R8 vs Melbourne City | Sunday 30th Nov | 5:00pm | RoF

must win game rah rah rah

Indeed it is. Gotta stay ahead of the rest below us otherwise all the good work done was a waste of time.

Fuck I hope Mikey can have a great game. The rest are in the doldrums

Thankfully it's another week away.

Will give me time to phsyc up for it after the last 2 weeks of garbage.

I want to see Boyd get game time - he was the only one who looked like he could beat his man last night.

Ernie needs to get his shit together and figure out how best to use Burns. Roly and McGlinchy - I think the answer starts with Brockie not being on the park.

Whats the bet that Melbourne shitty get their shit together against us.  Pesimistic I know but it doesn't take much with our team.

Get into this by the way.

6 pointer...;>)

^^ To start some momentum you mean?

Too hard to keep momentum going when you don't currently have any...

Was taking the piss JV

We will need to bring our A game, and not let them play theirs. Our lads will need to turn up for the full 90 mins, as it isn't over until the final whistle.

Definitely have some home momentum. Shirts off 2 games in a row, it had been an age. Roll on sunday, COYN!

It'll be a game of two halves and we need to win the battle up front and feed the backs...wait.

Keep it tight going up the middle and then spin it out wide for the fullback running the overlap.

Sure cant be happy about the last 2 weeks ;>)

Ernie will need to use his interchange strategically this game. Will need to choose the impact subs wisely.

Whatever happens I blame Vince Lia!

Football will be the winner on the day

It wasn't Tom's fault, he's young, he'll improve... he performed well against EPL opposition.

I reckon it will be a win to us if no key player gets injured in training prior to the game.

By now I can see we'll have issues with Perth, Adelaide, Victory and Sydney FC this season.  In contrast, (on our good day) we can win against the Mariners, the Jets, most likely Roar and WSW (unless they start performing) and Melb City based on what I've seen so far.

Of course I have higher ambitions than the middle of the table (or just reaching the playoffs) but unless we get a new monster of a striker (as Ernie pointed out) I am not sure Burns and Brockie, or for that matter Krishna, will produce the goals we need consistently.

I saw comments of others' that Kenny C is just the same this season. If we cut him loose and send Jeremy B off to Indonesia we will have a visa spot and some cash to get us "our own Keogh".

Not sure if this is tongue in cheek or not but despite Tom's several screw-ups, I do believe that he'll eventually come right with consistent game time. Seems to have the right attitude, which goes a long way.

Will be my first game of the season. Can't wait!

Fire up !

looking forward to this game and watching burns get a hat trick

Is there something in Phoenix culture which makes us shit on the road and cough up easy ball? We thought maybe it was Ricki's fault but Ernie can't seem to stop this crap, and he's getting fed up with it. Perhaps the senior players (Dura/Siggy) are the problem? Perhaps too easy going, used to mediocrity, etc?

We did alright on the road last year. We also won in Gosford this year.

I would like to Boyd start. I like his energy and pace. Krishna has done well, but I think he doesn't have as much as Boyd.

Brockie needs to start doing something, otherwise he might as well start looking for a new club. Unfortuantely, based on the last 18 months its hard to see another A League club wanting him, so it'll be off to the shitty leagues of Asia most likely.

It's not just the Phoenix, it's every NZ pro team all the way back to the Kingz. We are generally crap playing away - especially in Perth (and Melbourne... and Adelaide... and Sydney... okay, pretty much everywhere).

Everyone will say how terrible we are after looking so lethargic and generally useless against Perth,  but this weekend we will probably win and suddenly everyone will overcompensate in the other direction and nominate the guys as the the greatest Phoenix team ever.

Losing by a goal in Adelaide and Perth isn't a reason to bring out the pitch forks, and likewise if we win at home this weekend it's not a reason to pop the champagne and think we are Barcelona.

So much this.

I do look at our team and wonder whether beyond Sigmund and Durante there is much on pitch "character".  We don't fight back in games very often, it does really look like sometimes we just accept our fate.

On top of that, Sky are running ads for it as 7 pm vs. Newcastle

It's not the losing by a goal that annoyed people but the general performance.

Roly was working hard and he looked pissed when he got subbed.

The game did end up at 2am NZ time, so probably an element of jetlag involved.

They have been there since Monday, no excuse.

Add to that his creating of a late winner against WSW