Nix v Heart, Thursday 27th Dec 7:30pm

Program's coming to "The Pub" have you $3 ready.

I'm excited to see John Aloisi.

Came on here to late to say anything new on the CCM match thread. I'm over it, moving on now.

Here's what I'd like to see from Ricki this week:

                                Paston 

Bertos      Sigmund         Durante         Lochhead

                 Smith                Muscat

                           Sanchez

      Brockie         Huysegems    Totori

Brockie has a knack for scoring goals but he's no striker. Huysegems has looked out of sorts for a while but he played well centrally in the first game of the season, plus he's capable of holding the ball up at his feet. Of all our wingers he's the one who most looks like he can play as a central striker. I'd try to sit deep and counter attack fast along the ground because this slow laboured play until the ball is wide and then either lobbing a cross into the keepers hands or driving it into the nearest defender doesn't seem to be working for some bizarre reason. Let's unleash the pace and chaos of Totori from the start, sure he sucks at defending and he's often selfish but at least the game isn't boring when he's on the park and he actually creates chances. Boyd and Fenton have looked ok but I think they still seem better coming off the bench. Lia doesn't really add anything to midfield with Muscat in it so start Smith  - plus he's decent in the air so he gives us another option from set pieces. 

Now I've said that, here's my prediction for what we'll actually see:

                                Paston 

Bertos      Sigmund         Durante         Lochhead

                      Lia              Muscat

                           Sanchez

Boyd                    Brockie                         Fenton

And we'll take three touches too many, slowly get the ball wide in the opposition's defensive third then either lob an aimless cross at the keeper or hit a flat one into the first defender, and then get ripped apart on the counterattack. Brockie will barely do anything but might score an impressive goal only to have it ruled out as offside (which it may or may not be).  Fenton and Boyd will show promise but fade in the second half. At 70 minutes Ricki will bring on Totori and we will actually be entertaining to watch for about 20 minutes. 

The crowd will be in the 5000-6000 range and there will be angst and excuses galore about why that is.

I'm not comfortable predicting a result though so I'll leave that bit alone.

I like Brockie when he gets wide, he is one of the few players in the squad who seems capable of delivering quality ball from out wide.  Him, Stein and Fenton up front in 4-3-3 for me.

Did u predict the end of the world on 22/12 as well?..:>)

I think same starting 11 as well although I think Boyd and Huysegems would go well together if someone new how to do a through ball on the ground...or air given Stein has scored twice off those so far..ie not from wing play.

i wonder if huseygems being 'dropped' was in fact a rest so he could start this game, with the short turnaround and his recent injury trouble?

Same goes for brockie being subbed early-ish

I was bloody frustrated watching Brockie, so I hope he was subbed to give him a rev up

7.30pm game on a thursday not the easiest to get to for out of town travellers but we will be comin down the road, have a car load so far and have already told the boss it will not be a very productive day at work on friday

        How about:

                                  Paston

Leo     Dura   Siggie    Lochy

                  Manny

Brockie        Sanchez     Totori

                       Boyd              

      Huysegems

442 with Boyd dropping a bit deeper and doing some defending? Or 433 with Boyd into an advanced midfield role?

I like it. It's attacking, possibly a little light defensively. Smith swapped with Sanchez if you think that will strengthen the defence. 

As much as I hate these formation things, you've at least explained yourself and recognise that it is probably a bit light defensively so kudos.

The thing right now, is that Sigmund is getting out of the line A LOT and that is exposing us too frequently at the back. That and I question whether Manny is effective as he 'should' be. For that reason alone, I think we are light defensively based on the above.

with a quick turn around would any of the regular ressies or squad players coming into the mix? boxy maybe? or even rowe for lochy?

and who is sam heenan? according to wiki hes an injury replacement??

id drop brocks for huysegems. Smith for lia. 

True and so I don 't understand Ricki's lack of interest in Ian Hoog. He's available, is a Kiwi international and can bomb up the wing and cross with aplomb.

Who says there is a lack of interest? He has been in the MLS until very recently.

Could have been worse, could have been 5pm. Its ok for me, I have the day off so will be cruising down and picking up the extra ticket from Ernie the Chicken.

I read this as "I'd drop trou for Huysegems".  ;)

Rickie, being the conservative coach we all know...rarely changes a lineup that does well. So I would imagine that he will start with the same lineup as against CCM. He will probably look to go to the bench early(59mins) if anyone looks to be tiring. The only exception could be Tyler Boyd who made his first start and pulled up with cramp late in the CCM game. Its a big ask for a 17 yo to back up 5 days later...Youngsters don't have that reserve of match fitness that more experianced players have.

 Wouldn't it be a wonder if Rickie looked at our CMs and saw how out of form they are and decided to promoted someone like Lyndsay to replace Lia in the hope that we might get a better passing game going through central midfield...coz thats what we need...and even shock horror start Totori, who looks like he now understands a bit more about when to pass and when to run.....but I wouldn't hold my breath, that would be way too revolutionary!!!!!!

Heart won't be easy beats..they have some solid midfielders in Fred, Garcia and Thompson. However they don't travel well so we should be aiming for 3 points. The worry for us will be scoring....we really are struggling to trouble the goal keeper. Balls into the box are meaningless if you can't get someone on the end of it. It would be nice to think they could do transition from attack to defense quicker....but in reality Muscat and Lia are not in good touch at the moment(hence my comment about Lyndsay). So expect the same old same old. WE will battle and scrap and perhaps nick a goal and hopefully keep them from scoring. I'll pick a 1-1 draw

Doloras rocks 4 Jeremy's jocks.

Ok let me get the ball rolling. 

Sack ricki. (May as well skip the boring in between stuff and skip straight to how this thread is going to end anyway)

The lady has previous with Vuko. 

Prejudice v Gingas!!!!!!

Will the disco chant be making a come back? 

Agree with Ard Righ, Stein should start.

I remember when Sydney came over without two of their most influential players, that went well..

Jesus you are such a wonderful person acrss all threads today AJ. Did Santa not give you the hooker you asked for?

Pretty sure totori will start this one. Hasn't had huge overall game time so should be pretty fresh. Ideal game to get him involved early and put pressure on the Fart goal from the get go. Let's get a goal up early rather than chase the game for once. 

Hi

I am bringing my family (three kids) to Wellington today and will be attending the Heart game tomorrow. We're pretty big fans and I was hoping that we could get some autographs. This is our first time to Wellington so would someone be able to give me a heads-up on the best way to go about that? Does the team normally stick around after the game to meet fans. We're down in Wellington until Sunday so just wondering if they will be doing any training sessions before then? And are they normally open to the public so the kids can get some autographs.

Cheers

Jono

They are training at newtown park today I pressume, but will be at the stadium tomorrow so think that is a closed session They go to the grand after the game. Or get to the game early and get signatures as they come out of the tunnel for warm up and after.

No point hanging round the Grand pub. They go straight upstairs to the vip lounge and you won't see them for rest of the night. 

 Does anyone know if that c*ck Vince Grella is playing?  Been waiting a long time to give him a piece of my mind after that tackle on Bertos in the pre-World Cup 'friendly'.  I think he might be injured though.  

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/hyundai-a-league-match-officials-|-round-13/56609

Thursday, December 27
Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Heart
Venue: Westpac Stadium
Kick off: 7:30 M
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Hintz
Assistant referee 2: Simon Lount
Fourth official: Matt Conger 

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/the-big-five-questions-|-round-13/56607

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Heart: Who can keep it going?
The term reward for effort is a funny thing; sometimes you get it, other times you don’t.

In round 12 Wellington got theirs, a valued point against the table-topping Mariners. As for the Heart, they were very, very good against Victory but came up empty handed and heartbroken, thanks to Archibald Gerald Thompson’s ability to show up at the exact right moment.

The question is can they keep up that level? It was there in round one, disappeared for a while then showed up in the second derby of the season.

Much like their supporters, Heart are making a nasty habit of only showing up for the biggest of games. If they want to be considered a serious team, they need to show up for all games.

They can absolutely take the game to Wellington, who are heavily reliant on their youngsters right now, but they have to get over a devastating loss in a short period of time to do so.