End Of Year Summary

Moss: 7

Generally had a good year between the posts and made some crucial saves to keep us in games or stop them from blowing out. Still prone to a few silly errors and not the strongest in the air. Seems to have worked on his distribution (throwing) but needs greater accuracy with ball at feet.

Manny: 7

Worked hard in every game and showed nice touches at times. Was asked to play all over the park and never let the team down. He will be missed as a player for his versatility, but moving forward may not have commanded a starting spot if our signings are any good. Needs to work on his crossing.

Doyle: 7

One of the biggest improvers. Whilst he still gets caught out positionally on occasions he has shown a desire to get back resulting in some great last minute clearances and blocks. His crossing is improving and he has started to show more on the ball and is attacking with pace and intent. Could become a key player next year.

Durante 5:

Disappointing year. Seemed to struggle to command his space and lead the team as effectively as before. Whilst having a constantly changing backline didn't help he also made too many unforced errors with wayward passing and poorly timed tackling. Needs a strong year next year to justify his spot.

Fox 6:

Stepped up and did well. Is strong in the air and willing in the challenge. Once he learns to read the game better and to be more confident with the ball at this feet he will be a real asset and should push to start.

Fenton: 4

I'm not sure what his role is and I don't think he is either. Whilst he offers versatility like Manny he doesn't provide the same sense of security. His positional play is poor defensively and on attack he is lacking of ideas and seems unable to beat a player, always cutting in. A poor crosser he needs to get his head up high. Should struggle next year for minutes if a decent RB is picked up.

Gulley 5

Generally did well when he had a chance. Good engine and positionally was ok. Injuries hampered his progress. Will not be resigned.

Siggy: 5

Injuries ruined his season. 

Dnaskos 5:

Did ok when given the opportunity. Surprised he didn't have more as the season progressed.

Riera 4:

Our midfield constatnly looked second best. HIs lack of pace cost multiple free kicks this year and additionally his passing was less accurate than normal. Furthermore two red cards showed that he is making poor decisions including a silly penalty give away. Will need a big year next year.

A Rod 5:

Gets bagged a lot despite the stats suggesting that when on the field he is as good as any other mid on. Can pass with both feet and has a nice touch, he needs to dominate games more and take control. Is young and has time, but needs to develop some mongrel IMO. Too nice on the field.

Lia 4:

Injuries didn't help him this year. Has his limits as a player but always gives a 100 percent. Moving forward its hard to see him starting and doing little more than holding back the younger players from getting opportunities to progress. Should be released, but given a nice send off from fans.

Ridenton 5.5:

When not playing in the back he showed some nice touches in the midfield and an eye for a pass. His lack of mongrel like A Rod seems him too easily pushed off the ball and cost us possession. Still young, next year will be big for him.

Rufer 5

Injuries stopped him from getting decent game time. Certainly does not lack mongrel, but needs to channel it more effectively Should be resigned based on potential.

McG 4

Went missing too much this season. His set pieces were poor, his finishing was poor and he struggled to create as much as normal. When on song he looked dangerous, but it never happened for a full 90 or in back to back games. His lack of real pace may seem him play more centrally in the future.

Krishna 6.5:

Scored some good goals at the start of the year and his pace is a real handful for defenders. His touch has improved, however, it could still be tighter / softer. Good work rate on defence. Unfortunate injury took away his season, but his value is clear with other A League sides having put their feelers out before he resigned.

Powell 5:

One game makes a season. Should he have been given another year? had some nice touches, is reasonably quick... but will he win games, probably not. Lack of creativity in the middle didn't help him, but he didn't make things happen either.

Watson 6:

Made an impact in most games. Has limitations but has grown as a player. Offers a point of difference to current attackers and should be looked at for next year. Powerful shot, good in the air and a physical approach you atleast know he will be on the pitch when he plays.

Appiah 3

Worst touch in the A League is to big of an issue, no matter how fast you are.

Merrick 4

Poor year, some his own doing with signings and others out of his control. Needed to try something different earlier and is possibly to single minded in his approach.

Think you majorly overrated Appiah there...

Also forgot Roly.

Only footballer in the team/10

No way was Roly a 10, 6 maybe. Had some good goals but was too slow on the ball and didn't make things happen in the mid field. He can take on a couple of players and has some fancy footwork but I'd rather he moved the ball on quicker or could place that killer pass. He has the skills but isn't the creative AM that we need, which is why Finkler is such a good signing, Roly will suck the pressure off of Gui who can provide the service to the strikers.

I think Ridenton is a little higher than should be, didn't perform better than Lia/ARod/Riera/WeeMac over the season - it seems like you are inflating his performance based on what you expected (either of him or compared to the other senior players).

Appiah deserves at least 2 more poInts for unintentional comedy value.

Re: Powell, yeah he scored half his goals in one game but he also came off the bench for 10 of his appearances. He ended up playing almost the exact same number of minutes as Krishna. Even if you discount the WSW game as a freak outlier, then he still only scored 2 less than Roy and one of Roy's was a pen. Powell got 2 assists, Roy got 3. A 1.5 point difference in rating between those 2 is a bit harsh on Powell IMO

Confirmation bias. Pretty common on here unfortunately.

The stats (pretty much the only objective measure on player performance) suggest that with almost exactly the same minutes both players were pretty even in terms of their affect on the match. Here's some other stats: Powell scored with his head and both feet, Krishna only his right. Powell made almost 400 passes, Krishna only 230; despite this Powell had a higher percentage of passes going forward and less going backwards. 

Of course stats can be interpreted various ways, but I find them a more accurate gauge of a player's ability than anecdotal comments from people with obvious preconceptions. 

But Roy is a foriegner and therefore is better than any NZ or Australian players.

And relying on stats is far to common on here.

Check with any defender. They would tell you they are far more comfortable marking Powell than they are marking Krishna

It is called pace.

I personally think Krishna is clearly better than Powell but on the basis of their respective seasons I just thought the gulf was a bit wide in the scores they got. 

I also think it's a bit off to say that Powell didn't look dangerous or like he was able to win games when he won one game singlehandedly, away against the 2nd best side in the league, and scored the winner off the bench in our 3-2 win over the Roar at the start of the season too. In the context of our season he was a good player. I think he could do well with a more  creative midfield behind him too - he's a poacher really and our game didn't produce a lot of goal box chances for someone like him to get on the end of.

Powell, because it is very difficult to mark pace, you have to stop the supply.

Of course I would have probably been able to mark them both at the same time. :)

Also I noticed that Sarpong got left off that summary above. Is it possible to give negative ratings?

Whose Saprong?

Ok, for my 2 cents worth...

It was a difficult season. With the gun held at the club's head no one was able to plan anything long term. We had a reasonable squad on paper, then 2 long term injuries to 2 key players. Then 2 players were found out pretty quickly - Sarpong & Appiah, so that cut the squad down by four. The lads like Rufer and especially Ridenton, did not kick on from last season although in Rufer's case his injury mad it 3 down. They may not be getting the games but as squad players I did expect them to improve and challenge. they had been in the environment long enough to know what was expected. Then 50 shades of Grey left. 

Our narrow style of play and Roly being heavily marked and kicked out of games did not help. Nor did the lack of protection from referees whom give other clubs "stars" a lot more than they give us.

The refereeing was of the same standards as it has been for the last 10 years, no improvements there.

The Ring of Fire turned into the Ring of Abysmal Home form. To some extent the players have to accept responsibility for this. if you are going to lose, at least make an effort and not go down with a wimper. I can handle losing to better teams so long as we don't give up the ghost so to speak. Our away form was not too bad and certainly better than our home form.

I can understand Ernie not having a plan B with the squad we had. Although Watson imo was a good move. You can right him off all you like but the big lump gave defenders something to think about rather than standing over our diminutive strike force of Wee  Mac, Krishna, Powell and Roly whom are not the tallest or biggest of lads. And at least Watson never gave up in any games.

I'd like to thank Manny & Siggy for their roles. Not the best of seasons for them but thanks for the 8 years you both gave us. Some better years than others. Siggy will always be welcome to stand in the Zone.

I hope we sign another Keeper to push Moss. Sorry but he made too many errors when we least needed them. O do acknowledge though, he kept us in some games single handedly. Fox is gonna be a decent lad and next season he should hopefully really progress. As Dura's career winds down, the club should be looking at a replacement. Also a Right Back. A Rod could make a significant and good impact as he will be learning from the likes of Finkler. Kosta might do quite well but I believe we need a 6'3" CF for players like him to feed off.

Now that the club have four more years, they need ambition on and off the field. Kosta & Finkler are certainly signs of this and well done to them. As per normal, the prematch & half time enetertainment sucked but then, it is not really a priority. Although the Nixie chicks just don't do it for me. With finklers arrival, bring back the Brazlian band, make some noise.

I said it in another thread, the Zone need to turn up early during the players warm up and be heard. Perth & WSW put us to shame this season. We can do better everyone. We have to do better during the next four year. We have a professional football team, let's not lose it.

Not the best season but that we survived is good, now we just need to get over it and plan and execute over the next few weeks on and off the field. Let's hit 2016/2017 at full speed and blow the other teams off the field and let's make the Ring of Fire a fortress again. Let them fear us once more.

Fox better than Dura? I don't think so, not yet, by a long way. Sorry LG, I am not disputing your thoughts, but responding to the first post on the thread.

Made me look. I can see where he is coming from though, Durante wasn't his usual self this season, there were mistakes and chopping and changing of the back four didn't help. Fox stepped in and for the games he played in, he played quite well for the most part. Certainly better than was expected of him. Almost like master and apprentice side by side.

#notastriker

I thought that Fox had just as many lapses as Dura but because he's young he gets a bit of a pass - which is fine. He'll need to step up once more next season, though, if he wants to become a long term starting option.

Hmmm not sure I agree with the Rufer call, I think he was looking very good in the game time he got this season before he got injured (I think in part this is due to actually playing him in his preferred position), I really hope he kicks on from his injury as I think his improvement and promise means he will be a solid player for the squad in future.

I have a problem with the Doyle rating. When he makes mistakes they cost goals, that's a bad habit to have. 

Krishna has the potential to be a big player and was on track for a big season. He's a more threatening player than Powell because he is stronger and faster. Powell is an ok bench option but he doesn't manufacture chances, WSW excepted. 

It's been highlighted but Riera's form went off a cliff. Worry will be that his legs have gone. 

Still believe in Roly, it's a black mark on Ernie that he wasn't able to find a way to benefit from the close attention on him. 

The biggest disappointment was that no young player came through. We put faith in those guys with full time contracts and it seems they aren't ready yet.  That's no reflection on young players but shows that only the best 18/19/20 year Olds will be ready to jump straight into the A league. 

That usually happens when you're playing at the back..

Doyle got better as the season progressed and is clearly more confident going forward.

He scored a good goal from an attacking run, is putting in better crosses and actually looking to take players on further up the field. I think by the end of the season he was easily our most attacking full back out of (Manny, Fenton, Gulley + the other fill ins through the season)

I think next year will be a big season for him.

I think Doyle and Fox made huge strides this season, and Rodriguez and Ridenton also progressed in my opinion, but to a lesser extent. 

Overall I can't agree more with your season summary Metallegnz. I thought that entire thing was pretty spot on for me. Wouldn't have changed anything ratings in there at all. 

Krishna took a while to step up to the mark, Powell might yet do the same. He's showed he's capable of scoring with head, left and right, and of turning and shooting. You feel, as Leggy suggested though, that Powell doesn't have the same harrowing intensity or irritation factor for a defender that Krishna, or perhaps even Watson, does. Powell should be a guy who would benefit from better service, but as of yet he isn't the guy you'd feel confident or super hopefully turning to to find that late winner. 

Though Doyle has been problematic at the back, towards the end of the season he's been better going forward than many of our attackers. He's hit some great crosses, and while he's not so good at scooting past defenders and hitting raking low squares or cut backs like you suspect Ernie really wants, he did also score that cracker of a goal. So he gets points for the hope he could become a really decent A-league fullback, with a left peg. 

Otherwise agree with you. Our season was a fairly open book. Not too much in the good surprise category. We were hoping A-Rod would be. He hasn't been. We never thought Watson would be back anywhere near the 'Nix and he surprised us by getting goals and assists and a fair amount of game time. Most other players were asked to do too much and couldn't.

Ridenton played one spectacular pass (see Powell, B -good service, anticipation, telepathy), but didn't get much of a midfield run, and did a lot more playing out of position so I don't know if we can say he's come that far. Hopefully he's getting a bit tougher too, if he's going to play in the centre of the melee of the Aleague.

Not sure why Doyles crossing getting all this love.  Their was one game against WSW when he was accurate.  The rest of the year his crossing has been pretty average at best

Hard to crosses when we don't have a striker to aim for.

Better than passing it all the way back to the CB inside our own half.