Hail ___ the Chief - Giancarlo Italiano

Reading this thread reminds me of that old proverb that success has many proud parents but failure is a lonely orphan.

Sorry must misunderstood it i got the impression the implication was Griffith had little to do with the team from halfway through the season.
In fact rereading the thread thats just what someone posted that Griffiths had stepped back mid season. Yet he was clearly running sessions late in the season.

ballane

Sorry must misunderstood it i got the impression the implication was Griffith had little to do with the team from halfway through the season.
In fact rereading the thread thats just what someone posted that Griffiths had stepped back mid season. Yet he was clearly running sessions late in the season.

Major difference between still being there and running the odd session and being the assistant coach partially responsible for session planning, team selection, tactics, setup, and fully invested etc. My source is from directly in the camp but hey lets rather just kick the can down the road and pretend that virtually all the support staff leaving at the end of the season was not symptomatic of major issues within the environment.....which is the sole responsibility of the head coach and the Director of Football. 

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

Footballtragic

ballane

Sorry must misunderstood it i got the impression the implication was Griffith had little to do with the team from halfway through the season.
In fact rereading the thread thats just what someone posted that Griffiths had stepped back mid season. Yet he was clearly running sessions late in the season.

Major difference between still being there and running the odd session and being the assistant coach partially responsible for session planning, team selection, tactics, setup, and fully invested etc. My source is from directly in the camp but hey lets rather just kick the can down the road and pretend that virtually all the support staff leaving at the end of the season was not symptomatic of major issues within the environment.....which is the sole responsibility of the head coach and the Director of Football. 

Yep we’ve seen Chief take that responsibility. 

Griffiths doing well at Perth. Phoenix have changed their style and squad balance from last season. We have all new problems this season! 

Kosta on a good wedge at WSW when he came to the Nix because he thought he was done.

It’s not news that what we were doing last season went belly up for a variety of reasons and Chief is a lucky boy to have a job. But I think Griffiths, Kosta, Griffiths, Rufer and others are proving that that title run wasn’t a fluke, with some impressive performances.

Our season is currently poised. We can hang onto the leaders on if we play well.

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

To hang onto the leaders need however to start supporting AFC to take maximum points against the Nix’s competitors  😂

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

So you know for a fact that they speak to players and coaches more than I do! 

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

So you know for a fact that they speak to players and coaches more than I do! 

not for a fact, all I know for a fact is that they've been telling the forum about their attendances at trainings for the last 15+ seasons both positive and negative - they have a history of relaying things to us here that have come to pass as they have said. You on the other hand do not have that track record.

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

So you know for a fact that they speak to players and coaches more than I do! 

not for a fact, all I know for a fact is that they've been telling the forum about their attendances at trainings for the last 15+ seasons both positive and negative - they have a history of relaying this to us here that have come to pass as they have said. You on the other hand do not have that track record.

OK mate, nothing to see. All the support staff leaving was a co-incidence, Chief had the full backing of his staff and did not alienate them and also lose the dressing room and Griffs was fully on board for the entire season. Congratulations on your tenure on the Forum btw...one hell of an achievement!!

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

So you know for a fact that they speak to players and coaches more than I do! 

not for a fact, all I know for a fact is that they've been telling the forum about their attendances at trainings for the last 15+ seasons both positive and negative - they have a history of relaying this to us here that have come to pass as they have said. You on the other hand do not have that track record.

OK mate, nothing to see. All the support staff leaving was a co-incidence, Chief had the full backing of his staff and did not alienate them and also lose the dressing room and Griffs was fully on board for the entire season. Congratulations on your tenure on the Forum btw...one hell of an achievement!!

all that still doesn't change the fact that AG and others were around when we did well and were around when we did poorly. They can still do the job required of them to the best of their ability - but doesn't mean that all our successes are not due to Chiefy but the background staff, and all our failures are only on Chiefy.

Any changes in staff could be due to a variety of factors including a falling out due to personality or tactically, or personal factors, or a coach wanting a different perspective or someone that offsets perceived shortcomings, or better suits change in approach etc.

For mine, changes in staff are common place, looking at the nmbers that left last season, a lot of them were young and had been around for a while so it made pretty good sense that they'd want to move off to bigger things or even just explore the world. Could there have been some tensions, sure! I'd be shocked if there wasnt when the team was doing so badly. Does that mean it's all Italiano's fault and the exiting staff did so because of him - not at all.

Also change in playing style, they tried to change it last season but couldn't. Perhaps there wasn't the ability from the staff to do it and perhaps there was disagreement as to what the playing style should be.

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

So you know for a fact that they speak to players and coaches more than I do! 

not for a fact, all I know for a fact is that they've been telling the forum about their attendances at trainings for the last 15+ seasons both positive and negative - they have a history of relaying this to us here that have come to pass as they have said. You on the other hand do not have that track record.

OK mate, nothing to see. All the support staff leaving was a co-incidence, Chief had the full backing of his staff and did not alienate them and also lose the dressing room and Griffs was fully on board for the entire season. Congratulations on your tenure on the Forum btw...one hell of an achievement!!

Pretty sure i didnt say that, just said some of the things being said wernt entirely true. Thats from observations and  conversations i had from attending trainings.
Not sure what to make of the comment about being on the forums since our inception, guess it shows if nothing else im a sucker for punishment.

How many really deep conversations were you having with players and staff at training sessions? I have coached sport at a reasonably high level and had many conversations with fans who were regularly around at games, training and events and myself or others in the club never shared any important or privileged information with them. You must have a really trusting face for them to be telling you stuff that they may only share withbtheir best friends or wife etc. I don’t know (and nor do you) if this guy is one of those friends of an insider but if it is true, I am more likely to take stock of that information than that of someone who hangs around, even if its been for a long time.

ballane

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Footballtragic

theprof

Ok, so you have a source who confirms your version of events, but the others who spend a lot of time at trainings and speak to players and coaches themselves disagree with you and your source. 
Both cant be right? Either your source is true and the people speaking to the likes of Ballane and LG are lying, or your source is one dissenting voice - which can happen in any organisation.  

So, forgive me for making a judgement/assessment on who to believe based on tenure but given you've been around for a relatively short time and the couple of others who seem to agree with you are in the same boat - I'm inclined to trust those that have 15+ years in their tenure here.

You are forgiven Prof. Not sure how LG or Ballane's assertion that they saw Griff taking the odd training session or that the employees had a girlfriend in a certain geography disproves what I had to say...but believe me absolutely no skin off my nose whether you choose to believe me or not.

You'll note from many of their posts they spend a lot of time at trainings, both watching and speaking to payers and coaches. So their stories/truths are first hand, your version of events are a best second hand.

So you know for a fact that they speak to players and coaches more than I do! 

not for a fact, all I know for a fact is that they've been telling the forum about their attendances at trainings for the last 15+ seasons both positive and negative - they have a history of relaying this to us here that have come to pass as they have said. You on the other hand do not have that track record.

OK mate, nothing to see. All the support staff leaving was a co-incidence, Chief had the full backing of his staff and did not alienate them and also lose the dressing room and Griffs was fully on board for the entire season. Congratulations on your tenure on the Forum btw...one hell of an achievement!!

Pretty sure i didnt say that, just said some of the things being said wernt entirely true. Thats from observations and  conversations i had from attending trainings.
Not sure what to make of the comment about being on the forums since our inception, guess it shows if nothing else im a sucker for punishment.

NP over the years have had more than a few meaningful conversations with a number of people involved in the Phoenix. Have had at times some things shared with me that i have been asked not to pass on due to the nature of them and this i have abided by.
As i said i didnt say the things being said wernt true and what i said wasnt done in an attempt to disprove what someone else had said. Mine were just observations of what i had seen and conversations i had. If people i had spoken to had decided to be less than truthful in what they were saying to me there isnt much i can do about that.
Im not trying to mislead or  say things  i havnt been told.
More than happy to keep stuff to myself just dont like it when people say things but arnt prepared to be open about who they are and use a Non De Plume

The dome /circle of trust?

Griffiths' results at Perth this season, and Italiano's with the Nix will be a weakish but interesting paternity test.

Mainland FC

Reading this thread reminds me of that old proverb that success has many proud parents but failure is a lonely orphan.

AucklandPhoenix

The dome /circle of trust?

FFS Why do you have to bring everything back to there gets pretty monotonous at times.

Because I suspect it is true 

Suspecting something is fine, but until you have evidence then banging on that particular drum is very annoying.

nixin

Griffiths' results at Perth this season, and Italiano's with the Nix will be a weakish but interesting paternity test.

Mainland FC

Reading this thread reminds me of that old proverb that success has many proud parents but failure is a lonely orphan.

It's early days yet, we all know from painful experience how a good beginning to the season can turn bad, and vice versa (at least at other clubs).

ballane

NP over the years have had more than a few meaningful conversations with a number of people involved in the Phoenix. Have had at times some things shared with me that i have been asked not to pass on due to the nature of them and this i have abided by.
As i said i didnt say the things being said wernt true and what i said wasnt done in an attempt to disprove what someone else had said. Mine were just observations of what i had seen and conversations i had. If people i had spoken to had decided to be less than truthful in what they were saying to me there isnt much i can do about that.
Im not trying to mislead or  say things  i havnt been told.
More than happy to keep stuff to myself just dont like it when people say things but arnt prepared to be open about who they are and use a Non De Plume

Here's the thing....Ballane I have absolutely no reason to doubt that you saw Griffs taking training sessions nor LG's assertion that he had spoken to one of the departing staff who from memory mentioned they were going back to Aus for family reasons. The thing is both of these in no way shape or form disprove my assertion notwithstanding Prof's attempt to use them to support his narrative. 

You're right, you're assertion isnt disproved, but it's not proven either and the "evidence" you've provided is basically heresay.

theprof

You're right, you're assertion isnt disproved, but it's not proven either and the "evidence" you've provided is basically heresay.

Did not realise we were in a court of law and in this forum calling it hearsay doesn’t make it false. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s invalid. 

Footballtragic

theprof

You're right, you're assertion isnt disproved, but it's not proven either and the "evidence" you've provided is basically heresay.

Did not realise we were in a court of law and in this forum calling it hearsay doesn’t make it false. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s invalid. 

Mate, you've had your say. We heard it. We heard some other views about it. 

For someone who said you didn't care whether someone believed you or not you're giving a strong impression otherwise.

You've got confidence in your source. That's fine. No-one else is going to have that same confidence. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they are spinning their own self justifying story. 

In short we'll likely never be sure. But we get to see how the season goes. 

For that pic of the lead up to the first goal someone posted above, I hadn't realised how Edwards had opened up play for AFC with the run back he was making, putting AFC players onside.  It looks like he'd have been better helping out challenging the man with the ball and keeping all the AFC pass options off side.

I thought that despite the loss, the pens and the red we were far more competitive this match than the last couple. And, as others have said, stuck at it well.  I'm far happier with our play (notable exception being the turgid Macarthur game) than last season. And I think this high line will improve. Edwards second game in the system and he got caught out. Others are still adjusting also. 

Hopefully we continue to get better. Jame's red and Hughes' injury won't help. Mostly seasons good or bad fortune with injuries is a big factor.

(And, again, we've had a thread clogged with Griffiths vs Chief when I'd say primarily injuries - and squad balance - was the problem last year)

Agreed 100% with mjp2 on injuries.  It may be less of an issue for teams with greater squad depth (at A-FC we can see Elliot does well covering for Sakai).  

Is Hughes injured?

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

Is Hughes injured?

As per comments, he left at halftime because of a niggle. Not sure what his current situation is.

Pretty much YF tradition to have threads taken off topic. There  that few of us here dont really see the problem.

Footballtragic i am in no way trying disprove anything you have posted. Think what is clear we have both been told stuff at varying times. If what we have both been told differs not sure either of us can claim to be right.
I have been accused at times of being an apologist for the club and Domey.
I brought into the club early and admit its my passion and i love it. I make no apologies for that im retired dont have many hobbies and enjoy being able to and allowed to attend training. Yeah maybe i vicariously do enjoy my contact with players and staff. Again i make no aplogies for that.
I dont enjoy the constant and sometimes false attacks on both players and staff. So to my detriment you could say i cant resist speaking up.
The same applies if i see people having issues with things such as membership and ticketing. I attempt to help or point them in the right direction.
Once again im not saying what you posted was false.
Guess i need to curb my enthusiasm and seriously restrict my postng.

Ballane, you need to post more, you're enthusiasm for the club and team are notably worthy and deserve to be celebrated - I wish I could attend the trainings you do - please keep attending and reporting on what you see and hear - it lends a nice balance to some of the clearly speculative theories that get thrown around.

Mainland FC

Agreed 100% with mjp2 on injuries.  It may be less of an issue for teams with greater squad depth (at A-FC we can see Elliot does well covering for Sakai).  

Yep and sorry to be repeating myself. But Woud said in his interview they had two senior players in each position. That’s being a cashed up team. 

ballane

Footballtragic i am in no way trying disprove anything you have posted. Think what is clear we have both been told stuff at varying times. If what we have both been told differs not sure either of us can claim to be right.
I have been accused at times of being an apologist for the club and Domey.
I brought into the club early and admit its my passion and i love it. I make no apologies for that im retired dont have many hobbies and enjoy being able to and allowed to attend training. Yeah maybe i vicariously do enjoy my contact with players and staff. Again i make no aplogies for that.
I dont enjoy the constant and sometimes false attacks on both players and staff. So to my detriment you could say i cant resist speaking up.
The same applies if i see people having issues with things such as membership and ticketing. I attempt to help or point them in the right direction.
Once again im not saying what you posted was false.
Guess i need to curb my enthusiasm and seriously restrict my postng.

Ballane absolutely respect your passion and loyalty for the Club and long may your involvement with it continue in retirement! 

As Eze says 
and man I am a fan of our number 9, just in case there was any doubt, 

We can’t change what’s done. We need to look to the future. 

Two years ago we were top for bloody ages. And just let it slip. 

Then last year it was a mess. It reeked of rigidity and giving up. And failure meant some blame being cast I’m sure, and people who were close falling out. 

Look I’ll always try to support ex-Nix. Oli was our captain. I won’t bag him, unless he gets into us. I want every ex-nixer to do well. Even Rudan. Though preferably him somewhere a bit distant if he must! 

I don’t think we’ll solve damage done last season to friendships- that’s between them to sort out. And whoever was in charge it wasn’t working. 

Now it has its moments and we’ll see. The pundits never get it all right. That’s why we play football. 

Would love someone to follow up with the refs though (and a real sidetrack I should take to the proper thread):
1) Did Corica or any AFC staff member approach any of the refereeing team about grappling at any time? 

2) Given that in the second and third incidents with Cosgrove there was a low probability of getting to the ball and affecting play, how does that sit with the directive to allow play to flow, allow more genuine contests and give fewer cards? 

Can you reassure us that a player going to ground is not rewarded ahead of a player who tries to continue the game? This leads to no contesting the ball, as some players build a career on going to ground rather than contesting properly. Particularly with the standard set, late on Callan Elliot had two hands on Armiento who’d beaten him and was heading into the box, but Elliot received no sanction- either foul or card.

3) Verstraete is a tough tackling midfielder who never shies away from a challenge. However, at least two times it seemed to us he stayed down trying to gain advantage from the referees. Avoiding contests or hiding culpability and gaining advantage from the referees seemed to be a second half tactic of AFC. To our point of view, when Eze was given a yellow card, it was he who was the victim of a foul by Verstraete. Have you reviewed that challenge at all and are you still happy that that was a correct decision? 

4) Will this new standard for contesting the ball be applied evenly across the competition? 

 Will this new standard for contesting the ball be applied evenly across the competition? 

There are standards ?

FU BLU

 Will this new standard for contesting the ball be applied evenly across the competition? 

There are standards ?

When I played Central League (about a hundred years ago), I was instructed to mark opposition strikers at corners by standing on their feet. Seemed to work.
Same as it ever was.

Going to training sessions, you get the feel, the vibe, the various interactions between everyone concerned. It is fact of life that people move on in football. I'm rapt for Adam at Perth. Some of tge plays we see at Practice,  I don't know why they don't appear at the matches. Some really good stuff.

Fingers crossed for a good result on Sunday. My last of the year sadly.