R26 vs Melbourne Victory | Sun 8th Apr | 7:00pm | SS1

Have you been here for an offseason before?

You think I'd hang around here when there's NOT football? With the amount of whinging batey sugar-based ocean-fish that are here?

Not a chance. Was only making a suggestion.

Ref just showed a straight red.

People whine because they give a shark and don't want this team to cease to exist, which is looking increasingly likely.

Nope, straight red.  You are right that he was already on a yellow though.  Pretty good return for his 15 minutes or so on the park

I was never worried about J Gillet reffing the game but I was worried about Beath as a VAR - I tuned in to watch a great game of football, but found myself watching Australian Rules. The VAR is not a neutral referee at all and should be scrapped.

For long periods we played well, but even when we did play well it was frustrating watching us waste chances like we did

Even when we were going well, I sensed we had no presence in the middle of our defence, and by that I also mean the players responsible for occupying the space in front of the centre backs. We just seemed to offer no resistance, and so it proved with the 2 victory goals.

Don’t blame the ref, we lost because they played a better half.

Ratings vs Victory

That collapse was almost comical if it weren't for the clubs existence being debated. Anyway... 

If we win next week, we won't find out till after the F3 derby right after our game if we win the wooden spoon or not. One more game to go until another busy off-season for the club. 

Safe travels to all those dragging themselves up for the last game of the season, I commend you and I will see you there. Last chance to get on the piss and show the players some passion that they may be lacking. 

#DomeOut

Well, apart from the fact that we cant score and cant defend...we were not too bad in this game....LOL

I doubt anyone thought we were going to actually beat the Victory in Melbourne so for the first 60 mins we went great. We got monstered in the end by their heavy weights off the bench. George an Apua ????  really changed the game. That is the difference between a big rich club with lots of resources and us.

One of the few promising things from this sad season is to see the kiwi youngsters from the academy step us and actually look like they belong at this level. Cacace is a real talent...hard to believe he is only still a schoolboy. Sail looked the goods and Singh has amazing composure and talent from someone so young. Ridenton has progressed well this season too!

You feel we could build an OK team with these youngsters along with some experianced players. THey play with real confidence. Tribute for that must go to Greenie. He helped trained them at the Academy and he has given them the believe that they can succeed. So much in football is about belief. 

I always thought that one big reason that the Nix exists is so that we can see kiwis like Singhs and Cacaces etc come through and have a pro career. A big part of our downfall IMO is that we have failed to stamp a true Phoenix culture on the club. We are a kiwi club, its our point of difference. We have a catchment in NZ of 100,000+ players. We will never attract a team of super talented foreigners. We have seen that a bunch of kiwi kids have more motivation(and talent) than a bunch of Australian/European journeymen. We have seen what happens when a true clubman like Greenie takes over the coaching job. I can except youngsters trying hard and failing but its been gutting watching this year and seeing many players not even seeming to care.

:(

We were well worth our lead until Doyle went off. Ridenton struggled big time in right back and we struggled without him in midfield. Rufer was poor, McGlinchey was stuck on the right side and he is so left footed.
I hope Ljujic was injured because otherwise, he just stopped for no apparent reason.

So much this. 

There’s not much to lose now, so let’s take a fudgeing stand and say the Nix is for Kiwis. Why not have a MOSTLY HOME GROWN POLICY? At least guys like Payne, Gulley will actually give a fudge, because they are representing kiwi footballers in an Aussie competition. Athletic Bilbao, Steaua Bucharest and Mexico’s Guadalajara all play with pride. It’s time to implant a player policy that defines the club. It would be OUR club. And kiwis giving their all is good enough for me.  

The way Cacace dealt with the Victory's big players was phenomenal. Was quick in tracking his man, stood up Leroy George multiple times, dispossessed Both Troisi and and Berisha under pressure and was then calm on the ball afterwards in passing rather than lumping it out for a throw in. What a performance

Every Kiwi's mate Robbie Slater was raving about our young Kiwis wasn't he? and with good cause.

Austin's comments are good ones and food for thought - maybe we need a complete overhaul of our thinking in what this club should be and aspire to be? Tough I know with the sword of Damocles hanging over us.

To be fair, we're a little held back by circumstance - no international breaks and the need to be seen as contributing to Australian footballs development in a tangible way.

In saying that, nothing gets me more excited to watch a Nix game than seeing guys like Singh and Cacace making real impacts on the league. I want to see more of it, and don't think you'd find a fan in NZ that wouldn't.

Exactly. We're missing the passion of Siggie and Brown. They played with passion, in part, because of the Kiwi v Aussie thing. Now though we have a more technically skilled bunch coming through. So we lose a few to international window - maybe but actually not that many with so many playing offshore now; and it gives another young kiwi kid a shot. It's a side issue and shouldn't stop us from re-defining the culture and player policy of the club.

They might not be everyone's flat white with an extra shot, but Hay and Edge have basically taken this approach at Eastern Suburbs and Wests now. Would be great to see Nix showing some leadership.

PS. We contribute to Aussie football in tangible way by having distinct club, fan experience, player-base. Look at Warriors and Breakers. Only #sokkahtwitter wouyld raise any ethnic club issues, lol.

I'd say the FFA may disagree on that, which is what matters when talking about our future existance. 

I dunno, if more fans supported a truly Kiwi team with a distinctly kiwi fan experience, we would raise some metrics, and that is all FFA gives a shark about. However, FFA are a non issue with independent A league.

I share your feelings that independent league would resolve many ills, but it is not on the horizon. It is a bit like saying "yeah I know we're broke, but never mind cause next week we're gonna win the Lotto, so that's sorted then".

Independent A-League! Hah! You're overly optimistic there, mate.

I wonder how many Australian based fans whom have flown over for any of the games, has had a bad experience. From what I have seen, they have all appeared to love it, enjoy our hospitality and jovial interactions. They like the lack of attitude and tensions that comes from two certain groups based in Australia. That should mean something for our cause. It's positive and encouraging right??

But let's get back to the issue. Lets give the Nix a clearer sense of identity with a KIWI PLAYER POLICY.

Think some of you are really not thinking this through. Would be great to have a team based on young Kiwis but come on you are kidding yourselves if you think people are going to turn up to watch such a  team if they are not going to be competitive.Just because its full of Kiwis dosnt mean people wont accept anything but a winning team. Also how long do you think young Kiwi kids are going to stick around if they are getting beaten regularly.

What we need is a mix of talent lets face it while its good seeing Singh playing for us pretty sure he dosnt want to be here in a couple of years and nor should any of the other young blokes.

Dont get me wrong i would love to see it also but dont really see how it can be both mostly Kiwi and challenging for the seat

Where are all these brilliant young kiwis coming from? The ones we have now are barely A League quality.

There is no evidence to say 'mostly Kiwi and challenging for the seat' has been a successful strategy though, is there?

In fact that path has led us to where we are now. So let's have something we can all get behind. 

I never said 'young' by the way; why not some experienced kiwi pros as well, rather than Aussie/Euro journeymen?

The moment we can make Boxall or Wood an offer they cannot refuse I would be happy. However, we have a fat chance of Wood playing here. Also, regarding lesser lights, we have all commented on the fact that players who delivered well in other clubs can often find themselves a bit too relaxed and laid back once they are at the Nix, so there is always the risk of a slide like we've seen with Mikey McGlinchey since he came back here.  To be fair, Greenacre needs to be given credit for clearly demanding more pride in the shirt judging by an improved attitude compared to what we've seen with Kalezic. However, even Greenie won't be able to make a silk purse out of sow's ear. Leroy George is playing the way I wish Patterson or Rogerson would, one day, but even accounting for low experience, they may not be at the same class level. We simply do not have seasoned Kiwi strikers available to us. I cannot see Wood or for that matter Rojas coming here, because they can do better elsewhere (much like Boxall is).

Well done to Dylan Fox for making the A League team of the week. He has been terrific lately and I forgive him for giving away the pen.

1) Wood isn't even in the question until his early/mid 30's, the guy is starting for a well performing team in arguably the best and toughest league in the world. Boxall is a somewhat more attainable goal, as is Rojas if his Heereveen endeavour falls flat, although both wouldn't happen any time soon as Boxall is on big money in a better league and if Rojas returns to this part of the world then Victory will probably be his first choice.

2) Leroy George is without doubt one of the league's best, it's probably only because of Mierzejewski that he won't win the Johnny Warren Medal. While I would say I expected more from Patterson and (until recently) Rogerson, it's pretty unfair to demand comparative performances from them in the future, let alone now. George is of a pedigree most players in the league will never get to.

Last 10 minutes sums up season, don't keep a clean sheet in Auckland most goals let in by the Nix.

If Singh doesn't want to be here in two years, lets get him paying now. And challenging equivalents of Ifill and Greenie for a place.

The mix has to be right. 

But I think the key to the team is going to be the mix under Ricki: finding the Tim Browns, Ben Sigmunds, Manny Muscats and Daniels- that is some players who are seriously committed to our club and our fans and show that on the pitch.

I wouldn't mind seeing if Gulley, Payne and one or two other names are up to it. If they aren't move them along a la Watson. But let's find out. 

Manny got a trial, impressed and scarcely let us down after that. Siggie and Brownie scored late winners. Daniel set some of them up and let the crowd know they cared.

And let's get some decent imports in, so that making the team means you are ready to go to another club and top the scoring charts. Kosta was a talent, but having to fight for a place next to Ifill and Leo Bertos was absolutely no slight. 

I wish someone could get the best out of WeeMac. I don't think he's a bad player at all and has been a victim of the lack of good management of late. 

But also he isn't the WeeMac of the title winning team, and we need some players who are that calibre. 

Time for the next gen team.