R14 vs Victory

[Forum Phoenix]

Good striker at NPL level you mean Big Al? From memory he didn't say best goal scorer either. He said best finisher. Which I wondered about because it's still a bit ambiguous.
You won't get any goals if you can't move quick enough to be in the right positions and avoid being closed down or simply marked out of the game.
Even partnered he looked unlikely imo and don't think a change of system would have helped too much. If we ever want to challenge for silverware, we need two strikers capable of getting into double digits at this level.
We just lost one for 8 weeks. Bingham... hmmmm... make me a believer JB.

 

[Rowdy]

TW said at one of the pre-games in the Kendall Bar at CCLC that in his opinion "Heff was the best finisher at the Club"

If he's NOT prepared to adapt the style of the team to suit a player who he thinks is the best finisher, WhyTF did he sign him?

I thought the premise of Football was to score more goals than your opposition.

 

[Rowdy]

Charles Darwin said something like 'Adapt or Die'.

If it were any other owner, but for Charlesworth, Walmsley would be dead as a dodo.

 

[nebakke]

Charles Darwin said something like 'Adapt or Die'.

If it were any other owner, but for Charlesworth, Walmsley would be dead as a dodo.

If it were any other owner, Walmsley would have never gotten the job in the first place... We'd now be on Frank Farina, after Bleiberg and Rudan both failed to fix or problems, Caceres would be captaining the youth team and Reddy would be our youngest first team player.

In all seriousness, again... What would you like Walmsley to do that would fix or season and have made us competitive for a trophy?.. Bear in mind - no recruiting...

 

[FFC Mariner]

MC said on the pod that when interviewing some higher profile names for the coaching job a lot of the conversations were very short.

When they were told the budget, they werent interested.

His comments about "certain coaches" only being interested in their brand and being quite happy to almost bankrupt a club in order to win trphies was a clear dig at Arnie I thought.

For TW to adapt our style to fit in someone like Heff means a slower build up, Fab and Austin not bombing on quickly.

 

[Gratis]

I think this is it - Heff probably is the best finisher once in the box and the ball is put to him. I guess when signing him the thought was his fitness and speed would increase and it would work out but after all the time training he never stepped up to the pace of the game meaning he can't be in the right place at the right time to apply his quality finishing.

There is a lot of assumption here but it seems likely. Of course it may not be this and there may be other reasons we don't know about. Either way it's a shame, for both Heff and the team.

 

[localpom]

We desperately need a 10 if he stays!

Good point.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Joyful are you going down to Geelong for your "First Home Game"
How you handling this year?
Is Mooy and Fonzi making you regret anything or is Roy's head doing you proud?
See City trying for Sky Blue again although next year looks unlikely.

I am going tonight looking forward to my first "home game" (even if I am sitting in the away bay for it!). My first season so far with the Mariners has been good despite the results I watched far worse with Heart (unfortunately) and watching all our young players, playing such a lovely style is a joy. I have faith that Tony Walmsley can turn it around either this season or the next. I enjoy watching Aaron Mooy and he was (and still is) one of my favourite players to watch in the A-League but I am definitely not regretting supporting the Mariners. Roy's head is doing me proud though I'd prefer if he kept it to just for heading the ball. The writing was on the wall almost immediately for City unfortunately and I don't think the City Football Group will stop till they get sky blue. It is pretty sad for me to see a club I cared so much about turn into nothing more than a marketing exercise. I've truly fallen in love with the Mariners now though and look forward to supporting them with all of you till the bitter end.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

TW said at one of the pre-games in the Kendall Bar at CCLC that in his opinion "Heff was the best finisher at the Club"

If he's NOT prepared to adapt the style of the team to suit a player who he thinks is the best finisher, WhyTF did he sign him?

I thought the premise of Football was to score more goals than your opposition.

I think that statement reflects a manager earnestly trying to make his very limited means work. And maybe some naivety I guess. He signed Heff for two reasons it would seem, he can "finish" and he was the cheapest option.
But at this level, defenders and GK's across the league are typically very good, on a world level better than where our mids and forwards are. I was pretty disappointed once I got a proper look at Heff. Had high hopes, but seemed likely to me that he was always going to struggle. The coaches have obviously come to the conclusion that he wither can't change or not in enough time to make the investment worth while. Also heard from some people who trained with him also that the only way he could stop players or compete was that he had to grab them, because he was just so slow and they personally didn't rate him either.

I know you're right about adaptability etc, but I don't think in this instance it would have been wise. I'm sure like GRA said they were hoping with better fitness things would improve, but evidently not enough.

 

[style_cafe]

The new recruits are there.
I`d like to see Budgie get a few minutes at the end to ease him into the squad.
Very interesting time ahead ladies & Gentlem

Charles Darwin said something like 'Adapt or Die'.

If it were any other owner, but for Charlesworth, Walmsley would be dead as a dodo.

Walmsley probably thought Heff would adapt to our system.
If Heff has failed to do so then that`s unfortunate for everyone

 

[Gratis]

I am going tonight looking forward to my first "home game" (even if I am sitting in the away bay for it!). My first season so far with the Mariners has been good despite the results I watched far worse with Heart (unfortunately) and watching all our young players, playing such a lovely style is a joy. I have faith that Tony Walmsley can turn it around either this season or the next. I enjoy watching Aaron Mooy and he was (and still is) one of my favourite players to watch in the A-League but I am definitely not regretting supporting the Mariners. Roy's head is doing me proud though I'd prefer if he kept it to just for heading the ball. The writing was on the wall almost immediately for City unfortunately and I don't think the City Football Group will stop till they get sky blue. It is pretty sad for me to see a club I cared so much about turn into nothing more than a marketing exercise. I've truly fallen in love with the Mariners now though and look forward to supporting them with all of you till the bitter end.

JoyfulPenguin - the truth of being a Mariners supporter is that the lows are low...but the highs are dizzying and the end is never bitter.
It's time and time again proven to be the little cub that could, the team with the spirit and community values that once out the other side of hardship we win tournaments, premierships, championships and games we started 3 nil down (this has happened more than a few times btw) - and the joy of it is beyond anything that a club who can buy their way to a premiership/championship can ever know.
Enjoy the ride! It's well worth it I assure you.

 

[Gratis]

Criticism spurring on Central Coast Mariners

Central Coast Mariners left back Michael Neill says criticism of the team is spurring them on ahead of their clash with Melbourne Victory tonight.

Before the 3-1 New Year’s Eve victory against Phoenix, Mariners were languishing on the bottom of the A-League ladder without a win since the first round of the A-League. Critics were lining up to take shots.

Especially former Socceroo and Fox Sports commentator Mark Bosnich, who said the Gosford based side were a guaranteed three points for every team in the A-League that played them.

Neill says it was this criticism that provided the team with extra motivation.

“That (the criticism) played a massive part in trying to prove everyone wrong,” Neill said.

“When you are not doing well and you are losing games everyone is entitled to their opinion.

“I guess it just added a bit of fuel to the fire. We are sticking together as a team and the unity is still there and we are just working hard.

“The penny finally dropped against Wellington last week and I think it showed in our performance that we were quite strong in defence and also did well on the counter attack and our attacking play.”

Neill, 21, who has played left back, left wing and central midfield this season, is in his third season as a professional at Central Coast Stadium.

During the win against the Phoenix, Neill scored his debut goal in the A-League. It was an impressive finish from the edge on the penalty box after he had latched onto a loose pass

Neill said that he was happy to have played a part in making the New Year’s celebration a memorable one for the fans.

“It was a great feeling and adrenaline rush,” he said.

“It’s a dream come true to get something like that. We ended up winning the game and it contributed to a massive part of the game. So we are very happy for the three points last weekend.

Looking ahead to tonight game, Neill believes that the Central Coast can replicate last week’s performance against the Phoenix and get another positive result.

“After the 3-1 win last weekend we’ve gained a lot of confidence and we are still playing that entertaining attacking football but at the same time we’ve got the three in the midfield to add a bit of security," he said.

We are looking forward to Friday night and putting on another show and fingers crossed we can come away with the three points again.”


Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/criticism-spurring-central-coast-mariners#ZzyF19PyG4IaIJbw.99

 

[VicMariner]

Charles Darwin said something like 'Adapt or Die'.

If it were any other owner, but for Charlesworth, Walmsley would be dead as a dodo.

To be fair to TW, he has had to run the team on nothing, budget, budget, budget.
Let's see how the other coaches would go with our squad. Not much better I would guess.
With talk now of some investment in the squad I'm prepared to see Tony get a fair go. He has not lost me yet.

 

[Gratis]

Definitely not - my full support goes to the coaching staff

 

[rbakersmith]

The lineup:

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Thoroughly agree. Pretty clear so many of these issues were spawned by lack of $$. From NSO debacle to even our philosophy which pissed off so many pundits and some of our senior players was to try and help us not go under.
Don't know about others, but I now feel pretty convinced this is not all just an exercise in MC balancing his accounts, but in genuinely making us sustainable, that they have a good vision, and by his critically demonstrating that he's willing to help out if/when the wheels coming off...
well that's what I was arguing a good owner should do, so now he's doing it, how could I not be on board.

But in light of that, it's not fair to compare TW with say GA who had a lot more coin and license to work with or even Moss.
Navigating this seasons pile of woes, which seems to be compounded by several years of dues finally coming home to roost - it has been one hell of a trial. Not sure how many could have pulled it off and been so affable and open etc.
Not over yet, but personally I think TW and Hutch have been doing a pretty extraordinary job navigating one hell of a minefield while under constant fire and I really don't think it's been very much of their own making.
With a stronger squad... good signs in my humble and maybe optimistic opinion.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

The lineup:

Will be interesting to see how Josh Bingham goes in his first start (I could be wrong about that) and boy our bench looks good hopefully Stella or ThatBoy Trent can do something special.

 

[Big Al]

Good striker at NPL level you mean Big Al? From memory he didn't say best goal scorer either. He said best finisher. Which I wondered about because it's still a bit ambiguous.

That's what I was looking for. Either way they have chosen the other route

 

[elevated position]

If you look at that line up and take a view of 18 mths most of these guys will be very salable.
Alas when they're sold we start this situation again.

 

[Big Al]

If you look at that line up and take a view of 18 mths most of these guys will be very salable.
Alas when they're sold we start this situation again.

Circle of life.
Parents make out behind the sauce bottles.
Surprise child goes to football school
Does work experience at COE
Play for Mariners
Get driving license
Get sold
Play for Socceroos

Those who can't handle the pressure become members.

That's our sustainable model