http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe_B5CzbTJo - Caceres winning penalty v Perth - footage from the Fever Zone
Funny - listening to the radio Gao seemed to be the standout for the Nix. Maybe the commentry team need to brush up
Don't get me wrong, he had LOADS of the ball, and always looked like he could do something BUT I think almost 100% of the time he was tackled, or just ran into the defenders. He did not actually end up creating anything, for the all possession he had. Poor corners and free kicks as well for the most part.
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Gao outshone anything Kwasnik did today.
But then again its not hard to outshine nothing.
But then again its not hard to outshine nothing.
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why don't they friggin shoot? shoot the ball!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes, lots of running and flicks and passes but you don't shoot you don't score
oh yeah and there is a match thread but its been taken over by a few private convos that should go to off topic
oh yeah and there is a match thread but its been taken over by a few private convos that should go to off topic

Salmon swim upstream
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Yeah, man
I think they need to take their chances when they can get them, instead of spending 30seconds, trying to create space (Lei Lei) while the whole team runs back.
I think they need to take their chances when they can get them, instead of spending 30seconds, trying to create space (Lei Lei) while the whole team runs back.

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Think its pretty apparent where we're lacking.
Striker.
Creative midfielder
Winger. (Kwasnik)
Striker.
Creative midfielder
Winger. (Kwasnik)
Agreed;
Boy do we need a second striker - Cov just doesn't threaten. I would like to see Costa get a run - don't know if he would add anything or not but can't see we'ed be any worse off so why not give him a shot.
Kwasnik has been a huge disappoinment - I'd like to see Leo get the next few starts. Unfortunately that doesn't solve the lack of goal scoring ability in the midfield.
I also think we are short a dominating defensive midfielder - McCain was Ok and Brown is honest but neither can dominate the midfield. The Roar midfield have run over us both games this season.
He dribbles a lot and the opposition dont like it - you can see it all over their faces. (Ron Atkinson)
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Costa should definitely be given a shot (no pun intended!)
We need someone young who can run and threaten the defence!
We need someone young who can run and threaten the defence!

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Agreed;
Costa isn't a striker.
Ridiculous call for Costa, last week everyone here whined Daniel wasn't getting a go, then Leo, before that Gao, so now you all want a different wide player ?
Worst. Call. Ever.
Hard News2008-10-26 20:17:23Boy do we need a second striker - Cov just doesn't threaten. I would like to see Costa get a run - don't know if he would add anything or not but can't see we'ed be any worse off so why not give him a shot.
Costa isn't a striker.
Ridiculous call for Costa, last week everyone here whined Daniel wasn't getting a go, then Leo, before that Gao, so now you all want a different wide player ?
Worst. Call. Ever.
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Draper is though but im not suggesting we play him
www.kiwifromthecouch.blogspot.com
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i have never seen draper play so i wouldnt know... ratings?

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Covs really didnt look good enough today Im afraid.
Neither did Kwasnik.
First half, well we were shocking werent we? We should have been one down in the first minute, they had so much time to score.
The Roars midfield dominated from that first attack, and it wasnt until Bertos came on that we even started to play.
What we need is more urgency out of the box, and more composure in the box.
And we have to stop pumping long balls forward from the keeper and back four when we dont have a combative forward who is going to win those high hopeful balls. The ball just keeps coming back, and the Roar midfield loved being given the chance to knock it around again.
Bertos should start next week, and I think we need to replace Coveney. Trouble is with who? The only real candidate seems to be Draper(?)
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Agreed;
Costa isn't a striker.
Ridiculous call for Costa, last week everyone here whined Daniel wasn't getting a go, then Leo, before that Gao, so now you all want a different wide player ?
Worst. Call. Ever.
Boy do we need a second striker - Cov just doesn't threaten. I would like to see Costa get a run - don't know if he would add anything or not but can't see we'ed be any worse off so why not give him a shot.
Costa isn't a striker.
Ridiculous call for Costa, last week everyone here whined Daniel wasn't getting a go, then Leo, before that Gao, so now you all want a different wide player ?
Worst. Call. Ever.
so oh great Hardnews what should we do then to stop us whining?
p.s. check out my poll and vote.

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Covs really didnt look good enough today Im afraid.
Neither did Kwasnik.
First half, well we were shocking werent we? We should have been one down in the first minute, they had so much time to score.
The Roars midfield dominated from that first attack, and it wasnt until Bertos came on that we even started to play.
What we need is more urgency out of the box, and more composure in the box.
And we have to stop pumping long balls forward from the keeper and back four when we dont have a combative forward who is going to win those high hopeful balls. The ball just keeps coming back, and the Roar midfield loved being given the chance to knock it around again.
Bertos should start next week, and I think we need to replace Coveney. Trouble is with who? The only real candidate seems to be Draper(?)
Agreed for most part but Draper?
Costa over Draper for me

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I thought Covs had easily his best game today, was all over Moore who is a decent player. Trouble was he would get to the byline and only have smeltzy to pick out in the box.
www.kiwifromthecouch.blogspot.com
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thats true but covs still doesnt stand out, they need a change

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Agreed for most part but Draper?
Costa over Draper for me
So your solution is to add yet another wide player ?
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Agreed;
Costa isn't a striker.
Ridiculous call for Costa, last week everyone here whined Daniel wasn't getting a go, then Leo, before that Gao, so now you all want a different wide player ?
Worst. Call. Ever.
Boy do we need a second striker - Cov just doesn't threaten. I would like to see Costa get a run - don't know if he would add anything or not but can't see we'ed be any worse off so why not give him a shot.
Costa isn't a striker.
Ridiculous call for Costa, last week everyone here whined Daniel wasn't getting a go, then Leo, before that Gao, so now you all want a different wide player ?
Worst. Call. Ever.
We have 22 in the squad - aside from Smeltz none given chances so far have given any indication they can score on other than very rare occassions.
We have scored 8 goals in 9 games and have scored 5 goals less than the same time last season.
The only 2 players who haven't had a chance to prove themselves are Costa and Draper.
Averaging less than a goal a game isn't going to get us anywhere.
He dribbles a lot and the opposition dont like it - you can see it all over their faces. (Ron Atkinson)
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So, I say again, the solution is to add another wide player ?
Who are we dropping Kwasnik ? Gao ? Hang on, if they go the options are Bertos and Daniel first surely ?
I can see room for Draper, but what we need to do is sign another striker. Another attacking midfielder is not the solution.
Who are we dropping Kwasnik ? Gao ? Hang on, if they go the options are Bertos and Daniel first surely ?
I can see room for Draper, but what we need to do is sign another striker. Another attacking midfielder is not the solution.
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Covs really didnt look good enough today Im afraid.
Neither did Kwasnik.
First half, well we were shocking werent we? We should have been one down in the first minute, they had so much time to score.
The Roars midfield dominated from that first attack, and it wasnt until Bertos came on that we even started to play.
What we need is more urgency out of the box, and more composure in the box.
And we have to stop pumping long balls forward from the keeper and back four when we dont have a combative forward who is going to win those high hopeful balls. The ball just keeps coming back, and the Roar midfield loved being given the chance to knock it around again.
Bertos should start next week, and I think we need to replace Coveney. Trouble is with who? The only real candidate seems to be Draper(?)
Agreed for most part but Draper?
Costa over Draper for me
I dont think Costa is the sort of player we need in there. We need someone big and physical with aerial power. Costa may be better than some other midfield options, I dont know, but I dont see us going away to play with Costa,Bertos AND Gao in the side.
Dodd up front maybe????????
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no room for draper, he'll get killed in an actual game if you ask me, only solution is to sign another out and out striker
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........ but what we need to do is sign another striker.......
Agreed - That's been blindingly obvious for months - let's hope Tony has someone in the pipeline.
Whitby boy2008-10-26 20:34:35He dribbles a lot and the opposition dont like it - you can see it all over their faces. (Ron Atkinson)
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IT'S BROKE. FIX IT!!
That was absolute cr*p today
Cr*p effort
Cr*p passion
Cr*p urgency
Mr Herbert, you have the wrong Turner in the dressing rooms with you.
It's time someone got in these guys ears and told them about guts, passion and commitment. The soft talk is broken.
These guys deserved to get booed off the field today. I suppose the absence of most of the Yellow Fever block as they walked off the field might have rung home to a few, but I doubt it.
It may have been that he was desperate to impress in a short time, but the only urgency in the game came when Daniel was given a run. Dodds desreves a bit of credit too, but the rest deserve a right royal bollocking.
I dont intend to walk away and tear my season ticket up, because I am there for the game but I dont intend to sit and watch cr*p like that week in and week out without making it known that it is not acceptable.
Lets forget the songs telling the opposition that they are cr*p. We arent in a position to do that. Never have been. Perhaps some of that needs to be aimed at our own to change a few slack attitudes.
That was absolute cr*p today
Cr*p effort
Cr*p passion
Cr*p urgency
Mr Herbert, you have the wrong Turner in the dressing rooms with you.
It's time someone got in these guys ears and told them about guts, passion and commitment. The soft talk is broken.
These guys deserved to get booed off the field today. I suppose the absence of most of the Yellow Fever block as they walked off the field might have rung home to a few, but I doubt it.
It may have been that he was desperate to impress in a short time, but the only urgency in the game came when Daniel was given a run. Dodds desreves a bit of credit too, but the rest deserve a right royal bollocking.
I dont intend to walk away and tear my season ticket up, because I am there for the game but I dont intend to sit and watch cr*p like that week in and week out without making it known that it is not acceptable.
Lets forget the songs telling the opposition that they are cr*p. We arent in a position to do that. Never have been. Perhaps some of that needs to be aimed at our own to change a few slack attitudes.
We're Forever Causing Trouble

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I thought Covs had easily his best game today, was all over Moore who is a decent player. Trouble was he would get to the byline and only have smeltzy to pick out in the box.
Totally agree. But the fact is that he 's got 'stop-gap' written all over him. And we don't have anyone to replace him.
Also I think complaints about Gao are a bit ridiculous. He was terrific in the 2nd half, running at the defence, setting up several dangerous attacks and even getting a good header in on goal. You can't expect a player to be creative AND never lose possession. Not at this level anyway.
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I thought Covs had easily his best game today, was all over Moore who is a decent player. Trouble was he would get to the byline and only have smeltzy to pick out in the box.
Totally agree. But the fact is that he 's got 'stop-gap' written all over him. And we don't have anyone to replace him.
Also I think complaints about Gao are a bit ridiculous. He was terrific in the 2nd half, running at the defence, setting up several dangerous attacks and even getting a good header in on goal. You can't expect a player to be creative AND never lose possession. Not at this level anyway.
When did any of Gao's runs actually produce anything though? I don't expect him to never lose possession, but I do expect him to keep it sometimes!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe_B5CzbTJo - Caceres winning penalty v Perth - footage from the Fever Zone
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If Terry is the smart businessman we are lead to believe he will have to get on Tony's case to bring in a striking option.. the Phoenix won't breakeven this year with crowds of less than 10k... that "brand" of football is enough to put me in an old folks home... no one complained last year about the brand but then again no one had expectations about the Nix doing well.. it seems that in an effort to win more games this year the style of footabll has suffered and ironically it was the attacking style of football that was going to give them a solid base for this season and keep the crowds coming....
would love to be at the nix board room on Tuesday... (maybe even Monday, it was that bad a performance..)
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Gao has his good moments, however they are far outweighed by his bad moments

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Couldn't agree more tablemanners. Have been to all home games bar 1 and it has to be said that this season they are not what you call exciting, todays game was in last 5-10 mins when they had numbers forward and got the ball into the box.
corners and free-kicks are pretty awlfull always seems to be the lightweight players taking them so they either don't get there or float in
Lack ideas in last 3rd of field and then stop and let opposition get numbers back.
Would rather watch them lose 3-2 than 1-0 and now that the novelty factor has worn off they need to succeed on the park to win fans back. Exactly how it should be.
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IT'S BROKE. FIX IT!!
That was absolute cr*p today
Cr*p effort
Cr*p passion
Cr*p urgency
Mr Herbert, you have the wrong Turner in the dressing rooms with you.
It's time someone got in these guys ears and told them about guts, passion and commitment. The soft talk is broken.
These guys deserved to get booed off the field today. I suppose the absence of most of the Yellow Fever block as they walked off the field might have rung home to a few, but I doubt it.
It may have been that he was desperate to impress in a short time, but the only urgency in the game came when Daniel was given a run. Dodds desreves a bit of credit too, but the rest deserve a right royal bollocking.
I dont intend to walk away and tear my season ticket up, because I am there for the game but I dont intend to sit and watch cr*p like that week in and week out without making it known that it is not acceptable.
Lets forget the songs telling the opposition that they are cr*p. We arent in a position to do that. Never have been. Perhaps some of that needs to be aimed at our own to change a few slack attitudes.
That was absolute cr*p today
Cr*p effort
Cr*p passion
Cr*p urgency
Mr Herbert, you have the wrong Turner in the dressing rooms with you.
It's time someone got in these guys ears and told them about guts, passion and commitment. The soft talk is broken.
These guys deserved to get booed off the field today. I suppose the absence of most of the Yellow Fever block as they walked off the field might have rung home to a few, but I doubt it.
It may have been that he was desperate to impress in a short time, but the only urgency in the game came when Daniel was given a run. Dodds desreves a bit of credit too, but the rest deserve a right royal bollocking.
I dont intend to walk away and tear my season ticket up, because I am there for the game but I dont intend to sit and watch cr*p like that week in and week out without making it known that it is not acceptable.
Lets forget the songs telling the opposition that they are cr*p. We arent in a position to do that. Never have been. Perhaps some of that needs to be aimed at our own to change a few slack attitudes.
Spot on. Today really underlined for me how limited this team is. Every time we get in a position to climb a few places we blow it. Usually at home against a bnuch of crap like Queensland. No passion, no spark, lack of movement, long hopeful punts upfield to no one in particular. The last three weeks have just covered up a few cracks, nothing more.
Urgency from Daniel? Just the usual stupid flicks and giving the ball away. All in all, the Nix were woeful. Absolutely f**king woeful.
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I thought Covs had easily his best game today, was all over Moore who is a decent player. Trouble was he would get to the byline and only have smeltzy to pick out in the box.
Totally agree. But the fact is that he 's got 'stop-gap' written all over him. And we don't have anyone to replace him.
Also I think complaints about Gao are a bit ridiculous. He was terrific in the 2nd half, running at the defence, setting up several dangerous attacks and even getting a good header in on goal. You can't expect a player to be creative AND never lose possession. Not at this level anyway.
I also thought Covs had a good game against the current Socceroos centre back, showed pace, caused problems, and didn't get a lot of sympathy from the ref.
The main problem was that we were shut down in the middle of the park. Brown and McKain are good, but they got owned for most of the game by Tiatto and Miller.
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Really? We were the better team for 45 minutes today and should have won, we didn't but I think there was plenty to take out of it
www.kiwifromthecouch.blogspot.com
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Question! Why can't the team produce for the other 87 minutes, the passion, desire and effort, that they produced in the last 5 minuts of the game??
It they started like that, they'd bury most teams.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!
The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!
The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!
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moan moan grumble sigh moan sigh nag whine sigh negative negative slightly positive rant rant
Profile pic. Should you be interested. Lakhsen, on the right, lost touch with him.
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
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I'd personally like to see the phoenix try to play at a faster tempo for periods (I.e. more than the last 5 mins) and increase their number of shots per game by at least 150%. All too often do the Nix' offensives fizzle out without even an attempt on goal and goals rarely happen when attempts aren't being made!
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Match report up at:
http://theythinkitsallover.wordpress.com/phoenix-fc/
Unlucky for the boys today, deserved at least a point but it just wouldn't go in.
What was Bertos doing though?
http://theythinkitsallover.wordpress.com/phoenix-fc/
Unlucky for the boys today, deserved at least a point but it just wouldn't go in.
What was Bertos doing though?

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Only Smeltz is really allowed to score for the Nix and Bertos remembered that at the last second.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!
The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!
The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!
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Only Smeltz is really allowed to score for the Nix and Bertos remembered that at the last second.

Profile pic. Should you be interested. Lakhsen, on the right, lost touch with him.
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
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Bertos brought alot more urgency and spark.
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moan moan grumble sigh moan sigh nag whine sigh negative negative slightly positive rant rant
Couldn't agree more.
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Really? We were the better team for 45 minutes today and should have won, we didn't but I think there was plenty to take out of it[/QUOTE]
I'll add a quote from a Sydney fan of my acquaintance speaking at half time:
[quote]Wellington been all over them though just nothing upfront.
I'll add a quote from a Sydney fan of my acquaintance speaking at half time:
[quote]Wellington been all over them though just nothing upfront.
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Did Ricki tell LeiLei to just try and draw penalties and fouls all the time because, until the last 10 mins when he came alive, he spent the game getting in to the box with the ball and just holding it looking for a Qld player to foul him, thus fall over in spectacular fashion. THAT was the most irritating part of the game for me today!
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moan moan grumble sigh moan sigh nag whine sigh negative negative slightly positive rant rant
So you are quite happy to watch a team of perpetual cellar dwellers week in and week out are you? As long as you have a game to go to you are happy right? As long as we nearly score that's good enough for you is it? Well, some of us who know a bit about football want more than that.
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