In The Zone - The End

It was great to have Ifill on, he's such an affable chap.

Cheeky question about the training facilities to Marco...

Eastbourne did indeed embrace the naked mole rats. It was suggested in the changing rooms, then someone yelled it out on the pitch during a corner. 

 Heart.

We tackle the big issues.

 That is up there is our campaign to get the O'Brian sheild back.

 Merrick presser available there

yellowfever.podomatic.com & Itunes bit.ly/YFZone

Thanks for that recording!!

Was catching up on last week's pod and that interview with the Suburbs coach was gold: 

"The grass was too long"

"They parked the bus"

"The referee was being assessed"

"We had 75% possession"

Good to see Declan Edge is still having an impact on the club

In The Zone V61 is now out. It's a bumper issue as we chat to Ernie Merrick and New Zealand Football's Grant McKavanagh. Find it atwww.yellowfever.podomatic.com & Itunes bit.ly/YFZone

The pod goes large this week by chatting about, and to, new Wellington Phoenix FC's head coach, Ernie Merrick. In New Zealand Football,Auckland City Football Club claim their third straight O-league title, and NZF CEO, Grant McKavanagh, answers the tough questions around the inclusion of the U-20s in the ASB Premiership. Locally, there's plenty of controversy in the Central and Premier leagues.

Good interviews both. I know Ernie's very much in that public relations phase of wanting to impress but it was nice to hear him go into quite a lot of detail about skills 'n' tactics for what is essentially a fan interview. Yes, he is careful to emphasise the club watchwords of 'possession' and 'youth development' but he obviously has a clear vision for this team, not to mention a lot of experience. As slightly underwhelmed as I was when he was unveiled I do think the right decision has been made.

I thought one thing that was good is that he emphasised that he wants to move his own coaching forward.  A lot of coaches wouldn't say that when they are relying on a CV based around a different way of playing.  I thought that was definitely a positive

The travelling strips sounds silly. You want to go see the Wellington Phoenix, not the temporarily from Canterbury or Auckland Phoenix...Yellow and black stripey please- not enough home games as it is! Don't want to dillute the things that make us a force (or made us a force) at home- YF, Ring of Fire, Stripey...

No RR, he said "1 fast striker, 3 midfielders and a quality defender" (approximately)

Episode 62 of New Zealand's greatest ever football podcast is out now. Listen! Now!

Check it out at www.yellowfever.podomatic.com or in Itunes bit.ly/YFZone

As the off season rolls on, the pod takes a look at the good and the bad of the Hyundai A-League 2013/14 fixture list, and welcomes the reappointment of Chris Greenacre as assistant coach. In Kiwi football, the pod chats to Jeremy Brockie about his time in Toronto, and predicts a possible All Whites A squad. Locally, there's Central League, Premier League and a Chatham Cup preview including an interview with Naenae's head coach Troy Denton before their 2nd Round clash.

Probably deserving of its 'explicit' tag this week in guessing. 

I usually agree with Boxey but I think he's on the wrong side of this scheduling issue.  You talk about a sense of entitlement, but there's the a similar thought pattern involved by saying you're a fan, you should turn up whenever the team is playing.  This is the entertainment business and rightly or wrongly in NZ the weekend finishes for most people at about 6pm on Sunday.  People aren't looking for entertainment on Sunday night (beyond Montana Sunday theatre) - they're at home getting ready for the week.  

Yes, for other time slots there are always people who moan but there are always people saying how much they like certain times too (I was always a fan of Friday night games).  No-one is saying they are looking forward to 7pm Sunday games.

......its a wellington club for wellington people !

10,000 Aucklanders at Eden Park last season disagree.

you didn't mention it costs a lot to take the team on the road - so saying they are more profitable is different to the fact they get more people

In regards to public transport out to the Hutt on a Sunday , yes there is a bus immediately after the game (it'll be tight), but then it stops at queensgate and I have a half hour walk home ahead of me. It won't put me off (unless maybe the weather is miserable), burn it'll definitely put casual fans and families off. 

the last public transport to the Hutt on a Sunday is a bus that goes at 9pm?

940. Imagine the game will finish at about 9. And then that only goes to Eastbourne via queensgate. I'm not saying itll put me off, but it'll put a lot of other people off. 

Yeah i cant see a lot of families I know wanting to travel that late with kids.

Not sure what time Boxey thinks kids go to bed... seemed to think only 2 year olds would be affected... little naive there.
Unless you plan on sending all your kids to bed at 10pm

can't kids stay up one night a month to go to a game of football?  A couple of games are in school holidays so that shouldn't be a problem at all.  I remember being about 10 years old and being taken to the Wellington XI vs QPR game at the Basin reserve, which a quick google search shows me was a Tuesday night and probably kicked off at about 8pm.  I turned out ok (although I had to repeat that year at intermediate).

Also, if families are going to the car, surely it is easier/more cost effective to take a car, especially as I cannot imagine that parking is a huge amount on a Sunday night.

Yes, some will. But others will decide just to go on another night. A lot of this is being talked as either an all or nothing. What needs to be recognised is that it will put some or most off. Also it is the casual family being talked about. Not 'hardcore' fans who will go anyway.

I demand the Nix release a line of Nix nightwear for kids (PJs, dressing gowns, fluffy Nixie slippers, hotwater bottles etc).

This will mean that the kids can go to the match already kitted up as supporter and ready for bed the minute they get back from the games.

Also have bovril on sale at the stadium. But that's a bit of a separate issue.

I agree with a lot of this post (especially the swearing parts) but the part highlighted is wrong.

Edit - fuck this site.  It shows as bold when I look it in this view, but not when the post is...........posted.  The part I wanted to highlight is the part stating that it is not the clubs job to make the games attractive.  It is, as the club is made up by the players, the management, the backroom staff, the board, etc.

Wait.  So the team don't have to play "total football" after all?

I disagree with everything you just said. The hardcore supporters (which includes many families) will be be there no matter what. The casual supporters (who the club need to attract for the club to be sustainable) will only come if the times of the games suit them. Telling them to harden up isn't going to entice them to come, and telling them to get f*cked if they don't want to show up is hardly going to work either.

Are any of us going to be happy heading along to a game with just 5,000 other hardcore supporters in the crowd? If we are okay with that, then we don't need the casual fans, we can afford to tell them to GGF if they don't want to show up. However, I know that I would prefer there to be at least 10k people in the crowd (from both and atmosphere and a finiancial viewpoint), so I think the club should be doing everything they can to entice this extra 5,000 people along to games. 

FWIW, I'm personally okay with the 7pm Sunday games. Gives us more time to drink at the Backbencher before the game and I much prefer watching football under lights to an afternoon game.