakai's absence. But once again they just wore a team down and took advantage in the last few minutes. De Vries is a giant. Our special boy Liam was fun to watch as usual. And Callan Elliot did an excellent job.
It wasn't nearly sold out. Either A3 or ticketmaster only release some sections and rows initially so it looks more sold out on the ticket map than it is.
Yeah I don't think 12k don't show because it's raining
"You can never get a bloody tradesman at Easter, it's a wonder Jesus got crucified" - Karl Pilkington
I thought the stand out kiwi at RB played in white, not blue.
Still think we need a decent RB. Elliott, Ingham, Roux, Payne all ok but not at the same level as our other defenders at LB and CB.
Really? Ingham looked desperate the whole game. Different ref he gets three yellow cards. If Gillion had better decision making skills Ingham would've watched his man assist 3 odd goals...
I thought the stand out kiwi at RB played in white, not blue.
Still think we need a decent RB. Elliott, Ingham, Roux, Payne all ok but not at the same level as our other defenders at LB and CB.
Really? Ingham looked desperate the whole game. Different ref he gets three yellow cards. If Gillion had better decision making skills Ingham would've watched his man assist 3 odd goals...
Different ref De Vries and Šušnjar are both taking early showers.
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites
I thought the stand out kiwi at RB played in white, not blue.
Still think we need a decent RB. Elliott, Ingham, Roux, Payne all ok but not at the same level as our other defenders at LB and CB.
Really? Ingham looked desperate the whole game. Different ref he gets three yellow cards. If Gillion had better decision making skills Ingham would've watched his man assist 3 odd goals...
Different ref De Vries and Šušnjar are both taking early showers.
It has only been 5 matches but De Vries seems to get away with a lot more than a lot of other players do.
I wonder how long it will take the ausi power lords to decide hey we don’t actually like NZers leading our league and screw AFC
Thing is though if they want to try and get rid of the NZ teams means they will be replacing with teams that probably need to be propped up financially and they dont have the money for that.
I wonder how long it will take the ausi power lords to decide hey we don’t actually like NZers leading our league and screw AFC
You may have missed the conspiracy theory on Aussie sokkah twittah that AFC are getting the same "sweetheart deal" that WSW allegedly got in their first season
Ramming liberal dribble down your throat since 2009 This forum needs less angst and more Kate Bush threads
I wonder how long it will take the ausi power lords to decide hey we don’t actually like NZers leading our league and screw AFC
You may have missed the conspiracy theory on Aussie sokkah twittah that AFC are getting the same "sweetheart deal" that WSW allegedly got in their first season
They don't have the extra visa spots WSW had but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a higher salary cap cuz they can't access the Loyalty Discounts on players that every other club can.
In the 1News article about McFlynn, it drops this line
"As a start-up club, Auckland FC has certain dispensations from the A-League’s salary cap."
Maybe it has been mentioned behind the scenes but nothing announced publicly.
His crosses are good and of course he kept his cool and scored the second goal. But I agree that his combative performance (especially in the derby in Wellington) can be described as "courting a second yellow" even if Danaskos did not give him even one this time.
I wonder how long it will take the ausi power lords to decide hey we don’t actually like NZers leading our league and screw AFC
You may have missed the conspiracy theory on Aussie sokkah twittah that AFC are getting the same "sweetheart deal" that WSW allegedly got in their first season
They don't have the extra visa spots WSW had but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a higher salary cap cuz they can't access the Loyalty Discounts on players that every other club can.
In the 1News article about McFlynn, it drops this line
"As a start-up club, Auckland FC has certain dispensations from the A-League’s salary cap."
Maybe it has been mentioned behind the scenes but nothing announced publicly.
I don't know if that'd be anything major though.
They have picked up a lot of fringe all whites who wouldn't have been expensive.
Same with their imports, they are basically nobodies.
I think they have a great job building their squad. As a Wellington supporter I'm very impressed with how well they are doing. A solid Defence, that Belgium guy and Brimmer in the mid is strong. I think they are a bit week up front still..
What's happening with Champness? Has he got any game time at all yet?
none that I can recall. is he injured?
He got hurt in their first pre-season match but iirc, he is fit and available to be selected. Up to him to force Corica to select him by efforts on the training ground now.
AuckFC report that they've sold out of all the merch they got in for expected sales over the whole 29 week season. See NZ Herald Business Desk. I can't coz it's behind a pay wall.
What's happening with Champness? Has he got any game time at all yet?
none that I can recall. is he injured?
He got hurt in their first pre-season match but iirc, he is fit and available to be selected. Up to him to force Corica to select him by efforts on the training ground now.
At this early stage, the player I'm most dissapointed hasn't been making match day squads is Jesse Randall
What's happening with Champness? Has he got any game time at all yet?
none that I can recall. is he injured?
He got hurt in their first pre-season match but iirc, he is fit and available to be selected. Up to him to force Corica to select him by efforts on the training ground now.
At this early stage, the player I'm most dissapointed hasn't been making match day squads is Jesse Randell
Maybe we need a 3rd ALM side to give these young guys an opportunity ...
Auckland has shown the depth in NZ football is definitely there. If a 3rd team based in Christchurch got a repuation as the place to go for young Kiwis who were struggling for mins, at the other 2 NZ clubs that wouldn't be a bad thing.
I mean the Mariners have shown with basically that model (and excellent recruitment of Visa players) you can still win trophies. Tiny Josh Nisbet wasn't getting a look in at the Roar, in his home state Queensland, moves to CCM, and ends up a Johnny Warren Medal winner. Judging football talent is a very subjective art, and sometimes the coaches and analysts get it wrong.
AuckFC report that they've sold out of all the merch they got in for expected sales over the whole 29 week season. See NZ Herald Business Desk. I can't coz it's behind a pay wall.
That's great for the club and fans. I hope they are getting more stuff shipped in with Christmas nearly here.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!
Is Gillion still on a scholarship contract? If so, that's absolutely criminal. Would expect him to be picked up another A-league team or move overseas if so.
Is Gillion still on a scholarship contract? If so, that's absolutely criminal. Would expect him to be picked up another A-league team or move overseas if so.
While he has looked good still a long way to go. There have been a few players in the A League have had pace and ball control but no end product. He still has plenty to work on because his end product just isnt there at the moment.
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