I think people are mad if they think that Nathan Burns has had a better season than Aaron Mooy.
That is why he won player of the year.
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Andrew Durante was slumped over there. He does a really good job pretending he cares about the result, given that he clearly doesn't.
Italics=sarcasm
Grumpy old bastard alert
Why on Earth did we have Louis in the starting lineup? Kenny deserved the start, as he showed in his ten minutes at the end.
Oi Oi Edgecumbe... lets have a clean sheet
Andrew Durante was slumped over there. He does a really good job pretending he cares about the result, given that he clearly doesn't.
Italics=sarcasm
SARCASM!!!
Farwell Kenny, enjoyed watching you at the Nix, you always gave 100%
Honestly though, Ricki wouldn't have allowed us to be opened up like that in a knockout match.
I don't think Durante doesn't care. But I think this whole bloody team just snapped under the pressure over the last six weeks. Perhaps the idea of actually achieving something was too much for them. It's been particularly disgusting to watch Roly (and possibly Manny) lose it mentally.
Responsibility for this has to start with the senior players, which is why I won't be sorry to see Dura and Siggy gone ASAP. Fish rot from the head, and despite what JV thinks, I don't blame Ernie for the fact that a team full of professionals had the league at their feet and bottled it.
Honestly though, Ricki wouldn't have allowed us to be opened up like that in a knockout match.
What garbage.
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Why on Earth did we have Louis in the starting lineup? Kenny deserved the start, as he showed in his ten minutes at the end.
Fenton should have been starting but at right back where he has been good this season.
Honestly though, Ricki wouldn't have allowed us to be opened up like that in a knockout match.
Yeah, but if it's Ernie's fault, how come we were so good in mid-season? No, I think Ernie is just not used to the Nix team culture (or is it a broader NZ team culture) of not demanding excellence. I wouldn't be surprised if he packed it in. You can't do anything with a team culture which has adopted a pose of learned helplessness.
Has anyone got the gif of that Aussie cricketer making the chokers gesture?
Reality is that the winner of this game was never going to get past Victory.
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Frustrating end to the season. Melb B are actually not that good a side. They comfortably contained anything we threw at them. Melb A will shred them.
Not sure why we lost our mojo. We were red hot by Xmas. You could see the problems start when we struggled in those games at the Hutt Rec. All of a sudden we went from a team who scored for fun to a side that just couldn't get the ball in the net. Our narrow game was easily closed down.....but we were successfully playing like that early season. So did we get figured out our was our execution just poor late season?.
Watching tonight there we so many passes that did not hit the target.....it cost us the game.
The club has plenty to build on for next year. We have some good players. We also have some players who are getting near there use by date. If Ernie continues to recruit well then we can come back strongly next year.
However the over riding feeling from this season will be frustration that we were a better side than where we finished. We were top of the league for many weeks and in contention for finishing second. To meekly go out in the first playoff round is hugely disappointing.
FTR, it is fair enough to criticise the way we have played in the last six weeks. I just think saying the reason we lost is because we don't care is cheap. It's up to Merrick to find out the reasons and decide where we go from here. I honestly don't know why we have turned to shark but I don't think it is a simple fix.
We made three major personal and position changes for the last two games.
Strange.
A fan is a fan.
Honestly though, Ricki wouldn't have allowed us to be opened up like that in a knockout match.
Yeah, but if it's Ernie's fault, how come we were so good in mid-season? No, I think Ernie is just not used to the Nix team culture (or is it a broader NZ team culture) of not demanding excellence. I wouldn't be surprised if he packed it in. You can't do anything with a team culture which has adopted a pose of learned helplessness.
I couldnt have said that better. I believe it is a broader NZ team culture also. NZers dont demand excellence, they accept a good effort. This reminds me of the Americas cup where we through it away and yet many were saying how proud they were of the team. A team that lost 8 matches on the trot, nothing to be proud of there
Honestly though, Ricki wouldn't have allowed us to be opened up like that in a knockout match.
Yeah, but if it's Ernie's fault, how come we were so good in mid-season? No, I think Ernie is just not used to the Nix team culture (or is it a broader NZ team culture) of not demanding excellence. I wouldn't be surprised if he packed it in. You can't do anything with a team culture which has adopted a pose of learned helplessness.
Do you think Ernie is actually sitting there saying "we lost because these players were just happy to lose." I would hope that Merrick is going to do some actual tactical analysis using video and statistics rather than emotional inferences.
I was just yelling at 2ndBest on Twitter that I was thinking of not renewing my membership for the next year. I'll probably rethink that once I've sobered up, but we certainly don't give the fans or the wider Welly/NZ sporting populace any reason to support us with that kind of meek surrender. Wouldn't be surprised if this is what the FFA need to play hardball and we'll only get a 5 year extension if lucky.
I think people are mad if they think that Nathan Burns has had a better season than Aaron Mooy.
Your mad.
You're
Quite right.
Honestly though, Ricki wouldn't have allowed us to be opened up like that in a knockout match.
Yeah, but if it's Ernie's fault, how come we were so good in mid-season? No, I think Ernie is just not used to the Nix team culture (or is it a broader NZ team culture) of not demanding excellence. I wouldn't be surprised if he packed it in. You can't do anything with a team culture which has adopted a pose of learned helplessness.
Do the All Blacks accept mediocrity? Do the Breakers? Does the NZ rowing squad?
Fenton in the midfield does not work.
Boxall is not the same as Fenton getting forward from FB.
A-Rod would have done a better job than Fenton centrally.
McG does not have the pace to threaten but plays up front..
Strange, Ernie.
Do you think Ernie is actually sitting there saying "we lost because these players were just happy to lose."
[/quote]
Or something like "... didn't want it enough", yeah.
[quote]
I would hope that Merrick is going to do some actual tactical analysis using video and statistics rather than emotional inferences.
Okay, here's some video analysis for you - from watching the video of the match, I could see that Citeh passes were hitting their target much, much more often than ours were. Right. Why should that be when our passing was crash-hot in mid-season? Why, for that matter, have we been sharkhouse on pennos when Ernie has been training that?
There is no objective reason why a team of professionals should lose their mojo, collectively, for six weeks, unless it's something in team culture and psychology. Ernie can diagnose the problem but he can't fix it on his own.
Do the All Blacks accept mediocrity? Do the Breakers? Does the NZ rowing squad?
I wouldn't know, I don't follow those sports. So you're saying it's just a football thing?
Well aside from losing and being told to fudge off because I wasn't in my normal "stand" (thanks Ticketek), that was a great Sunday evening.
COME AND GIVE YOUR UNCLE ROLY A KISS
I don't think Durante doesn't care. But I think this whole bloody team just snapped under the pressure over the last six weeks. Perhaps the idea of actually achieving something was too much for them. It's been particularly disgusting to watch Roly (and possibly Manny) lose it mentally.
Responsibility for this has to start with the senior players, which is why I won't be sorry to see Dura and Siggy gone ASAP. Fish rot from the head, and despite what JV thinks, I don't blame Ernie for the fact that a team full of professionals had the league at their feet and bottled it.
Very true Doloras.
I agree that we lacked mental strength. We got to the top and then got the yips. Remember the Nix is a club that has always been a battling club...its in our DNA. Backs to the wall, fighting adversity. We lacked that ruthless mental strength that clubs like the Victory have. These clubs have a swagger....a certain confidence that they will always win. We are better as under dogs. Ernie touched on this mental aspect of the team a month ago. We failed to adapt to being the hunted rather than the being the hunter. The players did not become bad players overnight....the tactics that worked so well early season were not the wrong tactics. The failure was mental IMO. We meekly surrended when the going got tough
(many in the OZ forums are saying we "choked" late season... choking is not a word I would chose but there is some who argue otherwise)
I was just yelling at 2ndBest on Twitter that I was thinking of not renewing my membership for the next year. I'll probably rethink that once I've sobered up, but we certainly don't give the fans or the wider Welly/NZ sporting populace any reason to support us with that kind of meek surrender. Wouldn't be surprised if this is what the FFA need to play hardball and we'll only get a 5 year extension if lucky.
I bet he yelled back, "please dont"
Do you think Ernie is actually sitting there saying "we lost because these players were just happy to lose."
[/quote]
Or something like "... didn't want it enough", yeah.
[quote]
I would hope that Merrick is going to do some actual tactical analysis using video and statistics rather than emotional inferences.
Okay, here's some video analysis for you - from watching the video of the match, I could see that Citeh passes were hitting their target much, much more often than ours were. Right. Why should that be when our passing was crash-hot in mid-season? Why, for that matter, have we been sharkhouse on pennos when Ernie has been training that?
There is no objective reason why a team of professionals should lose their mojo, collectively, for six weeks, unless it's something in team culture and psychology. Ernie can diagnose the problem but he can't fix it on his own.
Credit to the opposition. They've all figured out they needed to match our overloaded midfield and put pressure on our short passing game. They all muscled up on us. Ever since then Ernie has been trying ways to get the team to adapt. None worked. I think we just were not good enough under pressure once Ernie's A game was worked out.
And changing combinations to try and find a solution in the end was probably counter productive.
I'm glad 30k people didn't turn up tonight to witness utter dross. We played like a team that didn't want to be grand finalists and really we didn't deserve it.
Do the All Blacks accept mediocrity? Do the Breakers? Does the NZ rowing squad?
I wouldn't know, I don't follow those sports. So you're saying it's just a football thing?
A lot of rugby fans are worried because in 2014 the All Blacks won every game but lost one when in 2013 they won every game. The rowers can cop crap for coming second.
I dont know why people are getting upset.
It is so obvious the club was under orders to play poorly to set up a massive Melbourne derby.
Well played us
I was just yelling at 2ndBest on Twitter that I was thinking of not renewing my membership for the next year.
I bet he yelled back, "please dont"
Well, sometimes I am tempted to ask for a vote of how many people would like me to fudge off and never come to a Nix game or post here again... like that ACFC knitting circle guy who specifically begged me not to support his team, so I didn't.
Ernie has done wonders with the team this season and I think he deserves a lot of credit. This time last year we were last.
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Reality is that the winner of this game was never going to get past Victory.
True, we would never have won a game away at the Victory.
Do the All Blacks accept mediocrity? Do the Breakers? Does the NZ rowing squad?
I wouldn't know, I don't follow those sports. So you're saying it's just a football thing?
A lot of rugby fans are worried because in 2014 the All Blacks won every game but lost one when in 2013 they won every game. The rowers can cop crap for coming second.
I was just yelling at 2ndBest on Twitter that I was thinking of not renewing my membership for the next year.
I bet he yelled back, "please dont"
Well, sometimes I am tempted to ask for a vote of how many people would like me to fudge off and never come to a Nix game or post here again... like that ACFC knitting circle guy who specifically begged me not to support his team, so I didn't.
If you leave me now, you'll take the biggest part of me.. Ooh Dorloras, please don't go.. I just want you to stay.
Ernie has done wonders with the team this season and I think he deserves a lot of credit. This time last year we were last.
Quoted for truth; though I am now worried how much he can do for psychological issues like Roly obviously has. (Roly, if you're reading this, sorry if that sounded harsh - I want you to stay and I want you to get your mojo back!)
Do the All Blacks accept mediocrity? Do the Breakers? Does the NZ rowing squad?
I wouldn't know, I don't follow those sports. So you're saying it's just a football thing?
A lot of rugby fans are worried because in 2014 the All Blacks won every game but lost one when in 2013 they won every game. The rowers can cop crap for coming second.
The only sport you mentioned that can even compare is the Breakers, The All Blacks are an international team (note there are about 5 other teams in the world that rugby is even in their top 3 sports) and rowing - is that a sport, I thought thats what you do when your motor breaks down on your tinny - I couldnt even guess if we are good at rowing or not. Someone commented early "at least we won the league". The league was an international game against Australia, not our club side getting our butts handed to us again
I like Doloras - tells it like it is and doesnt sugar coat things.
