WPM R21 vs Melbourne City | Fri 28th Feb | 7:30pm | RoF / Sky Sport 2

Outpost

We aren't at the end of the season yet but at this point if you look at the table it does seem like the league has split along a fault line of haves and have-nots. So you've got all your big Sydney/Melb clubs who have bags of money and can easily get round the drastically reduced salary cap, while the smaller regional city clubs that don't have the same financial resources appear to have been hit harder (Adelaide being the obvious exception).

The smaller clubs have been forced to plug the gaps in their squad on the cheap, meaning more young, inexperienced players in the starting lineup plus a bunch of pretty humdrum imports, a lot of whom have simply fallen by the wayside. Sound familiar? I'm not offering this as an excuse as to why the Nix have done so poorly but I think there is a lot more context here than simply saying "Chiefy is rubbish". Mark Jackson at CCM definitely isn't rubbish and they are floundering almost as badly as the Nix.

Western United have a worse team on paper than us.

Fenix

Piper,Rojas and LBS tried to shake it up a bit.
That's all I want to say

Re Piper, Ifill agreed. Did no one else hear his crack about Piper's efforts  being like having M'a Nonu in the team? I think he meant it as a compliment.

Western United the exception this year.

Screenshot_20250302-170146.png 314.57 KB

Outpost

We aren't at the end of the season yet but at this point if you look at the table it does seem like the league has split along a fault line of haves and have-nots. So you've got all your big Sydney/Melb clubs who have bags of money and can easily get round the drastically reduced salary cap, while the smaller regional city clubs that don't have the same financial resources appear to have been hit harder (Adelaide being the obvious exception).

The smaller clubs have been forced to plug the gaps in their squad on the cheap, meaning more young, inexperienced players in the starting lineup plus a bunch of pretty humdrum imports, a lot of whom have simply fallen by the wayside. Sound familiar? I'm not offering this as an excuse as to why the Nix have done so poorly but I think there is a lot more context here than simply saying "Chiefy is rubbish". Mark Jackson at CCM definitely isn't rubbish and they are floundering almost as badly as the Nix.

Outpost essentially saying we aren't among the richest teams in the league so we shouldn't expect anything better than what we get. Same old story

I don't get the whole, he had a good year last year, so give him one more... His job is to have a good year every year. He inherited a very good squad last year and did well - arguably a little better than expected. This year he built his team, and we have been shocking.

He has done nothing to warrant an extension based on this seasons efforts (his fault for not signing an extension at the start of the season).

His tactics have not worked and he is too rigid in this thinking to change set up. He started 7 defenders in a must win game 2 weeks ago... we had no shots on target on Friday night... Kosta our lone striker is averaging 1 shot a game in the last 5.

2 wins in 12, based on a system where we try not to lose for as long as possible and maybe, just maybe sneak a win if lucky. It's boring and ineffective.

And based on the salaries (we spend more than Adelaide) you can't really argue he doesn't have the funds to do better. Nor can we argue injuries - Adelaide have had their fair share and are missing 4 youth players to the u20's.

Forget last year, this is a results based business (even coaches in team expecting to be relegated get sacked).

What has Chiefy done this year to deserve an extension of his contract. What has he done with this team??

It is 2 wins in 13 now

Edit: I think that transfermarkt table above is player value not salary...

MetalLegNZ

I don't get the whole, he had a good year last year, so give him one more... His job is to have a good year every year. He inherited a very good squad last year and did well - arguably a little better than expected. This year he built his team, and we have been shocking.

He has done nothing to warrant an extension based on this seasons efforts (his fault for not signing an extension at the start of the season).

His tactics have not worked and he is too rigid in this thinking to change set up. He started 7 defenders in a must win game 2 weeks ago... we had no shots on target on Friday night... Kosta our lone striker is averaging 1 shot a game in the last 5.

2 wins in 12, based on a system where we try not to lose for as long as possible and maybe, just maybe sneak a win if lucky. It's boring and ineffective.

And based on the salaries (we spend more than Adelaide) you can't really argue he doesn't have the funds to do better. Nor can we argue injuries - Adelaide have had their fair share and are missing 4 youth players to the u20's.

Forget last year, this is a results based business (even coaches in team expecting to be relegated get sacked).

What has Chiefy done this year to deserve an extension of his contract. What has he done with this team??

I mean if it's that simple, all the teams should hire all the good coaches and everyone can win the league every year.

Worth noting there is a cost to a new coach.  By the time they come in, unless we get lucky and nab some amazing coach early, they have sod all time with the squad.  So we go into the start of the next season with a coach getting to know a team they likely had nothing to do with signing.

Then that season gets mostly a pass, and then they get their second season to achieve something.  So we plan for a dire season hoping the next one gets good.  Then if we see an improvement that coach uses turning a team around to go get more money elsewhere and we are back to square one.

I'd rather give Chiefy another crack.  After a rough season at least we won't have to pay overs for him for season 3.

MetalLegNZ

I don't get the whole, he had a good year last year, so give him one more... His job is to have a good year every year. He inherited a very good squad last year and did well - arguably a little better than expected. This year he built his team, and we have been shocking.

He has done nothing to warrant an extension based on this seasons efforts (his fault for not signing an extension at the start of the season).

His tactics have not worked and he is too rigid in this thinking to change set up. He started 7 defenders in a must win game 2 weeks ago... we had no shots on target on Friday night... Kosta our lone striker is averaging 1 shot a game in the last 5.

2 wins in 12, based on a system where we try not to lose for as long as possible and maybe, just maybe sneak a win if lucky. It's boring and ineffective.

And based on the salaries (we spend more than Adelaide) you can't really argue he doesn't have the funds to do better. Nor can we argue injuries - Adelaide have had their fair share and are missing 4 youth players to the u20's.

Forget last year, this is a results based business (even coaches in team expecting to be relegated get sacked).

What has Chiefy done this year to deserve an extension of his contract. What has he done with this team??

Revisionist thinking is the phrase yes??

Most pundits were picking the Nix to be wooden contenders before last season started. Lots of doom & gloom on here with Laws, Elliot, Sail, Lewis, Mauragis (was first choice LB most of 22/23 season), Sasse & Ugarković all leaving.

Chiefy did much much better than expected. This season the reverse.

Bananas

MetalLegNZ

I don't get the whole, he had a good year last year, so give him one more... His job is to have a good year every year. He inherited a very good squad last year and did well - arguably a little better than expected. This year he built his team, and we have been shocking.

He has done nothing to warrant an extension based on this seasons efforts (his fault for not signing an extension at the start of the season).

His tactics have not worked and he is too rigid in this thinking to change set up. He started 7 defenders in a must win game 2 weeks ago... we had no shots on target on Friday night... Kosta our lone striker is averaging 1 shot a game in the last 5.

2 wins in 12, based on a system where we try not to lose for as long as possible and maybe, just maybe sneak a win if lucky. It's boring and ineffective.

And based on the salaries (we spend more than Adelaide) you can't really argue he doesn't have the funds to do better. Nor can we argue injuries - Adelaide have had their fair share and are missing 4 youth players to the u20's.

Forget last year, this is a results based business (even coaches in team expecting to be relegated get sacked).

What has Chiefy done this year to deserve an extension of his contract. What has he done with this team??

I mean if it's that simple, all the teams should hire all the good coaches and everyone can win the league every year.

Worth noting there is a cost to a new coach.  By the time they come in, unless we get lucky and nab some amazing coach early, they have sod all time with the squad.  So we go into the start of the next season with a coach getting to know a team they likely had nothing to do with signing.

Then that season gets mostly a pass, and then they get their second season to achieve something.  So we plan for a dire season hoping the next one gets good.  Then if we see an improvement that coach uses turning a team around to go get more money elsewhere and we are back to square one.

I'd rather give Chiefy another crack.  After a rough season at least we won't have to pay overs for him for season 3.

At the risk of flogging a horse near death, the Nix will highly likely go into the last 3-4 weeks of pre season (Sept-Oct) without around 8-10 of their squad (guys who have been in match day squads this season) away at the U20 WC.

Any new coach coming in, not knowing the players well, is going to start the season with one arm behind their back. For that reason alone if Chiefy isn't retained, I'd give Adam Griffiths a 1+1 deal as the new head gaffer. At least that would make any coaching regime transistion a bit more smooth.

Have you ever heard of the new manager bounce, coochie? I bet you were keen for NZR to promote Ian Foster rather than give the ABs job to Razor when Hansen retired

It's just the style of football that is so boring and dire to watch. I would rather a coach that sets up with an attacking mindset and actually has a crack, rather than sitting back and defending all day and hoping for a lucky break. There's no relegation, why are we playing like this?

I would rather we lose 6-0, but actually play to win, than this negative, boring style of football.

This is why I think we need a new coach. We need a new philosophy. 

I think it's clear that Giancarlo wants to persist with his main tactic, but honestly it's just dreadful to watch, and I think the players are very confused to be honest. 

I respect Chief and what he's done, but I'm not sure he's going to change his style of football. Do we really want to continue watching this each match? I used to get fired up before matches, especially at home, knowing we would take on any team in the league. 

These days, I've lost all excitement. This is coming from a day 1 Nix fan.

imanixsupporter

Have you ever heard of the new manager bounce, coochie? I bet you were keen for NZR to promote Ian Foster rather than give the ABs job to Razor when Hansen retired

A new coach bounce goes a few games, not a whole season. 

And yes I follow Rugby, and no I wanted Razor to get the job earlier. Though to uninspiring Foster's credit, he was very unlucky not to coach a RWC winning team. 

I think the Chiefy In crew fail sometimes to understand what us Chiefy Out people are saying. It's NOT about results. 

If players are out injured or away and then results don't go our way because of that that's fine, I'm sure we can all accept that. The position on the table is not the problem, bad seasons in terms or results happen, the lack of anything interesting on the pitch is the problem though.

We play an uninspired low block and we don't even do it well. How many teams do a low block because frankly it's an easier way to play against better opponents? Lots of them, cause it's in theory not that hard to do well. We can't even do that well. We take no shots, we fudge around with the ball along the backline and routinely refuse to take a break when it arrives. It's just shark to watch. Where's the entertainment? I want to just believe that we can win games even if we don't, take it by the scruff of the neck, be active not reactive.

When as a day one fan I'm thinking pretty consistently about things I'd rather be doing than watching Italianos Nix it says a lot about where we are.

As posted above, the mentality of the team bothers me more than the results, and that comes from the coach. Do the players actually belive they can win currently.

If appointing new coaches is so detrimental as insinuated above, then why does any club do it. The reality is, a new coach coming in, couldn't really do any worse that what Chief has this season.

Yes there are loop holes, but this is a salary restricted (developmental) league so the ability to be competative is far higher than say in the top 5 leagues where the big clubs can simply dominate through their cash advantage.

Regardless - no one actually answered the main question I asked in defending Chief getting an extension... what has he done this year to deserve one. Where is the value added this year?? If you have something, please tell me because I can't see it, and honestly I'd love something positive to hold on to.

And another thing i don't get is the incosistant use of his youngsters like Sypuk who gets a start one week, and then disappears the next. Same with Conchie etc. Even his promotion of youth seems sporadic and not clearly mapped out/thought out. Good enough to start one week, out of the squad the next - how does that build a young players confidence??

Give Greenacre a shot - try for Buckingham, shark I'd take Danny Hay. Despite being a Twit, I think the All Whites played well under him and we've had 'strong minded' managers before like Ufuk. What about Riera... he's done alright with Auckland.

There are options out there.

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really be happy with 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks, any more than going down 2-0 at AAMI Park in a very dull affair. There was a peak in online outrage after that big AFC loss.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or Sayonara.

Edit - don't forget the necessary coaching licence requirements, when suggesting replacements

MetalLegNZ

As posted above, the mentality of the team bothers me more than the results, and that comes from the coach. Do the players actually belive they can win currently.

If appointing new coaches is so detrimental as insinuated above, then why does any club do it. The reality is, a new coach coming in, couldn't really do any worse that what Chief has this season.

Yes there are loop holes, but this is a salary restricted (developmental) league so the ability to be competative is far higher than say in the top 5 leagues where the big clubs can simply dominate through their cash advantage.

Regardless - no one actually answered the main question I asked in defending Chief getting an extension... what has he done this year to deserve one. Where is the value added this year?? If you have something, please tell me because I can't see it, and honestly I'd love something positive to hold on to.

And another thing i don't get is the incosistant use of his youngsters like Sypuk who gets a start one week, and then disappears the next. Same with Conchie etc. Even his promotion of youth seems sporadic and not clearly mapped out/thought out. Good enough to start one week, out of the squad the next - how does that build a young players confidence??

Give Greenacre a shot - try for Buckingham, shark I'd take Danny Hay. Despite being a Twit, I think the All Whites played well under him and we've had 'strong minded' managers before like Ufuk. What about Riera... he's done alright with Auckland.

There are options out there.

 Agreed.

Guess I have to spell it out for you. You don't need to have months with a team to get a team functioning and get results. New managers arrive at clubs in midseason and have successful tenures all the time. Chris Wood knows quite a lot about one in Nuno Espirito Santo.

Edit: upon reflection of how well Nuno did last season, he probably supports your argument and not mine. Only really took the team to another level after a full preseason.

coochiee

imanixsupporter

Have you ever heard of the new manager bounce, coochie? I bet you were keen for NZR to promote Ian Foster rather than give the ABs job to Razor when Hansen retired

A new coach bounce goes a few games, not a whole season. 

And yes I follow Rugby, and no I wanted Razor to get the job earlier. Though to uninspiring Foster's credit, he was very unlucky not to coach a RWC winning team. 

coochiee

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really like 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks. Even if yeah it's more exciting than a very dull 2-0 Melb City loss at AAMI Park.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or not.

 I would put my money on that if we were playing "entertaining" football but we lost 10 games by 5 goals and we're sitting on the bottom of the table there would be more Chief out signs and less than 5000 at every game.

Also worth noting that the same critiques people have this season were also being made last season when we landed the highest we ever had on the ladder.

The only difference is we are playing similar to last season and we are shark.  

Last year when we were being "negative" we were winning.  I did enjoy watching us win even if the cynics didn't.

coochiee

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really be happy with 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks, any more than going down 2-0 at AAMI Park in a very dull affair. There was a peak in online outrage after that big AFC loss.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or Sayonara.

Edit - don't forget the necessary coaching licence requirements, when suggesting replacements

 I would rather losing 4-3 and the odd 5-2 than these dire 1-0 losses

LT01

coochiee

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really be happy with 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks, any more than going down 2-0 at AAMI Park in a very dull affair. There was a peak in online outrage after that big AFC loss.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or Sayonara.

Edit - don't forget the necessary coaching licence requirements, when suggesting replacements

 I would rather losing 4-3 and the odd 5-2 than these dire 1-0 losses

How about a dozen 6-1's?

The weekend where we played entertaining football was 6-1 not 5-2.

Bananas

LT01

coochiee

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really be happy with 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks, any more than going down 2-0 at AAMI Park in a very dull affair. There was a peak in online outrage after that big AFC loss.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or Sayonara.

Edit - don't forget the necessary coaching licence requirements, when suggesting replacements

 I would rather losing 4-3 and the odd 5-2 than these dire 1-0 losses

How about a dozen 6-1's?

The weekend where we played entertaining football was 6-1 not 5-2.

We didn't play entertaining football and the final shot count was deceptive, people are showing selective memory.

At the time Auckland made it 3-0, we'd had 2 shots. By the time we got our other 9 shots in across the game (and let me just add that 11 shots still isn't a lot for one team across a whole game), the Knights were cruising to victory.

If we get that number of efforts at goal (and good efforts not wild lashes) when we're 1-0 down you'll find most Nix fans are a lot more accepting.

LT01

Bananas

LT01

coochiee

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really be happy with 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks, any more than going down 2-0 at AAMI Park in a very dull affair. There was a peak in online outrage after that big AFC loss.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or Sayonara.

Edit - don't forget the necessary coaching licence requirements, when suggesting replacements

 I would rather losing 4-3 and the odd 5-2 than these dire 1-0 losses

How about a dozen 6-1's?

The weekend where we played entertaining football was 6-1 not 5-2.

We didn't play entertaining football and the final shot count was deceptive, people are showing selective memory.

At the time Auckland made it 3-0, we'd had 2 shots. By the time we got our other 9 shots in across the game (and let me just add that 11 shots still isn't a lot for one team across a whole game), the Knights were cruising to victory.

If we get that number of efforts at goal (and good efforts not wild lashes) when we're 1-0 down you'll find most Nix fans are a lot more accepting.

Yea that's fair.  So you reckon we should focus on making high percentage chances and shooting them... Where have I heard that?  Oh that's Chiefys whole thing.

So what you're saying is we should do the same thing Chiefy keeps saying.... Interesting.

imanixsupporter

Outpost essentially saying we aren't among the richest teams in the league so we shouldn't expect anything better than what we get. Same old story

Not true, you need to update yourself on The Morrison family and Infratil. The Aussie Super Fund tried a $6Billion take over which was declined. 

Bananas

LT01

Bananas

LT01

coochiee

Ironically in the 6-1 shellacking at Mt Smart. The Nix had 11 shots, with 5 on target.

I'd be interested to know how that compares to most games this season for shooting stats? I expect there would be very few games this campaign where the Nix had that many pots at the goal.

https://aleagues.com.au/match/a-league-men/auckland-vs-wellington-phoenix-22-02-2025/?tab=match-stats

Viewed through a neutral lens it was a highly entertaining game.

But I'm not sure Nix fans would really be happy with 6-1, 5-2, 4-3 type losses most weeks, any more than going down 2-0 at AAMI Park in a very dull affair. There was a peak in online outrage after that big AFC loss.  

Lets see how the team is playing at the end of the season. Still turgid most games, or actually providing some entertainment. Italiano basically has 8 game probation period now to build a case for an extension or Sayonara.

Edit - don't forget the necessary coaching licence requirements, when suggesting replacements

 I would rather losing 4-3 and the odd 5-2 than these dire 1-0 losses

How about a dozen 6-1's?

The weekend where we played entertaining football was 6-1 not 5-2.

We didn't play entertaining football and the final shot count was deceptive, people are showing selective memory.

At the time Auckland made it 3-0, we'd had 2 shots. By the time we got our other 9 shots in across the game (and let me just add that 11 shots still isn't a lot for one team across a whole game), the Knights were cruising to victory.

If we get that number of efforts at goal (and good efforts not wild lashes) when we're 1-0 down you'll find most Nix fans are a lot more accepting.

Yea that's fair.  So you reckon we should focus on making high percentage chances and shooting them... Where have I heard that?  Oh that's Chiefys whole thing.

So what you're saying is we should do the same thing Chiefy keeps saying.... Interesting.

You've totally missed my point. While we were still in the game, we created bugger all. If it had stayed at just 1-0, it probably would have continued in the same manner with us hoping to nab one on the counter. Only once Auckland soared into a nearly unassailable 3-0 lead did we genuinely change our approach and by that point the game was done.

Our core issues go beyond mere shooting stats. It's not like we are getting into good shooting positions and regularly passing up the chance to shoot, we are just barely getting into these positions at all. Our expected goals pretty closely mirrors our goals scored which indicates it's not an issue of not being clinical. 

The core underlying issues stem from our reactive, passive game plan that lets the other team dictate proceedings and waits for them to make a move before we do on the counterattack. But as well as the loss of key players, other teams have also learnt to counter this by reducing the types of turnovers we used to thrive off, restricting us to limited shots and low expected goals every game. Then like Victory and City, they can be very ordinary in the final third and still win against us by scoring a single goal.

imanixsupporter

Guess I have to spell it out for you. You don't need to have months with a team to get a team functioning and get results. New managers arrive at clubs in midseason and have successful tenures all the time. Chris Wood knows quite a lot about one in Nuno Espirito Santo.

Edit: upon reflection of how well Nuno did last season, he probably supports your argument and not mine. Only really took the team to another level after a full preseason.

coochiee

imanixsupporter

Have you ever heard of the new manager bounce, coochie? I bet you were keen for NZR to promote Ian Foster rather than give the ABs job to Razor when Hansen retired

A new coach bounce goes a few games, not a whole season. 

And yes I follow Rugby, and no I wanted Razor to get the job earlier. Though to uninspiring Foster's credit, he was very unlucky not to coach a RWC winning team. 

And there were several other points there. 

One is that the ownership were prepared to burn through money and even premiership points in order to stay up. There was no shortage of (potentially) good players in the team.  There was something like 30 players brought in iirc! This is completely different to how the Nix’s squad and attitude is.

Nuno was able to bring in a keeper (though they’d had a better keeper in Navas and Henderson before), a defender in Milenkovic and Elliot Anderson. This balanced the squad. 

Secondly, the job of getting the players to trust Woodsy was partially done by Steve Cooper. The self belief to score and win against anyone was already there. Again completely different to the Nix. They’d beaten United at Old Trafford (and back home) and Newcastle at St James Park. Big home atmospheres. The kind of goals they scored under Nuno were the same, but they lost 3-2 too much. Bournemouth, Brighton, West Ham, Brentford, Newcastle and Chelsea. And a lot of draws and one goal losses. 

The potential of the team was there, and then a bit of defensive solidity was added to the team without removing their goal scoring ability. Chris Wood scored 14 PL goals last season, did a full pre-season with the club and has scored 18 so far which is his best ever return. 

It’d be like a coach coming in and not really changing Chief’s defensive solidity, but adding a little more attacking threat and follow through. 

Ideally like Pearson and Leceister, if it must be done! Get the form at the end of the season and slingshot through to win the title the next. 

Sorry, a bit of a side issue from Chief’s work. But in both cases coach change upswings work best when there are already many things going right at said clubs, and it is a matter of tweaking or sustaining work and a direction already underway. Which most are arguing here is not, yet, happening under Chief.

I think the owners paid money to get the two Japanese imports, a Goalkeeper and payout for Ball to import Chico.

I’ve posted a few times before, and my view remains the same. I respect Chiefy, and I’m in the “Chiefy In” camp only if he can demonstrate tactical flexibility and play attacking football. Otherwise, it’s “Chiefy Out” for me. His tactics no longer have the novelty factor, and other teams have figured us out.

This style of football will lead to gloom and doom for both results and the fan base, no matter how many more seasons he’s here.

An exciting scene from Sky Stadium on Friday. The crowd go wild as the Phoenix recycle the ball back to the centre half again, despite being 1 nil down...

20250228_205301.jpg 1.84 MB

I miss the off season.

It's such a bummer for the club. That the season Auckland come into the comp our football is so unimpressive to watch that fans are being turned off. Any neutral will by far be more inclined to follow Auckland. 

Ranix

It's such a bummer for the club. That the season Auckland come into the comp our football is so unimpressive to watch that fans are being turned off. Any neutral will by far be more inclined to follow Auckland. 

Picked the worst season to be sharke

Imagine if we had the team we had last season v this Auckland side

valeo

Ranix

It's such a bummer for the club. That the season Auckland come into the comp our football is so unimpressive to watch that fans are being turned off. Any neutral will by far be more inclined to follow Auckland. 

Picked the worst season to be sharke

Imagine if we had the team we had last season v this Auckland side

Kraev alone would have made a difference.

Yes but nowhere near enough.

We played boring football last year. Low block - hit ‘em on the break. That was basically it.

Maybe with Paulsen, Surman, Old, Kraev, Zawada and David Ball we would have stood a chance, but my money would still have been on AFC.

Sadly.

Would Al Taay, Ball, and Van Hattum have improved things this year? Can’t help but speculate that at the margins they may have done.

theprof

valeo

Ranix

It's such a bummer for the club. That the season Auckland come into the comp our football is so unimpressive to watch that fans are being turned off. Any neutral will by far be more inclined to follow Auckland. 

Picked the worst season to be sharke

Imagine if we had the team we had last season v this Auckland side

Kraev alone would have made a difference.

Chiefy probably would have had him on the bench behind Walker 

theprof

valeo

Ranix

It's such a bummer for the club. That the season Auckland come into the comp our football is so unimpressive to watch that fans are being turned off. Any neutral will by far be more inclined to follow Auckland. 

Picked the worst season to be sharke

Imagine if we had the team we had last season v this Auckland side

Kraev alone would have made a difference.

imanixsupporter

Chiefy probably would have had him on the bench behind Walker 

theprof

valeo

Ranix

It's such a bummer for the club. That the season Auckland come into the comp our football is so unimpressive to watch that fans are being turned off. Any neutral will by far be more inclined to follow Auckland. 

Picked the worst season to be sharke

Imagine if we had the team we had last season v this Auckland side

Kraev alone would have made a difference.

Nah would’ve forced him out in January

For those not pushing for a new manager I give you my other team Plymouth Argyle.

Very similar to the Nix, a costal city that's not that popular with players, a strong fan base, an owner who cares for the club but isn't minted (WelNix likely are but that's another story) who hired a manger (Rooney) to do what Cheify's doing. Bottom of the league, piss poor home and away, turning fans off in droves, likely to get the club relegated.

Club sacked him and replaced him with Miron Muslic, sold one player, brought in a couple of journeyman,  and next minute beating Liverpool and pushing Man City all the way.

That's the sort of action I want the Nix to carry out esp. as Cheify's likely lost the dressing room.

Cheify's football is boring and was saved last season by a few players having blinders.

Not only is this bad for the club, players and fans, but our sponsors will be wondering if they want to continue to be associated with us.  It is hard enough as it is, but shark results would likely deter any new sponsors ringing the Nix.  We need positive results and we need them now for both our teams. 

I listen to "A-League off air" podcast with Daniel mcbreen & Robbie Thomson. They have utter contempt for the way Chief sets us up to play and how utterly dreadful games featuring us are to watch. We are legitimately damaging this league with how we play, it isn't even just affecting ourselves. Casuals tuning in to watch us might never ever watch the league again