Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA

Actually, an owner being excited about what's happening at his club is hardly the worst thing in the world. It's just unfortunate he dropped it into the toxic media environment that surrounds the Nix at the moment. A media manager might have helped to ensure it got spun the right way and that the messages inside/outside the club were consistent.

By the way, isn't it interesting that the one thing the Dom Post have never suggested the Nix do is get a media manager. They fucking love things being the way they are and they know that a media wrangler would be the end of a lot of their fun.

Next season: Ricki Herbert, Director of Football and Media

Might switch to some very dark tinted glasses for the next game. The less I am able to see, the better I'll feel.

Plus my loss of one sense, will increase my sense of taste, making my fritz wiener taste EVEN BETTER

I think this is a pretty decent article, and nails exactly the effect that this has on the players i.e. if you're looking at a change in style, and your two left feet, you might start to feel a little threatened!  Let's ignore when the decision regarding the change of style was supposedly made, this I think is a more nuanced view of the situation.  

In the end it's going to be far better in the long run if Gareth stays out of the media for a while even if his heart is in the right place.  He clearly loves his position as a "sage" on all sorts of topics but as we've seen with the cat thing, and some of his tax stuff as well as the penguin thing his interests veer wildly from sound economic commentary, to wacky to downright hair brained.  

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/8209819/Let-Phoenix-coach-and-players-restore-order

I keep thinking of Venky's buying Blackburn and how they talked about investing heaps of money and having a plan to turn the club into regular Champions League qualifiers...

Not that I'm saying Welnix are going to do what Venky's have done at Blackburn but they do seem to backpedalling on a few key points already - not shifting Ricki into a DoF role and hiring another coach next year, talking about the team being for New Zealand not just Wellington, hinting that they will take more games on the road.

I guess my point, if I have one, is that talk is cheap and the owners' actions are how they should be judged. They've done some good, notably setting up an academy system of sorts, but they've also managed the media very poorly and like I said seem to have changed their tune on a few points already. It's awesome that someone was willing to save the club post-Terry but I hope they are as committed to it as they say they are. 

Because I'm a paranoid, tinfoil hat wearing weirdo who thinks that Welnix don't actually care about the club as fans but only as a philanthropic exercise that was meant to pay for itself but probably never will.

I'm just offering a possible explanation that fits with Piney's account - as you requested :-)

#dontstopbelievin

well that did make me smile

Interesting how you read things...^^ Its all Morgans fault for being excited about the club he has put his dosh up for.

How come Ricki didnt tell the players ?? Get them on side with his plan ??

I think the club needs to circle the wagons and appoint a single spokesman (not Gareth but good luck shutting him up) and tell everyone else to zip it (including Brockie).

Let Herbert play whatever way he wants for the rest of the season - the seasons rooted now anyway and if it wasn't already clear before it is certainly clear now that a substantial portion of our squad are not up to playing a better level of football or are past it.

I'm sure the owners will learn from the experience may be taking the rest of the season on the chin but I expect a serious squad cull next off season.

How Herbert fares after the season ends will depend on his role in the debacle e.g. when was the decision made to change playing style relative to the re-signing and recruitment decisions last off season and what assurances did Herbert give on the ability of Smith, Sanchez, Muscat etc to play the new style.

I don't expect him to be sacked but I do expect him to be on a lot tighter leash than he has been in the past, particularly with respect to recruitment - given his recruitment track record that can only be a good thing.

I also expect the owners to progress, more aggressively, a succession plan for Herbert.

Our season isn't rooted.

If we beat the Jets on Sunday we could easily find ourselves within 3 pts of 5th place.

#dontstopbelievin

Definite problem between Ricky and the players ex good source.

I can agree with Tonya, Austin and JD and their last posts. Its just one big cluster...

From where I sit, I'm actually glad the Nix have shut up shop to the media this week. Let them shut it down and find out where all these stories come from. Let the footballing staff deal without the distractions of the media to try to give a better performance this week. No player interviews, no snippets from Ricki. Just silence and focus on football.

Tell us more - I love good scuttlebutt.

if you're not interested feel free to look away now.  It's really not your call what people choose to share on here

I actually think it is in all of our best interests if this is the case ("our" being the supporters of the club). 

If Ange was currently coach of the Phoenix I highly doubt he would tolerate players that do not buy into the system he wants to implement and would be offloading them as quick as he can. If the Phoenix are looking at playing a certain system and getting push back from certain players, I would back the club over the players.

How do we know the alleged problem is related to the system of play?  It could be about all sorts of things such as the amount of time Herbert is at training or the way some players have been treated

If he has lost control, and the players are not playing for him, I think it is a very valid story that should be in the press.

Sorry, forgot the Doom Post ("doom" ha ha, brilliant) say mean things about the Phoenix so we all don't like them

Is the source Pavlovic?

I don't mind them reporting facts if they have them. I just don't like them reporting "rumour has it that..." especially when they got the rumour from here ('cause let's face it, we are a bunch of morons).

they could run the story tomorrow based off just this little we have speculated.

Also probably better for the club if it was true and it did come out and there was media pressure to resolve issues

I would hope they would be trying to resolve the issues anyway, pressure from the media could just complicate things. There's a reason we haven't heard anything from the club this week, and my guess is it is because there is a lot going on at the club behind doors.

Patrick, you seem to have a bee in your bonnet abut the dom post and other media reporting a mid season change of style.  It seems the only people who think such a change didn't occur is Gareth Morgan and Piney.  I'm a big fan of Piney's work but in this case I'm not sure he's truly got to the bottom of the situation.  Here are some comments from Durante made to 4-4-2 on Jan 14 - tell me he doesn't think there was a directive to change style mid - season.  He describes the change in formation as a "bombshell" and specifically talks about difficulty in changing mid season, Herbert specifically describes it as a "directive"...these are specific quotes, quotes very much absent from the opinion piece Piney wrote e few days ago. 

"It's a whole new style and when you're not winning games confidence drops and then maybe people don't want to come and get the ball and people don't go into positions because they don't want to make mistakes," Durante said.

"It's just a big snowball effect. I think you can see that the boys are a bit down on confidence. A loss at home like this doesn't really help it either.

"I think before this whole formation thing and new style of football got going we were traveling OK.

"I think this bombshell has maybe rattled a few people. All I know is that the boys are trying so hard to turn this around and no-one wants to be in this slump."

Life is not going to get any easier for the Phoenix skipper. Sydney FC's win over Melbourne Heart means Ricki Herbert's side are now rooted to the bottom of the A-League table.

"My missus says I'm pretty grumpy and not to bring my problems home. But it's hard," Durante said.

"I don't want to be in this position. No-one wants to be in this position. It does affect life outside of football.

"Football is our life and we want to be good at it and we want to impress the crowds and we want to win games. At the moment it's not happening and it's tough to take all-round."

Herbert however, is adamant that there will be no change of heart and a return to the old ways, and that players will have to adapt or move on.

"The directive has been put out there and I've been very supportive of that. We've just got to get better at it," he declared.

"You're extracting every ounce of potential out of the players every week. Some will come on the journey, some won't.

"We've got a few players who will go into contract negotiations. That's always a difficult time of year now, but we're not the only club going through that.

"But to play that way you've got to have certain types of players."

While the losses may be getting harder to take, Durante understands the need to forge ahead with the changes.

"For the future of the football club, this is the way it's got to be. We just have to grin and bear it and just get on with it," he said.

"This is the future of the football club, the style of football they want to implement.

"It's kind of been thrown on us. It's quite hard to do that (change mid-season) and I feel sorry for everyone involved.

"But it's a challenge. It's a great challenge. We want to create a better brand of football at the club and it's positive. It's just taking us a while to get it all together."

not sure what you mean by "not heard anything from the club" ?

What are you expecting? Like a release saying everything is okay?

Over the past two days I have heard at least 3 radio interviews with nix people. Plus a couple of releases about the last game and how it isnt acceptable.

Interesting chat with Mark Paston on the radio this morning. Attributes the Sydney loss primarily to "players not turning up and doing their jobs" rather than any confusion about the gameplan. And if there really is some unrest in the dressing room he's certainly not letting on.

http://www.radiolivesport.co.nz/Audio/Mark-Paston---That-sort-of-thing-cant-happen-when-you-step-onto-a-football-pitch/tabid/252/articleID/13340/Default.aspx

Yeah I forgot about those few radio interviews. My fault, I made a mistake. And I'm not expected anything at all, in fact I have said on here that I hoped they wouldn't say anything. I worded what I said badly.

I think they have to actually run this story before we get too upset and questioning their methods and motives

JD: I see exactly what you are pointing out, and you've made me change my opinion slightly. However, I still think the chain of events that TX posted the other day explains a lot of what has happened, and it explains each of those quotes you've bolded.

I guess I just want to see the best in the people employed by the club, and is that really a bad thing? You're quite obviously not in the same boat as me on this one, and that's okay. I wouldn't expect anyone else to be.