R23 vs WSW | Sun 19th March | 9:00pm | SS2

And my main gripe, we're bad but we're not even entertainingly bad! 

And also, the main problems that we had last year (conceding too many anmd struggling to score) are EXACTLY the same this year.

Also whomever decided to recruit a foreign attacking midfielder (Finkler) in the exact same position as our best forign player (Bonevacia) but then kept him on the books is a complete idiot.  That has to go down as one of the great Pheonix transfer fudge ups.

ALso, does anyone find it odd that Finkler has been allowed to miss 4 matches this season to go and see his wife and kid in Brazil?  He's employed to pay football in Wellington and I suspect very well paid.  Seriously, if you choose not to bring your family to NZ why should you get time off in the middle of the season to head home.  Pisstake.

I didn't say there were positives, although there have been plenty of positives this season, but people were trying to find anything and everything to have a moan about including advertising hordings of all things.

I realise that I am being a hypocrite and am contributing to the problem so will now shut up.

What positives do you think we can take from this season?  To my mind we've tried incremental change over the past few seasons but I think the whole thing needs a broom through it.

Well, there is some good news out if this. This seasons player of the year awards has been cancelled due to no one showing up. If they are not, then they should be cancelled. 

i am sick and tired of seeing so many fans getting in and supporting the team through thick and thin and yet they get rewarded with uninspiring, pathetic performances on and off the field by the players, coaches and club in general. A lot of fans put in a lot of time and effort and all they want is to see their club/team to try their best, make an effort and if they are going to lose, lose trying 100%. But the limpwristed efforts of the last few seasons has tested the resolve. The fever zone is diminishing. The stadium looks embarrassing enough without the hardcore giving it away.

This season 4 people around me in the zone last season are not at the games and they are the fans that help make the zone what is was.

I miss them and their humour. Rob Morrison really needs to figure out what he and the others want from the club and then get a new manager/coach to sort it out. The fans have been there. The core. We will still be there but our attitudes need refreshing and that can only be changed by the club, the players and the team.

Most of the new recruits have proven to be pretty good finds, we bet Victory by 3 goals, bet Brisbane away, and have had quite a few other good performances that we just haven't managed to string together.

Ryan you are dreaming when you say the new recruits have been good finds WHO don't say Tratt  he can't defend .Lets all go through the squad those on contract and those off and name the players that need to go.I START with Durante Lia Doyle Fenton  Ah stuff this the lot need to go crap culture 

Can I ask a question, when did you start following the Phoenix?  Because there was a time when we were a force in this league.  The simple fact is that is very slim pickings for a club that has indicated that its goal is to make the top 4.  We are way way off the pace

Season one. And the goal was to make top 2 at the start of the season.

We had a good home record but we were hardly a force, we've never managed to finish the regular season higher than fourth, I'd argue that the closest we've ever been to being a force was in 2014-2015.

I think Tratt has shown that he can be an effective part of a good back 4.  Unclear where Parkhouse is effective (I think he's not shown enough in either an attacking or defensive sense).  I think FInkler has been very poor for what was expected (and don't get me started on him missing games for "personal reasons").  Kosta has been mixed.  Rossi started well but has clearly given up.  Hamish Watson has reverted to his level and really hasn't produced anything of note for a number of months.   

Ignore what was said in the media, reality is that was complete b-s because we did not recruit a top 2 squad.  You don't start the season with 2 untested state league players in the backline if you are serious about making the top 2.  That squad was put together with the goal of making the 6 (with the hope of top 4).

Our goal every season should be number one. That is the professional thing to do.

Edit: Re Bonevacia, before coming to the 'Nix he was primarily a defensive player - I think that Ernie trying to improve our midfield having Roly and WeeMac behind Finkler is ok considering the system he wanted to play. I did think that Roly was not very disciplined in that role when you look at how ARod and Lia have played there. I still think under Ernie our defence was much improved but we were struggling to score, the change to Des&Greenie resulted in a few more goals in attack but a lot more against. 

Cool - and your point is?

He was also given other personal leave mid way through the season before the child was born.

End of the day he's given us nothing so we should be trying to cut him if possible

You asked why the player was allowed to return home, he answered the question. That's the point.

Having a kid in NZ on a work visa in is not that straightforward. They let you pretty much down.

Well, just giving you the legal requirements of the 'Nix and the facts that he only missed 2 games, 1 of which he was suspended for. So really only missed 1 game.

I'm sorry that players are not automatons, not affected by important situations in their life and that can't undertake their roles with the consistency of chess pieces.

He also missed games around NY when he went back to Brazil for "personal reasons".  End of the day that's professional sport - being able to perform on the field no matter what is going on off it.  The guy is probably one of the best paid players in our team and contributed very little.  You make a good point about parental leave but travelling to Brazil, missing training etc is ultimately not great for his performance levels

Parkhouse was sick and did not dare to tell the boss? Now the boss is angry and blames him in public? I think the boss has to learn a lot more than the young player.

He's 24 yo.

DUnno about that, it's unprofessional from the player

Not like you to find the silver lining Leggy ;)

I watched that entire game tonight and I'm looking forward to receiving a personalised thank you and we're sorry card from the Phoenix which they should be sending to every single fan today who watched. Ugly.

I think the club has to truly acknowledge at some stage how wretched this season has been and actually do something about it.

Agreed, but how many people even on this forum, given how Parkhouse has perfomed defensively at fullback this season, would have started him in front of Doyle, even if fully fit.  Especially in a must win game.  I just don't understand.

That's a different point I think, but also a fair one.  Strange times

Do we believe it though, or are they just putting that in the public domain to take the heat off Parkhouse and give him a chance of maybe getting a contract somewhere else one day?

Strangely enough, he was awarded another contract with us! 

I did find it strange he ran up the tunnel straight away. Doesn't usually happen so perhaps he had to dash to the bathroom. 

Or was really pissed off.

I think the Parkhouse issued is Trump/Putin deflection tactic. The whole team did not had a plan = bad coaching. I can't see any progress, even in a game where everything was on stake there was not much to see, not even basic stuff worked. That is why people are so depressed.

That sums it up for me.

Normally I concentrate on the game, but last night me and my mate who came around to watch it had pretty much given up on it after the first half hour and chatted about other stuff.

It was always going to be a tough season after Ernie and the team lost the plot early on.

Ernie quitting was a bit like when Bielsa quit Marseilles after one game of the season a couple of years ago and the team floundered under his replacements, finishing way down the table.

Happens sometimes.

The real test will be next season to see if the Phoenix owners can turn things around by finding a decent coach and decent players.

They also need to overhaul the whole backroom, the administration and marketing, and start afresh with some desperation and determination to meet those FFA metrics.

Now that Ricki Herbert is successful with his racehorses maybe Morrison needs to look up his phone number.

He actually might do a good mentoring job for Des, ie. how to manage a team and how to deal with the off-field issues as a coach. But not on  playing matters: the A-League football is now well beyond Ricki's level.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/6204969/Stri...

That's just simply not how professional sport works.  If the story is as relayed, they did not have all of the information to correctly select the team, so Parkhouse is completely in the wrong

Bonevacia came to the club as a DM and a defensive player in his youth. On paper he seems like a player with quite a range. I imagine they thought he would be able to play in a range of positions throughout the midfield and that there would be a pre-season to figure it out. Roly was completely unable to play deeper. Competition for places should be good for a squad with a strong culture. 

We're still down on the squad of our top team- missing Burns, missing Riera and McG has been injured most of the season. Smeltz has given us a bit of a spark- but we are still trying to replace players we lost. Kosta < Burns, Tratt< Boxall. The heart and fight that Siggie brought hasn't been replaced at all. 

I understand Finkler's wife went home after the earthquakes, when Bonevacia's family went to Sydney. Who knows what the situation was around his absence?