R10 vs Brisbane Roar | Sat 9th Dec | 7:30pm | SS4

So many questions with this one. Will Brisbane capitulate during the first 20 minutes again? Will we capitulate after the first 20 minutes again? Will Old Pasta boy still be salty about Keygun Smuth's kiss-blowing? Will Dario be invisible for 89 minutes but appear halfway through the game and gracefully arc another header into the net? Will Watson maintain his 1:1 offsides per mins ratio? Will Brett Holman turn world class for one afternoon only and score some bangers against us again? Will Finkler even be arsed to travel? And come 10pm on Saturday will we all be fudgeed off and bitter? probably, but lets just hope not. 3-1 Nix.

I hope we win both halves

COYN

We've covered the "winning the first half" bit, is it time for "winning the game"?

I want a win. Don't care how we get it.

I hope we win

Don't forget, it is also #StarWarsRound

So which Star Wars character is like the Phoenix at the moment?

R5-D4

The droid at the start of a New Hope. He starts off running well but then...

I'm going to be cruel.

            extremely tired  Fighter

O let this be the one we win

We will see if the coach's insults have set the boys up to play with fire. I bloody hope so.

Is that yah yah Nix?

We could always the excuse re the weather.  31 for Saturday.

They'll have to take Cahill off their poster

FFA squeezing as much money out of the comp as they can while they still control it I suppose...

This Star Wars round thing is a crock of sith

It's what Nixie the Chicken looks like under the feathers.

Michael McGlinchey and Roy Krishna unavailable for Phoenix this weekend through injury. Gui Finkler also omitted from matchday squad

https://twitter.com/pineyzb/status/938552484599029...

We gonna get humped! 

Singh ?

I think you move Vidosic more central into that role McGlinchey played. Parkhouse comes in on the left and you bring in...... oh shark.... Hamish Watson....

Can Rufer play a right wing role?

abbas into midfield and ridenton pushed forward and wider?

Parkhouse should come in as the left winger, with Dario moving central. Who knows who we will see on the right wing, he played Singh there in the FFA Cup but I guess Rogerson would be the more natural fit.

Vidosic, whom most people having been calling to get more involved, is ideal to replace McGlinchey

I think Ridenton is out of his depth and he is more DM than AM which is why I think if no better option there, leave him where he is (and thats not exactly endorsing him) How valuable is Vince Lia now?

Abbas *could* be a better option but there is no evidence to say he is thus far.

I think if you bring someone in, Rufer is the one purely for volume of experience and he did a decent job at RB when he got thrown in there. Singh is an interesting prospect but I think I would like to see him have more striking options to play with so it just allows him to focus on delivery to them rather than also look at pressuring and defending as well. Not having Krishna means his only outlet really is AK9. Moving Vidosic there means he is also a threat too and gets him more involved.

My thoughts exactly, on these two positions. And also, there is no reason to omit Rufer when we have a potential problem at RB with injuries. In the worst case he needs to be in playing condition and ready to slot in, if Galloway is out for a while.

Has anyone been to trainig this week and seen if Finkler is still about?

Referee: Shaun Evans

Brisbane Roar FC squad: 2.Dane INGHAM, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Corey BROWN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Massimo MACCARONE, 11.Corey GAMEIRO, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 16.Mitchell OXBORROW, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 18.Joe CALETTI, 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG(gk), 22.Eric BAUTHEAC, 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 26.Nick D’AGOSTINO, 31.Brendan WHITE(gk), 33.Petros SKAPETIS, 77.Ivan FRANJIC

**two to be omitted**

Wellington Phoenix Squad: 1.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 2.Daniel MULLEN, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Goran PARACKI, 8.Dario VIDOSIC, 9.Andrija KALUDJEROVIC, 11.Hamish WATSON, 12.Adam PARKHOUSE, 13.Marco ROSSI, 14.Alex RUFER, 16.Ali ABBAS, 18.Sarpreet SINGH, 19.Tom DOYLE, 22.Andrew DURANTE (c), 23.MATTHEW RIDENTON, 24.Logan ROGERSON, 30.Keegan SMITH (gk) 


**one to be omitted**

Hopefully Finkler fudges off tbh. Never fired for us and wasting an import slot/wages.

Personally I'd give Rogerson the start. Baptism of fire i know, but I rate the kid and I he's a genuine right winger. He's pretty quick and has a bit of flair about him, not afraid to pull a Cruyff turn here and there. Him and Parky as wingers, Vidosic shifting central to the No. 10 role. Ridenton and Paracki remaining as the dm pairing. Like the back four i think its crucial we keep their partnership together. Really hope Singh gets game time too, would love to see him put in a good performance

Thought Galloway re-injured himself?

Imagine if keegan, singh and logan were on the field at the same time. That would be our youngest set of kiwis playing together that we've ever had.

Haven't seen the WeeNix play then?

http://www.radiosport.co.nz/on-air/darcy-and-goran/audio/andrew-durante-theres-not-really-a-discussion-or-a-debate-about-it/

Don't have time to listen to it. Does Dura actually say that the issue is the players and coaches not seeing eye-to-eye on what to do? Because that's exactly what killed Ernie Merrick's career.

No that's not what he says at all.