Ernie Merrick - former Phoenix manager

The squad balance is a little off- and it's clear that Roly is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and it is no secret to anyone when his head is down on the pitch. 

The midfield seems a bit congested. 

Lowry does seem a bit hard done by, but I guess Parkhouse is a bob on attack winning games and that forcing the defenders back by being attacking is better than holding them off. 

I'd guess reading the Fever forums would be similar to the players attitudes to Ernie. Lots of loyalty and respect, but plenty of frustration over tactics and the way the team was playing at times. That's been a constant over the last two years. We like his style, but think that there needs to be more tactical flexibility. That said it is unlikely any new guy will have a magic wand. 

Who would they have appointed this week and why did they hold off I guess is the question!

Ramon, and held off because they wanted to wait for him to get back from Japan

Not Rory Fallon then? He is player coach at Truro

If Roly's family aren't in NZ with him anymore, that explains quite a bit..

ROFL

Interesting, and I think has been pretty much born out on the pitch.  I agree on Rossi, the guy is a gun

NZF looking for a technical director - I reckon Ernie would be pretty good at that. I wonder if he'd be interested?

I saw  him today leaving exodus or the warehouse so still in town.

I had heard about the Wags as well. Nothing more distracting for a pro footballer than having domestic shiite going on in the back ground. If players are not settled at home they won't be settled on the field.

The Nix were super lucky to get Rossi. There would be plenty of other A-league clubs who would get their cheque book for him.

AS a born and bred Wellingtonian it hurst me to admit that the place is not exactly Club Med. For a foreign player, especially a latin player, Wellingtons climate would seem super hostile. If you throw in earthquakes as well then it is tough for a foreign player to settle.

I would agree about Ernies rigidity. He seemed obsessed with converting small fast wingers into goal scoring strikers. The last game with a true no9 up front showed what a little pragmatism could bring. I don't think he was a great defensive coach either. Teams defend as a unit, its not just the back four. The Nix have shipped a mountain of goals over the last 3 years.

is Rossi only on a year contract?

His contract expires at the end of next season, so two years. 

And he is really making a comeback on the road to redemption isn't he? I'd expect him to bugger off back to Europe if he gets the right offer, not stay in the A League.

As long as we get a transfer fee if he is still contracted to us...

Certainly improving every week too and should be even more solid with Doyle back

Ernie, I hope you have been watching the last two weeks. This is your line-up playing how you envisaged them to play. It is bloody great to watch.

Except for that whole prohibition/discouragement of shooting outside the box.  That's not working out so well looking at the sort of goals we have scored since he left.

#bringbackwatson

It's also not the same because we don't push our full backs in the same way now meaning our defensive shape is far better. 

Apart from the big loss to Melbourne (being a player down and conceding two penalties), I'm sure our defensive record under Ernie was probably better than under Buckingacre. The differences I see is that rather than Kosta and Krishna defending wide areas and Gui like a false nine, Roly and one of of Kosta/Krishna are defending wide areas and one of Kosta/Krishna defending centrally - so 4231 without the ball and 4222 with the ball. I also think that starting wider and drifting in, onto his stronger foot, is better than starting centrally and drifting into wider areas for Roly - and Roly is not playing deeper as he was in the start of the season.

6 for 14 against in 8 games under Ernie.

31 for and 25 against in 17 under Green/Buck.

Agree that our defending hasn't improved that much = but big improvement had been in goal scoring.  Under Ernie it was 124 in 91 games.  That really wasn't enough to win games consistently.

We had given up a bit more control under Ernie for a bit more directness.

We were crap under Ernie for the last 2 season, I don't think we have given anything much up at all

Tratt to Newcastle then?

Maybe not!

I must admit I am very very surprised Ernie is next cab off the rank for an A League gig.  I really don't think his Phoenix reign really stands up that well to scrutiny when viewed against the GreenBuck results with the same players

Jets have had 3 green coaches in the last 3 years, they will want an experience coach to try and right the ship. Ernie is probably the most obvious option for that in Aussie.

You have to look at where the Jets are and what they're expecting. They need someone that can get things sorted off field as well as on which is what Merrick can do and did at the Nix. 

I still struggle with supposedly what he did off the pitch? 

We've all heard the stories about the state the club was in when he arrived, it was almost a complete rebuild by some accounts, and rebuilt to a higher standard of professionalism. 

Not to mention the academy system and the new training facilities which was apparently done to Ernies specs. 

No disrespect to the Jets, but they would probably be delighted to finish 7th.

Sorry but maybe this fabulous rebuild that Ernie supposedly did is a myth that many seem to love to perpetuate.So lets see head office has apparently gone through a number of staff changes so dosnt appear to be much stability there.We supposedly havnt had video analysis and as for the that minor side of the operation the team they havnt exactly been going that well and he never left is a good position.

But hey he was a good guy sorry dont get this that we are in a better position than when he arrived.Because you cant suggest the team is better and expect to be taken seriously under Ernies watch we took some serious beatings and yes OCCASIONALLY played some good football. 

This smugness over the Jets is laughable they at least have a title and have had an even rougher ride with owners than we had.

Sorry but i just dont get this BS talk about him rebuilding the club dont forget he walked away with an unfinished job and us in deep doo.

I think he was a breath of fresh air after Ricki (both with the media and the fans) so got generally good press.  But how can you seriously credit him with the new training facilities?  And what do you mean done to his specs - it's Martin Luckie Park No. 2 not La Masia!

That's what the current coaches said.

Nobody is smug here. Just bear in mind the Jets won their title in 2007-2008 season, and have struggled ever since. 

At that time the league was smaller, poorer and arguably more even than it is today.  Without good financial backing smaller clubs like them (or us) would struggle to build the momentum to seriously challenge for the title.  At least we seem (now) to have financial stability.

 

Ernie's specs for training facilities:

+ Put up a fence.

+ Put down new grass.

+ Lick of paint on the building.

nailed it.

"Not Newtown 2" - done

"need somewhere wind even worse" - check

I literally repeated what Des said in an interview.

We are in for Plane Trouble next season