So there you go. The team ignored Darije in the second half. The reason Merrick resigned is that the team were ignoring him. There is a culture issue at the Phoenix that senior/longstanding players think they know better than the coach or just can't be bothered. (why not both)
I think the team just found themselves in strange circumstances and panicked a bit. I remember one of our first games in the 2014-15 season (I think) the team was ahead of CCM early and then completely forgot how to play and sat right back. They were extremely shaky and were lucky to come away with the win. But this was after a season where they came 9th and so were obviously pretty nervous to get the win.
Later in that season the team obviously went on a great run.
In this game there was also a backline made up of fringe players and players that hadn't even been in the match day squad so far this year.
By a few accounts one of the more disruptive characters has left the team and otherwise there weren't a whole lot of long term players on the pitch.
I think that the problems that we saw yesterday will disapear once they do get a win or two under their belts.