Hail to the Chief - Giancarlo Italiano, New Phoenix Head Coach

adidasbloke

Ninja

Jazzy Jeff

adidasbloke

coochiee

Is Ifill really a smart thinker of the game? He's a great character and tells a good yarn. A sharp football brain, I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see where his coaching journey goes.

But it's pointless promoting local coaches for the Nix head gaffer role, if they don't have the required badges.

I definitely reckon Ifill is a smart thinker & has a sharp brain for the game, as a bit of a gauge his composure & skill sets in games were very good, it's whether he has the man managements skills to work with individuals.

It's definitely pointless playing the same way we are, unfortunately we will probably get more of the same stuff when Italiano is running the team.

It's so crucial to appoint the right head coach... only have to look at the ABs when the NZRU clowns appointed Foster as HC, heaps of supporters at the time knew he was a very poor choice, and he's gone on to show how incompetent he is.

 "probably get more of the same stuff when Italiano is running the team" - you literally have no clue whether or not that will happen. Nor do I, or anyone else on this forum for that matter, but it's ridiculous to already be cynical about Chiefy

Yep, honestly don't think I've seen more clueless comments on this forum as I have the past few days.

What an idiotic comment... try actually analysing in depth in all areas of the game.

If you analysed in depth you'd know that a couple of months ago we were fighting for second, that we've lost a lot of games from dominant positions, and even when we've struggled recently it's been luck that's gone against us--hitting the post three times in one game for instance. You'd also know that ifil has done nothing that indicates he is an upgrade.

It's clear we need evolution and not revolution. When the team is almost there you don't throw everything out and start again, you evolve it and tweak the formula until it works.

FFS give it a rest, you are flogging a dead horse.

adidasbloke

Jazzy Jeff

adidasbloke

coochiee

Is Ifill really a smart thinker of the game? He's a great character and tells a good yarn. A sharp football brain, I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see where his coaching journey goes.

But it's pointless promoting local coaches for the Nix head gaffer role, if they don't have the required badges.

I definitely reckon Ifill is a smart thinker & has a sharp brain for the game, as a bit of a gauge his composure & skill sets in games were very good, it's whether he has the man managements skills to work with individuals.

It's definitely pointless playing the same way we are, unfortunately we will probably get more of the same stuff when Italiano is running the team.

It's so crucial to appoint the right head coach... only have to look at the ABs when the NZRU clowns appointed Foster as HC, heaps of supporters at the time knew he was a very poor choice, and he's gone on to show how incompetent he is.

 "probably get more of the same stuff when Italiano is running the team" - you literally have no clue whether or not that will happen. Nor do I, or anyone else on this forum for that matter, but it's ridiculous to already be cynical about Chiefy

They say part of Italiano's job as the assistant is to analyse video's, strategy etc, so till me how he has helped to make improvements in our last 5 matches ? as said our last game was the worst of the 5... those things give me a bit of a gauge on him. 

siac

anaveragestem

kungfu panda

• WanderingSheep

  siac

  kungfu panda

  I wish Chiefy all the best and I believe that he'll be an outstanding coach. Can't wait for him to start. 

  
  You reckon he will give Pennington more minutes? Ufuk doesn't seem to rate him. Personally I think Ugarkovic has been a dissapointment and think Pennington should of got more minutes, not sad to see him go. 

  
  I’ve always liked pennington, just made me nervous though and seemed to be a ballerina on ice at times. Does strike me odd that he’s not had many mins but we don’t see how he is in training etc. 
  
  Anyway, looking forward to and hoping the best for Italiano’s time. 

• Got to reply to this. Sorry.
• Pennington can't dribble and he can't shoot. That's why Talay who eye balls the game rather than properly reviewing the stats doesn't like him. What the stats showed last season were that he won the ball more than Rufer and Lewis combined. In the number 6 position that is the most important role. The results in the last 10 competitive games bore this fact out. It's true that we capitulated if things didn't go well, but the same has happened this season with Lewis and Ugarkovic. 
• Pennington's contract is up though. So maybe he's off?
• I think Italiano, who is a stats man will use Pennington if he stays.

Kungfu panda mate, I love you and your undying love for Pennington. I don't think you need to tell us that fact about him though because I feel like we've all heard it three times from you at least. You crack me up.

Surely you have some other wild facts about him? Like what is his favourite food? You must know him on a first name basis by now surely hahaha 

To be fair I did bring up the topic, and his reply was relevant. 

The point is, KungFu Panda doesn't comment on anything else apart from Pennington. I haven't seen the guy on this forum in probably half a year, until a random comment about Pennington comes up.

Either a super fan, or a relative, or agent, I don't know. Either way, it is entertaining to read.

I think there’s a post somewhere explaining why he like likes him. Something about the San Siro or something or other…it was a fairly respectable footy story tbh

kungfu panda

• Ninja

  siac

  anaveragestem

  kungfu panda

  • WanderingSheep

    siac

    kungfu panda

    I wish Chiefy all the best and I believe that he'll be an outstanding coach. Can't wait for him to start. 

    
    You reckon he will give Pennington more minutes? Ufuk doesn't seem to rate him. Personally I think Ugarkovic has been a dissapointment and think Pennington should of got more minutes, not sad to see him go. 

    
    I’ve always liked pennington, just made me nervous though and seemed to be a ballerina on ice at times. Does strike me odd that he’s not had many mins but we don’t see how he is in training etc. 
    
    Anyway, looking forward to and hoping the best for Italiano’s time. 

  • Got to reply to this. Sorry.
  • Pennington can't dribble and he can't shoot. That's why Talay who eye balls the game rather than properly reviewing the stats doesn't like him. What the stats showed last season were that he won the ball more than Rufer and Lewis combined. In the number 6 position that is the most important role. The results in the last 10 competitive games bore this fact out. It's true that we capitulated if things didn't go well, but the same has happened this season with Lewis and Ugarkovic. 
  • Pennington's contract is up though. So maybe he's off?
  • I think Italiano, who is a stats man will use Pennington if he stays.

  Kungfu panda mate, I love you and your undying love for Pennington. I don't think you need to tell us that fact about him though because I feel like we've all heard it three times from you at least. You crack me up.
  
  Surely you have some other wild facts about him? Like what is his favourite food? You must know him on a first name basis by now surely hahaha 

  
  To be fair I did bring up the topic, and his reply was relevant. 

  
  The point is, KungFu Panda doesn't comment on anything else apart from Pennington. I haven't seen the guy on this forum in probably half a year, until a random comment about Pennington comes up.
  
  Either a super fan, or a relative, or agent, I don't know. Either way, it is entertaining to read.

• That's not at all a fair statement.  I came on here after 6 months to congratulate Chiefy. You guys then brought up Pennington. 🙄.  

Come on Kungfu mate, don't kid yourself - you looooove a good Pennington fact. You just couldn't help yourself ;)

Ryan

adidasbloke

Ninja

Jazzy Jeff

adidasbloke

coochiee

Is Ifill really a smart thinker of the game? He's a great character and tells a good yarn. A sharp football brain, I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see where his coaching journey goes.

But it's pointless promoting local coaches for the Nix head gaffer role, if they don't have the required badges.

I definitely reckon Ifill is a smart thinker & has a sharp brain for the game, as a bit of a gauge his composure & skill sets in games were very good, it's whether he has the man managements skills to work with individuals.

It's definitely pointless playing the same way we are, unfortunately we will probably get more of the same stuff when Italiano is running the team.

It's so crucial to appoint the right head coach... only have to look at the ABs when the NZRU clowns appointed Foster as HC, heaps of supporters at the time knew he was a very poor choice, and he's gone on to show how incompetent he is.

 "probably get more of the same stuff when Italiano is running the team" - you literally have no clue whether or not that will happen. Nor do I, or anyone else on this forum for that matter, but it's ridiculous to already be cynical about Chiefy

Yep, honestly don't think I've seen more clueless comments on this forum as I have the past few days.

What an idiotic comment... try actually analysing in depth in all areas of the game.

If you analysed in depth you'd know that a couple of months ago we were fighting for second, that we've lost a lot of games from dominant positions, and even when we've struggled recently it's been luck that's gone against us--hitting the post three times in one game for instance. You'd also know that ifil has done nothing that indicates he is an upgrade.

It's clear we need evolution and not revolution. When the team is almost there you don't throw everything out and start again, you evolve it and tweak the formula until it works.

We've lost a lot of matches from dominant positions because we've sat on leads, and haven't pushed forward enough on attack - agreed, hitting the posts 3 times in one match is very unlucky, but been a bit unlucky isn't why we have struggled in our last 5 matches in a row, and that's a pretty long period to keep on making the same mistakes, so why haven't adjustments or tweaking been made over that period by the coaches & players ?

I mean, the tweaking is kind of what I meant by evolution not revolution.

I still think it's just a matter of not being able to tweak a lack of pace in the squad with just a few games left in the season and teams recognising that's our weakness.

We're patient scorers and organised, resolute defenders. But we're vulnerable to pacey attacks. 

None of Wooten, Payne, Rufer, Kraev and Ball are speedsters. Ugarkovic, Lewis and the FBs are OK but also vulnerable against the quickest players. Kosta is OK but not a Sotirio. Sasse may be our only guy with better pace. 

We've also been unlucky though. And when we've had to chase games we become more exposed to fast counters.  If we can avoid conceding early we're a much better chance against any side. Though always a bit vulnerable. 

In hindsight, Devlin and Sotirio were the key pacey defender and attacker we've missed this season. It'll be interesting how Chief fixes it, but I'd say a quicker DM and CB would settle one end and we've been scoring enough goals. 

We're talking about Chiefy as head coach though, so that's tweaks within the squad for next season. For this season it's Ufuk's problem.

Ryan

I mean, the tweaking is kind of what I meant by evolution not revolution.

Yeah, I know what you mean - but improvements in the team though are not happening currently... we should make the playoffs, but if we're going to go any further in the business end of the comp it's vital starting with this match against Macarthur the coaches & players make good adjustments, so we can perform much better all-round.   

proper football next season please chief

(i'm pretending that he reads this thread, and so we can drop requests in here)

reg22

proper football next season please chief

(i'm pretending that he reads this thread, and so we can drop requests in here)

Good chance he reads this forum, from time to time.

You only improve by working hard on your weaknesses.

has there been any news as to who the replacement for Chiefy is as the assistant coach?

Trani was released by victory (seems like all their assistant coaches took the blame for their failures this season but Popa survives).

Rumors were that Trani was the brains of the operation when we had our most successful period under Ricki Herberts tenure.

Ryan

Trani was released by victory (seems like all their assistant coaches took the blame for their failures this season but Popa survives).

Rumors were that Trani was the brains of the operation when we had our most successful period under Ricki Herberts tenure.

First Rojas rumours, then Krishna, now Trani?

were-putting-the-band-back-together-were-getting-back-together.gif 3.69 MB

WhoStoleMySock

Ryan

Trani was released by victory (seems like all their assistant coaches took the blame for their failures this season but Popa survives).

Rumors were that Trani was the brains of the operation when we had our most successful period under Ricki Herberts tenure.

First Rojas rumours, then Krishna, now Trani?

were-putting-the-band-back-together-were-getting-back-together.gif 3.69 MB

I love the off season

coochiee

Is Ifill really a smart thinker of the game? He's a great character and tells a good yarn. A sharp football brain, I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see where his coaching journey goes.

But it's pointless promoting local coaches for the Nix head gaffer role, if they don't have the required badges.

Worked with him, and yes - though I'm not sure there's much more reason to his suggested hire other than to scratch that nostalgic itch

If Popovich has survived the MV coaching cull, then that takes out one of the supposed reasons why Talay left us.  i.e., MV head coach.  

4-3-3?

RR

What style of football can Wellington Phoenix fans expect to see under their new men's head coach, Giancarlo Italiano? #ChiefBall@newstalkzbsport pic.twitter.com/8yquk2lsLb

— Jason Pine (@pineynz) August 25, 2023

Barça tiki-taka and Liverpool heavy metal/gegenpressing?

Ryan

Trani was released by victory (seems like all their assistant coaches took the blame for their failures this season but Popa survives).

Rumors were that Trani was the brains of the operation when we had our most successful period under Ricki Herberts tenure.

He was the Brains. I went to a few practices up at Newtown park and he was running the show. Ricki was more a token jesture coach/motivator. Nice guy he is, But Luci was organising things - also a very nice guy to talk to. Could do with him here as an assistant. A very experienced coach.

Lil interesting quote from the recent Finn Surman press interview. He was asked what's the difference in the team environment now compared to under Uffie and he said under Italiano it is a more positive environment and people can express themselves better. 

There were also rumors about a few players having disagreements or falling out with Uffie so I wonder if this new environment could get the best out of some players that may not reacted as well to Uffie's environment. 

Yeh- I mean you could tell Uffie was getting frustrated towards the end as things weren’t working for him as they had and maybe he wasn’t at the top of his game. 
 
And Chief is bringing new guys in and guys like Surman and Pennington are in his plans whereas last year they weren’t in Uffie’s so much. There definitely should be a buzz around this team wanting to prove the doubters wrong and to tie down a pro career with good performances. 

Off to a good start! 

yeah, it's been one playing week. sustaining a happy positive environment through many challenges over a number of years is difficult. any deterioration would be normal.

uffie has his personality and chiefy has his.

awesome tude
and despite his absences, he has clearly improved

2-1

Ka pai Chiefy!

Is that a joke or true?

coochiee

🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/xzlVePF4lO

— Kaiser Chiefy Italiano (@KaiserChiefy) November 22, 2023

theaucklandphoenixfan

Is that a joke or true?

coochiee

🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/xzlVePF4lO

— Kaiser Chiefy Italiano (@KaiserChiefy) November 22, 2023

Go on “X the app formerly knows as-twitter”, search for Chiefy and you’ll know probably.

theaucklandphoenixfan

Is that a joke or true?

coochiee

🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/xzlVePF4lO

— Kaiser Chiefy Italiano (@KaiserChiefy) November 22, 2023

It’s a parody account, not Giancarlo Italiano’s Twitter profile.

I don't think that's actually Chief's Twitter account and may well be an account that has existed for a while cycling through parody names depending on who the current coach is.

Nelfoos

I don't think that's actually Chief's Twitter account and may well be an account that has existed for a while cycling through parody names depending on who the current coach is.

Chiefy's account for reference.

Screenshot_2023-11-23-16-30-48-77_0b2fce7a16bf2b728d6ffa28c8d60efb.jpg 372.4 KB

How's anyone on gods green earth getting blocked by Roy Krishna? 🤔

YoungHeartHM

Nelfoos

I don't think that's actually Chief's Twitter account and may well be an account that has existed for a while cycling through parody names depending on who the current coach is.

Chiefy's account for reference.

Screenshot_2023-11-23-16-30-48-77_0b2fce7a16bf2b728d6ffa28c8d60efb.jpg 372.4 KB

How's anyone on gods green earth getting blocked by Roy Krishna? 🤔

Especially considering Darije Kalezic isn't on Twitter

coochiee

We know who to vote for people https://t.co/uVeUEgtyKs

— Jack_Nix (@NixJackyBoy) November 29, 2023

Chiefy is the obvious choice biases aside without Rudan there and it shows in the poll, currently got 60+%