a) the business model of a A League club is not just to make money from ticketing and TV.. they can make some good money through identification of talent and selling them off to Europe. Ideally the Nix want to do what the Kingz did with Vicelich etc. No overseas clus are going to botger in nZ so the Nix have a monopoly there....
b) the Nix IMO should not be considered the ultimate in NZ football but a developing ground for younger players and a paddock for older players to return to who have something to offer the younger guys. I don't want to see the Nix stacked with 25-30 yr old aussies and a few tried and true kiwis year in and year out. By playing the younger guys around a core of experienced players you'd hope that the results would still come and there would be more public interest in the club.
I can understand that Ricki wanted to avoid the wooden spoon this year so therefore his team selections and tactics have been made accordingly and that the Nix don't have a youth team but that's my wish anyway...