R22 vs Western Sydney Wanderers | Sat 10 March | 9:50pm | SS4

Okay, I've edumicated meself via this thread and learned a new word - "bork"

I'm not sure that I'm any the wiser after looking up definitions online ("the sound Irish dogs make" etc.)

But the definitions here are some of the most entertaining I've ever seen:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bo...

I'm thinking you're intending the fourth meaning there "irreversibly damaged"?

Although some on this thread seem to agree with the US definition where it is a dictionary word meaning "US politics, slang:

to attack or defeat (a nominee or candidate for public office) unfairly through an organized campaign of harsh public criticism or vilification"

(In that they feel AK has been unfairly vilified on the Fever forums)

AK is not A League quality.

He's too slow, his touch is too heavy and his finishing is poor (minus a couple headers)

Yes he makes good runs, but he lacks the other qualities to make the most of them count.

Those saying, if only he had the service are talking nonsense, he's had chances, he's just butchered them.

1-1 draw.

Scored 5 in 10 games for the Roar. Looked pretty damn good for us early on, not just scoring but setting up play too. Recently he has lost his way, but the whole damn team has. I mean look at Burns, we know he's a-league quality but he's playing much worse than AK. 

In one of the last two games, AK had a decent chance but shot straight into the side netting. I remember thinking at the time his expression and body language was definitely that of a striker whose confidence was shot. I believe that a good coach could bring him right.

After 11 rounds - arguably before the team fell apart with the departure of Rado and Dario - AK was joint top of the goalscoring charts. When Victory was sharke at the start of the season Berisha was struggling to find the net. Keogh has barely scored for an impotent Perth Glory this year.

Up until that point, he had scored 12 goals in 21 A-league games. That's a pretty good record, almost a whole season worth of games, but because he's on a barren run all is forgotten and suddenly he's shark?

Well on the golden boot standings he's better than most you listed.

The 5 goals in 10 games at Roar was at a time the League was poorer - so maybe not a good marker. Also, why wasn't he resigned by the Roar, by memory they didn't replace him with a super star... is it perhaps they realised even then, that he wasn't good enough as an import to make the difference needed / wanted?

They didn't re-sign him because they signed Jamie Mclaren, the a-league hasn't improved that much since 2015. There's plenty of players out there that are performing as well relative to the competition as they did three or four years ago.

If he wasn't an import damn right you'd sign him but if you are aspirational you need a better player as an import striker (also one with less propensity to being borked).

Goals don't mean everything, stick Durante up top and he'd score a few headers too. He's not a star end of story

Plenty of teams have been 'aspirational' in the past and have brought in far worse players than AK. His goalscoring record puts him about the same level as Andy Keogh or Roy O'Donovan which other teams would be happy to have as their main strikers. I'd also have him around the same level as Maccarone and Riera (who has scored 4 goals from pens).

So people can name, what? 6 or 7 effective foreign strikers off the top of their heads? Let me remind everyone of all the 'failures' (i.e. with a worse record than AK) since the Nix started in the A-league.

Jorge
Adrian
Bruno Cazarine
Cristiano
Ney Fabiano
Fernando
Mário Jardel
Leandro
Maycon
Milson
Patrick
Reinaldo
Ricardinho
Alex Terra
Jiang Chen
Zhang Shuo
Milton Rodríguez
Solórzano
Dragičević
Dino Kresinger
Krunoslav Lovrek
Josip Tadić
Dyron Daal
Morten Nordstrand
Edmundo Zura
Edson Montaño
Robbie Fowler
Chris Greenacre
Emile Heskey
Francis Jeffers
John Sutton
Aleksandr Kokko
Juho Mäkelä
Maximilian Beister
Lloyd Owusu
Billy Mehmet
Richárd Vernes
Mensur Kurtiši
Federico Piovaccari
Michael Mifsud
Donny de Groot
Guyon Fernandez
Maceo Rigters
Gerald Sibon
Simon Lynch
Baba Diawara
Malick Mané
Branko Jelić
Ranko Despotović
Miloš Trifunović
Filip Hološko
Džengis Čavušević
Tomislav Mišura
Benjamin Totori
Sergi Guardiola
Suksomkit
Eugene Sseppuya
Ronald Vargas

The team as a whole has the lowest pass completion rate and least number of successful passes in the entire competition. Hard to pin those stats down on AK.

Does anyone know the stats of a football team winning their first game with a new manager? Seems to always happen. I believe last times Greenie took over we won. Nix at $4.20.......

$20 on the Nux I reckon. WSW are better than us, but not amazing.

Greenie was quoted on radio this afternoon as saying he still wants to make the finals. What?

Would you rather he said 'We're well fudgeed, I'm not going to bother trying' ?

No, but I thought the finals this season were now an impossible target. Am I wrong? If they are, I'd have expected something like 'a lot of the boys will be playing for contracts next year so I'm sure they'll give it one hundred and ten percent (or somesuch). 

Wanting to win every game is a very good step to aim for. Being number 1 is the target this team really want to aim at next season. Finishing this season with a decent run would be a great stepping block  to getting fans interested again and to games.

If we were to win the next 4/5 games that could tell me that the players were not giving 100% in the past, and that would be a worry.

will greenie return to the 4-1-2-1-2 often used under merrick? i sort of hope so because seeing krishna and burns up front and wide could be pretty awesome

I thought he was great, terrific work rate off the ball, poacher who scored a few good goals. never let us down imo

:admittedly he did score at a lesser rate than AK

:so far

has a virus - which is why parkhouse is in. I'd expect he'll be back once well.

I think we still have a mathematical chance to make the finals but we need to win everything well.

I think that is the same reason why Rossi is back in the squad - Dura may miss it if his flu gets worse.

All right Gameday

COYN

I would say that would probably be a fair call, if DK was as crappy a man-manager as rumoured. Personal pride can only motivate you so much when you know the consequences of a win will be your hated boss looking good.

Waiting to see if Burnsy actually gets his mojo back tonight. Fingers crossed.

That's "Flares" not "Flares"

He's only ever had one and a half "great" seasons in the A-League. Perhaps his mojo was never really there.

So, we win tonight, RBB set off flares, we gain 3 points, WSW lose 3, Dare to dream again? 

we're gonna win the league 

Being forced to go to the local NPL match tonight. If Wellington win and Olympic lose, I'm going to lose my shark.

Honestly it pains me to have Greenacre in the list, he is actually my all time favourite Nix player!

Do we have the final squad for tonight yet? Meaning, who the two to be dropped are.