Torn . Top 6 or not Top 6

Strange feeling at the moment.

Desperately want us to scrape into the top 6 to have the chance of finals football, but would scraping into the 6, maybe winning the first match then bowing out in week two mask what has been a piss poor season?

Would this water down what should be a pretty brutal review of a season that promised much and delivered not a lot other than the usual heartbreak?

I hope we win

I don't think anyone, both inside and outside the club, are under the illusion that a 6th place finish equates to a good season. So don't a 6th/7th/8th place finish really changes much in that regard. 

I can understand the sentiment, but still, getting to the point where we hope we get humiliated more rather than less in the hope it'll spark change? That reminds me of the people who hoped we'd lose the OFC Nations Cup so we could #SackHudson. In my experience, "worse is better" sentiments are counterproductive (that's why some liberals supported Trump).

Sigh. Where did I say I would like us to get humiliated. The discussion was whether a top 6 finish would water down what should be a prertty brutal review of all things, football and non football.

Of course I hope we get to play finals football, but I would hope that even if we make it into the 6, and then manage a win so therefore being in the final four,  that it does not effect what will needs to happen.

Our stated goal at the beginning of the season was top 4, this then slid to top 6 and we are now at the game by game goal setting method.

The silly thing about this comp is we could by some fluke still finish up A League champions. 

I thought our goal was top two, but that slipped to top four and then top six.

I certainly hope we get into the six, even if not from my own selfish needs, rather especially for people like Vinnie, Mossy, Dura and co who might not have too many more chances. Get in the six Nix!

I thought the final decision was for top 8 finish

I think top eight is realistic and worth fighting for.

Reassessing goals as the season goes on seems both logical and practical. 

Money where mouth is time: https://www.tab.co.nz/sport/#2954

Top 10 for me

Surely top 6, even just for positive media narrative of 'making the finals'

It should have and always should be, aiming for top spot. And when they make hopeful statements of finishing elsewhere, then their mentality is not right for the club.

Top 10 FTW!!!

It'd have to be more than a fluke and greater than a couple of Chris Payne handballs...a torrent of Smeltzy, Krishna and Kosta goals perhaps?

Sydney are (or will be) the A-League Champions - the finals series does not produce the A-League Champion

Team that wins the league are Premiers. Hence they win the premiers plate.

Team that wins the final series are A league chanpions and they win the Toilet seat.

Top 6, and win a final. Therefore we are in finals and are judged as "competitive".

I get the whole reason not to make the Top 6 and rebuild next season, but the Aussie mentality is based on results alone, especially for a team in our position.

Surely a finals win is a metric?

I don't support the team by encouraging them to not make the play-offs. 

I thought we'd be fighting for 6th pre season. Thought we'd have a few more points though, unusual that's it's so close between 6th and 9th.  But even though I thought that, based on everything the phoenix have said pre season and even mid season, the season is a huge fail unless they get beyond the first round of the playoffs

If anyone but sydney win the toilet seat id be a bit disappointed.  They deserve both.

Id feel dirty if we somehow scrapped through to the grand final on the season we have had.  Im sure all other teams in the top five would be pissed off too.

I've reconsidered, sorry George.

If we got as far as the GF then it means we deserve to be in it and play for the gong. This is different from just scraping into top six and then getting whipped in the first playoff, like we did against Melbourne City. On current form the gap between top five and bottom five is huge.

I see them as separate competitions. We clearly aren't good enough to win the premiers plate. But we can qualify for and perhaps win the cup competition after it. 

Considering our run in to the finals has us playing both Melbournes, Sydney, Brisbane and the Jets (with some sort of cobbled together B team) just making the 6 would be a massive achievement, and if we managed it, incredibly well deserved. I don't think it's very likely but like all deluded football fans I live in confident hope of a miracle.

There is light years between qualifying and winning. 

Usually one of the top two teams win right? A lower placed team has to produce game after game of tense finals football and win. Any team from the lower part of the draw making it to the final few deserves it completely

The way we have been playing prior to this, if the team get it together and get into the 6, it is an achievement.

I hope we get into the 6, and from there I will take anything we can manage. 

Metrics metrics

That's true overall, Sthn.Jeff, but only over the course of the whole season.

But Outpost is right - if we beat such decent opposition from now on, and slide into 6th spot as a result, clearly we are a champion material and we'd win the toilet seat deservedly.  In contrast, if we only had to beat the few bottom teams now to get into 6th, it would be a poor indicator of our chances to go past the first playoff.

I was hoping we'd finish 4th but then again, I am an Arsenal fan

Both compelling arguments.  

If we won our five remaining games it would take us to a 11 wins, 5 draws and 11 losses.  And our goal difference would improve.

I've dreamed of us winning, dominating the season like the NZ Breakers have done when they have won their competition.  No one ever said they didn't deserve it.  I want the same for us, not giving the Bosnichs of this world any reason to complain.  They can't argue if the team has been dominant, finished in the top 4 or at least had a better win to loss ratio.  Top 6 play off is flawed, rewarding a team finishing in the bottom half of the table isn't right to me.

In some ways it would be like when Portugal won the Euros with 3 draws, 1 regular time win, 2 extra time wins and a penalty shootout. I didn't think they deserved it, but if I was a Portugal fan I'd have been over the moon.

Anyway just my two cents worth.  

The hard fact is that in 10 seasons, the best we've ever finished is 4th three times. Not really good enough.

Life's too short, it's footy finals all the way and, if we get there, let's try and shake it up a bit.

We'll worry about the repercussions of that on Monday, 8th of May.

However, as others are want to point out- competing with Melbourne and Sydney teams has been difficult, with Brisbane as a wildcard. No other teams are in that top mix consistently. Jets have been down for a while, CCM were a premier outfit but ditto, Perth up and down the table, GONE coast and NQ, and Adelaide, also once a great side aren't.

I feel I've not been short changed by the club during my time as a fan. Sure there were a couple of seasons where we were an AWOL team. But our top imports have been quality, be they Huysegems, Ifill, Roly, Roy, Filipe, Daniel all these guys have given us plenty of quality. Many I haven't mentioned. 

I would like us to be more successful and under Ernie there were glimmers of a different mind set. We went to the top of the table. We smashed wins away.  Can we do it again? I hope so. Fact is though it needs a Burns, plus a good cast of back ups and no unfilled positions across the team. And a quality manager. 

Here's hoping Des is a young Eddie Howe...(can't seem to find his age anywhere!)

I think all the other existing franchises have won premiership or championship though? We're fairly due I would have thought.

We've had some good players, in ten years we've had two Johny Warren medalists - the same as the Roar and Victory. 

That's two more than Sydney, CCM, City, and WSW.

Arsenal or Wellington Phoenix?