2014 AFC Champions League

[Kareem]

Impressed with the last sub by moss...
Although I was actually calling for it 5 mins earlier.
As an arsenal fan, it's something we do regularly with Gibbs and Monreal, our 2 left backs.

It's good to demonstrate that tactical flexibility!

 

[MagpieMariner]

Twice now the Tards have choked an ACL lead; this time they unchoked just in time to square it.

 

[LFCMariners]

Extended match highlights from last night anywhere?

 

[Jaundice]

The boys played their hearts out for us, J league champions be damned they were determined to win. The stadium although a pathetic turn out had a real good vibe about it filled with dedicated die hard mariners fans Inspired by a tremendous performance by the passionate bay 16 folk who bleed yellow.

My son still had a shi% eating grin on his face tucking him into bed.

 

[sydmariner]

I couldn't make it but saw on TV - the crowd was absolutely phenomenal

I thought the refereeing was the best I've seen in the acl ever

the team was brilliant - positive, aggressive but clean, defensively intelligent, confident and best of all took their chances.
the best thing is they're on a high now and KNOW what they can do. oh my yes

Did they show the walk round march that we did on tv

 

[Wombat]

Did they show the walk round march that we did on tv

No.

But you could see it in the background.

 

[Gratis]

I did see it see it at one point where they switched to you guys

 

[Muppet]

Ok what's the story with a front of shirt sponsor the club? It beggars belief that we have been unable to secure one. Are we asking too much money? Are there too many restrictions placed on clubs by the ACL on who can be a sponsor? Don't we have the resources to connect with a potential sponsor?

Given that we are playing in the largest competition in Asia with a massive potential for exposure how can there not be a company, whether Australian or otherwise not willing to part with money for such great exposure throughout the continent.

 

[sydmariner]

What's wrong with our current sponcers

 

[bikinigirl]

Ok what's the story with a front of shirt sponsor the club? It beggars belief that we have been unable to secure one. Are we asking too much money? Are there too many restrictions placed on clubs by the ACL on who can be a sponsor? Don't we have the resources to connect with a potential sponsor?

Given that we are playing in the largest competition in Asia with a massive potential for exposure how can there not be a company, whether Australian or otherwise not willing to part with money for such great exposure throughout the continent.

. no, no, no ... the marketing plan is all starting to fall into place. the idea was to go into the ACL without a front of shirt sponsor and broadcast ourselves to the mega-economies ... when the big corporates see us winning against, say, the best the j-league has to offer ... they will be queuing up with massive multi-year deals to fill that space

. you just wait and see

 

[dibo]

"Am I jumping the gun, Baldrick, or are the words "I have a cunning plan" marching with ill-deserved confidence in the direction of this conversation?"

 

[bikinigirl]

. a few things i would like to mention about tuesday's game:

the band and yellow army

. ok so we were lower down and slightly closer to the band than we usually sit ... but they just seemed so much clearer and louder on tuesday
. i don't know if they played more towards the crowd ?? or if they usually play down the centre of the pitch or to the western stand (we sit in the east) ... maybe it was a 'still' night. but everything was a clearer and easier to hear on tuesday
. this of course translated to greater participation from the rest of the supporters (more on that later)
. the march through the stand was absolutely fan-f**king-tastic (again more on the participation that brought later), but the biggest benefit is that everybody was able to experience things up close which, if nothing else, provides a better understanding of what is being sung
. we have had a lone brasstard (nice one recky) visit the stand once before and it was a great encouragement to the crowd
. more of this please guys ... great job!

the crowd

. everyone that i spoke to after the game thought the crowd figure was pretty dodgy ... and i am not talking about the great atmosphere (which you would think would require more than 2,168)
. the people that i spoke to from both the upper and lower decks thought there was that many in whichever deck they were located
. from personal experience (my card didn't work) half of our family (there is two of us ) didn't count towards the official tally, so i am happy with people's observations to double the crowd number
. the participation from the crowd was great (the result and effort from the boys is obviously a big contributor to that) but that is over-simplifying things
. as mentioned above the band and the 'march' helped to get people involved, it was very difficult not to get caught up in that. there is often a dis-association from the majority of the crowd and what is going on in the bay - and this was a very successful initiative
. no doubt it was the absolute die-hards there in the crowd so the passion was already there it was just a matter of tapping it
. others are criticising the 'limited' repertoire ... but i think it is to be encouraged at the moment. the crowd is involved in 'who do we sing for' ... they are now becoming involved in the 'tetris' tune by clapping and stamping along. it is building nicely, but it can't be rushed. as i mentioned having brass-tards 'in' the crowd helps ... the next simple tune may be 'c'mon you yellow & blue'. once people know the tune (and words where applicable) they can join in even if they miss the first couple of bars
. it is no coincidence that the big break-through in crowd participation came in an ACL fixture last year
. part of this may also be linked to the fact that everybody was not in their 'usual spot' ... perhaps it lifted inhibitions, perhaps some were just encouraged by the participation of others around them
. regardless, hopefully we can build on that ... great effort everyone!

the boys
. a few of the boys have already received many (worthy) plaudits for their performances ... monty and mile the most obvious, but while everybody contributed i would like to highlight a few more
. some have been ready to pounce on mile whenever he has a quiet game, but i think they often failed to acknowledge what he has actually done 'off-the-ball'. to be honest i would have been angry with him if he didn't take the shot which gave him his second - most others would have tried to cross (or run into the box and cross), but his technique was fantastic and his bravery was rewarded with a slight deflection
. bosnar i thought played his best game for us ... including running the ball forward, not constantly trying the miracle long pass
. rosey seemed to have the best game he has in a while. i actually found myself saying 'maybe he needs the occasional knock to the head'. but ... my grandmother has a right boot he can borrow. i can only remember once this season he has found himself in a scoring position and actually shot with his right (that resulted on a 'keeper parry which was then put away) - too often he loses confidence in his right boot and then loses the opportunity ... tuesday he passed when i think he should have had a crack with the right
. kimmy ... this is a funny one. i didn't expect, in an ACL game on the coast that the 'softest' player on the pitch would be wearing a mariners shirt. he seems so reluctant to get 'stuck-in' sometimes that my thoughts on their goal was that he deliberately ducked under the ball ... but i am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.
. perhaps i wouldn't have been so forgiving if he hadn't played the ball through for mile's first ... that is what we have all been waiting for
. the defense. mossy has been praising the defensive structure recently and received quite a few raised eyebrows ... but i think he has mostly been right - structure is only one part of the equation though. the missing part was desperation
. desperation was apparent on tuesday ... and didn't that change the way we looked. it impressed the crowd and gave confidence to the boys
. more of that please boys ... great job!

 

[nebakke]

Thought I'd add a quick comment... As BG points out, Mossy's been receiving a couple of raised eyebrows for his comments of late, but tbh, I actually think he was somewhat right when he commented, after the game, that we've been building towards this win over the last couple of weeks. The boys looked a lot more confident last weekend, in spite of the loss and that started building around the last ACL game. What remains to be seen is whether that can hold up through this Saturday. I get this feeling that the derby is probably just about the perfect way to proceed from here. As was already mentioned elsewhere, based on the interviews, they seem to already have their eye on it, which I think is a positive... If they can take Newcastle this final time, I'm hopeful that it might be the last push towards form that might give us a bit of playing stability for the rest of the season.
Tbh I have long since accepted that we're rebuilding - I'd rather like us to make the finals, just to not tarnish our record too much, whether we deserve it or not But other than that, I'd actually be fairly happy to see the boys playing consistently, to win the games, throughout the match, rather than basically walking off at half-time.

 

[sydmariner]

. no, no, no ... the marketing plan is all starting to fall into place. the idea was to go into the ACL without a front of shirt sponsor and broadcast ourselves to the mega-economies ... when the big corporates see us winning against, say, the best the j-league has to offer ... they will be queuing up with massive multi-year deals to fill that space

. you just wait and see

Having the sponsor logo on the front makes the jersey look better imo

 

[bikinigirl]

Having the sponsor logo on the front makes the jersey look better imo

. well yeah ... probably because the shirt is designed with a big blank section across the front to stick the sponsors logo in

 

[dibo]

Thought I'd add a quick comment... As BG points out, Mossy's been receiving a couple of raised eyebrows for his comments of late, but tbh, I actually think he was somewhat right when he commented, after the game, that we've been building towards this win over the last couple of weeks. The boys looked a lot more confident last weekend, in spite of the loss and that started building around the last ACL game. What remains to be seen is whether that can hold up through this Saturday. I get this feeling that the derby is probably just about the perfect way to proceed from here. As was already mentioned elsewhere, based on the interviews, they seem to already have their eye on it, which I think is a positive... If they can take Newcastle this final time, I'm hopeful that it might be the last push towards form that might give us a bit of playing stability for the rest of the season.
Tbh I have long since accepted that we're rebuilding - I'd rather like us to make the finals, just to not tarnish our record too much, whether we deserve it or not But other than that, I'd actually be fairly happy to see the boys playing consistently, to win the games, throughout the match, rather than basically walking off at half-time.

Quite right. Our last couple of games it looks like we have a plan again. The nice thing is it doesn't seem to rely on one or two players - whoever we've had, we've played to the plan. That tells me that we're on the right track.

 

[Big Al]

. a few things i would like to mention about tuesday's game:


. everyone that i spoke to after the game thought the crowd figure was pretty dodgy ... and i am not talking about the great atmosphere (which you would think would require more than 2,168)
the crowd is involved in 'who do we sing for' ... they are now becoming involved in the 'tetris' tune by clapping and stamping along. it is building nicely, but it can't be rushed. as i mentioned having brass-tards 'in' the crowd helps ... the next simple tune may be 'c'mon you yellow & blue'. once people know the tune (and words where applicable) they can join in even if they miss the first couple of bars
. it is no coincidence that the big break-through in crowd participation came in an ACL fixture last year

. more of that please boys ... great job!

Well said BG.

I thought the crowd was dodgy as well until I watched a replay.
Bottom section - 20 Japs from the right side of half way to the missing cannon.
Half way pretty full & section on it's left reasonably full
18 yard box to goal line - fairly empty until Flores came over
Behind the goal - 50-100 Yellow Army & people chilling near by.

Top Section I couldn't see on reply or at the game.
I reckon Come on You yellow & Blue could be a great ACL crowd chant that could kick off for next year just as WDWSF has but for it to work they have to crank the Mega or move over closer to everyone.

Here's how I'd run it.
Move YA over to 18yrd box to goal line bottom section - Not sure of the Bay area (ACL Only or until crowd learns it properly)
Get a trumpeter to learn the medievil times tune when a tournament is about to begin (this is the sign it's on - much like the yelling & waving of WDWSF to get attention - WE could use also for WDWSW)
Crank the mega with Pete giving the instruction - YA go first & copy what they say
Then YA - With the Mega Cranked to full ball - COME ON YOU YELLOW & BLUE
Then everyone join with the YA in the repeat cry. Need YA to do both for both noise & help teach.
Then finish with the DA DA DA DA DA DA

 

[Big Al]

Quite right. Our last couple of games it looks like we have a plan again. The nice thing is it doesn't seem to rely on one or two players - whoever we've had, we've played to the plan. That tells me that we're on the right track.

That plan has also seen the rise of Duke.
Rotating the two based on the opposition has worked wonders. Simon against the smaller Asian players winning it in the air is a real danger.
Duke tearing it up in the A League due to increased game time up front is becoming a reality.

But it's been good just for the team to settle as a group. The turmoil is over so they can settle down & concentrate on football again

 

[Big Al]

Thought I'd add a quick comment... As BG points out, Mossy's been receiving a couple of raised eyebrows for his comments of late, but tbh, I actually think he was somewhat right when he commented, after the game, that we've been building towards this win over the last couple of weeks.
If they can take Newcastle this final time, I'm hopeful that it might be the last push towards form that might give us a bit of playing stability for the rest of the season.
Tbh I have long since accepted that we're rebuilding - I'd rather like us to make the finals, just to not tarnish our record too much, whether we deserve it or not But other than that, I'd actually be fairly happy to see the boys playing consistently, to win the games, throughout the match, rather than basically walking off at half-time.

This is a massive game - Every time we have looked good for a game or two or got confidence something has happened to derail us. Coaches players what ever we all know.

Now we have a settled group.

So we have been so inconsistent this season - If we win Sat we will be on a high & could make a late charge if we loose it will just be more frustration every time things look bright again & you can forget the season. We won't recover we might stumble in to the finals but we won't achieve much it's got that feel of everything you touch goes wrong.

So massive game for our physique IMO

 

[Roy Law]

Love the idea of the medieval tournament call; I am sure band members would not have to learn the tune.