WPM R5 vs Melbourne City | Sat 25th Nov | 4:30pm | Mt Smart

loyalgunner

You have to wonder what Ufuk Talay makes of the Phoenix start to the season. He heads off and his assistant gets the top job assumedly as the club can’t afford a new coach. Italiano is on a shoe string budget and can’t sign much new talent. Dips into the reserves while bringing the best out of most existing seniors and so far he’s doing much better.

Dome explained it, the Phoenix strategy is to develop coaches. The A League is too unique with the salary cap, finals series, travel distance, Australian heat, and import cap that they think going for top overseas coaches is a risk. Right now they value local knowledge and experience. Reading between the lines, we got burned by Darje and never want to go through that again. 

Dome also said that last season we had our most expensive squad ever and didn't get a return on investment so changed tactic, he said we still have a good budget as we've kept most of our foreigners.

If you look at the other a league teams, they have similar or fewer imports than us. Rudan said in the off season, that imports are just too expensive at the moment with middle eastern leagues paying over market value, so I don't think the Phoenix are necessarily being as cheap as you think, it's just a strategy and the reality that all a league teams find themselves in. And right now it's working 

As far as what Ufuk is thinking, hope it makes him reconsider his favoritism. He's said before he doesn't like changing his starting lineup because he thinks game time is required for relationships to develop, but it's clear there were players in the squad who were ready to step up but were either played out of position or never given a chance. Chief said when he started that he and Ufuk disagreed on the merits of certain players and it shows Chief was right.

I like Piney as a man and as a radio show host...but to me he's never been a natural play by play commentator. It's always felted forced. I think because he wasn't Andrew Dewhurst he automatically got a lot of props for just being competent in regards to his football knowledge TBH but Dan McCardy to me should be the regular play by play commentator.

You can't help but be super impressed by Italiano. Totally different personalties but seems to have a bit of Razor Roberston in him whereby every player stepsup and plays their absolute heart out each week. He's got kraev absolutely firing as well this season. Up the Nix!

Ryan

loyalgunner

You have to wonder what Ufuk Talay makes of the Phoenix start to the season. He heads off and his assistant gets the top job assumedly as the club can’t afford a new coach. Italiano is on a shoe string budget and can’t sign much new talent. Dips into the reserves while bringing the best out of most existing seniors and so far he’s doing much better.

Dome explained it, the Phoenix strategy is to develop coaches. The A League is too unique with the salary cap, finals series, travel distance, Australian heat, and import cap that they think going for top overseas coaches is a risk. Right now they value local knowledge and experience. Reading between the lines, we got burned by Darje and never want to go through that again. 

Dome also said that last season we had our most expensive squad ever and didn't get a return on investment so changed tactic, he said we still have a good budget as we've kept most of our foreigners.

If you look at the other a league teams, they have similar or fewer imports than us. Rudan said in the off season, that imports are just too expensive at the moment with middle eastern leagues paying over market value, so I don't think the Phoenix are necessarily being as cheap as you think, it's just a strategy and the reality that all a league teams find themselves in. And right now it's working 

As far as what Ufuk is thinking, hope it makes him reconsider his favoritism. He's said before he doesn't like changing squads because he thinks game time is required for relationships to develop, but it's clear there were players in the squad who were ready to step up but were either played out of position or never given a chance. Chief said when he started that he and Ufuk disagreed on the merits of certain players and it shows Chief was right.

Good analysis and thanks for that. Very good point re Darije.
 
I’m stoked to see the faith in the youth paying dividends. It will have benefits down the line for the national team as well. I just hope the youth set up keeps churning out talent like we are currently seeing while a few pick up contracts elsewhere as well. 

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

loyalgunner

Ryan

loyalgunner

You have to wonder what Ufuk Talay makes of the Phoenix start to the season. He heads off and his assistant gets the top job assumedly as the club can’t afford a new coach. Italiano is on a shoe string budget and can’t sign much new talent. Dips into the reserves while bringing the best out of most existing seniors and so far he’s doing much better.

Dome explained it, the Phoenix strategy is to develop coaches. The A League is too unique with the salary cap, finals series, travel distance, Australian heat, and import cap that they think going for top overseas coaches is a risk. Right now they value local knowledge and experience. Reading between the lines, we got burned by Darje and never want to go through that again. 

Dome also said that last season we had our most expensive squad ever and didn't get a return on investment so changed tactic, he said we still have a good budget as we've kept most of our foreigners.

If you look at the other a league teams, they have similar or fewer imports than us. Rudan said in the off season, that imports are just too expensive at the moment with middle eastern leagues paying over market value, so I don't think the Phoenix are necessarily being as cheap as you think, it's just a strategy and the reality that all a league teams find themselves in. And right now it's working 

As far as what Ufuk is thinking, hope it makes him reconsider his favoritism. He's said before he doesn't like changing squads because he thinks game time is required for relationships to develop, but it's clear there were players in the squad who were ready to step up but were either played out of position or never given a chance. Chief said when he started that he and Ufuk disagreed on the merits of certain players and it shows Chief was right.

Good analysis and thanks for that. Very good point re Darije.
 
I’m stoked to see the faith in the youth paying dividends. It will have benefits down the line for the national team as well. I just hope the youth set up keeps churning out talent like we are currently seeing while a few pick up contracts elsewhere as well. 

Also a thought.  We had the most expensive team ever last year. 
 
Surely that means it's a still an expensive team as we didn't exactly lose a heap between seasons?

Still for Zawada, Kraev etc.

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

I respectfully disagree. 

Yes Paulsen is young. 

Paulsen had a short run of games during the 2021/2022 season. At the end of that, it was a toss up whether he should continue or not. 

Talay said "Sail was signed as the no.1 therefore he remains the number one". I disagree with this premise. There has to be competition for places. From that moment there was no competition. 

For me this sums up the failure in Talays management. 

He’s playing very well and getting the recognition he deserves both as a player and captain.  He’s been massively under-rated by some for many seasons. 

theprof

Outpost

kungfu panda

martinb

Piss off Ugarkovic too! No more holiday Steves! 

 I would take Rufer any day of the week.

I was hugely impressed with his composure. Played a big part in that win. 

Also I thought Surman stepped up to a new level today. He suddenly looks like a fully formed, quality A League defender rather than a greenhorn learning his trade.

Alot of the players seem to have grown another foot under Chiefy, Rufer seems tohave added another dimension to his play, or he is just finally playing as he has always been capable of. His composure on the ball this season has been sublime.

kungfu panda

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

I respectfully disagree. 

Yes Paulsen is young. 

Paulsen had a short run of games during the 2021/2022 season. At the end of that, it was a toss up whether he should continue or not. 

Talay said "Sail was signed as the no.1 therefore he remains the number one". I disagree with this premise. There has to be competition for places. From that moment there was no competition. 

For me this sums up the failure in Talays management. 

Well he was right.  Paulsen remains number 40.

Also of note.  Your premise of probably the best goal keeper in the league for 2 years is interesting as if it's Talays failure to not have him, surely it's every coaches failure to not grab "probably the best goalkeeper in the league".

Why wouldn't any of them have thrown heaps of money at him?

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

Whenever Pauslen played with the first team he excelled though, he won us a penalty shootout against Melbourne City in the Australia Cup a couple of seasons ago and when he stepped in for Sail he didn't really put a foot wrong.

Think people were saying season before last that Sail was a top goalkeeper, last season there were plenty of people on here calling for him to be dropped. If Paulsen was ready to step up last season, we'll never know, but I think it was worth a look as Sail started to become a bit of a detriment on the field towards the end of the season. Improvement is a progression and it's highly unlikely that the Paulsen that was our starting keeper in the offseason was markedly better than Paulsen who was a reserve keeper in the team towards the end of last season.

Bananas

kungfu panda

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

I respectfully disagree. 

Yes Paulsen is young. 

Paulsen had a short run of games during the 2021/2022 season. At the end of that, it was a toss up whether he should continue or not. 

Talay said "Sail was signed as the no.1 therefore he remains the number one". I disagree with this premise. There has to be competition for places. From that moment there was no competition. 

For me this sums up the failure in Talays management. 

Well he was right.  Paulsen remains number 40.

Also of note.  Your premise of probably the best goal keeper in the league for 2 years is interesting as if it's Talays failure to not have him, surely it's every coaches failure to not grab "probably the best goalkeeper in the league".

Why wouldn't any of them have thrown heaps of money at him?

The point is that Paulsen is the clearest example of an academy player who never really got an opportunity to prove himself. A couple of A-League matches and a couple of cup matches was clearly insufficient for another club to come in for him. But it was sufficient for him to demonstrate that he was worthy competition to Sail within the club.
I understand that football is very subjective. You may feel he needed an extra couple of years to develop, where I feel that getting a good 19 year old goalkeeper into the first team, or at least trying it for longer would have been the right decision.
There were periods where Sail was far from perfect and making him compete could have been effective. 

My first post was just a tongue in cheek statement. I should know better.

I'll be honest though. I don't have anytime for Talay as the coach he was with us. I'm sure that he'll learn from his mistakes and move on and reinvent himself. He's still a young man.

Yeah sorry to clog up the thread some more with this discussion but Sail was elite in 2021/22 (with Paul Gothard as GK coach). It was that season where the fans were surprised that he wasn’t named in the All Stars team as the best GK in the league.

After Gothy left, Sail’s form fell off a cliff. This started with the Peru friendly and the Costa Rica play off for the All Whites.

His form drop off continued into the 2022/23 season (last season) when Jonathan Gould came in as the GK coach. Sail got progressively worse last season under Gould and then Parker. It got to the point around January where there were consistent calls for him to be dropped for Paulsen.

Weirdly, Uffie refused to drop him and Paulsen didn’t play a single minute, whilst we continued to ship goals from Oli’s errors.

I say weirdly, because the exact same thing happened in 2020/21. Marinovic played every minute in 2019/20, and the first 6 games of 2020/21. His form dropped off massively in 20/21 so instead of sticking with him, Uffie gave Sail a chance and he ended up becoming unstoppable.

This is the frustration - that Paulsen didn't play a single game last season was a criminal waste of talent. 

Oli is a better keeper that his current form says but at some point Uffie needed to change things last season and he didn't.

Be very interesting indeed to watch the goalkeeper battle in the All Whites... esp with Crocombe and Tzanev too. 

Looks like players that have more fun playing this season, looks they have a bit of freedom and more creativity. Uffi us maybe to stubborn and holding back on things that worked five games ago. We always had great run of games with him, but then to fall into big holes that ruined the season. Sail lost us a few games, his distribution was at one point laughable. In no universe Paulsen could be have been worth.
The big test for Italiano will come when we have a string of losses and how he and the team will react to it.

Is it just me or do I get the impression Tim Payne could be Siggy Ver 2.0?? He's been a monster this season in his new role.

Great job by the very small traveling contingent of yellow fever who were chanting and great energy the whole match. Couldn't resist ditching my seats and joining y'all, great vibes lads! A pity the other Auckland fans are so lethargic. So many calls to 'stand uuuppppp, for the Phoenix!' unheeded !

BrockieTheGOAT

Great job by the very small traveling contingent of yellow fever who were chanting and great energy the whole match. Couldn't resist ditching my seats and joining y'all, great vibes lads! A pity the other Auckland fans are so lethargic. So many calls to 'stand uuuppppp, for the Phoenix!' unheeded !

They're saving energy for the Bill Foley circus. Word has it that the first match will be preceded by ice-skating Black Knights, shades of Rick Wakeman 1975

5,532, On a good sunny day? Oh dear. Next "Nix in Auckland" game, take it to New Plymouth, or Napier.

The next "Nix in Auckland" game will be as the visiting team

Just looked at the next couple of matches ahead of us, and without wanting to completely put the mockers on us, well, we'd have to be pretty warm favourites to go 7 unbeaten to start this season...

Was a really unbelievably small crowd. Tickets were reasonably priced I thought. Do football fans hate going to Mt Smart that much? If so, not a great omen for the Auckland team. 

The pretty average All Whites crowd from March was clearly boosted heavily by Chinese fans. There would have been far more people at that game than this one. Maybe the team needs to think long and hard about trying to pick up a Chinese and/or Indian star to appeal to immigrant communities 

YoungHeartHM

Just looked at the next couple of matches ahead of us, and without wanting to completely put the mockers on us, well, we'd have to be pretty warm favourites to go 7 unbeaten to start this season...

Totally agree. There's nothing in this league that should  beat us.

Despite the improvements, our defence is still a work in progress. Far too many misunderstandings. Italian teams, all the way down to Serie D train these tactics a minimum of 3 hours a week. I don't think that we're doing that.

Ryan

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

Whenever Pauslen played with the first team he excelled though, he won us a penalty shootout against Melbourne City in the Australia Cup a couple of seasons ago and when he stepped in for Sail he didn't really put a foot wrong.

Think people were saying season before last that Sail was a top goalkeeper, last season there were plenty of people on here calling for him to be dropped. If Paulsen was ready to step up last season, we'll never know, but I think it was worth a look as Sail started to become a bit of a detriment on the field towards the end of the season. Improvement is a progression and it's highly unlikely that the Paulsen that was our starting keeper in the offseason was markedly better than Paulsen who was a reserve keeper in the team towards the end of last season.

Very possible my memory is getting seasons mixed up but wasn't it last season that during the good streak he saved our ass multiple times to beat (was it Sydney?) then he had a few more blinder of games when everyone was saying he was goalkeeper of the league, then he seemed to get fired up and angry in every game.

Then he had a couple of shark games and the knives came out?  Or when he didn't re-sign that's when the knives came out?  Something like that, unless that was the season before.  I feel like it was last season everyone was rating him but very possible I'm getting seasons mixed up.

Either way, as much as I wanted to see Paulsen get game time, I am glad to see the level he is at now.  However he got there, he's there now.

Maybe he would have been the best goalie in the league 2 years ago without Uffie but we have him now and he's awesome.

There has been one thing missing over the last couple of weeks on these forums IMHO as we all wonder at the season start and that is recognition of the work of Chris Greenacre and what he has achieved with the academy.

The Academy play in the Central league in the winter and the national league in the Summer.  Before Greenie took over, they were beaten fairly regularly, now they are one of the better teams in both leagues where a 20 year old is a veteran in the Greenie teams, coming up against some hardnosed older opponents.

I don't believe actually that Chiefy and AG are going to these lads this season as a last resort.  I believe they are being signed up because they are good enough as a result of the development from CG.  LKH and AP are the best examples and i think that before very long Conchie will have joined them.  It is a reflection on the work CG is doing.  He should be very proud.

Bananas

Ryan

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

Whenever Pauslen played with the first team he excelled though, he won us a penalty shootout against Melbourne City in the Australia Cup a couple of seasons ago and when he stepped in for Sail he didn't really put a foot wrong.

Think people were saying season before last that Sail was a top goalkeeper, last season there were plenty of people on here calling for him to be dropped. If Paulsen was ready to step up last season, we'll never know, but I think it was worth a look as Sail started to become a bit of a detriment on the field towards the end of the season. Improvement is a progression and it's highly unlikely that the Paulsen that was our starting keeper in the offseason was markedly better than Paulsen who was a reserve keeper in the team towards the end of last season.

Very possible my memory is getting seasons mixed up but wasn't it last season that during the good streak he saved our ass multiple times to beat (was it Sydney?) then he had a few more blinder of games when everyone was saying he was goalkeeper of the league, then he seemed to get fired up and angry in every game.

Then he had a couple of shark games and the knives came out?  Or when he didn't re-sign that's when the knives came out?  Something like that, unless that was the season before.  I feel like it was last season everyone was rating him but very possible I'm getting seasons mixed up.

Either way, as much as I wanted to see Paulsen get game time, I am glad to see the level he is at now.  However he got there, he's there now.

Maybe he would have been the best goalie in the league 2 years ago without Uffie but we have him now and he's awesome.

Looking back with hindsight, i reckon it all started to unravel for Ollie Sail when he was made captain in the absense of Rufer when he was injured. Ollie seemed to want to get involved in opponent confrontation and referee confrontation and forgot his  primary role was to be the goalkeeper.

Maybe this is completely putting the mockers on us, but a win or even a draw against the struggling WU next week and I imagine we could get a big crowd at the cake tin (9k ish??) for the jets, and if we keep the streak going then, perhaps we break the 10k mark for Nixmas against the wanderers, like we did in the peak of the Rudan era, our 3-2 win over CCM ..
So excited, bring it home next weekend!!

YoungHeartHM

Just looked at the next couple of matches ahead of us, and without wanting to completely put the mockers on us, well, we'd have to be pretty warm favourites to go 7 unbeaten to start this season...

Walsall Boy

There has been one thing missing over the last couple of weeks on these forums IMHO as we all wonder at the season start and that is recognition of the work of Chris Greenacre and what he has achieved with the academy.

The Academy play in the Central league in the winter and the national league in the Summer.  Before Greenie took over, they were beaten fairly regularly, now they are one of the better teams in both leagues where a 20 year old is a veteran in the Greenie teams, coming up against some hardnosed older opponents.

I don't believe actually that Chiefy and AG are going to these lads this season as a last resort.  I believe they are being signed up because they are good enough as a result of the development from CG.  LKH and AP are the best examples and i think that before very long Conchie will have joined them.  It is a reflection on the work CG is doing.  He should be very proud.

But we need to be realistic. The best European academies rarely produce more than 2 successful professional players (and I mean professional, not world class) per season. It does happen but it's not the norm.

Clubs in England give pro contracts to U23's but of those lads, only a few are successful by age 25.

kungfu panda

Walsall Boy

There has been one thing missing over the last couple of weeks on these forums IMHO as we all wonder at the season start and that is recognition of the work of Chris Greenacre and what he has achieved with the academy.

The Academy play in the Central league in the winter and the national league in the Summer.  Before Greenie took over, they were beaten fairly regularly, now they are one of the better teams in both leagues where a 20 year old is a veteran in the Greenie teams, coming up against some hardnosed older opponents.

I don't believe actually that Chiefy and AG are going to these lads this season as a last resort.  I believe they are being signed up because they are good enough as a result of the development from CG.  LKH and AP are the best examples and i think that before very long Conchie will have joined them.  It is a reflection on the work CG is doing.  He should be very proud.

But we need to be realistic. The best European academies rarely produce more than 2 successful professional players (and I mean professional, not world class) per season. It does happen but it's not the norm.

Clubs in England give pro contracts to U23's but of those lads, only a few are successful by age 25.

 I do agree and I know that lads are also not coming out of the academy into the first team by the dozen.  What have we had in the past?  Carache?  Sutton?  But never before a group like this.  Just wanted to give credit where it is due.  Hopefully without getting carried away.

Doloras

The next "Nix in Auckland" game will be as the visiting team

Nix v Sydney on 16th March doesn't have a venue announced yet. I'm pretty sure they said there will be two Auckland games again, so that probably be Auckland again.

If it's not, I'll be watching us play from a hotel in Auckland 

Bananas

Ryan

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

Whenever Pauslen played with the first team he excelled though, he won us a penalty shootout against Melbourne City in the Australia Cup a couple of seasons ago and when he stepped in for Sail he didn't really put a foot wrong.

Think people were saying season before last that Sail was a top goalkeeper, last season there were plenty of people on here calling for him to be dropped. If Paulsen was ready to step up last season, we'll never know, but I think it was worth a look as Sail started to become a bit of a detriment on the field towards the end of the season. Improvement is a progression and it's highly unlikely that the Paulsen that was our starting keeper in the offseason was markedly better than Paulsen who was a reserve keeper in the team towards the end of last season.

Very possible my memory is getting seasons mixed up but wasn't it last season that during the good streak he saved our ass multiple times to beat (was it Sydney?) then he had a few more blinder of games when everyone was saying he was goalkeeper of the league, then he seemed to get fired up and angry in every game.

Then he had a couple of shark games and the knives came out?  Or when he didn't re-sign that's when the knives came out?  Something like that, unless that was the season before.  I feel like it was last season everyone was rating him but very possible I'm getting seasons mixed up.

Either way, as much as I wanted to see Paulsen get game time, I am glad to see the level he is at now.  However he got there, he's there now.

Maybe he would have been the best goalie in the league 2 years ago without Uffie but we have him now and he's awesome.

Bananas

Ryan

Bananas

kungfu panda

Talay had probably the best goalkeeper in the league sitting on the bench for at least 2 years. That pretty well sums up his talent recognition. 

Sorry Ufuk. I know that you did have some qualities. You had a 13 game unbeaten A-League run. That was good.

Mate.  

Paulsen is young so A) Talay gave him game time and B) the one year of development probably made a massive amount of difference.

If Paulsen was the start ng goalie  last year it's very possible a few bad games could have destroyed his confidence and career.

Also last year people were saying Oli was the goalie of the league and other hyperbole.

Whenever Pauslen played with the first team he excelled though, he won us a penalty shootout against Melbourne City in the Australia Cup a couple of seasons ago and when he stepped in for Sail he didn't really put a foot wrong.

Think people were saying season before last that Sail was a top goalkeeper, last season there were plenty of people on here calling for him to be dropped. If Paulsen was ready to step up last season, we'll never know, but I think it was worth a look as Sail started to become a bit of a detriment on the field towards the end of the season. Improvement is a progression and it's highly unlikely that the Paulsen that was our starting keeper in the offseason was markedly better than Paulsen who was a reserve keeper in the team towards the end of last season.

Very possible my memory is getting seasons mixed up but wasn't it last season that during the good streak he saved our ass multiple times to beat (was it Sydney?) then he had a few more blinder of games when everyone was saying he was goalkeeper of the league, then he seemed to get fired up and angry in every game.

Then he had a couple of shark games and the knives came out?  Or when he didn't re-sign that's when the knives came out?  Something like that, unless that was the season before.  I feel like it was last season everyone was rating him but very possible I'm getting seasons mixed up.

Either way, as much as I wanted to see Paulsen get game time, I am glad to see the level he is at now.  However he got there, he's there now.

Maybe he would have been the best goalie in the league 2 years ago without Uffie but we have him now and he's awesome.

The knives came out before he signed with Perth. There were a couple of shaky performances followed by a few games where he seemed to be having afters every game. 

What was the crowd?

5532

santy

What was the crowd?

Oli is still a potentially top notch keeper. He just needs to go back to the routines that work for him. And shut out all the other noise. 

The team it weren’t right by the end of the last season. 

Let’s keep our current momentum and unit strength going! 

The problem that I see with the academy lads having looked at the Australian cup stats is that they don't win the ball. Nearly at all. The exceptions of course are Kelly-Heald and Surman. 

The only recovery to not winning the ball is to be a prolific goal scorer and I don't think (I don't know) that we have any of those.

I know i am dreaming now but:

Maybe this academy group coming through now to the first team is the Phoenix equivalent of the Manchester Unit famous youth class of 92-93.  The group that had Beckham, the Nevils, Scholes Butt et al.  

Walsall Boy

I know i am dreaming now but:

Maybe this academy group coming through now to the first team is the Phoenix equivalent of the Manchester Unit famous youth class of 92-93.  The group that had Beckham, the Nevils, Butt et al.  

 I hope so. That would be very exciting. 

YoungHeartHM

Just looked at the next couple of matches ahead of us, and without wanting to completely put the mockers on us, well, we'd have to be pretty warm favourites to go 7 unbeaten to start this season...

Well who've we got next week "Lofty (out of form) Wales" against Finn Surman, don't make me laugh. Surman will eat him for breakfast. 

Have a look on Youtube at Under the Cosh. They interview a lot of these players you refer to. Most have been journeymen or lower division stalwarts with most being signed to pro contracts at a young age. As an aside, a lot of them have similar trajectories as our own British imports, Wooten, Ball, Greenie etc. where I’m going with this is - success is subjective, these guys have made a reasonable living  from football without being at the big clubs and being on tv every week. For our academy players there is not the plethora of other clubs available outside of ours and our club doesn’t have the same opportunity to raid others for discarded or unloved talent. I would expect us to have more “success” with players from our academy as we have more opportunity to keep and utilise them without them buggering off for any reason.

kungfu panda

Walsall Boy

There has been one thing missing over the last couple of weeks on these forums IMHO as we all wonder at the season start and that is recognition of the work of Chris Greenacre and what he has achieved with the academy.

The Academy play in the Central league in the winter and the national league in the Summer.  Before Greenie took over, they were beaten fairly regularly, now they are one of the better teams in both leagues where a 20 year old is a veteran in the Greenie teams, coming up against some hardnosed older opponents.

I don't believe actually that Chiefy and AG are going to these lads this season as a last resort.  I believe they are being signed up because they are good enough as a result of the development from CG.  LKH and AP are the best examples and i think that before very long Conchie will have joined them.  It is a reflection on the work CG is doing.  He should be very proud.

But we need to be realistic. The best European academies rarely produce more than 2 successful professional players (and I mean professional, not world class) per season. It does happen but it's not the norm.

Clubs in England give pro contracts to U23's but of those lads, only a few are successful by age 25.

Yes. The team is in such a positive situation at the moment. No negativity required....

That will change somewhat. Some un contracted Weenix youngsters will definitely follow Greenacre to Auckland. Sloane-Rodriguez is from the 09?