We need to talk about David

AucklandPhoenix

David Dome has been with the Nix what eighteen years?

Can’t believe he has flown under the radar for this long.

Truely after eighteen years he deserves his own thread.

He deserves just as much scrutiny as Chief - actually considerably more.

I think David Dome will need that spray if you ever go to Welly. You have a very strange fixation with the man 🤣

It doesn’t help the case for scrutiny that by far and away his biggest scourge has admitted split loyalties with AFC! 

Even if this is unfair, it’s the appearance of a conflict of interest at the least which does the damage. 

He’s got some questions to answer sure, but if you bark at anything he does, such as writing innocuous programme notes, it doesn’t help hold him to account. 

Probably a bit mean for me to highlight his complaining about the decisions last week. I would rather he didn't stoop to that level, I'll complain a lot about decisions but I'm a nobody fan, it isn't a good look for the big boss to be doing it. At the very least he won't be able to do it next week because referee decisions definitely didn't cost us today. 

For a CEO/GM of an organisation to write that message after a week of clarity (i.e., not in the heat of the moment) is completely pathetic.

martinb

It doesn’t help the case for scrutiny that by far and away his biggest scourge has admitted split loyalties with AFC! 

Even if this is unfair, it’s the appearance of a conflict of interest at the least which does the damage. 

He’s got some questions to answer sure, but if you bark at anything he does, such as writing innocuous programme notes, it doesn’t help hold him to account. 

The worst is when he hated them joining the league and acted all sour grapes about it. 

He didn't care when he had to report to the owners that because of AFC, we broke our record crowd attendance.

I don't think Dome ever stated he was anti AFC joining the A League.

But to me (if not others) there was lots of sour grapes from him, about the Nix failing to get a spot in the OFC League. The Nix's application wasn't as strong as SIU or AFC II, simple as that.

That statement from him in the match programme post the latest derby loss is also poor. An excuse culture. The reffing in the ALM is poor, not biased. All the teams get shark decisions through the season, get over it, and move on.

I like Domey, but these are two instances where he has got it wrong.
Auckland's success has definitely got to him.

20 Legend

For a CEO/GM of an organisation to write that message after a week of clarity (i.e., not in the heat of the moment) is completely pathetic.

Sorry two biggest scourges! Didn’t mean to forget you mate 😉!

coochiee

I don't think Dome ever stated he was anti AFC joining the A League.

But to me (if not others) there was lots of sour grapes from him, about the Nix failing to get a spot in the OFC League. The Nix's application wasn't as strong as SIU or AFC II, simple as that.

That statement from him in the match programme post the latest derby loss is also poor. An excuse culture. The reffing in the ALM is poor, not biased. All the teams get shark decisions through the season, get over it, and move on.

I like Domey, but these are two instances where he has got it wrong.
Auckland's success has definitely got to him.

How do you know the refereeing isn’t biased?

Everyone is human and naturally biased. Referees obviously try to be impartial, but aren’t ever completely.

And Australia, of sandpaper gate, the Snedden catch and underarm bowling, has its share of competitive people. They pressure officials. They know them. Refereeing in a packed Coopers stadium or Paramatta is no joke. Refereeing if Corica, league winning coach, has bailed you up at half time and complained at length about grappling while instructing his players to flop us difficult…

And it’s also an established statistical fact dominant teams get more calls. That’s bias.

It’s why we had a move to goal line technology and other things.

When you look at the things Brisbane, Adelaide, Uffie, Melbourne Victory and others get into the refs about this is tame.

And certainly there was more odd behaviour around yellow cards today. Questioning the sudden emphasis on grappling anywhere, not just in a situation directly influencing play or the de-emphasizing of the directive to allow competition for the ball to a higher threshold we have had for two seasons is fair.

CEO defends team and coach shocker. What’s he supposed to say? We’re shark and we’re sharkter than everyone. We need to ritually self abase ourselves? Oh the guilt and agony! 

martinb

20 Legend

For a CEO/GM of an organisation to write that message after a week of clarity (i.e., not in the heat of the moment) is completely pathetic.

Sorry two biggest scourges! Didn’t mean to forget you mate 😉!

Mate it's embarrassing! No plan to do anything different. Just hope that all his ducks align in a row and he might get a derby win?

Next year hope and prayer one of the academy graduates is actually the next Ronaldo and should hopefully do better than the wooden spoon?

Honestly the state of chat here. 

I am totally ok with our Domey being totally one eyed, especially in coms to try and cheer up our fans. 

The last thing we need is imanixsupporter dross coming from the club, at that point start handing out cyanide tablets.

20 Legend

martinb

20 Legend

For a CEO/GM of an organisation to write that message after a week of clarity (i.e., not in the heat of the moment) is completely pathetic.

Sorry two biggest scourges! Didn’t mean to forget you mate 😉!

Mate it's embarrassing! No plan to do anything different. Just hope that all his ducks align in a row and he might get a derby win?

Next year hope and prayer one of the academy graduates is actually the next Ronaldo and should hopefully do better than the wooden spoon?

Give me to Christmas. Or New Year’s. 

Currently the table is a rush hour rail replacement bus packed. 

We are scoring. So better than last year. We have got better players than last year. We are hoping to get some players back, post-derby hangover cards and injuries. 

We rocked you that first derby. And hurt you even if we couldn’t get the points on the day. You repaid the favour. 

If he’s hanging other people out to dry like he did last year, then Chief needs to revisit his chat. 

But by my estimation one or perhaps both of the next two is a must-win. 

We don’t have the luxury of two senior players in each position, sure. 

I think we’re on the back foot, but a streak can easily put us right. 

I actually think it’s not our defense that’s critical. We need to have scored more. We’ve made a lot of chances. 

 I actually think it’s not our defense that’s critical. 

14 goals conceded in 8 games btw.

Zero clean sheets.

I'd say it's definitely an issue.

coochiee

I don't think Dome ever stated he was anti AFC joining the A League.

But to me (if not others) there was lots of sour grapes from him, about the Nix failing to get a spot in the OFC League. The Nix's application wasn't as strong as SIU or AFC II, simple as that.

That statement from him in the match programme post the latest derby loss is also poor. An excuse culture. The reffing in the ALM is poor, not biased. All the teams get shark decisions through the season, get over it, and move on.

I like Domey, but these are two instances where he has got it wrong.
Auckland's success has definitely got to him.

 He probably wasn't, but boy does it seem that way.

Buffon II

 I actually think it’s not our defense that’s critical. 

14 goals conceded in 8 games btw.

Zero clean sheets.

I'd say it's definitely an issue.

I realise it’s a minority opinion, but we’re not capitalising up front and that’s making our defense look bad.

17 big chances created
9 goals

15 shots a game
5 on target a game

We’ve only scored twice three times?
We need to score more imo. 

Best version of defense is good attack? 

martinb

Buffon II

 I actually think it’s not our defense that’s critical. 

14 goals conceded in 8 games btw.

Zero clean sheets.

I'd say it's definitely an issue.

I realise it’s a minority opinion, but we’re not capitalising up front and that’s making our defense look bad.

17 big chances created
9 goals

15 shots a game
5 on target a game

We’ve only scored twice three times?
We need to score more imo. 

Best version of defense is good attack? 

you're both right. We are 3rd for shots on target, 4th for big chances, 1st for possession but also 2nd worst for xg conceded

Two games ago we'd conceded 8 goals in six games. That was when we had a defence.

Since then we've played the league leaders for near half a game with 10 men, missing our import CB, and the next game we've played with only one regular starting defender and him arguably our weakest of the first choice defenders. Surprise, we've conceded a few!

The wonderful thing about statistics is they are pretty meaningless without enough of them to give some reliable measure and they become irrelevant if you compare apples and oranges. Comparing a team with almost none of the starting defence with what might happen next week is daft.

Let's see how we go when we have at least a chunk of our defence back. If you all think this carries on the same with Hughes and James back and this is all Chiefs fault I have to say you've all gone emotionally bonkers after a couple of tough losses and you're all the last people right now who should be given a say in who our coach is.

Let's face it we all moaned so much about a low block last year that we've now got high risk high line footy. Can you guys stop having ideas thanks.

Spoken partly tongue in cheek but I do think there is a degree of rationality there.

Actually I've enjoyed the last couple of games. They've been entertaining. The crap results obviously takes the gloss off. But both games were a better watch than almost all of last year.

We need to get a few players back and set about improving from there.

martinb

coochiee

I don't think Dome ever stated he was anti AFC joining the A League.

But to me (if not others) there was lots of sour grapes from him, about the Nix failing to get a spot in the OFC League. The Nix's application wasn't as strong as SIU or AFC II, simple as that.

That statement from him in the match programme post the latest derby loss is also poor. An excuse culture. The reffing in the ALM is poor, not biased. All the teams get shark decisions through the season, get over it, and move on.

I like Domey, but these are two instances where he has got it wrong.
Auckland's success has definitely got to him.

How do you know the refereeing isn’t biased?

Everyone is human and naturally biased. Referees obviously try to be impartial, but aren’t ever completely.

And Australia, of sandpaper gate, the Snedden catch and underarm bowling, has its share of competitive people. They pressure officials. They know them. Refereeing in a packed Coopers stadium or Paramatta is no joke. Refereeing if Corica, league winning coach, has bailed you up at half time and complained at length about grappling while instructing his players to flop us difficult…

And it’s also an established statistical fact dominant teams get more calls. That’s bias.

It’s why we had a move to goal line technology and other things.

When you look at the things Brisbane, Adelaide, Uffie, Melbourne Victory and others get into the refs about this is tame.

And certainly there was more odd behaviour around yellow cards today. Questioning the sudden emphasis on grappling anywhere, not just in a situation directly influencing play or the de-emphasizing of the directive to allow competition for the ball to a higher threshold we have had for two seasons is fair.

CEO defends team and coach shocker. What’s he supposed to say? We’re shark and we’re sharkter than everyone. We need to ritually self abase ourselves? Oh the guilt and agony! 

To assume bias, then it’s like one team consistently gets favourable calls over one or more other teams.

To make that call you need to watch every ALM game every week. 

There are no doubt some CCM fans will be sharkty with the calls their team is coping at the moment. It will be everywhere in the league

From memory the Nix got a very fortunate call(s) in their win over the Roar, and Valkanis went on a rant against the ref. It happens every week in one or more games

Nix deserved to lose today, end of.

At the end there is only two stats that count:
We are not winning enough and fans not coming to watch the games.

mjp2

Two games ago we'd conceded 8 goals in six games. That was when we had a defence.

Since then we've played the league leaders for near half a game with 10 men, missing our import CB, and the next game we've played with only one regular starting defender and him arguably our weakest of the first choice defenders. Surprise, we've conceded a few!

The wonderful thing about statistics is they are pretty meaningless without enough of them to give some reliable measure and they become irrelevant if you compare apples and oranges. Comparing a team with almost none of the starting defence with what might happen next week is daft.

Let's see how we go when we have at least a chunk of our defence back. If you all think this carries on the same with Hughes and James back and this is all Chiefs fault I have to say you've all gone emotionally bonkers after a couple of tough losses and you're all the last people right now who should be given a say in who our coach is.

Let's face it we all moaned so much about a low block last year that we've now got high risk high line footy. Can you guys stop having ideas thanks.

Spoken partly tongue in cheek but I do think there is a degree of rationality there.

Actually I've enjoyed the last couple of games. They've been entertaining. The crap results obviously takes the gloss off. But both games were a better watch than almost all of last year.

We need to get a few players back and set about improving from there.

Winner's win, loser's make excuses.

Good to know we can save all that money on VAR, Hawkeye, goal line tech etc. 

Ninja

mjp2

Two games ago we'd conceded 8 goals in six games. That was when we had a defence.

Since then we've played the league leaders for near half a game with 10 men, missing our import CB, and the next game we've played with only one regular starting defender and him arguably our weakest of the first choice defenders. Surprise, we've conceded a few!

The wonderful thing about statistics is they are pretty meaningless without enough of them to give some reliable measure and they become irrelevant if you compare apples and oranges. Comparing a team with almost none of the starting defence with what might happen next week is daft.

Let's see how we go when we have at least a chunk of our defence back. If you all think this carries on the same with Hughes and James back and this is all Chiefs fault I have to say you've all gone emotionally bonkers after a couple of tough losses and you're all the last people right now who should be given a say in who our coach is.

Let's face it we all moaned so much about a low block last year that we've now got high risk high line footy. Can you guys stop having ideas thanks.

Spoken partly tongue in cheek but I do think there is a degree of rationality there.

Actually I've enjoyed the last couple of games. They've been entertaining. The crap results obviously takes the gloss off. But both games were a better watch than almost all of last year.

We need to get a few players back and set about improving from there.

Winner's win, loser's make excuses.

that's so dumb.

That's bumper sticker dumb.

Winners play the system better, losers talk about it after the fact? 

The refs didn’t cost the Nix the Newcastle game. But equally I’m not sure it all works out equally over the season. That’s equally a leap of faith. 

I thought the derby was a heck of a game at 1-1. Then a team that hadn’t received one penalty in a season received two in one game. Just a statistical oddity I guess. 

Anyway both Dura and Uffie lost the refs with their chipping eventually. It worked for us early on with Uffie! Top players and managers often try to play the ref too. Watch for hands on shoulders while players chat with the ref etc. That’s a technique for getting empathy from a person, tested on waiters tips. 

Seems like there’s two areas in the modern game where refereeing is particularly difficult. One is handball.
The other is grappling.

Here’s The Guardian podcasts Barry Glendenning’s take on an incident much higher up in the game:

It was a penalty. It was an undeniable foul, but it’s one of those ones that’s often ignored by referees. On this occasion it wasn’t.
I think referees now have decided that if a cross is going towards the player who gets bundled over, then they will give a penalty. If it isn’t they won’t.

That’s an issue with a Champions League game there I think, so it’s a problem area with the way the law is and the way it’s being applied football wide. So it’s both 100% a pen both times and an injustice because the law, football wide, is infrequently applied. 

In this case, it’s particularly difficult to take as it’s occurred because of the VAR and after we, as the underdogs had fought back to parity against the odds.

And am I looking forward to us dominating games and getting calls in our favour? Man, that would be nice. I do remember when that happened. 

I think referees now have decided that if a cross is going towards the player who gets bundled over, then they will give a penalty. If it isn’t they won’t.

-Refs don't decide this. IFAB writes the laws, FIFA tells us how the interpretations evolve at the highest levels. Competitions can do some slightly different versions of this (Witness differences in officiating in EPL versus UEFA comps)

Love how Dome covered his ass just quoting his coach and not adding his own thoughts.

No possible fine or reprimand for David.

Just keeping his coach in the spotlight and away from him.

18 years of covering his ass has worked out well for David.

This thread is by now giving me a headache.  
I have nothing clever to say, just that it sucks to be losing to the Jets when they score three goals withing ten minutes.  Something is clearly was not right on the day.   And the way the game looked earlier I would have expected that both teams should have scored plenty, not just the Jets who missed out on the fourth by a whisker of an offside.    Can't wait for James and Hughes to return.

zonknz

I think referees now have decided that if a cross is going towards the player who gets bundled over, then they will give a penalty. If it isn’t they won’t.

-Refs don't decide this. IFAB writes the laws, FIFA tells us how the interpretations evolve at the highest levels. Competitions can do some slightly different versions of this (Witness differences in officiating in EPL versus UEFA comps)

On paper. In practice they’re the ones who blow the whistle or not. I think the podcast guy is observing how, kinda like the old going at 120 in the fast lane was ignored in some places in the 90s, the rule is being enforced and working back from there. 

Mainland FC

This thread is by now giving me a headache.  
I have nothing clever to say, just that it sucks to be losing to the Jets when they score three goals withing ten minutes.  Something is clearly was not right on the day.   And the way the game looked earlier I would have expected that both teams should have scored plenty, not just the Jets who missed out on the fourth by a whisker of an offside.    Can't wait for James and Hughes to return.

This thread sums up the existence of our club and its fans.

We lost but (reason a, b. c on why we did)...
Dave should be doing a better job but..
AFC won the league last season but...

Fans need to stop with the excuses and realise that the current management and boardroom will not lead the club forward to a situation where we compete for titles year in and year out.

I think the club is at the point where we as fans have to draw a line in the sand and accept where we will be (i.e. happy to make playoffs each season, have a good season once in a while), because it sure seems like management doesn't want to change. 

Heck we chucked a bunch of money at the Women's team (with a coach that should be under way more pressure than she is) to be coming ninth in a 11 team league.

observerfromuh

Mainland FC

This thread is by now giving me a headache.  
I have nothing clever to say, just that it sucks to be losing to the Jets when they score three goals withing ten minutes.  Something is clearly was not right on the day.   And the way the game looked earlier I would have expected that both teams should have scored plenty, not just the Jets who missed out on the fourth by a whisker of an offside.    Can't wait for James and Hughes to return.

This thread sums up the existence of our club and its fans.

We lost but (reason a, b. c on why we did)...
Dave should be doing a better job but..
AFC won the league last season but...

Fans need to stop with the excuses and realise that the current management and boardroom will not lead the club forward to a situation where we compete for titles year in and year out.

I think the club is at the point where we as fans have to draw a line in the sand and accept where we will be (i.e. happy to make playoffs each season, have a good season once in a while), because it sure seems like management doesn't want to change. 

Heck we chucked a bunch of money at the Women's team (with a coach that should be under way more pressure than she is) to be coming ninth in a 11 team league.

are you proposing to step up and by the cub?
It's all good pointing out the flaws/issues etc but unless you come up with some solutions then there is no point.
Assuming you're right and the managemnt/leadership of the club is screwed then we need to replace the ownership! Issue with that, the couintry isnt exactly full off mega righ milliionaires/billionaires wanting to buy a football club in a league at the bottom of the world.

Maybe the ownership can stay but the chap who is running the club is replaceable?

Any employee is replaceable, my point being is that the owners hire the CEO. If they thought he was doing a bad job he wouldnt be there. would he?

So, if we accept that Dome is failing the club miserably and is passed his use by date, then surely the people who continue to employ him are deluded, failing the club too right?

Loyalty can be important and it can be tough to move on. I get that.

These are however meant to be proper business people, so yes, if Dome has reached his use by date, they are not acting in the clubs interests and are failing it by keeping him around.

Or maybe nothing will work and if we replace the coach, the CEO, and the players, we'll still lose

I'm sorry but the club has to have a massive shake-up. The club is at the lowest point in history and something needs to change. In the past 24 months or so the club has: 
- Reappointed Chiefy after an awful season where the whole of his backroom staff and all but 2 players from the semi-final squad jumped ship. All will have different reasons but when there's smoke there's fire. 
- Lost in a competitive off-the-pitch process to an amateur club to get into the OFCPL which would have finally given us the opportunity to make it to the FIFA CWC. 
- Achieved record low crowds. 
- Gone 0-5 in NZ derbys. 
- Despite extra investment this season in the women's team they're outside even the playoff spots (still a bit of the season to go, sure) 
- Another year of no finals football - I don't see us better than 6 other teams in the ALM even when injuries return. 

Yes, there's lots of excuses/reasons to defend these, but these just enable the status quo, which seems to be a downward spiral. We need change before this becomes a genuine existential crisis for the club. It genuinely feels like a humiliation ritual watching this club right now. 

I don't have much to say about the owners, they're throwing money at the club for no ROI, but yes we probably need more investors however this seems unlikely. But the powers that be (Domey, Gilly) have gotten complacent being the big fish in the small pond after their many years at the club, and have been caught with their pants down when Auckland FC have come in and done pretty much everything right. Yes - AFC have a lot more money than us, but are we making the most out of the resources we do have? Is that just another excuse enabling the status quo downwards spiral? 

Go to your local Wellington club and ask about what they think about the Phoenix, even 10ish years after the Nix have been integrated into the NZ pathway there's still some pretty broken relationships between the Nix and local clubs. Like I said, they're used to being the big fish in the small pond and throw their weight around. AFC came in and collaborated with clubs and tried their best not to step on toes and generally have support from all local clubs in their area. I don't think you need to be a billionaire to be able to relationship manage. 

Our Director of Football, to my understanding doesn't have any technical experience. He was an internal 'promotion' from an administrator (Ops Manager) to a technical position (DOF). I've said this before but compare this to the JAFAs, their director of football was a former player, coach and player agent, and has his masters in Coach Education and a UEFA A Licence. Yes, this one can be a money issue, but in the past we've afforded to through 200k+ a year for individual players that come and go, why not invest in getting the foundations of the club right too? 

I say all this because I genuinely love this club, but I'm genuinely worried about where it's headed. I've lost faith in the leadership of the club. They've given a lot to a club, but we need to start fresh. Especially if neither team make the play-offs, Chiefy needs to go, Gilly needs to go, Domey needs to go. 

All of the above seems well thought out, but I'm not a businessman or a rich lister like Rob. I'd be confident in saying that none of the board would be happy with last season or how this season has started, I assume they signed off on Cheify's reappointment, I assume they ok'd Gills appointment as DoF. 
So, the question remains, if Dome, Gill and Cheify are all failing the club and not doing the job they are being paid to do then doesnt the responsibility lie with the owners? 

I'd expect that Cheify is getting some pressure from above, if things continue I dont expect he'll be here next season - if he is not sacked this season are we calling for the owners to leave too?

No, I'm not asking for the owners to leave, that's the baby with the bath water. Like I said, I'm genuinely worried this is becoming an existential crisis, so asking for the owners to leave is a bit silly, and I'm not sure how the question relates to any of my thoughts expressed. 

There are thousands of DOFS/Football executives/coaches out there, as you mention, not many people wanting to own an A-League club from Wellington. 

It's responsibility vs accountability. The ownership group needs to be more cut-throat, we're (probably) the only top flight football team that have existed for 18 years without sacking anyone of note. I think that just accepts mediocrity which a lot of people here are happy to do too. Heck, I would take mediocrity at this point but we've slipped below even that. If nothing changes the club will fold by 2030. 

imanixsupporter

could not be less surprised by this sort of chat from Domey. Forget starting with some accountability or self-incrimination, just straight to finger pointing and whining

20251214_145725.jpg 68.75 KB

This last paragraph urks me. 

Chiefy in his live post match doesnt argue the red card itself, and its a clearcut DOGSO. Yes LKH is 2-3m away but Cosgrove would get a shot off, so meets the requirements there.
He also admits that Eze's pen (1st) is very clear, infact he says its "definitely a penalty". I respect Chief for being open and honest around these calls because these two were very fair

To then have one of, if not the most senior club employee drag it through the mud a whole week later, just shows a poor mindset. The games done, move onto the Jets, focus on ourselves instead of blaming other things.
Was there some interesting calls? Yes! Did that cost us the game? No, we did that ourselves.

Need to pick our battles better, stop having a "woe is me" mindset, and be better than our failings. I respect the immense effort and time and success Dome has brought the club over his long service, and established us as truly a top half team, but recently the wheels are falling off on and off the pitch, from marketing to engagement to the results.

Something needs to change behind the scenes

ok, so you're asking the owners to be more cut throat - what happens if they are not - which traditionally they havent appeared to be.
I dont see Italiano being sacked mid season, even if we are sitting bottom of the table come xmas.
I see the club giving him the full season to meet whatever expectations they have set.
2030 is 5 years down the track, a lot can and will happen in that time. It's unlikely but we could win the league.

Same owners are gonna operate the club in the same way, which continues the mediocrity does it not?

theprof

ok, so you're asking the owners to be more cut throat - what happens if they are not - which traditionally they havent appeared to be.
I dont see Italiano being sacked mid season, even if we are sitting bottom of the table come xmas.
I see the club giving him the full season to meet whatever expectations they have set.
2030 is 5 years down the track, a lot can and will happen in that time. It's unlikely but we could win the league.

Same owners are gonna operate the club in the same way, which continues the mediocrity does it not?

Since2007

No, I'm not asking for the owners to leave, that's the baby with the bath water. Like I said, I'm genuinely worried this is becoming an existential crisis, so asking for the owners to leave is a bit silly, and I'm not sure how the question relates to any of my thoughts expressed. 

There are thousands of DOFS/Football executives/coaches out there, as you mention, not many people wanting to own an A-League club from Wellington. 

It's responsibility vs accountability. The ownership group needs to be more cut-throat, we're (probably) the only top flight football team that have existed for 18 years without sacking anyone of note. I think that just accepts mediocrity which a lot of people here are happy to do too. Heck, I would take mediocrity at this point but we've slipped below even that. If nothing changes the club will fold by 2030. 

Since2007

I'm sorry but the club has to have a massive shake-up. The club is at the lowest point in history and something needs to change. In the past 24 months or so the club has: 
- Reappointed Chiefy after an awful season where the whole of his backroom staff and all but 2 players from the semi-final squad jumped ship. All will have different reasons but when there's smoke there's fire. 
- Lost in a competitive off-the-pitch process to an amateur club to get into the OFCPL which would have finally given us the opportunity to make it to the FIFA CWC. 
- Achieved record low crowds. 
- Gone 0-5 in NZ derbys. 
- Despite extra investment this season in the women's team they're outside even the playoff spots (still a bit of the season to go, sure) 
- Another year of no finals football - I don't see us better than 6 other teams in the ALM even when injuries return. 

Yes, there's lots of excuses/reasons to defend these, but these just enable the status quo, which seems to be a downward spiral. We need change before this becomes a genuine existential crisis for the club. It genuinely feels like a humiliation ritual watching this club right now. 

I don't have much to say about the owners, they're throwing money at the club for no ROI, but yes we probably need more investors however this seems unlikely. But the powers that be (Domey, Gilly) have gotten complacent being the big fish in the small pond after their many years at the club, and have been caught with their pants down when Auckland FC have come in and done pretty much everything right. Yes - AFC have a lot more money than us, but are we making the most out of the resources we do have? Is that just another excuse enabling the status quo downwards spiral? 

Go to your local Wellington club and ask about what they think about the Phoenix, even 10ish years after the Nix have been integrated into the NZ pathway there's still some pretty broken relationships between the Nix and local clubs. Like I said, they're used to being the big fish in the small pond and throw their weight around. AFC came in and collaborated with clubs and tried their best not to step on toes and generally have support from all local clubs in their area. I don't think you need to be a billionaire to be able to relationship manage. 

Our Director of Football, to my understanding doesn't have any technical experience. He was an internal 'promotion' from an administrator (Ops Manager) to a technical position (DOF). I've said this before but compare this to the JAFAs, their director of football was a former player, coach and player agent, and has his masters in Coach Education and a UEFA A Licence. Yes, this one can be a money issue, but in the past we've afforded to through 200k+ a year for individual players that come and go, why not invest in getting the foundations of the club right too? 

I say all this because I genuinely love this club, but I'm genuinely worried about where it's headed. I've lost faith in the leadership of the club. They've given a lot to a club, but we need to start fresh. Especially if neither team make the play-offs, Chiefy needs to go, Gilly needs to go, Domey needs to go. 

Since2007

I'm sorry but the club has to have a massive shake-up. The club is at the lowest point in history and something needs to change. In the past 24 months or so the club has: 
- Reappointed Chiefy after an awful season where the whole of his backroom staff and all but 2 players from the semi-final squad jumped ship. All will have different reasons but when there's smoke there's fire. 
- Lost in a competitive off-the-pitch process to an amateur club to get into the OFCPL which would have finally given us the opportunity to make it to the FIFA CWC. 
- Achieved record low crowds. 
- Gone 0-5 in NZ derbys. 
- Despite extra investment this season in the women's team they're outside even the playoff spots (still a bit of the season to go, sure) 
- Another year of no finals football - I don't see us better than 6 other teams in the ALM even when injuries return. 

Yes, there's lots of excuses/reasons to defend these, but these just enable the status quo, which seems to be a downward spiral. We need change before this becomes a genuine existential crisis for the club. It genuinely feels like a humiliation ritual watching this club right now. 

I don't have much to say about the owners, they're throwing money at the club for no ROI, but yes we probably need more investors however this seems unlikely. But the powers that be (Domey, Gilly) have gotten complacent being the big fish in the small pond after their many years at the club, and have been caught with their pants down when Auckland FC have come in and done pretty much everything right. Yes - AFC have a lot more money than us, but are we making the most out of the resources we do have? Is that just another excuse enabling the status quo downwards spiral? 

Go to your local Wellington club and ask about what they think about the Phoenix, even 10ish years after the Nix have been integrated into the NZ pathway there's still some pretty broken relationships between the Nix and local clubs. Like I said, they're used to being the big fish in the small pond and throw their weight around. AFC came in and collaborated with clubs and tried their best not to step on toes and generally have support from all local clubs in their area. I don't think you need to be a billionaire to be able to relationship manage. 

Our Director of Football, to my understanding doesn't have any technical experience. He was an internal 'promotion' from an administrator (Ops Manager) to a technical position (DOF). I've said this before but compare this to the JAFAs, their director of football was a former player, coach and player agent, and has his masters in Coach Education and a UEFA A Licence. Yes, this one can be a money issue, but in the past we've afforded to through 200k+ a year for individual players that come and go, why not invest in getting the foundations of the club right too? 

I say all this because I genuinely love this club, but I'm genuinely worried about where it's headed. I've lost faith in the leadership of the club. They've given a lot to a club, but we need to start fresh. Especially if neither team make the play-offs, Chiefy needs to go, Gilly needs to go, Domey needs to go. 

Absolutely spot on. Chief and Gill need to go as they are solely responsible for the on-field cluster and the myriads of missteps from recruitment, tactics, results, strategy etc.  Perhaps prepared to cut Dome a little more slack as he is responsible for a lot more, but he has to be skating on really thin ice. 

FransenFC

imanixsupporter

could not be less surprised by this sort of chat from Domey. Forget starting with some accountability or self-incrimination, just straight to finger pointing and whining

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This last paragraph urks me. 

Chiefy in his live post match doesnt argue the red card itself, and its a clearcut DOGSO. Yes LKH is 2-3m away but Cosgrove would get a shot off, so meets the requirements there.
He also admits that Eze's pen (1st) is very clear, infact he says its "definitely a penalty". I respect Chief for being open and honest around these calls because these two were very fair

To then have one of, if not the most senior club employee drag it through the mud a whole week later, just shows a poor mindset. The games done, move onto the Jets, focus on ourselves instead of blaming other things.
Was there some interesting calls? Yes! Did that cost us the game? No, we did that ourselves.

Need to pick our battles better, stop having a "woe is me" mindset, and be better than our failings. I respect the immense effort and time and success Dome has brought the club over his long service, and established us as truly a top half team, but recently the wheels are falling off on and off the pitch, from marketing to engagement to the results.

Something needs to change behind the scenes

he's the gm of the club, not a journalist. calm down.