Do we know what's going on?

Cough that little greek bloke brought football to the capital u silly fool so if he wants to make some money and provide us with one of the top footballers in the world then im not complaining.

These f**ktards are just trying to wind us. Don't bother replying.

"One Evertonian is worth twenty Liverpudlians"

30 000 Evertonians are worth one supermarket.

HarryHotspur2007-10-24 20:55:59

i see this getting locked something soon.

i think he already got the ban stick

the author is back at silverfern.com talking about how the AC's WILL win the next world cup

Cnut just ban and block.

Haven't read any Michael King Harry H, i just don't like being told what to do and i don't like the idea that there's one way to support a football team

as you well know i too hail from Blighty and i regard NZ as a far better place to be  - and consequently i favour us doing things our own way (apart from those f'in drums )

interesting DLB's comment about people "playing at being football fans", it seems to me he was upset because we weren't playing at it in exactly the way he is used to playing at it

Why? It's a healthy discussion, and will run out of steam in it's own time

I thought DanielsLeftBall had some valid points and many people were way too harsh on him.

Often people here come across as a bit sanctimonious, which can be unfriendly to new fans.

It's a discussion forum, I want to read things from people who disagree with me.
I will then convince them that my way is right

Not the best timing on his part though, given all the stresses lately ...

I'd like to see our chants being a bit more original, and having more of an NZ flavour.
E.g we had an Exponents song at the Queensland game, but I couldn't get it started at CCM.

Disapointing though to see how some people have reacted on here. I've lost respect for some people that have posted here.

Nor his long-time deputy, and later successor, Andy Goram.

There's only two Andy Gorams, two Andy Gorams...

Did we ever find out which United it was?

United ?  What United ?

I think it was United we stand.....

As quoted by danielsleftball..."You're right most people in the stadium don't have the experience of supporting a footy team (having said that you've had Utd for years and the most I saw there was about 300!!)"

This is a silly thread.  "Danielsleftball" is either a converted rugby fan not used to an energetic crowd supporting its team or has no idea that a team could lose all its games a million nill and the crowd would still be chanting like that... unless they were Chalton "your just a dirty little northern town" Athletic!

I now have 2 unaswered questions.

1 unanswered now its about halfway between Sydney and Newcastle.They dislike the Jets even more than some of us do.Which has to make them good guys.

To Hard News and the other feverites who run these forums.

There isn't anything wrong with people on this place trying to throw in some (hopefully) constructive criticism. It is pretty difficult to do this without offending somebody, and we could at least try and discuss some of the points that have been suggested without instantly rushing to defend our team without thinking things over first. When the mods on the forum come jumping down people's throats it makes it hard, especially for people such as myself who don't post as much, to actually want to join in on the debate. I feel funny saying this but isn't it your responsibility to make this a place where we can air our views without being mindlessly shot down for it?

Let's try and be INTELLIGENT fans as well as passionate ones. There's nothing wrong with a bit of banter, but some detailed analysis of tactics and the performances of our players has been somewhat lacking. Here are some of my thoughts on the squad and Ricki's tactics:

Yes, we are a new team, and we have shown much promise. However, as danielsleftnut has said, our defense has been pretty poor and if you ask me while Moss has been a pretty handy shot stopper he hardly inspires confidence at set pieces. I would like to see Paston given a run to see if he can help marshall the backline a little better. It is obvious that they still don't have confidence in each other, so there has to be some kind of shake-up.

 Dodd and O'dor have never been found wanting in the effort department, but they are both fearfully slow and it seems one of them is always falling asleep at key moments. We urgently need new CB's with more pace and better focus as well. Cleberson and Old do not seem like viable alternatives, and while Christie has also done OK, lapses like the one on Sunday show why it is important to have specialist players in every position. Why should we have to settle for a squad with no proper right backs and average central defenders? Ricki did a good job laying the initial foundations, lets hope that when the transfer window reopens we can get some reinforcements for the back.

One area that I am becoming increasingly happy with is central midfield. I think that with both Johnson and Aloisi starting we are too slow, there is no spark and neither of them can play a defence splitting through ball. Brown seems to have a bit more about him and I hope that Ricki will keep him in the starting XI. For all the flack Ferrante may have copped he has played some nice through balls as well (it was his pass that led to the matchwinning penalty vs Sydney). If he regains some confidence what could happen. Remember, this kid was in the West Ham acadamy with Joe Cole and Michael Carrick. Imagine if he'd tucked away even half of the shots he's had, we'd probably be in the top 4! Felipe certainly gets the start over him in the playmakers role, but I think he could be a real weapon coming off the bench (he was fantastic during the short time he was on against Perth).

I'd like to see Costa get more of a run as well (the last 5 minutes in a game we are chasing 2 - 1 doesn't count), he clearly has pace and I don't think the likes of Coveny and Brownlie are going to scare many of the defenses in the A-League. Let's see some more faith in the younger players, giving them a shot (Kruse & Zullo spring to mind) could pay dividends.

It'd be nice to see us go with 2 up front. How about this for a lineup:

------------------------------Moss--------------------------------------

----Christie------Dodd------------O'Dor-----------Lochhead--------

-----------------------------Aloisi--------------------------------------

-----------------------------Brown-------------------------------------

---Elrich-------------------------------------------Daniel--------------

-------------------Smeltz--------Costa--------------------------------

Hard to see how to improve the defense. Old and Clebo are too slow and are both very one dimensional. Perhaps Lia could have a crack at fullback?

Smeltz looks too isolated on his own, and Coveny doesn't seem to quite gel with him in my opinion, infact it sometimes even feels like they are treading on each others toes when they have played together. It'd be interesting to see Costa running off Smeltz who could certainly use a more inventive supporting act.

If things go wrong we can always throw on Felipe and Ferrante from off the bench, they would both run teams ragged (whereas bringing on slower types like Coveny and Brownlie isn't going to do much). George looks especially clueless, and his first touch is dreadfully bad.


As for the chants, they are fantastic, and without the fever zone going to see the Phoenix wouldn't be anywhere near as interesting. That still doesn't mean we are justified in trying to sl*g somebody off when his fundamental point is that *YES* we have a good atmosphere *BUT* that we can still do things better. This is the mark of any good team/organization/whatever. Mindlessly chanting "your so sh*t it's unbelievable" whenever somebody plays a wayward pass (CCM never did anything as moronic as Christie's back pass or Daniel's overhead inside our half) does get a little tiring. It is an amusing chant, but, as Danielsleftnut said, let's save it for games like the Perth one where the opposition is genuinely bad.

I do like the fact that we applaud our team even in defeat, and hearing people sing on the way out of the stadium was really good for my battered spirits after the match. However, if the Phoenix do play badly  (ala the 1st half against Mariners, away at Newcastle) at home it really doesn't make sense to give them big standing ovation, we need to let them know that we expect better in these kinds of circumstances. Remember, we are paying to see these games, even if the price is pretty decent!

Anyway, sorry for the rant, I guess I'm like a camel, storing it all up for a couple weeks before using it all up in a moment of need!

KTBW2007-10-25 09:15:30

Top post.  Nice to see some perspective and thought. 

well said. Though you are saying because I am a mod I don't have a right to respond to a post with my own personal thoughts.

Great post

Dodd and O'Dor ain't that slow. I've seen both of them run down strikers. They looked fast flying at them...

Trust me, they are both slow! Have a look next time we are defending a counter attack, they are usually forced to go to ground to have any hope of stealing the ball. They rarely nip the ball out from the forwards legs because they don't have the pace to get close enough for an accurate steal.

We could afford to keep one of them in the line (especially as they are both pretty decent in the air), but having two sluggish center backs is certainly taking a big risk.

Thinking about it, you're right

I can only recall the one time that one of them showed pace. Apart from that it's sliding.

And having a fast CB is very essential. I played there a few times a couple of seasons ago (as a converted striker) and I was able to run down all the strikers on counter attacks. Didn't help if they did a patient build-up, but it stopped all fast breaks.

Oh, and sorry to the mods. I wasn't trying to imply that you shouldn't add their own flavor to the board. I've certainly had a little giggle at some of Hard News posts around here for example. I was more just thinking of the first few posts in this thread that were pretty provocative and not really constructive in any way.

For example, by saying somebody is being patronizing before demanding they explain their "football education" as if you must have to have followed a lower league team for half your life before you can qualify to be critical of the Phoenix/chants you are in fact being patronizing yourself!

DialSquare2007-10-25 10:18:01

 - that was a good read, KTBW; think I'll watch the game again at 4:30pm on Sky and see if I agree with your comments ....

I look forward to your next post in a fortnight's time

all fair enough KTBW, except as has been stated, i see nothing wrong with applauding players after they've put the effort in. It's not like they don't know when they've played badly or made mistakes and need the crowd to tell them. They're not retards

------------------------------Moss--------------------------------------

----Christie------Dodd------------O'Dor-----------Lochhead--------

-----------------------------Aloisi--------------------------------------

-----------------------------Brown-------------------------------------

---Elrich-------------------------------------------Daniel--------------

-------------------Smeltz--------Costa--------------------------------
An interesting lineup. I'd bracket Costa with Felipe so that one subsitutes the other giving them both a free go to try what they want. I'm sure Smeltz would appreciate someone else taking some of the pressure off him too.