Credit where credit is due. Well done Alex Rufer, well overdue, but very pleased to see him bag that goal. But my pick for the top performance of the day goes to……… ………Patrick Barnes! 😳 Well done Patrick, an excellent performance! 👏🏻
Team really starting to gel now and come together as a unit. Fantastic two games today, great to watch. Such a positive feeling about the club. COYN!!!
Can't help but wonder where this season could go. I hope we get the finish our 19/20 season deserved. Uffie deserves that with the Nix.
We have played some lovely football lately - some really nice interplay happening.
My only gripe, how we continue to try and see out games. Why not keep playing... we were dominating and then all of a sudden we go 11 behind the ball, stop pressing and just aimlessly kick the ball away.
We have played some lovely football lately - some really nice interplay happening.
My only gripe, how we continue to try and see out games. Why not keep playing... we were dominating and then all of a sudden we go 11 behind the ball, stop pressing and just aimlessly kick the ball away.
I guess because it’s working. Attempts to close out with extra goals saw us drop points earlier in the season.
Superb to wake up to this result. Looking forward to making it back for my first home game of the year, whenever that is though? ROD game is too soon and will likely pass out after a beer! Hopefully the crowd figures start to follow, but great to hear the YF were in fine voice. A friend of mine was there with his 1 yr old daughter (lounge I think) and apparently moved to the window every time she heard them sing. Loves it!
Oh and congrats to Rufer! More than had his detractors but to score on your first start in the stadium post injury. Superb. Chuffed to bits for him, don't think it's any coincidence the form has picked up since he's come back in.
We have played some lovely football lately - some really nice interplay happening.
My only gripe, how we continue to try and see out games. Why not keep playing... we were dominating and then all of a sudden we go 11 behind the ball, stop pressing and just aimlessly kick the ball away.
Sort of agree but there were a couple of more positive signs today. Firstly I think we tried to foot it with them for a lot longer and got some good counterattacks in during the 2nd half. Around the midway mark CCM had us under huge pressure in the midfield but I was impressed with how we were able to withstand it and still look to turn possession to our advantage.
Secondly the Mariners are a very good, very confident team in great form, and that they were overrunning us in the last 15 says as much about their quality as it does about our desperation.
Definitely a few moments though where a cool head might've seen us pass our way out of trouble instead of hoofing it straight back to them.
Loved the game today, Fever was pumping. My takeaways from this game:
Confirmation that Elliot is arguably our player of the season so far, 4 assists already this season and looks very competent defensively
Zawada is ridiculously good at hold up play and so important to the team. Even if he didn't score I'd have him starting every week, not that that's the case at the moment. Great to have a proper number 9 who can do the dirty work and put them away
The whole world could be a fiery apocalyptic hellscape and the fever zone would still be joyfully shouting that Zawada chant
Alex Rufer's goal and subsequent world-cup-final-winner-esque celebration is football heritage and genuinely one of my favourite moments watching from the zone. He was fantastic too
If there’s been studs into Ollie and he’s reacted by pushing a player over and both have got yellows we’ve been hard done by again.
The one after Brisbane where one of their senior players pushed someone after a bit of OVH chirping is fairly not much in that. But if this seems like a red card attack on Oli then the refereeing team have failed to do their jobs and protect our players.
Correct me if I am wrong. Rufer has played 5 games since he was injured for 4 wins and a draw. 1) extra time in Adeliade 3-1 win 2) extra time in Perth 1-1 Draw 3) 60 odd minutes in Syd FC 1-0 win 4) 65 odd minutes in Roar 1-0 win 5) 90 mins in CCM 2-1 Win and first goal
Correct me if I am wrong. Rufer has played 5 games since he was injured for 4 wins and a draw. 1) extra time in Adeliade 3-1 win 2) extra time in Perth 1-1 Draw 3) 60 odd minutes in Syd FC 1-0 win 4) 65 odd minutes in Roar 1-0 win 5) 90 mins in CCM 2-1 Win and first goal
Pretty nice return to football he is having!
Great to see. If you told me at the start of the season that Rufer would be keeping Ugarkovic on the bench I don't think I would have believed it. He is looking assured and providing the team with some good rigidity in the middle.
Great especially if Clayton has an injury that keeps him out for any period of time - Ugarkovic will slot right into his more creative role and Rufer retains his spot.
What a great first half really good combination football, they looked confident and solid for the whole game. Lovely Sunday and the atmosphere sounded louder than the 5.5K
We have played some lovely football lately - some really nice interplay happening.
My only gripe, how we continue to try and see out games. Why not keep playing... we were dominating and then all of a sudden we go 11 behind the ball, stop pressing and just aimlessly kick the ball away.
Losing Lewis didn't help at 50min.
Any games he misses will hurt and I don't believe people saying Ugarkovic can play the same role.
On another note, strong game from Rufur and congrats on the goal.
Does anyone think that while the whole world is against us, siege mentality, backs against the wall approach seems to have galvanised the squad that perhaps it's going a touch over the top? Regardless if we were right or wrong in each incident, isn't part of football accepting sometimes things go against you, IE your not ever going to get every call. and sticking up for yourself against dirty opposition players is all well and good but surely you have to be careful it doesn't boil over.
Sail while he could have been in the complete right re the high foot at the end, does put himself at the mercy of the referee/match review panel for his reaction. Have we tipped over the scales of being pushovers a bit too far?
Does anyone think that while the whole world is against us, siege mentality, backs against the wall approach seems to have galvanised the squad that perhaps it's going a touch over the top? Regardless if we were right or wrong in each incident, isn't part of football accepting sometimes things go against you, IE your not ever going to get every call. and sticking up for yourself against dirty opposition players is all well and good but surely you have to be careful it doesn't boil over.
Sail while he could have been in the complete right re the high foot at the end, does put himself at the mercy of the referee/match review panel for his reaction. Have we tipped over the scales of being pushovers a bit too far?
Not yet. 3 wins on the bounce, even though we disappointingly conceded the clean sheet late on.
Pennington- yes, had that rep in Italy and went too far, but unlucky.
Uffie- has to measure his approach. It seemed with Gothy there was a bit of good cop, bad cop. It seemed to me that Uffie pissed off the linesman on his side and then we got every possible call after that called against us, particularly a number against Zawada.
Sail- risky to push the bloke over. But it’s not on for cheap shots to be allowed just because the whistle has gone.
I don’t feel, strangely, like our football has been as dominant as we were earlier. It’s more difficult for us to hold possession and move it smoothly through the centre. But we’ve kept two clean sheets and got three wins.
Does anyone think that while the whole world is against us, siege mentality, backs against the wall approach seems to have galvanised the squad that perhaps it's going a touch over the top? Regardless if we were right or wrong in each incident, isn't part of football accepting sometimes things go against you, IE your not ever going to get every call. and sticking up for yourself against dirty opposition players is all well and good but surely you have to be careful it doesn't boil over.
Sail while he could have been in the complete right re the high foot at the end, does put himself at the mercy of the referee/match review panel for his reaction. Have we tipped over the scales of being pushovers a bit too far?
Not yet. 3 wins on the bounce, even though we disappointingly conceded the clean sheet late on.
Pennington- yes, had that rep in Italy and went too far, but unlucky.
Uffie- has to measure his approach. It seemed with Gothy there was a bit of good cop, bad cop. It seemed to me that Uffie pissed off the linesman on his side and then we got every possible call after that called against us, particularly a number against Zawada.
Sail- risky to push the bloke over. But it’s not on for cheap shots to be allowed just because the whistle has gone.
I don’t feel, strangely, like our football has been as dominant as we were earlier. It’s more difficult for us to hold possession and move it smoothly through the centre. But we’ve kept two clean sheets and got three wins.
let me ask it another way - do you think some of the stuff that's a bit close to being OTT makes any difference to the last couple of results?
I totally get we needed to add some steel to our game and not be pushed around and step up etc etc - but is that extra 1% or 2% on top needed?
Does anyone think that while the whole world is against us, siege mentality, backs against the wall approach seems to have galvanised the squad that perhaps it's going a touch over the top? Regardless if we were right or wrong in each incident, isn't part of football accepting sometimes things go against you, IE your not ever going to get every call. and sticking up for yourself against dirty opposition players is all well and good but surely you have to be careful it doesn't boil over.
Sail while he could have been in the complete right re the high foot at the end, does put himself at the mercy of the referee/match review panel for his reaction. Have we tipped over the scales of being pushovers a bit too far?
Not yet. 3 wins on the bounce, even though we disappointingly conceded the clean sheet late on.
Pennington- yes, had that rep in Italy and went too far, but unlucky.
Uffie- has to measure his approach. It seemed with Gothy there was a bit of good cop, bad cop. It seemed to me that Uffie pissed off the linesman on his side and then we got every possible call after that called against us, particularly a number against Zawada.
Sail- risky to push the bloke over. But it’s not on for cheap shots to be allowed just because the whistle has gone.
I don’t feel, strangely, like our football has been as dominant as we were earlier. It’s more difficult for us to hold possession and move it smoothly through the centre. But we’ve kept two clean sheets and got three wins.
let me ask it another way - do you think some of the stuff that's a bit close to being OTT makes any difference to the last couple of results?
I totally get we needed to add some steel to our game and not be pushed around and step up etc etc - but is that extra 1% or 2% on top needed?
Honestly think most of the bs is other teams frustrated at not beating us.
Also a fired up, niggly Sail sans C armband is playing a lot better, than the more passive version with armband.
Personally I hate the sideline abuse of officials especially. But some players lift their game with a bit of niggle. Almost seem to need it. Sail's brother is a pretty handy rugby player (Nth Harbour NPC team), so probably plenty of rough & tumble in his household growing up.
Edit - actually see 5 boys in his family, so would have been plenty of physical stuff going on. A whanau of boxers apparently, so probably unwise to throw a punch at big Oli. https://wellingtonphoenix.com/news/catching-oliver-sail
Does anyone think that while the whole world is against us, siege mentality, backs against the wall approach seems to have galvanised the squad that perhaps it's going a touch over the top? Regardless if we were right or wrong in each incident, isn't part of football accepting sometimes things go against you, IE your not ever going to get every call. and sticking up for yourself against dirty opposition players is all well and good but surely you have to be careful it doesn't boil over.
Sail while he could have been in the complete right re the high foot at the end, does put himself at the mercy of the referee/match review panel for his reaction. Have we tipped over the scales of being pushovers a bit too far?
Not yet. 3 wins on the bounce, even though we disappointingly conceded the clean sheet late on.
Pennington- yes, had that rep in Italy and went too far, but unlucky.
Uffie- has to measure his approach. It seemed with Gothy there was a bit of good cop, bad cop. It seemed to me that Uffie pissed off the linesman on his side and then we got every possible call after that called against us, particularly a number against Zawada.
Sail- risky to push the bloke over. But it’s not on for cheap shots to be allowed just because the whistle has gone.
I don’t feel, strangely, like our football has been as dominant as we were earlier. It’s more difficult for us to hold possession and move it smoothly through the centre. But we’ve kept two clean sheets and got three wins.
let me ask it another way - do you think some of the stuff that's a bit close to being OTT makes any difference to the last couple of results?
I totally get we needed to add some steel to our game and not be pushed around and step up etc etc - but is that extra 1% or 2% on top needed?
I get what you're saying, and reckon it's possible.
That Sydney game gave the team a point to prove and the majority of the games have looked scrappier than it has in previous games, but the team is winning.
Maybe that borderline OTT is a step towards the team fighting back against the odds.
Dunno, if they scale it back, maybe results do to?
It's not a good look - i'm ok with it in the game, but once the whistle goes it shouldn't happen. The 90 minutes is meant to be where the battle happens.
Whether it has been our fault or not, 3 end-of whistle push and shoves in 3 weeks is a poor look. I think too many of us are willing to give our team the benefit of the doubt, because it's our team.
It's not a good look - i'm ok with it in the game, but once the whistle goes it shouldn't happen. The 90 minutes is meant to be where the battle happens.
Whether it has been our fault or not, 3 end-of whistle push and shoves in 3 weeks is a poor look. I think too many of us are willing to give our team the benefit of the doubt, because it's our team.
Hopefully it doesn't happen again this season.
Agree with this but sadly the die seems cast. Our players like our coach seem to have a habit of picking up dumb yellows for completely unnecessary stuff. Just hope it dosnt come back to bite us with suspensions later in the season, Its fine to be competitive but dumb yellows for time wasting and pushing players over can only lead to one thing and with the way we get treated at times you just know the outcome isnt going to be good.
Looking at the league overall there’s a lot of uncertainty and irritability and this season lots of red cards. I don’t think there’s especially more violent play, but a lot of irritable or risky play imo. I can’t think of any Tiatto or Muscat types.
It’s certainly not just us. I think we’ve kept our heads fairly well. Certainly the players have done better than the fans! Rufer may pick up a few more and I think that is part of his none-shall-pass style. Taking yellows to break down attacks can be a legitimate thing, especially with depth. It can get annoying if the calls are one sided which has happened in various games to our detriment.
I mean look at Nkololo in the last game. He cut a very frustrated figure. He couldn’t play his game and resorted to ridiculous play acting, the vast majority of which the ref ignored. Other players at Brisbane etc have turned that frustration to causing trouble after the whistle. I honestly don’t think we’ve been particularly provocative apart playing like Callum Elliot. Which face it if you’re a winger chasing the game the last thing you want to be doing in chasing him back down the line for 70 yards.
It's definitely a terrible look and won't win us favours with refs when we need it.
Oli only has to look like he is wasting a few seconds now and he gets carded because he has been doing it for too long.
And as much as I love the fire in Uffies belly, when you're always yelling about calls you don't get the benefit of when you're actually calling out something wrong.
I'm glad the team is fired up and passionate but it could cost us. Dunno how many yellows Oli is on but it feels like he must be close to missing a game.
On red cards commentator Simon Hill said that as of this last weekend there had been 17 red cards in about 180 EPL games this season, compared to 25 handed out in 77 games in the A League.
Assuming I haven't totally misrepresented these stats (entirely possible, accept at your own risk) then they suggest that either a) the A League is rife with dangerous play, violent conduct and poor discipline, or b) A League officials are perhaps being a tad overzealous in their interpretation of the rules.
Yeah an either/or scenario is probably a bit simplistic but it does raise the question of why there is such a large disparity between the AL and EPL stats. After all EPL football is every bit as robust and physical as it is here.
My feeling is that officials have tightened up this season. My favorite officials allow a contest for the ball, but stamp down on anything cynical, dangerous or designed to break up the flow of the game. Easier to say than do of course.
But I kind of feel that the decisions on cards, mostly, have been consistent across games which is also commendable and somewhat novel in the A league.
Players still adjusting to VAR? Players out of sorts after a couple of disrupted seasons? Several higher tempo teams catching defenders out?
We have seen several cards that were poor game management after an initial yellow.
On red cards commentator Simon Hill said that as of this last weekend there had been 17 red cards in about 180 EPL games this season, compared to 25 handed out in 77 games in the A League.
Assuming I haven't totally misrepresented these stats (entirely possible, accept at your own risk) then they suggest that either a) the A League is rife with dangerous play, violent conduct and poor discipline, or b) A League officials are perhaps being a tad overzealous in their interpretation of the rules.
Yeah an either/or scenario is probably a bit simplistic but it does raise the question of why there is such a large disparity between the AL and EPL stats. After all EPL football is every bit as robust and physical as it is here.
A-League Refs have been told to protect players better & raised studs will be shown a red card. A lot of the reds are for players going into tackles with studs showing.
