WPM R3 vs Auckland FC | Sat 2nd Nov | 5pm | RoF / Sky Sports 2 | March 4pm

Once again, I'm surprised by the negativity on display here (and I'm saying this as someone who did go to bed fuming and with a stress headache on Saturday).

Writing off the whole season on the basis of the first three matches is completely ridiculous.

We kicked off 23/24 with a scoreless draw and two wins but I think the positivity was overblown by putting 5 goals past Brisbane in round three. We settled into our low-scoring rhythm pretty much immediately after that, with a few outlier matches here and there. Not all players were sharp from the get go and Paulsen had conceded 4 goals by round three (versus Olu's 3). I admit, though, that it's easy for doubt to be superseded by the good memories of being top of the league for a lot of the season.

We haven't been fantastic so far but we also haven't been terrible, all things considered. A bunch of our players have been or are still injured, our pre-season was quite disrupted and yes, we did lose valuable players. In saying that, though, I think the biggest loss is not in technical prowess but more so in chemistry. I don't think our current players are worse. I think they're not used to playing together just yet. I'm still spotting moments where more than one player goes for the ball or where nobody goes for it. Passes that go where someone should have been but wasn't, etc. The best runs of play have come from combinations we already had going last year. I think (and hope) it's just a matter of time until we click.

On the other hand, Auckland have had a long pre-season with several competitive games, no injuries, no suspensions, home matches (let's face it, Wellington isn't exactly a massive away trip) and possibly some "help" from officials to keep things interesting (not getting into conspiracy theories and nothing particularly blatant - just a couple of instances of "looking the other way" when it matters, etc.). They now get a nice little holiday to recover, too, which I'm hoping will actually kill momentum. Paulsen will not keep clean sheets all season, their players will eventually fatigue and luck will run out - hopefully in time for the next derby :)

Hard to disagree, with the above, QotQ.   And I do know what you mean by a stress headache on Saturday night.  
But yes it is still early in the season and some more work should get us back in shape.  It probably is Adam Griffiths who has the lion's share of work to do, translating Chiefy's tactical vision into actual players' ability to deliver it.

ballane

martinb

There’s only a mentality if you build it up into one. Otherwise there’s tasks that need to be completed to win. We did those well last season. Missing the composure on goal so far. 

I mean what happens when we win? We accidentally forget to do what is programmed in our DNA? If we still had Paulsen would he have this same issue? Old? 

We ignored our DNA until Rua Conchie was 5m too deep against Doka? Strange mutant DNA that exists only after we’ve lost a game.

This club DNA argument is a load of defeatist crap.

Yep saying its a club DNA thing may be crap. What cant be denied is that we have often over time not performed at games at the stadium during the season that have been deemed to be big games. 
Could be any of a 1st game at home after an extended time away,1st game after a good run of results, a public holiday not talking about a loss could have been a dour draw. Even last season which was our best ever many were let down on Waitangi Day by a draw.
Its not even about maybe disappointing Nix fans but not living up to the hype those casuals that have been enticed to come along expect. It just cant be denied that over there years it has happened a number of times.
The last thing i can be accused is being a defeatist   if anything i get accused of being to optimistic i was one of the few last season who stated before the season started we could be top 4.

When did this change? I don’t believe we used to get stage fright as much. We used to fail on the big stage when that stage was in Australia 

queenofthequail

Once again, I'm surprised by the negativity on display here (and I'm saying this as someone who did go to bed fuming and with a stress headache on Saturday).

Writing off the whole season on the basis of the first three matches is completely ridiculous.

We kicked off 23/24 with a scoreless draw and two wins but I think the positivity was overblown by putting 5 goals past Brisbane in round three. We settled into our low-scoring rhythm pretty much immediately after that, with a few outlier matches here and there. Not all players were sharp from the get go and Paulsen had conceded 4 goals by round three (versus Olu's 3). I admit, though, that it's easy for doubt to be superseded by the good memories of being top of the league for a lot of the season.

We haven't been fantastic so far but we also haven't been terrible, all things considered. A bunch of our players have been or are still injured, our pre-season was quite disrupted and yes, we did lose valuable players. In saying that, though, I think the biggest loss is not in technical prowess but more so in chemistry. I don't think our current players are worse. I think they're not used to playing together just yet. I'm still spotting moments where more than one player goes for the ball or where nobody goes for it. Passes that go where someone should have been but wasn't, etc. The best runs of play have come from combinations we already had going last year. I think (and hope) it's just a matter of time until we click.

On the other hand, Auckland have had a long pre-season with several competitive games, no injuries, no suspensions, home matches (let's face it, Wellington isn't exactly a massive away trip) and possibly some "help" from officials to keep things interesting (not getting into conspiracy theories and nothing particularly blatant - just a couple of instances of "looking the other way" when it matters, etc.). They now get a nice little holiday to recover, too, which I'm hoping will actually kill momentum. Paulsen will not keep clean sheets all season, their players will eventually fatigue and luck will run out - hopefully in time for the next derby :)

I’m not writing off the season. But like many (I feel), just please - not this match, not this way. 

😓

The game was heading to be a 0-0 draw, until Olu's bad bad error. Hopefully that's his for the season, like Paulsen's bad pass at SFC last season (leading to a goal in that loss) was his.

So take away that gift of a goal (and yeah the counter 2nd one in injury time), the Nix would be sitting unbeaten. Not looking great, but okay. 

Two key issues now. 
1. Getting Rojas & Retre fit, so team can play a more possession 'stylish' football. 
2. Sorting out when to play out & when not to, ie giving Olu other options than the endless predictable short passing. As others have said you do that every time, other teams will just hard press all game (in cooler NZ anyway), and there will be more hand wrapped gift goals conceded.

Mariners started last season with 4 losses, enroute to a treble winning season. Mostly dominating Western U and winning in Perth, the Nix definitely look a top 6 side. Can they beat the VUC, Sydney, Melb City, dare I say Auckland - that's how the season will likely be determined.

Monto

loyalgunner

Before some people get too dramatic about our start to the season, we are not having a bad start at all. One win, one draw, and one loss – that is the definition of middle of the road. Not good, not bad. Average. So while there is room to improve, there is still a lot of quality. Onwards and upwards. I still think we will make the top six. Any better than that? Who knows.

Average doesn't win the league, nor does it win the big matches.

When do we as fans stop celebrating being losers?

When do you as a fan stop expecting us to win the league in week 3??

Dont think i have seen many posts where people have written off the season. Yes people are frustrated with the playing out from the back as there dosnt seem to be a plan B when we get pressed like Auckland did. Given Paulsen knew all about how we played  surely that was the perfect game to mix things up.
Think people are misunderstanding what some of us are referring to when we say "big game" dosnt always mean finals games.

I think a lot of the frustration comes from the fact it was a derby - and that's is what a derby does. The feelings are stronger cos it meant more. That loss brought back all the hurt of the way the nix have been treated over the years by the league and the club, the fact that the Auckland media have largely ignored us, along with NZF. Now we have Auckland, who couldnt keep a football team to save themselves, and some Yank billionaire come in and embarrass us. 
First loss every season there is always the "we are doomed" lot, who strangely enough job on the band wagon when we finish well. But this loss hurt more cos it was to Auckland. No matter how you cut it, first derby match will always be theirs and that stings!

Mainland FC

Before we get too carried away with the doom and gloom, I thought to add a couple comments that hopefully may help.
I am not buying at all into the "choking is in our DNA" argument (sorry if the exact words were different but that was what I understood from them in any case).  The reason we lost to AFC was due to on-field performance and not due to our team mentality.   I may concede that the players we lost like Old, Kraev or Surman liked to assert themselves on the field, and perhaps their replacements have not got that attitude, or perhaps not yet.  But this is a minor point.
The main point for me was that we were flatfooted all 95 minutes against AFC, and persisted with playing out from the goal in face of a hard press. More often than not that ended with the ball lost around halfline or thereabouts, which points to a better reading of the game plan by Corica than by Chiefy.  
Further, some posters here focus on the goalie mistake/s, but for me we lost the game by being strangely toothless in creating chances upfield. Those that we did were created from crosses from Payne and Ishige, but Kosta got almost no service centrally at all. David Ball might have been the type of a player we missed late in the game, since he is a provider rather than a finisher.  Having a a central player like that might have threatened the AFC defence more. As it was, they saw that if we did not get much progress on one wing we would play back all the way to the halfline before trying on the other wing, giving them time to regroup.    
So far, we had one goal scored by Kosta (against WU), while both goals against Perth were headers scored by our defenders.  It may suggest something is not yet meshing correctly in our setup if we are unable to create more scoring opportunities for Kosta and for Ishige.
I am not too concerned against losing against a good team, or a better team, which AFC definitely looked on the day, but I would like to see some more work being done with the players we have to give us a fighting chance this season.

There is always some mad stuff on a football forum after a loss, and I know that stats don't always tell the whole picture, but when did David Ball get reinvented as some kind of silky playmaker who creates a load of goals? 

His last 2 seasons with us have seen him with 3 assists in 1847 and 1799 minutes respectively.  That's patently not his game.

So are people still supporting Auckland FC against the Aussie teams? I won't be personally but that's just my choice. To me, they're just another opponent. It would be like supporting Spurs when they play in Europe. 

theprof

Monto

loyalgunner

Before some people get too dramatic about our start to the season, we are not having a bad start at all. One win, one draw, and one loss – that is the definition of middle of the road. Not good, not bad. Average. So while there is room to improve, there is still a lot of quality. Onwards and upwards. I still think we will make the top six. Any better than that? Who knows.

Average doesn't win the league, nor does it win the big matches.

When do we as fans stop celebrating being losers?

When do you as a fan stop expecting us to win the league in week 3??

Notice how I mentioned big matches as well as the league? 

We just lost the biggest domestic football match in NZ history so far in embarrassing fashion. 

Gooner 4 Life

So are people still supporting Auckland FC against the Aussie teams? I won't be personally but that's just my choice. To me, they're just another opponent. It would be like supporting Spurs when they play in Europe. 

Never was never will born and bred Wellingtonian just NEVER gonna happen.

Gooner 4 Life

So are people still supporting Auckland FC against the Aussie teams? I won't be personally but that's just my choice. To me, they're just another opponent. It would be like supporting Spurs when they play in Europe. 

 Or in my case ARSEnal, but I'll be supporting AFC, they're full of Kiwi's. I flew up to the game on Saturday and hated Auckland & The Port with a passion, but I'd still rather they beat up on any Aussie side.

martinb

More BS from Kersey to let Gallegos off a card first for the challenge and secondly for the dissent.

I though Ref was too lenient on some late tackles , and should have had yellow cards out earlier.

But what really galls is that delaying a restart by holding a ball or kicking it away should always GET a Yellow Card.

No 'IFS" about it, and the Ref ignored at least one such offence.

LAW 12

DELAYING THE RESTART OF PLAY
Referees must caution players who delay the restart of play by:

We really struggle playing away in Vic or Adelaide. That’s things against us with 3 of our potential finals rivals. I think we had the one home final last year and that went down to the wire, with a guy scoring who hadn’t in 5 or 6 seasons or something even more. 

I don’t think it’s a huge failing in the club, but simply that these are difficult games. During that time we’ve had our license threatened, COVID-based away from home, longer travel times than most, an ownership implosion and I think most importantly, difficulty retaining our top imports or players. 

Kraev, Hemed, Davila and Zawada were all central to us being in table top form and rebuilding each time is something City, Victory and Sydney didn’t usually have to deal with. Ninkovic for example. 7 years at Sydney. A team that’s not breaking up after the finals and has played together for a couple of seasons is usually going to do better. 

I’d say that the spine of last years team (Paulsen, Rufer, Surman, Old and Van Hattum and others) playing together for the reserves definitely helped Chief’s success. Cohesion in a team is key. 

Bally has 15 goals and 18 assists for us. Last season he both played deeper so others like Kraev, Old and OVH took on more playmaking duties. He can read a game, hold up the ball and not give it away. Chief obviously believes he can’t do it well enough for the A league. But the players he did bring on were talented, but didn’t change much in the game. It’s all a gamble, but maybe Ball coulda had a last hurrah? 

This loss stings for a bunch of reasons. It’s our worst calamity playing out from the back, at the worst possible time to the worst possible opponents. They’ve had a bunch of luck that won’t hold. Let’s smash them next time. 

Can I have an ‘it’s complicated’ with AFC where I’m gunna hate a bunch of things about them, but support some, particularly ex-Nix, players? And I think lots of things about the Port are good, even if they don’t seem to have a no dickheads policy. I think everyone knows how I feel about Corica and McFlynn, and the old school Bling FC. 
However, massive fan of the back line and keeper. And I’d like to see Rogerson and Mata show a bit over the season. I’d just like to see Elliot in order to be sure he’s not kidnapped in Europe somewhere.

But right now they need to lose or their ego will become the Goodyear blimp. And then they need us to smash them in derby. Forever.

I may reconsider if the sack Corica and send McFlynn to a rest home with Danny Tiatto and pals! 

Fenix

martinb

More BS from Kersey to let Gallegos off a card first for the challenge and secondly for the dissent.

I though Ref was too lenient on some late tackles , and should have had yellow cards out earlier.

But what really galls is that delaying a restart by holding a ball or kicking it away should always GET a Yellow Card.

No 'IFS" about it, and the Ref ignored at least one such offence.

LAW 12

DELAYING THE RESTART OF PLAY
Referees must caution players who delay the restart of play by:

• appearing to take a throw-in but suddenly leaving it to a team-mate to take
• delaying leaving the field of play when being substituted
• excessively delaying a restart
• kicking or carrying the ball away, or provoking a confrontation by deliberately touching the ball after the referee has stopped play
• taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake

This is the fun game of the Premier League this season- did he kick it away more than Rice?

Dougie Rydal

Gooner 4 Life

So are people still supporting Auckland FC against the Aussie teams? I won't be personally but that's just my choice. To me, they're just another opponent. It would be like supporting Spurs when they play in Europe. 

 Or in my case ARSEnal, but I'll be supporting AFC, they're full of Kiwi's. I flew up to the game on Saturday and hated Auckland & The Port with a passion, but I'd still rather they beat up on any Aussie side.

Nah. 

How would you feel if god forbid, AFC won the league before us?

That’s a punch to the balls tbh.

Approaching 20 years as a club and we haven’t won sh!t. 

Not much discussion about inability to score goals. Where were the goals? Goals win matches.  Lots of angst about goal keeper but where was the defence, regardless of his poor pass out…defence should never have allowed ball to get as far as him in first place. The team lost the game, not the goalkeeper.

I will be passively supporting AFC against the Aussie sides. Because they are a NZ team with lots of kiwi players. Also non of the players are dick  heads. However If found myself in an Aussie ground where AFC were playing i wouldn’t go near The Port. Because some of them are close to passing my dickhead tolerance level.

The Port are riding a hype train and figuring things out as they go - yes with these bandwagon things a few dickheads looking for trouble will ruin it for the rest, but they're a very young fanbase and I'm sure they'll establish a clearer image and reputation over time. 

Yeah bad behaviour shouldn't be tolerated but tbh their passionate support was great to see in the away bay Saturday - we haven't truly had that for a long long time probably since RBB properly came over. I just hope the Nix away support is even better for the away derbies!!

Praline

Not much discussion about inability to score goals. Where were the goals? Goals win matches.  Lots of angst about goal keeper but where was the defence, regardless of his poor pass out…defence should never have allowed ball to get as far as him in first place. The team lost the game, not the goalkeeper.

Been saying this pre-season and first 3 matches. And in the match thread. 

The defense were in the positions expecting a pass that never came. 

26,252 for a normal League game - Well done Wellington & to the 400ish Auckland fans, whom may have made the effort to travel down. All have done New Zealand football proud by showing up.
So many thoughts to cover, get yourself a coffee and read on.....

I'll will never support AFC as such, born and bred down here in Upper Hutt. But I am glad that they have been given a 3rd chance in the A League as such and are making the most of it. Fair call to them and their coach for getting it right with all the late goals. a real 90 minute team. I will watch them of course, like I try and watch as many A League games "Live" on TV as possible. Dunno why, I just watching "Live" football.

26,252, we got challenged by the Port to better their 25k at their first "Home" game, mission accomplished!! beat that for a regular season game.

2-0 in such a fashion is very very disappointing, especially in such an important game in such a large crowd.

I do have several questions, such as why was the ball played to our Keeper, before his howler, in the first place? Could they not see he had his hands full with 3 players inside the 18 yard box? He kinda got hung out to dry. 

It is obvious that he is not the same type of player as Alex Paulsen and playing out from the back is not really his thing. Alex was/is something special and bigger things are awaiting him at Bournemouth. Alex was copping grief from fans in the Zone the whole game and his reaction to when they scored was understandable. Not cool but if fans want to dish it out, they have to be prepared to suck it up buttercup. If they had left him alone, it would have been a different story, but they got what they deserved.

How did our number 9 miss 2 guilt edged chances. Putting a header over the bar from 3 feet after heading it into the ground - Unbelievable. 

Rufer, he and Kosta both know the passion of a Derby game, especially of the impotance of Wellington V Auckland (At anything). I don't think other players really see or dig the passion invloved. Payne, too. Hence the three of them were trying to Gee up the crowd and their team mates. it meant something to them. Shame the others didn't cotton on.

The post match interview. I'd hate to have been in that dressing room after the game. Chiefy was livid in a controlled way for the cameras. He's a nice friendly guy but doesn't like losing or having his style or instructions ignored. Hail to the Chief, I say. He's no push over and at practices, he's right on the money. Adam Griffiths will be tuning up that defence too. He doesn't like losing either. I bet there were some sore ears in that dressing room.

Once this all clicks, I think we will be alright. New players adjusting and settling in, Injured players coming back. I reckon, a rough diamond after yet another rebuild after last season.

Onwards and Upwards. For the time being, Auckland have bragging rights. December the 7th isn't just remembering Pearl Harbour, It's about the Phoenix earning respect and getting their self respect back!!

I have just been looking at the history of our new young keeper.  4 games for Portsmouth at Championship level, then 19 at Chelmstead which is semi amateur level six England, then 13 games in Finland at a club that’s stadium seats 7000.
I am not trying to dump on the kid but he is very very inexperienced. It appears the club has taken a punt probably based on advice. Ok Paulson was very green and came through but IMO they are taking a rather large gamble.
He would have played in front of reasonable crowds at his brief stay at Portsmouth but the rest of his short career would have been in low stress situations. It’s a big jump to fronting up in front of 26,000 in a white hot atmosphere in a key derby. Rufer was furious post match.
Hopefully he comes through ok but his confidence must be low. Fact is he cost us at least a draw.

austin111

I have just been looking at the history of our new young keeper.  4 games for Portsmouth at Championship level, then 19 at Chelmstead which is semi amateur level six England, then 13 games in Finland at a club that’s stadium seats 7000.
I am not trying to dump on the kid but he is very very inexperienced. It appears the club has taken a punt probably based on advice. Ok Paulson was very green and came through but IMO they are taking a rather large gamble.
He would have played in front of reasonable crowds at his brief stay at Portsmouth but the rest of his short career would have been in low stress situations. It’s a big jump to fronting up in front of 26,000 in a white hot atmosphere in a key derby. Rufer was furious post match.
Hopefully he comes through ok but his confidence must be low. Fact is he cost us at least a draw.

I actually think maybe we should give one of our young kiwis a run, they can’t do much worse given how low the bar is currently.

That would be a dumb knee jerk reaction. The guy has played one bad pass in 3 games. Yes a very bad one for all to see, but a quantum of one. How many wayward passes does your average outfield player make in an ALM game.

I mean does Ishige get dropped for being open on goal and fudgeing up?

Oli Sail came to the ROF last year with the Glory and gifted Zawada a goal. Doesn't mean Sail isn't a good ALM keeper.

If it happens again for sure Olu's position is then under question. But for now the team work on things at training to make sure it doesn't happen again. 

Re other keepers, from the one Weenix game I saw against NCR, plus reading other match reports Dublin Boon ain't ready for the ALM. AKH have no real idea, but then doubt anyone else here does either.

Rufer would have just been generally angry at losing in that soft manner, such a big game in his 150th. He may have vented at Oluwayemi in the heat of the moment, but he'll also know these things can happen.

austin111

I will be passively supporting AFC against the Aussie sides. Because they are a NZ team with lots of kiwi players. Also non of the players are dick  heads. However If found myself in an Aussie ground where AFC were playing i wouldn’t go near The Port. Because some of them are close to passing my dickhead tolerance level.

Disagree with the fact that none of the AFC players are dickheads. Luis Toomey made a special effort to run over to Josh Oluwayemi to give him a mouthful of abuse immediately after Auckland scored the first goal. 

Completely unnecessary (and a cods trick), especially given he has probably never met the bloke before Saturday so it cannot be explained by 10 years of rivalry against each other  

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.  I will never support Auckland, how could I when their owner is a tRuMp lackey.  Apart from that there are too many other things to dislike about them. 

Sorry gotta disagree with you LG, Alex Paulsen should have shown restraint instead of celebrating like he won the league. I guess he kinda forgot how two goals got put past him last time he played at the stadium  It was disrespectful to the Nix and shows that his pre-match interview was just lip service.  

Praline

Not much discussion about inability to score goals. Where were the goals? Goals win matches.  Lots of angst about goal keeper but where was the defence, regardless of his poor pass out…defence should never have allowed ball to get as far as him in first place. The team lost the game, not the goalkeeper.

Agreed. I said that same thing in an earlier post two pages ago.  We did not create enough chances in this game and Kosta was left isolated without sufficient service.  Runs on the wing from Tim Payne and to a lesser extent from Sutton is about all that we did, and had hardly any shots on goal.  This can be improved on, once the cohesion develops in an effectively new team.

Procrastinixing

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.  I will never support Auckland, how could I when their owner is a tRuMp lackey.  Apart from that there are too many other things to dislike about them. 

Sorry gotta disagree with you LG, Alex Paulsen should have shown restraint instead of celebrating like he won the league. I guess he kinda forgot how two goals got put past him last time he played at the stadium  It was disrespectful to the Nix and shows that his pre-match interview was just lip service.  

Bollocks. People were booing him, and he gave some back when he had the chance. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Frankie Mac

Procrastinixing

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.  I will never support Auckland, how could I when their owner is a tRuMp lackey.  Apart from that there are too many other things to dislike about them. 

Sorry gotta disagree with you LG, Alex Paulsen should have shown restraint instead of celebrating like he won the league. I guess he kinda forgot how two goals got put past him last time he played at the stadium  It was disrespectful to the Nix and shows that his pre-match interview was just lip service.  

Bollocks. People were booing him, and he gave some back when he had the chance. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 He could have quite easily gave the YF a little clap, or a laugh. But the first thing he did was pump he fist at the crowd. He's young and immature though...

Alex’s actions were fine.

The brief amount I have seen of Toomey however he appears a tool.

Those who were at the game wouldn’t have seen the build up, but they basically got sound bites from the majority of both teams about the derby.

Toomey’s was particularly cringe 

Hope this guy has the talent to back up his mouth because unless he does he is set for a fall.

Dougie Rydal

Frankie Mac

Procrastinixing

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.  I will never support Auckland, how could I when their owner is a tRuMp lackey.  Apart from that there are too many other things to dislike about them. 

Sorry gotta disagree with you LG, Alex Paulsen should have shown restraint instead of celebrating like he won the league. I guess he kinda forgot how two goals got put past him last time he played at the stadium  It was disrespectful to the Nix and shows that his pre-match interview was just lip service.  

Bollocks. People were booing him, and he gave some back when he had the chance. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 He could have quite easily gave the YF a little clap, or a laugh. But the first thing he did was pump he fist at the crowd. He's young and immature though...

Well that's me convinced. He pumped his fist at the few thousand of people who were booing him every time he was involved in the game.

Hanging is too good for him.

Maybe no one else saw it but I am sure when Alex Paulsen was walking back past the fever from doing warm up he actually was clapping to them. I am sure I saw him do it because I remember saying to the person I came with Oh that's nice didn't think he would do that

All good for his 'mental toughness'. Kiwi football fans are pussycats compared to some of the stuff he will eventually encounter in Europe.

There was pre derby article last week, where it was obvious he was curious how he was going to be received at the ROF. To make it to the very top, he'll need to put that outside noise stuff completely out of his mind come game days.

But yeah he's young. As a 22 yr old I would likely have reacted as well if a few thousand people were booing me.

brookem

Maybe no one else saw it but I am sure when Alex Paulsen was walking back past the fever from doing warm up he actually was clapping to them. I am sure I saw him do it because I remember saying to the person I came with Oh that's nice didn't think he would do that

That was before we booed him

Dougie Rydal

Frankie Mac

Procrastinixing

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.  I will never support Auckland, how could I when their owner is a tRuMp lackey.  Apart from that there are too many other things to dislike about them. 

Sorry gotta disagree with you LG, Alex Paulsen should have shown restraint instead of celebrating like he won the league. I guess he kinda forgot how two goals got put past him last time he played at the stadium  It was disrespectful to the Nix and shows that his pre-match interview was just lip service.  

Bollocks. People were booing him, and he gave some back when he had the chance. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 He could have quite easily gave the YF a little clap, or a laugh. But the first thing he did was pump he fist at the crowd. He's young and immature though...

I would say he is more mature than a lot of the crowd - on both sides.

I couldn't give a shark about Paulsen, he's ended up at the arch enemy through no fault of his own. He can choose to respond however he wants, if he wants to wind up the Fever good on him, or there's other options - whatever floats his boat.

Dougie Rydal

I couldn't give a shark about Paulsen, he's ended up at the arch enemy through no fault of his own. He can choose to respond however he wants, if he wants to wind up the Fever good on him, or there's other options - whatever floats his boat.

No fault of his own? he had to agree to terms with AFC for the loan to go through, he could have been difficult if he didnt want to join them.

theprof

Dougie Rydal

I couldn't give a shark about Paulsen, he's ended up at the arch enemy through no fault of his own. He can choose to respond however he wants, if he wants to wind up the Fever good on him, or there's other options - whatever floats his boat.

No fault of his own? he had to agree to terms with AFC for the loan to go through, he could have been difficult if he didnt want to join them.

I don't think we need to bring this debate back up, but it would not surprise me if his other option was train with a reserves team and keep the bench warm on Saturday. As an aspiring young footballer with sharkloads of potential and momentum, would you rather do that or play first team football.

claytonn

theprof

Dougie Rydal

I couldn't give a shark about Paulsen, he's ended up at the arch enemy through no fault of his own. He can choose to respond however he wants, if he wants to wind up the Fever good on him, or there's other options - whatever floats his boat.

No fault of his own? he had to agree to terms with AFC for the loan to go through, he could have been difficult if he didnt want to join them.

I don't think we need to bring this debate back up, but it would not surprise me if his other option was train with a reserves team and keep the bench warm on Saturday. As an aspiring young footballer with sharkloads of potential and momentum, would you rather do that or play first team football.

Well, if someone is gonna claim that Paulsen had no part in moving to AFC they should be corrected. They are after all trying to make him to be innocent and therefore unfairly vilified for being a tritor etc. I think it is only fair to make it clear that regardless of what the situation was he had a choice to make and he made it.