Feb 19 v Where Were You When You Were Shit FC

[MrCelery]

We need to test Kelava, their Croatian goalkeeper. He looks pretty dodgy. Big chance for Cumdog to shine.

 

[Tevor]

Our players will have a useful gap between games (unlike the tards), the cup loss in the back of mind, and knowing we should have won our last 2 draws. I think we'll be up for this.

You'd hope Monty saw what the rest of us did about our midfield being clamped and has a plan for it.

Only problem I see is getting over our horrendous record in Melbourne. We just don't play well down there for some reason. I'm also concerned the Drive Byes had some nice calls go their way last night so after Poopa complains the APL will see us as the perfect opponent to get them back on track. So we will be playing the Ref as well and that will help them stifle our counter attacks with unpunished fouls and suffocate our mids to keep CD quiet.

I'm starting to get concerned about the APL and it may just be my own conspiracy however the commentators seem to lead into what is going to happen. For example, the Cup final was all about Victory redeeming their fan base after their first spoon. SFC have had some great decisions go their way over the last 4 games to firmly place them in the top 6 despite not playing that well. Last night it was all about the rebuild of the mighty Wanderers the Champions of Asia. WSW get a contentious Pen and Victory denied a Pen. Victory have had their help with the Cup trophy but more will come their way.

Anyone can see attendance at games and no doubt viewership on P+ is at an all time low in the history of the league. They need the big fan base teams to do well and that is Victory, SFC and Wanderers so you can expect them to get a little leg up occasionally especially against the less important to the league teams. I don't put it all down to the pandemic and weeknight games either, it has had an impact but not this significant.

P+ was a big gamble by the APL, I have a mate who supports Shitney and he only watches the Sat night game on 10 and isn't a member so did not get P+ and in his words "the League is not front of my mind as I don't have P+". The only people watching A League on P+ are members of clubs who were somewhat forced into it, the fans who are not members are losing interest in the game every week that goes by and this is showing in attendance at games in my opinion.

Terrible attendance at last nights game for the Drive Byes with next to no atmosphere and it was one of the most boring games I've seen in along time. After 45 mins only two shots were on target. Both Managers have such a defensive mind set it destroyed what should have been a good game. Not sure how the APL addresses that problem. Games like that don't encourage neutrals to watch at all.

Sorry a bit off track however we will be pushing you know what up a very steep hill in this game IMO. SO when the commentators only focus on Victory breaking their losing streak you now how things are going to play out.

 

[shipwreck]

Only problem I see is getting over our horrendous record in Melbourne. We just don't play well down there for some reason. I'm also concerned the Drive Byes had some nice calls go their way last night so after Poopa complains the APL will see us as the perfect opponent to get them back on track. So we will be playing the Ref as well and that will help them stifle our counter attacks with unpunished fouls and suffocate our mids to keep CD quiet.

I'm starting to get concerned about the APL and it may just be my own conspiracy however the commentators seem to lead into what is going to happen. For example, the Cup final was all about Victory redeeming their fan base after their first spoon. SFC have had some great decisions go their way over the last 4 games to firmly place them in the top 6 despite not playing that well. Last night it was all about the rebuild of the mighty Wanderers the Champions of Asia. WSW get a contentious Pen and Victory denied a Pen. Victory have had their help with the Cup trophy but more will come their way.

Anyone can see attendance at games and no doubt viewership on P+ is at an all time low in the history of the league. They need the big fan base teams to do well and that is Victory, SFC and Wanderers so you can expect them to get a little leg up occasionally especially against the less important to the league teams. I don't put it all down to the pandemic and weeknight games either, it has had an impact but not this significant.

P+ was a big gamble by the APL, I have a mate who supports Shitney and he only watches the Sat night game on 10 and isn't a member so did not get P+ and in his words "the League is not front of my mind as I don't have P+". The only people watching A League on P+ are members of clubs who were somewhat forced into it, the fans who are not members are losing interest in the game every week that goes by and this is showing in attendance at games in my opinion.

Terrible attendance at last nights game for the Drive Byes with next to no atmosphere and it was one of the most boring games I've seen in along time. After 45 mins only two shots were on target. Both Managers have such a defensive mind set it destroyed what should have been a good game. Not sure how the APL addresses that problem. Games like that don't encourage neutrals to watch at all.

Sorry a bit off track however we will be pushing you know what up a very steep hill in this game IMO. SO when the commentators only focus on Victory breaking their losing streak you now how things are going to play out.

Love a good conspiracy theory.

Can't help but feel like that, media was awful quick to jump on the WSW Rudan resurgence now that Victory had their time in the sun with the FFA cup.

 

[Corsair]

Sick of it tbh. We always seem to draw the short straw and eventually you have to wonder if we had a more interested/savvy/rich/ well connected owner we might do better. But who the hell is gonna buy us?

I hate to say the unsayable but maybe hard work and dedication isn't enough, the powers that be need to actually like your staff for you to get ahead. If there is bias as many suspect and it's not in our favor, why and how does that get turned around? (Even if it's not fair) Hard questions to ask...

Where are our fans hiding? We used to get 10k+.

 

[dibo]

Where are our fans hiding? We used to get 10k+.

We've cracked a 10k average twice.



Our long-term average is just shy of 8k (8.5k pre-COVID).

There seems to have been a decline from 2013/14 to 2018/19... (after that is COVID-affected)

That said, this decline was not isolated to the Mariners - look at the league-wide averages:



The Mariners' drop is more dramatic, but there's certainly a league-wide downward trend, and the long term average is about 10.5k (11.5k pre-COVID).

In the league-wide numbers, I suspect it's no coincidence that the dip in 2017/18 coincided with Member Federations, A-League clubs and the FFA going to war over congress reforms - there was just a ton of bad press around the A-League and football generally, which is a massive turn-off to casual fans.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Only problem I see is getting over our horrendous record in Melbourne. We just don't play well down there for some reason. I'm also concerned the Drive Byes had some nice calls go their way last night so after Poopa complains the APL will see us as the perfect opponent to get them back on track. So we will be playing the Ref as well and that will help them stifle our counter attacks with unpunished fouls and suffocate our mids to keep CD quiet.

I'm starting to get concerned about the APL and it may just be my own conspiracy however the commentators seem to lead into what is going to happen. For example, the Cup final was all about Victory redeeming their fan base after their first spoon. SFC have had some great decisions go their way over the last 4 games to firmly place them in the top 6 despite not playing that well. Last night it was all about the rebuild of the mighty Wanderers the Champions of Asia. WSW get a contentious Pen and Victory denied a Pen. Victory have had their help with the Cup trophy but more will come their way.

Anyone can see attendance at games and no doubt viewership on P+ is at an all time low in the history of the league. They need the big fan base teams to do well and that is Victory, SFC and Wanderers so you can expect them to get a little leg up occasionally especially against the less important to the league teams. I don't put it all down to the pandemic and weeknight games either, it has had an impact but not this significant.

P+ was a big gamble by the APL, I have a mate who supports Shitney and he only watches the Sat night game on 10 and isn't a member so did not get P+ and in his words "the League is not front of my mind as I don't have P+". The only people watching A League on P+ are members of clubs who were somewhat forced into it, the fans who are not members are losing interest in the game every week that goes by and this is showing in attendance at games in my opinion.

Terrible attendance at last nights game for the Drive Byes with next to no atmosphere and it was one of the most boring games I've seen in along time. After 45 mins only two shots were on target. Both Managers have such a defensive mind set it destroyed what should have been a good game. Not sure how the APL addresses that problem. Games like that don't encourage neutrals to watch at all.

Sorry a bit off track however we will be pushing you know what up a very steep hill in this game IMO. SO when the commentators only focus on Victory breaking their losing streak you now how things are going to play out.

Only problem I see is getting over our horrendous record in Melbourne. We just don't play well down there for some reason. I'm also concerned the Drive Byes had some nice calls go their way last night so after Poopa complains the APL will see us as the perfect opponent to get them back on track. So we will be playing the Ref as well and that will help them stifle our counter attacks with unpunished fouls and suffocate our mids to keep CD quiet.

I'm starting to get concerned about the APL and it may just be my own conspiracy however the commentators seem to lead into what is going to happen. For example, the Cup final was all about Victory redeeming their fan base after their first spoon. SFC have had some great decisions go their way over the last 4 games to firmly place them in the top 6 despite not playing that well. Last night it was all about the rebuild of the mighty Wanderers the Champions of Asia. WSW get a contentious Pen and Victory denied a Pen. Victory have had their help with the Cup trophy but more will come their way.

Anyone can see attendance at games and no doubt viewership on P+ is at an all time low in the history of the league. They need the big fan base teams to do well and that is Victory, SFC and Wanderers so you can expect them to get a little leg up occasionally especially against the less important to the league teams. I don't put it all down to the pandemic and weeknight games either, it has had an impact but not this significant.

P+ was a big gamble by the APL, I have a mate who supports Shitney and he only watches the Sat night game on 10 and isn't a member so did not get P+ and in his words "the League is not front of my mind as I don't have P+". The only people watching A League on P+ are members of clubs who were somewhat forced into it, the fans who are not members are losing interest in the game every week that goes by and this is showing in attendance at games in my opinion.

Terrible attendance at last nights game for the Drive Byes with next to no atmosphere and it was one of the most boring games I've seen in along time. After 45 mins only two shots were on target. Both Managers have such a defensive mind set it destroyed what should have been a good game. Not sure how the APL addresses that problem. Games like that don't encourage neutrals to watch at all.

Sorry a bit off track however we will be pushing you know what up a very steep hill in this game IMO. SO when the commentators only focus on Victory breaking their losing streak you now how things are going to play out.

Hopefully we can run over the top of them and a few bad calls can’t kill us.

But as you mentioned. I’m fed up with obvious professional fouls being let go (let alone some of the other shit) makes a big difference if you let given teams players get away with 3 each before booking them. That’s a lot of attacks they can break up when it’s spread across 6 or 7 players.

 

[Ads]

Yep, I thought it was just me, but how blatantly obvious the increase in the amount of tactical fouls to break down attacks.

Or maybe how players aren’t even hiding it as much?

As said above if you spread the responsibility to take down players over 7/10 players gives a distinct advantage if you are aware of what you are doing g tactically as a team.

If every team does it, we’ll it’s basically like going down easy that most teams are all on the same page.

However if players are getting away with breaking down attacks even once without a yellow can drastically change the outcome with player send offs or non send offs.

They may introduce new rules in this space over coming years?

 

[turbo]

But as you mentioned. I’m fed up with obvious professional fouls being let go (let alone some of the other shit) makes a big difference if you let given teams players get away with 3 each before booking them. That’s a lot of attacks the can break up when it’s spread across 6 or 7 players.

The salt when Brillante got a second yellow for one. "He's only made 2 challenges so far" maybe they shouldnt have been crap challenges then.

 

[dibo]

The tactical fouls thing is straight out of Man City's playbook

 

[turbo]

but how blatantly obvious the increase in the amount of tactical fouls to break down attacks.

Sydney have done it for a long time and gotten away with it, the rest of the league catches on and replicates and all of a sudden we have a problem. But I think the biggest influence was the rule change that meant you dont come back for a yellow card if playing advantage unless it's a dangerous foul. That removes so much risk from a shirt pull if your opponent still gets the pass away so it effectively encourages it. I think that came in last season from memory.

 

[shipwreck]

That is the dumbest f**king rule ever.

 

[Kilsin]

That is the dumbest f**king rule ever.

Agreed. Bring it back and issue a yellow when play stops, teach them it's not ok to do it and it will stop or at least only happen in very drastic situations at the risk of yellow or worse.

 

[Corsair]

We've cracked a 10k average twice.

9,969 is close enough to 10 for me!

Really interesting charts, thanks for that. A line drawn through that decline would look pretty linear (and depressing).

I wonder how we fared compared to other codes, if they've increased by similar amounts..

 

[sydmariner]

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

That is the dumbest f**king rule ever.

I don't referee anymore, but i can't believe there's any way in hell that local players are just going to accept a clearly deliberate foul not getting a card.

I can't even imagine how badly this could go in O35.


Anyway, good news is that I'm not going so our chances are a little better

 

[Corsair]

Thanks for posting this Syd. Easy to forget just how young these players are and what we are asking of them. Been a pensive few days and the couple of Mariners posts have reminded me how young our squad is. We're really asking a lot of them and they are delivering massively. Really should try to be realistic about what to expect from such a (mostly) young squad. Flipside is what an amazing experience for the young fellas that they probably won't appreciate until they're much older. Cherish these years and give your all, they will be so special when you're older.

 

[Wombat]

I don't referee anymore, but i can't believe there's any way in hell that local players are just going to accept a clearly deliberate foul not getting a card.

I can't even imagine how badly this could go in O35.


Anyway, good news is that I'm not going so our chances are a little better

100% Capt.

If the Ref didn't control the game we would be forced to take control ourselves. I've done it plenty of times and when the ref runs in they always apologise for not controlling the situation that caused the blow up to start with!!

The only time I remember a ref switching on was in a semi for Horsnby RSL v Berowra. We had a centre mid from Central America who was obviously a bit tinted. Berowra were always a bit on the inbred side and one of their mouths had it in for Halma. They clashed a couple of times and the third time they clashed i came in and threw one. Motor mouth shrunk away but his tiny brain was firing up. 1 min later he came in late again and called Halma the N word.....one word to the ref and and he got a red card.
PC directives were in our favour and we won 3.0. The ref was still poor as the Berowra player tried to chip me for the rest of the game, when he should have been send from the oval. He only shut up when offered an ultimatum.

The amount of times poor/weak reffing has led to a stink......I even was playing either 35A or B v U
mina at that shitty oval and my teammates walked off and refused to play coz the bloke was so bad. Only 4 or 5 of us wouldn't walk off and eventually talked the rest of the team into returning.

 

[Insertnamehere]

Game day bitches. I had to come all the way to melbs to get a game in.

 

[sydmariner]

we're the FTA game tonight

 

[Insertnamehere]

we're the FTA game tonight

Time for a display from us then