Wellington Phoenix Men

Hail ___ the Chief - Giancarlo Italiano

1664 replies · 125,264 views
11 months ago
Who takes over next season when the wheels have completely fall off?

As things stand they are held on with one bolt each with the nut almost off…

BTW I don’t see this as all Chiefys fault. He’s only the mechanic and can only work with the tools at his disposal.
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites

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11 months ago
Who takes over next season when the wheels have completely fall off?

As things stand they are held on with one bolt each with the nut almost off…

BTW I don’t see this as all Chiefys fault. He’s only the mechanic and can only work with the tools at his disposal.
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites

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11 months ago
It is mostly his fault. He signed Retre and the Japanese boys. He callously disposed of Ball, OVH and al-Taay (who he also signed) when we could have really used them. He made the call the build the team (in his own words) around a player who had not played regularly in quite some time in Rojas. He stubbornly stuck with the same gameplan (and said he was doing so himself) for months when nothing was working instead of trying different things. 

Maybe he wasn't given the tools to win a title, but he absolutely was given enough resources to have a far better season than we did. 
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Endorsed by InsulinMachine, kwlap, LT01, newzealandpower and 3 others

11 months ago
reg22
LG
There is not any tension as such at the practices. The Chiefy tells them what to do and they do it. It's just at practices, they do it 100 times better than on match days.

good to hear mate! do the coaching staff talk?

Yes they do. They all have input. Chiefy has a style he really wants to see work. It does at practices and it's quick as hell. So when I see the stuff on match days, I am often left wondering "Where the F--k did that come from?" (Like, everyone else) and it's very frustrating.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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Endorsed by anaveragestem, ballane, LT01, martinb and 6 others

11 months ago
LG
reg22
LG
There is not any tension as such at the practices. The Chiefy tells them what to do and they do it. It's just at practices, they do it 100 times better than on match days.

good to hear mate! do the coaching staff talk?

Yes they do. They all have input. Chiefy has a style he really wants to see work. It does at practices and it's quick as hell. So when I see the stuff on match days, I am often left wondering "Where the F--k did that come from?" (Like, everyone else) and it's very frustrating.

But who are the playing against in training? Shadows?
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites

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11 months ago
LG
reg22
LG
There is not any tension as such at the practices. The Chiefy tells them what to do and they do it. It's just at practices, they do it 100 times better than on match days.

good to hear mate! do the coaching staff talk?

Yes they do. They all have input. Chiefy has a style he really wants to see work. It does at practices and it's quick as hell. So when I see the stuff on match days, I am often left wondering "Where the F--k did that come from?" (Like, everyone else) and it's very frustrating.

good to hear mate. cheers

360footballnews.com

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11 months ago
Marto
LG
reg22
LG
There is not any tension as such at the practices. The Chiefy tells them what to do and they do it. It's just at practices, they do it 100 times better than on match days.

good to hear mate! do the coaching staff talk?

Yes they do. They all have input. Chiefy has a style he really wants to see work. It does at practices and it's quick as hell. So when I see the stuff on match days, I am often left wondering "Where the F--k did that come from?" (Like, everyone else) and it's very frustrating.

But who are the playing against in training? Shadows?
No they are divided up evenly defence, midfield, attack. And play against each other.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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11 months ago
LG
Marto
LG
reg22
LG
There is not any tension as such at the practices. The Chiefy tells them what to do and they do it. It's just at practices, they do it 100 times better than on match days.

good to hear mate! do the coaching staff talk?

Yes they do. They all have input. Chiefy has a style he really wants to see work. It does at practices and it's quick as hell. So when I see the stuff on match days, I am often left wondering "Where the F--k did that come from?" (Like, everyone else) and it's very frustrating.

But who are the playing against in training? Shadows?
No they are divided up evenly defence, midfield, attack. And play against each other.
when we have more first xi players available it will also help with the quality at training
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11 months ago
imanixsupporter
It is mostly his fault. He signed Retre and the Japanese boys. He callously disposed of Ball, OVH and al-Taay (who he also signed) when we could have really used them. He made the call the build the team (in his own words) around a player who had not played regularly in quite some time in Rojas. He stubbornly stuck with the same gameplan (and said he was doing so himself) for months when nothing was working instead of trying different things. 

Maybe he wasn't given the tools to win a title, but he absolutely was given enough resources to have a far better season than we did. 

To clarify, Chiefy did not "callously dispose of Al-Taay".  He did not play Al-Taay, which was surprising. Al-Taay asked to be released for family reasons, and went on to sign with WSW where he came from, with everyone's (seemingly) blessing.

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

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Endorsed by Bullion, kwlap, LG, mjp2 and 3 others

11 months ago
Mainland FC
imanixsupporter
It is mostly his fault. He signed Retre and the Japanese boys. He callously disposed of Ball, OVH and al-Taay (who he also signed) when we could have really used them. He made the call the build the team (in his own words) around a player who had not played regularly in quite some time in Rojas. He stubbornly stuck with the same gameplan (and said he was doing so himself) for months when nothing was working instead of trying different things. 

Maybe he wasn't given the tools to win a title, but he absolutely was given enough resources to have a far better season than we did. 

To clarify, Chiefy did not "callously dispose of Al-Taay".  He did not play Al-Taay, which was surprising. Al-Taay asked to be released for family reasons, and went on to sign with WSW where he came from, with everyone's (seemingly) blessing.

That may well be true, but had the player been given as many minutes as he wanted and probably warranted would he have become "home sick". Not necessarily callous but totally down to the manager and not being played. There may well have been other advantages for leaving such as being close to the family etc but if that was the sole driver he would never have come in the first place.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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Endorsed by Footballtragic, LT01, Mainland FC, Monto and 1 other

11 months ago
Sorry, Al Taay hardly ever produced performances demanding he start every game, in my opinion.

Oi Oi Edgecumbe... lets have a clean sheet

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Endorsed by kwlap, mjp2, Outpost

11 months ago
When Rufer fell ill he would have been a better option than LKH or Sheridan for mine, I reckon he offered mre than Retre.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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Endorsed by Bullion, LT01, Mainland FC, Monto and 2 others

11 months ago · edited 11 months ago · History
Oi Oi Edgecumbe
Sorry, Al Taay hardly ever produced performances demanding he start every game, in my opinion.

Should that read this year? 
Definitely was what we were short of though- a plan B or C with fitness and professional experience in his position. 
A rotation or impact player who could be trusted. Well, that was definitely what he was first season. 
It’s probably not our business why he returned to Sydney, but he wasn’t the same player second season for whatever reason.


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Endorsed by LT01, Mainland FC, Nelfoos, Nixieboys222 and 3 others

11 months ago
on the pod, Gill basically said a few more of the men's coaching staff will be leaving/have left (beyond those already confirmed), and the process to replace them basically hasn't started yet. will be interesting to see who the new assistants will be in due course


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11 months ago
I know their are plenty on this forum who dont want to follow anything that AFC have been doing but for me there are two examples that we could follow. 1, physical conditioning. Smith said their preseason training was tougher than at any other club in his long career. Reports had them at EPL levels. 2, mental conditioning. Quite a few of the imports said they had never experianced AFC levels if mental coaching. 
IMO the Nix had problems mentally with the derbys. They actually dropped considerable number of points after each derby loss. 
Getting super fit and mentally in the right place are two quite easy ways to start the season on the front foot.
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Endorsed by anaveragestem, Doloras, Footballtragic, hepatitis and 10 others

11 months ago
https://aleagues.com.au/news/auckland-fc-melbourne-victory-aleague-semi-finals-tickets-information/

The coach in question is Hamish Barton, a Mental Performance Coach who has seemingly become a key component of the Black Knights football department throughout the course of the season.

A mouthwatering matchup on Saturday night with Victory’s attacking arsenal against the competition’s most miserly defence in what will be the Black Knights’ maiden finals appearance.

“I think it’s a little bit of the regular season is done and now, everything is ‘we haven’t got any points,’ said Pijnaker when asked what the focus of the recent sessions has been following the victorious end to the campaign.

“Everyone’s at zero now. So it’s kind of resetting and going again for these games. So yeah, everyone’s really switched on.

He went on to say: “(It’s) mainly team (sessions) so that we’re all on the same page (of) what we can expect and yeah, we’re really looking forward to the games.”

One player who is certainly a fan of the club’s decision to deploy a mindset coach is Belgian midfielder Louis Verstraete.

Recruited from Belgian side Beveren, Verstraete has proven himself to be one of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s best midfielders in season 2024-25 and says it’s been refreshing to work on an aspect of his game that doesn’t involve a ball at his feet.

“I don’t think we work much on our mental strength,” said the 26-year-old when asked about the role Barton plays within the group.

“At this club, we have a mental coach. We do it a bit more often than in my previous teams. So this always helps to reflect and to to let go of the highs when we want it, and then to come back to neutral and work again.

“So it has been beneficial for me as well.”

Having the right mentality will certainly be key heading into the first leg against a buoyant Victory side with head coach Corica insisting the Black Knights will head to Melbourne with the aim of imposing themselves on their hosts.
“I think the mindset is to go there and win. Because if you give them a negative mindset, that’s not good for us.
“It’s to go there and do our job as normal, to approach the game as normal and to win if we can.

He added: “I don’t like going in just for a draw, for instance. That’s not my mindset. My mindset is always to win every game. And you know, we want to get ourselves in a good position to take home, to Go Media (Stadium).
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Endorsed by mjp2

11 months ago · edited 11 months ago · History
Our conditioning (physical) was way off what is was last season when we played the high press, absorb attacks and hit fast on the counter. No idea or comments about what changed.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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Endorsed by Mainland FC, martinb, Monto, newzealandpower and 1 other

11 months ago
I keep going on about the mental factor and how I think it's historically been lacking at the Nix

Ramming liberal dribble down your throat since 2009
This forum needs less angst and more Kate Bush threads



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Endorsed by LT01, Mainland FC, martinb, Monto and 3 others

11 months ago · edited 11 months ago · History
Doloras
I keep going on about the mental factor and how I think it's historically been lacking at the Nix

Yes, we peaked in mental "fitness" when we had Siggie, Manny and Tim Brown.
In addition, I would say it is hard to instill mental loughness if the team is being structured around young players being ripened up for a quick sale season in, season out. And if a young player is also mentally tough already, you would probably want to keep them, not onsell them.   

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

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11 months ago
Mainland FC
Doloras
I keep going on about the mental factor and how I think it's historically been lacking at the Nix

Yes, we peaked in mental "fitness" when we had Siggie, Manny and Tim Brown.
In addition, I would say it is hard to instill mental loughness if the team is being structured around young players being ripened up for a quick sale season in, season out. And if a young player is also mentally tough already, you would probably want to keep them, not onsell them.   

It’s also a big ask of the young lads to pick themselves up after those brutal derby defeats and keep a “winning mindset” (ugh, forgive the management speak). Speaking from experience (doctor, I have this friend…) it takes many years of humiliating fudge-ups before you learn not to give a damn.

Interesting though that this isn’t a new thing with the club. Can anyone with more historical perspective than me speculate why?
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Endorsed by martinb, WanderingSheep

11 months ago
theprof
Our conditioning (physical) was way off what is was last season when we played the high press, absorb attacks and hit fast on the counter. No idea or comments about what changed.
Injuries is fairly obvious answer
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Endorsed by mjp2

11 months ago
Doloras
I keep going on about the mental factor and how I think it's historically been lacking at the Nix
The club does use a performance psychologist - Hughes talked about it after he had a bad run where slips and errors resulted in conceding crucial early goals. There is probably a difference between players in their first few seasons of senior football and more experienced players (of which Akl is entirely made up of). Quite a lot of the "young" players to have break out seasons in the league (Botic, Milanovic, Velupillay, Eli Adams) are like 23-24, LBS can play another 7 to 8  seasons to reach that age.
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Endorsed by capitalbikes, martinb, mjp2, Oi Oi Edgecumbe and 1 other

11 months ago
Bullion
theprof
Our conditioning (physical) was way off what is was last season when we played the high press, absorb attacks and hit fast on the counter. No idea or comments about what changed.
Injuries is fairly obvious answer

According to Gilly we were more injury affected in our premiership challenging season.

I think it’s the obvious. Physical prime iirc is around 27. We had fewer players close to their prime. We had a hollow squad and we failed to plan for injuries to key players. We weren’t covered for Rufer. 
I think we also weren’t really covered for a big injury to Kosta or Wootton or Payne and we were lucky they were in relatively good nick. 


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Endorsed by mjp2, theprof, WanderingSheep

11 months ago
martinb
Bullion
theprof
Our conditioning (physical) was way off what is was last season when we played the high press, absorb attacks and hit fast on the counter. No idea or comments about what changed.
Injuries is fairly obvious answer

According to Gilly we were more injury affected in our premiership challenging season.

I think it’s the obvious. Physical prime iirc is around 27. We had fewer players close to their prime. We had a hollow squad and we failed to plan for injuries to key players. We weren’t covered for Rufer. 
I think we also weren’t really covered for a big injury to Kosta or Wootton or Payne and we were lucky they were in relatively good nick. 
Gill will have a better sense of it, but data from transfermarkt and checking against wikipedia this season a combined 95 games were missed due to injuries/illness compared to 47 last season (which we played 3 more games). Zawada accounted for 31.9% of games missed (15 in total) compared with Cola 22.1% of games missed (21 in total) were the two most in each season. 
12 players last season made an appearance in at least 80% of the games, only 8 this season. Increase that to 90% and the figure doubles from 4 players this season to 8 last season. 
We also used more players this season, with median appearance being 15 games (53.6% of games) this season compared with 20.5 games (66.1% of games) last season.
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Endorsed by martinb, mjp2, queenofthequail, Southernix

11 months ago
I should have check whether he was talking about the number of injuries. Or the numbers of games missed through injury. Either figures might not include Rufer's illness either.
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11 months ago · edited 11 months ago · History
Oh my gosh I’m out of my depth with stats. I think he said minutes missed?

Edit:

We also used more players this season, with median appearance being 15 games (53.6% of games) this season compared with 20.5 games (66.1% of games) last season.

I think this is an important point. The question is though, does it show injuries or Chief’s tinkering or a bit of both? For whatever reason it shows a squad that couldn’t do what was asked of it.


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Endorsed by Southernix, theprof, WanderingSheep

11 months ago
Bullion
theprof
Our conditioning (physical) was way off what is was last season when we played the high press, absorb attacks and hit fast on the counter. No idea or comments about what changed.
Injuries is fairly obvious answer

The other question about this is chicken or egg- was a disrupted preseason and players joining late causing poor conditioning and more injuries? 
Or did we get contact injuries and bad luck injuries which meant we weren’t as fit as a unit? 

And again I’d mention as Gilly did, the lack of blokes in their mid 20s, who are generally fitter. Iirc OVH and Mo were usually near the top half on speed and fitness.


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Endorsed by theprof, WanderingSheep

11 months ago
I believe with the Budget, Coach, Management with goal for aiming in the top six we never able to win anything. Even with all the lucky stars aligned, like last year, we are 2nd best. I wish the club would totally reset. With guys who strive for excellence AND are actually able to do it.
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Endorsed by Nixieboys222, WanderingSheep

10 months ago · edited 10 months ago · History
I've seen people above talk about how the Nix have been mentally weak for a decade or more.

I really can't agree with that statement

The way the club played through COVID while being isolated in Wollongong shows how strong mentally they were only a couple of seasons ago.

I do think the club itself lacks a winning mentality, maybe not the gaffer and players, but certainly the ownership/admin side.
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites

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Endorsed by AucklandPhoenix, ballane, Southernix

10 months ago
Marto
I've seen people above talk about how the Nix have been mentally weak for a decade or more.

I really can't agree with that statement

The way the club played through COVID while being isolated in Wollongong shows how strong mentally they were only a couple of seasons ago.

I do think the club itself lacks a winning mentality, maybe not the gaffer and players, but certainly the ownership/admin side.


With the sole aim of making the top 6 every season, one has to wonder what the Board really want to achieve. Personally, I'd be pissed off if my team did not try and be number 1 every season. Scoring more goals than the opponents in every game. Think positive and reach for the stars. Anything less and it is not professional enough. Fans might not pay for the seasonal budget but if you want fan support and attendance, you have to show your intent and aim for number 1. Fans don't want "Also rans".
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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Endorsed by LT01, Monto, scribbler, WanderingSheep

10 months ago
number8
I believe with the Budget, Coach, Management with goal for aiming in the top six we never able to win anything. Even with all the lucky stars aligned, like last year, we are 2nd best. I wish the club would totally reset. With guys who strive for excellence AND are actually able to do it.
do you listen to the pod? Dome said the 6 is the minimum and we aim for home semi finals, he also said we spend to the new cap already (the new cap is higher than the old cap)
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Endorsed by Oi Oi Edgecumbe, Southernix, theprof

10 months ago
You have actually quoted him well.

Never did he talk about winning the bloody thing. 


Auckland will rise once more

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10 months ago
Ryan
number8
I believe with the Budget, Coach, Management with goal for aiming in the top six we never able to win anything. Even with all the lucky stars aligned, like last year, we are 2nd best. I wish the club would totally reset. With guys who strive for excellence AND are actually able to do it.
do you listen to the pod? Dome said the 6 is the minimum and we aim for home semi finals, he also said we spend to the new cap already (the new cap is higher than the old cap)


See, my aim is to win the A-League premiership and championship…


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Endorsed by Southernix

10 months ago · edited 10 months ago · History
nufc_nz
Ryan
number8
I believe with the Budget, Coach, Management with goal for aiming in the top six we never able to win anything. Even with all the lucky stars aligned, like last year, we are 2nd best. I wish the club would totally reset. With guys who strive for excellence AND are actually able to do it.
do you listen to the pod? Dome said the 6 is the minimum and we aim for home semi finals, he also said we spend to the new cap already (the new cap is higher than the old cap)


See, my aim is to win the A-League premiership and championship…

Excellent! What position do you play? 

(Sorry, weak joke. Kinda bored. Think I’m missing kick off and first half…dammit)


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10 months ago
martinb
nufc_nz
Ryan
number8
I believe with the Budget, Coach, Management with goal for aiming in the top six we never able to win anything. Even with all the lucky stars aligned, like last year, we are 2nd best. I wish the club would totally reset. With guys who strive for excellence AND are actually able to do it.
do you listen to the pod? Dome said the 6 is the minimum and we aim for home semi finals, he also said we spend to the new cap already (the new cap is higher than the old cap)


See, my aim is to win the A-League premiership and championship…

Excellent! What position do you play? 

(Sorry, weak joke. Kinda bored. Think I’m missing kick off and first half…dammit)

Off-topic sorry but you reminded me of another joke with the same punchline (possibly from a John Steinbeck novel, but I can't remember where I read that):

Two guys are at a bar and one of them is going on about how much he detests Green Bay, Wisconsin. "The only things to come out of Green Bay are the Packers and ugly hookers" he growls.

"Heyyy", says the other guy, "my wife's from Green Bay!"

"Oh yeah? What position does she play?"
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Endorsed by martinb

10 months ago
No one said they're not aiming to win the thing, they've just said that 6 is the minimum they aim for and they expect to be top four or top two in the regular season so that they can get the best run for the finals.

But, way to move the goalposts, the discussion was that we aim for top 6 which Dome has said is incorrect, and that we don't spend enough which was also said as incorrect. Hard to have a discussion with people who are disingenuous. 
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Endorsed by Bullion, capitalbikes, cheesecake, coochiee and 5 others

10 months ago
Yeh that was the impression I got- no finals and there better be some quick talking or someone is losing their job.


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8 months ago
Interesting that he admits in it that he probably lost the dressing room by the end of last season.

Seems like he's really put a lot of time into reflecting and tried to use it as a learning experience.

Hopefully we can see some positive results from that this season
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Endorsed by brookem, Doloras, martinb, Monto and 2 others

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