In The Zone - The End

I kind of feel a bit sorry for Ernie. Correct me if I'm wrong but out of the squad last week there were only two players...Hicks and Kenny that were Ernie's signings.

And Riera.... your points still stand though.

And Italiano. But he also signed Caira, Brindell-South, Rufer, Ridenton, I don't see the relevance of whether they made the squad or not. But yeah, it is always going to be difficult for a manager to come in and take over an existing team, especially one that didn't perform well in the previous season. He would have been aware of that coming in, no reason to feel sorry for him. If there is any reason to feel sorry I think it would be the number of close games with vital things just not going our way. I think people are largely prepared to be patient and give him a decent go because despite the lack of results there have been encouraging signs .... and of course in this league there's no relegation.

I kind of feel a bit sorry for Ernie. Correct me if I'm wrong but out of the squad last week there were only two players...Hicks and Kenny that were Ernie's signings. So he is stuck with a squad he did not necessarily want and is having to make the best of it. Its all very well beating up on Stein but Ernie has said he wants his front three rotating and shifting positions throughout the match. If you are judging Stein as an out and out goal scoring striker then he fails. But he is not that sort of player and he is not really being asked to play that role. What he does do is hold the ball well, rotate it well and bring others into play. If that does not fit into your system then bench him...but its not the players fault. They can't turn themselves into Berisha overnight. I'm not a huge Stein fan but he did set up a sitter for Carlos and put at least 2 great balls across the face of the goal that a player like Greenacre would have tapped in i.e he did a job that a creative wide player should do that could have given him three assists. Saying Stein is crap and we should drop him is too simplistic.

The reason we are not scoring goals are many. However we have recruited three attacking players who are not natural goal scorers. Before joining the Nix Stein was a winger with a goals to game ratio of about 0.22. Brockie pre Nix club ratio is 0.23, Kenny lower than both. So we have three wingers who don't score many goals and you lump them together in a team and wonder why we don't score. If you then throw in a timid midfield who have to rely on numbers and not skill to hold the midfield then the problems get worse. In addition there is nobody who regularly gets forward from mid to get in a goal scoring position(except Lia and he should not be the last one getting up there)

I think I am in the "wait to next year camp" and then Ernie can cleanout and hire who he wants. As we all knew the failure to recruit a quality experianced DM to boss the midfield has hurt us.  Its still possible to be positive and we will beat plenty of sides...but we are far far from being top 4 material. As for the call to start Ifill. Ernie sees him day in day out and would have as good an idea as anyone on Ifills ability to start and play for 60 minutes. I'll bet he would love to have Ifill contibute for longer.....but the truth is he is being nursed through the season because of the fragile state of is body.

Testify [Smithy: shut up Box] brother.

I kind of feel a bit sorry for Ernie. Correct me if I'm wrong but out of the squad last week there were only two players...Hicks and Kenny that were Ernie's signings. So he is stuck with a squad he did not necessarily want and is having to make the best of it. Its all very well beating up on Stein but Ernie has said he wants his front three rotating and shifting positions throughout the match. If you are judging Stein as an out and out goal scoring striker then he fails. But he is not that sort of player and he is not really being asked to play that role. What he does do is hold the ball well, rotate it well and bring others into play. If that does not fit into your system then bench him...but its not the players fault. They can't turn themselves into Berisha overnight. I'm not a huge Stein fan but he did set up a sitter for Carlos and put at least 2 great balls across the face of the goal that a player like Greenacre would have tapped in i.e he did a job that a creative wide player should do that could have given him three assists. Saying Stein is crap and we should drop him is too simplistic.

The reason we are not scoring goals are many. However we have recruited three attacking players who are not natural goal scorers. Before joining the Nix Stein was a winger with a goals to game ratio of about 0.22. Brockie pre Nix club ratio is 0.23, Kenny lower than both. So we have three wingers who don't score many goals and you lump them together in a team and wonder why we don't score. If you then throw in a timid midfield who have to rely on numbers and not skill to hold the midfield then the problems get worse. In addition there is nobody who regularly gets forward from mid to get in a goal scoring position(except Lia and he should not be the last one getting up there)

I think I am in the "wait to next year camp" and then Ernie can cleanout and hire who he wants. As we all knew the failure to recruit a quality experianced DM to boss the midfield has hurt us.  Its still possible to be positive and we will beat plenty of sides...but we are far far from being top 4 material. As for the call to start Ifill. Ernie sees him day in day out and would have as good an idea as anyone on Ifills ability to start and play for 60 minutes. I'll bet he would love to have Ifill contibute for longer.....but the truth is he is being nursed through the season because of the fragile state of is body.

Yeah I've heard them all too. Not sure if that's something to brag about though...

#InTheZone V90 is out at yellowfever.co.nz/podcasts. 

The pod reviews the Wellington Phoenix FC's latest loss, this time to Perth Glory, and questions whether the drought will be broken against Brisbane Roar FC this weekend. Elsewhere, the team rejoices at Australia's group at the World Cup, looks back at the latest ASB Premiership action, and pondersAuckland City Football Club's chances at the Club World Cup.

Should start to think what we should do for the big 100.

Should start to think what we should do for the big 100.

Should start to think what we should do for the big 100.

If I could make a recommendation, perhaps get on a guest who, like you guys, will have an opinion. Like a Devlin/Davis type person. Not someone that does straight bat soundbites. I (and I think others) really enjoyed Piney when he was on and he is good for an opinion, although not as off the wall as a Devlin type person.

The problem in NZ is that there is not enough of those people around cause NZ is too small and most of the time, it'll be a career killer for having an outspoken opinion if you have plans in football.

Dial in JD or Frankie Mac or someone that is a leader of one of the other HAL supporter groups and gasbag. Or perhaps someone from PWC declaring the results of your YF financial audit...

Guest panels of 

1) JD, Ballane, Steve-O and Bingbacksmeltz. Topic: "You don't want to do that, you want to do this!" (first one to burst a blood vessel wins a special prize) 

or

2) Bluemagic, FUBLU, Ali G and Jerzy. Topic: "What would Ramon do?" and "Why chit chats are so much better than tim tams"

Should start to think what we should do for the big 100.

Wonder if we have won a game by then.

Maybe a Domy, Ernie, Dura special guest combo.

Live podcast recording at the Bencher with studio audience?