R5 vs Newcastle Jets | Sat 4th Nov | 9:50pm | SS1

Had a good 10 minutes. Unfair to expect him to be the spark for the team every week.

Blaming Roy is ridiculous considering our plan for 2 seasons has been to pass it to him and hope.

Just saw the result, couldn't get any reception or score updates last night. Very disappointed. Reading the forum and match updates online, and it sounds like it could have been even more!

Can't believe that Roy O'Donovan that smug cockhead, is leading the goal scoring charts after 5 rounds either... 

I fudgeing hate football!

Everytime it looks like I'm about to become a passionate Phoenix fan again they cash-out with the nonsense we saw last night.

No that's 3 clean sheets 

I'd be happy with just one clean sheet...

As a side note, If you put a multi on that run of results, I'd suggest you'd probably come out pretty well off.

Jets toyed with us, but what’s up with their fans? I could see more passion from the 10 Nix blokes at the stadium. Croud attendance?

They were probably cautious not to get too carried away. They've been around and they know how easily things can go pearshape.

Unless English is not you first language, I fail  to see where  I blamed Roy for the loss.

What I said was he had a very POOR  game.

Roy was poor but he isn't the type of player to spark a game on his own. He is good when he makes nice runs in behind - it is hard to make a good run if everyone else is standing there.

I blame Ridenton, for not playing

That awkward moment when the English club you have supported since childhood wins convincingly bit you can't get excited because the Phoenix were beaten by the club from the city of your birth.

???

Lucky to not have that problem. I am currently supporting West Ham

Watson gets brought on as a sub to change the game. But hwen was the last time that we scored when he was on the pitch - I know he hasn't scored or assisted since last year

That was one of the worst Phoenix displays in recent memory.

Overall I struggled to see what we were trying to do (as opposed to other matches this season where clear plans and coaching have been completely clear on-field).  We picked a very attacking lineup but then sat very deep.  Although we were sitting deep we also didn't seem to try and break quickly even though Newcastle had a pretty averagely executed high press going.  When we did beat in in the first half we were able to create chances.

Paracki looked awful and by the end his confidence was completely shot but he was the only outlet for the defence for much of the game and he was constantly being shut down.  Finkler and Kaluderovic need to offer us so much more in games like this, actually hold the ball and draw a foul to keep the pressure off us.  I'd be looking to get shot of Finkler as soon as possible.  I know this sytem suits a no. 10 but he's just not doing enough.

Losing Rossi is a huge blow as it throws our whole defence out.  I'd actually like to see us start a game with both Doyle and Abbas in front of him for a bit of solidity.  Abbas also had a shocker and by the end basically couldn't pass the ball 5 yards.  Mullen isn't a right back (not sure he's a centre back either).  We badly need the academy to produce a full back!

Keegan Smith had a great game, he probably had more touches than any Phoenix keeper ever.  

Very off day but I think with some tweaks to the system actually we can do things.  But we need a win to breed some confidence.

Last time we scored while Watson was on was when we demolished the Jets 5 - 0 in Round 25 last season (March 26). Watson started and we scored 4 before he was pulled for Rogerson. Since then he has been subbed on in 6 of our 8 games for a total of 90 minutes. Last season he scored twice (November and December) in 765 minutes, a goal every 383 minutes (or every 4.25 games).

Interestingly of his 5 goals for the nix, he has never scored later than the 57th minute!

That's great statchat.  So he has never come off the bench to score or assist, says it all really

I actually don't think this was the fault of Finkler. For the record, I am not a fan of Finkler and I would not keep him but he is better than Ridenton (whom I would jettison today along with Watson and Rogerson). I would count the games until he is gone and did question why we signed him last year but I fail to see why he was at fault. If he is at fault, then you can throw in AK9 as well. They were told to stay high that much is obvious so why they get blamed for problems at the back half is beyond me.

To me, this game was lost in the coaching department. Newcastle were well schooled on our tactics of playing out from the back. After 10 mins, they adjusted to shut it off and yet we still persisted with it. You could see it when Smith put the ball down in the box at goal kicks and Newcastle kept the front 3 forward with 1 central and 2 covering the wings. Yet we still played that way. I felt we made no real adjustment and it reminded me of Ernie last year in that we had no 'plan b' once a team figured out what we do. Is Kalezic the same? I just expected him to go more with 'I'd rather lose the ball at half way in a lottery than give it to them close to the 18y box' and just struggled at why he persisted with that tactic.  I was not impressed by any player and it was that, combined with the coaching and tactics made it a bad loss that could have easily been more.

If I were Kenny Lowe, I would keep my front three players forward and split 2 of them wide to cover the wide channel outlets. See if Phoenix play the same way or adjust cause I swear that will kill our ability to build possession from the back. but lets see what happens next week.

Also to nufc - how was it without Galloway? I can tell you Mullen got fudgeing owned all match. Care to reconsider that?

I wondered what that was...

I think we are entitled to expect more from our highest paid player (a) it took at least 30 minutes before he started to properly show for the ball and (b) he was as guilty as anyone of losing it.

I thought Ridenton showed for some decent balls when he came on, I think he is worth persisting with.

Ridenton is prone to the occasional unforced error but generally has been doing a great job in that distributing/recycling the ball role most of this season IMO

This is where I suspect A-Rod would have been perfect along side Paracki

I think Ridenton lacks awareness of whats going on around him and also is very slow on the ball.

Just think the balance was wrong on the weekend

I agree. Jets had way too much possession, too much aggression, and scored too many goals, for this to be well balanced.

Agree, whilst prior to the Jets game we had competed well, we have shown no variation to playing the ball out from the back so it was easy for any opposition coach to work out a strategy to nullify us. What makes it worse is that Smith struggles to punt the ball to half way and his goal kicks are appalling.

As a result we were constantly on the back foot as the Jets pressed up on us trying to play out  and we surrendered the ball easily

Thinking about it, the best part of this game was when Keegan destroyed that Newcastle player before Paracki's horror pass

Was skeptical before the game, but if Keegan Smith plays like that for the rest of the season then I'd be happy to call him our best keeper. Far fewer errors than other games and some stunning saves, first time I can't say Italiano would have done better tbh

Keegan Smith did as well (or better) as expected, and was not the worst player on the park.

I have just re-watched the Jets action before their third goal and noticed that Dura was all the way to the left flank, leaving Paracki stranded in a major hole in the middle, where the attack then went through.  They were simply a faster team, and seem to have better passing accuracy than us. We seemed somehow jetlagged (pun intended).

Also, is it just me, or did we often play all ineffectively crowded together in a small area? No control over the wings./ flanks at least not until Parkhouse was brought on.

I thought our passing was far too slow to break through the centre of the park - constantly breaking down in there

Jets were pretty good I think, but agree with your comemnt on Paracki being stranded for the second goal.  I posted (rhetorically) during the game, did anyone think Paracki deserved to have a FB and CB behind him.

In hindsight, for me, it's no wonder Paracki looked bewildered and demoralised at the end of the game.

He got exposed by what I think was the attempt to get Finkler into some sort of form ahead of the AWs weekends and for the new coach to see what his quasi marquee player could do.  My guess is Darije is stunned at how ineffective Finkler is and how McG can't do the sort of role that Ridenton's been doing.  The Finkler-McG-Paracki chemistry was a mess compared to McG-Ridenton-Paracki.  

I think Paracki also suffered from Mullen's limited ability to get forward and back on the right side.  That left him short of another outlet option and made him more vulnerable to being caught exposed from the right. 

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I just think we've held together pretty well against some good sides with a varying depleted defense, and finally buckled against a weaker side against Brisbane, without either starting CB for any of that game.  But the loss of Galloway, as well, and not having Ridenton working the mid, just tipped the balance too far.  Even with Dura back.  And we broke.  

It'll be interesting how Darije looks to adjust.

I still think, with a fit squad, the team can play well, and handle the best.  But probably another tough couple of weeks ahead. A lot of season to go, so hopefully Darije's learnt a few things and we can get clear of the injuries and build again.

Who will defend this weekend??

Smith will have a go. Not sure about anyone else.

This!