R13 vs Western Sydney Wed 9.00pm SS4

Huysegems was absolutely immense. He really has come onto a game and the confidence is doing wonders for him.

Why is there no game this weekend? We could've played that CCM game instead of it being on the stupid Thursday night.

not the first time Ernie has played a blinder with his subs. I have to learn not to question him after the break.....

Ha year/season...common mistake!

Ernie's approach to subs is so completely positive...and Boyd has that Duracell Bunny aspect to his game that you know is going to cause problems for tired legs.

I have to admit (others will too) that I had my doubts about both Boyd and Huysegems and whether they would ever achieve anything above average for the club but they have clearly worked hard and it's paying off. Credit to Ernie for that too, I suppose.

Yep must admit I had Stein down as a journeyman. He seems to be relishing the responsibility now that Ifill and Carlos are out. Lets see how Cunningham responds

QFT.  I think he's great TBH.  

But is he Dingo Son's enemy #1?

It's quite encouraging that we did this to a team like WSW when neither Kenny or Brockie fired at all.

Great stuff, Ernie, who got his minutes out of Hicks, who I thought did well - turned over a few passes but also got very available for a lot of ball and was looking to be positive and creative.   And then Ernie could get Boyd on fairly fresh and not overwork Stein in midfield.

Nice to see Boxall, Ridenton, Boyd and Hicks all contributing really well.  We may manage better through the injuries than we thought.

Brilliant.  

On another note, any men down in Parramatta? Did Smithy get out alive?

Great win!

Fenton gone i reckon!
Boxall too awk for RB.
Riera Huysegems Ridenton Boyd all fantastic

Felt bad for Hicks. Looked ok

I luv you Ernie Merrick(in a manly way)

How good was that?  Easily the best away win in the Nix's history. And considering the injuries etc one of our greatest wins. WSW don't get dicked 1-3 at home....and we shafted them good and proper. Win in Melbourne and win in Sydney. That feels so so good. The thing I loved about that win is we outplayed a very good team by imposing our pattern on the game. You could see what we were trying to do and every player played to Ernies game plan. We made WSW look ordinary.

Ernies faith in the youngsters is starting to pay off. Boyd was excellent once again. Ridenton is going to be a very good player. Stein is really loving the way Ernie coaches....he is now confident and the goals are flowing.....his second was a cracking goal. My favourite player is Riera...what a find that guy is. He gives the odd ball away but he is our engine in midfield.

The only downsides are Fenton's injury....they can't let him keep playing and reinjuring it. His shoulder tendons will end up like spagetti. Unfortunately its under the knife for him....and that is a huge tragedy for the kid. As much as I like Brocks he really is the lost link in this team. Goals or no goals he does not really fit into the way Ernie plays the game. Boyd shows exactly what Brockie does not give. 

What a way to start 2014...so so happy right now!

Oh man I am so happy!!! Hahahaha  - I can't stop laughing out loud.Brilliant

Thought it was pretty even JV and we killed them last 25

Um Jeff, did you not see us controlling the game in the first half. They got a few counter attacks, but spent most of the time chasing the ball. A great way for them to use up energy.

Ridenton's pass to put Huyseguems in behind for the first goal for boyd was quality

Great performance, I feel like the transition between Ricky and Ernie has finally happened. He brought his positive football in week 1 but our players just didn't have the passing ability I feel he has been hammering that into them in training. The passing was superb, Herrera was great  spreading the ball under pressure and making some pin point passes, at one point through 3 WSW players in a tight situation mix that in with some great aggressive tackling and cool headed marking outside the box, he easily had his best game so far. Hysugems is an amazing dribbler considering his height, that goal reminded me of 2009\10 Ifill how he just dribbled in from the wing and passed it into the far post. His form right now is quite outstanding, he keeps popping up at the back to make tackles and mark attackers and yet he always seems to be right up the field in attack and all that and is still going strong in extra time. The Sigmund\Durante combo was immense today, great slide tackling and that header back to the keeper from Durante under pressure was a far cry from the CB blunders this season. Didn't really notice Brockie much but Boyd came on and ripped up WSW, he is a very promising player that seems to have physic communication with Hysugems, but here's the question do we start Boyd against CCM or bring him on as a super sub yet again? 

Also it seems like Ernies calm persona has rubbed off on the players. They just looked very calm and in control (apart from that throw in...) and never seemed to panic under pressure which is quite a feat at Piritec Stadium case and point is us killing the ball in extra time in the corner. So so far we have got 5 points out of a possible 9 against the current premiership plate holders and 2nd on the table. Not bad since they only managed to pick up 2 =)

I think it is the best win in our history. Think Muscat's midweek comment reflected what we saw today when he said in his statement after re signing for a few more years. 'Ernie's like a breath of fresh air" - and you could see that all night, as they totally believe in the system they are playing, and stick to their game plan no matter what. WSW are the benchmark, so hope we get the right reinforcement to keep improving the squad, especially with Ifill, Hernandez and now Fenton out. Three wins in a row should shakeup the market for the next home game, so will do my bit to spread the word. 

Was Hicks injured? If so I missed it but Fourfourtwo are saying: "Already without key pair Paul Ifill (Achilles) and Carlos Hernandez (wrist), Phoenix also lost youngsters Louis Fenton and Jason Hicks to injury by half-time"

Why so injured all the time?!

Not injured. 4-4-2 got it wrong (shock, horror).

Yep Ridentons ball to put Stein free for the first goal is absolute quality. Right through 3 WSW players.

I liked it when waffles hugged ernie . made me laugh a little.

so effing amped now

First half we controlled a lot of the general play, but they were more decisive in and around the penalty area when they did break. Wasn't surprised to see them go ahead, but was so impressed by our composure and system belief to get back in the game, and then over running them. Yeah they may have got complacent, but that equaliser really rattled them.

he didn't hugh ernie, he hughed the fysio

That turned into a hell of a great night. Still at the pre match pub talking with shock about what we have just seen. No one stabbed either which is nice 

In a way this might have been to our benefit? With a short turnaround between two away games the team stayed over there rather than fly back and forth.

Brilliant game! 

Funny seeing the WSW fans leaving the stadium at around 88mins, annoying closeups of the crowd suddenly disappeared :)

2014 rocks already