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.
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.