Nix vs Heart, Dunedin, 3rd March 4.30pm SS1

that's much better

well done greenie and well done team

ahhhh muscat to right back. it was that easy huh. well that and other things. fenton and boyd's finishing in front of goal this season is woeful

Boyd maybe but I dont think u can say that about Fenton.

oh you definitely can

Yeah Fenton's finishing has been average (not as bad as Boyd) but I put that down to experience more than anything else.

Yeah. I saw what Greeny said at the press conf. about enjoying the game. They certainly were towards the end! Mind you, so was I!!! LOL

Who would have thought that if we kept the ball on the deck and had a bit more patience around the box instead of just hoofing it in and hoping, that we would actually look like an OK side. What a revolutionary idea

Top marks to the whole team...finally they played with some pride and quite a bit of ability. Top marks to Greenie for getting the tactics and selections right. Everyone stepped up to the plate....Ifill was fantastic, as was Bertos. Back four looked composed for once. Lockhead had his best game for at least a year. Stein looks a very good player when the ball comes to his feet. The way he got his body in front of the defender and then pivoted and shot was sheer class.....shame about the woodwork. Shame he will be out next week

I'm so happy....there is light at the end of the tunnel, the club still has a pulse.

Not even close.

We made 320 passes today and completed 245 for 76% accuracy. Neither of those figures are close to our best this season. We have made over 400 passes a few times (and got in the high 300s a few more) and got over 80% accuracy on a few occasions as well.

It's funny what people think they have seen. Today was a good performance but it was far from our best passing performance.

Fair enough. Then I'll say it was one of our best games with passing the ball in the opposition half especially around the opposition goal box.

Yeah, I would say the effectiveness of our passing was much better today.

But we probably made 80 fewer back passes which are more often accurate..:>)

Did we play it out of defence???? No we bloody walloped it out. Thank goodness.

With all the lovely comments made for the game today, my question is how many points will we end up with?

3 points for a positive comment, none for a negative one

Admittedly Heart failed to put us under a significant spell of pressure but the defence looked solid today. Was like the good old days seeing Manny bully Williams and co, and he still managed to get forward to good effect. On the other wing Lochy had a ball. Looked like he was really relaxed and enjoying his football. Backheels, runs inside towards the penalty area, even a shot or two - bravo!

 Three games left, two away will be a huge ask to get 9 points.

If we could get 5 points that would be massive.

2 draws and a win? is it even remotely possible? dare we dream?

To be fair our finishing wasnt any better today - it was the one part of our game that let us down.

 Couldnt give a shit what it looked like we WON and that is ALL that matters.Some of you are such bloody sad sacks and i do wonder if you really do support the Phoenix or are just here to winge and bitch.

Thought it was a really enjoyable game to watch - have to feel for Stein; did everything except score today. Seriously looking forward to Hernandez feeding him instead of Sanchez.

Credit to the team - can't be easy to come out of that kind of hole and put in a performance like that. Credit to Greenie too - formation change benefitted everyone except Gamiero who had his back to goal a little too often.

Future is bright if we continue with this style of football. However, we can do better than Bertos and Lochhead. Delivery into the box is awful through them. 

[/quote]

thought the same thing, played with alot of hunger, made some good runs aswell.

67 mins Victory v Jets

George Best reincarnated

Without wanting to rehash Ricki at all, I do wonder if this was what he was trying to get to and if so, why has it now clicked since he has left? A conspiracy theorist could say he had lost the shed and now he is not there... I digress.

It looked a bit more thoughtful that anything else we have really done. I can't recall too many aimless crosses

It's one game. No need to make sweeping statements about Ricki's tenure based on that. If you're talking like that then you have to take mid-week into account as well; which was a disaster. We've played as well as that this season and got nothing out of it. 

 What was the crowd attendance today?

 Just over 3000. 3060.

...and drop Fenton, start Huysegems and drop Gamiero in a diamond formation.

Wasn't an option.

I was happy to watch the game in the "Four Kings" and listen to the raucous cheering and jeering of a coupla' dozen Nix fans including myself. Even the waitresses were doing the high fives at the end.

We can be all purists and point out the errors, the mistakes and the missed chances today. I'd rather say it was a massive improvement. Greenacre changed something, and the change was for the better. While it was not 100% The Nix Of Yore, there were signs of it.

Yes, it might have been different against any tougher opposition than Heart. But playing like they did today the Nix might have won against Necastle Jets last Wednesday. There were clear changes on the park, and I welcome a discussion as to why they were not / could not have been / done a few weeks ago by Ricki, or by Greenie suggesting them to Ricki. Is there something about the backroom politics we do not know?

Ifill played better today and it was good to see him motivated. But he did look tired towards the end. I also noticed a tendency on his part to rush a shot when it had only a low chance of getting through the defender right in front of him.

By having Huysegems play in his natural element (flat ball, no headers, ball passing straight to the feet) it will be possible to assess what contribution he can actually make to the team in future. I do not think he will be well matched with Hernandez, who is more a "selfish" (in a good sense) attacking midfielder with a powerful strike. Rather, I think Hernandez will develop better understanding with Muscat and with Lia as they both have the same 'muscular' approach to midfield play, than with the more lightfooted player like Ifill or Fenton.

Well done team. And Dolores, do not take all the comments here too personally. We're all passionate supporters here, and short of getting unpleasantly personal, all differences of opinion on matters footballic (:-) should be tolerated and at best engaged, at worst ignored. It is good to find a forum full of knowledgeable (or not) people who care about their team in yellow and black.