R13 vs CCM | NYE | 9:00pm | SS3

Against a better team - that sharke would have ended in a loss - all we did was kick it long and say have another go. 

Fine, be defensive, but atleast be smart about it - giving the other team 90% possession is not a long term go to... certainly not for 20 mins.

I hope the NIX management / owners ask him WTF - they want to build a club, a brand... and he does that!

Cyanide would be a better option than that. BTW, does the Phoenix store sell cyanide pills?

 They do by mail order only - only problem is delivery to the box is shark.

I can understand what Darije is doing to a certain extent - try to shore up the defence, focus on that, then hopefully build on it while introducing quality attacking players like Burns. I just was not a fan of the negative intent that entire half when CCM looked very beatable.

Really disappointed with the approach from Kalezic in the last half hour. Mariners were dominating possession and we were defending rather than well, but we were clearly getting tired legs and he did nothing.

Meanwhile Okon brought on three subs and the Mariners kept on pushing us further and further back. Singh and Parkhouse should have both come on for Krishna and Ridenton after 65-70 minutes, with Singh playing behind Kaluderovic and Parkhouse on the right wing to track the runs of Roux.

Play for the draw if you want but at least be smart about it and make sure we have fresh legs in case there is an opportunity for us to break on the counter!

Anyone spot the obvious problem with this when we sit stone mother fudgeing last? Pro/rel would focus a coach/team. 

And for extra spice, Dario will be available for them.

ooh spicy!!

On the bright side, we got a point

really nice little move and left foot shot. Seems to shoot better off his left!

Players get paid to play and not do analysts and commentators jobs...

Playing for a 0-0 draw against Paraguay when we had a shot ( a hail mary, but hey!) at going through to the second round...

F*ck me, he's still at it!

Could only watch last night in the context of Nathan Burns and midfielder tbc coming in. Given what's happening off the field, Darije would be more than happy with the point. We had to stop leaking goals, which we did, the fighting spirit was there, and all the senior pros all stood up.

" Kalezic reiterated his point made earlier in the week that the players would have until January 1 to say if they wanted to move forward with the club or leave."

Doubt the reinforcements will be limited to Burns and tbc, in which case this could be very exciting. There's an assistant coach still to be appointed too.

Big week ahead.

My mum was born in Rugby so I'm a supporter in essence 

WE DID NOT GET PUMPED 6 NIL

Second half took 4 mins on fast forward this morning..thats all it deserved.  Strange sub re Singh..

Serves me right for looking at a match thread, I'd hope that a little new years good will matched with the fact that we were the only team that looked like scoring (6 shots on target vs 1, 16 shots vs 8) would make this thread a little less dour.

Oh how I was wrong.

I think most were as positive as could be expected given the way the season is going up to half time.  How anyone could be remotely positive about anything that happened in the second half, I have no idea.

It was hard going. 

We looked the more likely team to score

Obviously we didn't and remain last which I'm guessing tempers the mood of supporters everywhere. 

We're dead last on the table and have only made the playoffs once in the previous 5 seasons.

#positive

Yet people were complaining about the half time interviews of all things. You're all just looking for things to moan about

FFS Take them bloody rose colored glasses off.People arnt just moaning for the sake of moaning they are being given plenty of ammunition by a team that is offering little to be positive about.Not sure why we should be happy with yet another season of rubbish.Yep plenty of people moaning while others prefer to backslap rubbish.

Sports people interviews are cliched, that's what they are.

I really don't understand how some people put together the energy to type in a forum when their outlook on things are so negative.

It's nothing to do with rose tinted glasses.

I get it.

When you love your team and they aren't doing great it can be satisfying to vent.  And seeing like minded opinions helps.

Personally I'm just chuffed not to see a loss but that's because I've become accustomed to our losses. 

I'm happy we didn't lose. A point is a point...........

I suppose its just what forums are about but I really get pissed off with some of the inane and inaccurate comments from people that obviously know fudge all about football. I'm not making out that I know it all either but FFS some of you need to wake up and recognise what you're watching. Its the fudgeing A League, not the EPL or Champions League, your expectations are way out of line with the reality. I can live with people's opinions and observations generally but it is so frustrating listening to the football equivalent of the armchair quarterback talking a load of crap. Rant over.....

Dont think people have unreal expectations.Whats wrong with expecting your team to perform to a decent level and not turn over decent leads or play as if they have barely even trained together.Think its people being more frustrated than having high expectations that a team that we have been told for the last couple of seasons is among the best we have had. Turn in performances consistently that fall well below what we fans should reasonably be able to expect.

It's now 2018 and we've still only won once this season. A win is an unrealistic expectation at this point, even if we go into halftime level and looking like the better side.

Load of crap Ryan. Was one of the worst games I have ever watched, and we were playing for a 0-0 draw against CCM. It was pathetic.

Did I mention the score?

We played adequately in the first half but were poor in the second. I'm not sure if the poor second half was due to inferior skill or due to defensive tactics or both but whatever the reason it was disappointing. Despite poor results the team showed some promise in the first 6 or so games this season but for whatever reason they seem to have regressed since. I don't mind losing so long as there is some sign of seeing good quality football - accurate passing, possession, quick movement of the ball, energy & excitement. I'm not sure if we're seeing these signs.

There appears to be a contradiction between the positive "brand" of football the club management say they want to play and what we are actually being delivered i.e. the low skill, low pass completion, long ball stuff we have seen the last 6 games. 

Our biggest hope seems to be the arrival of new 2 attack minded players but I think the coach will also need to change his plan if the team is to deliver a "positive brand" of football for the fans.