Rnd 1: Perth Glory v CCM

[JoyfulPenguin]

Great job posting all the media Rowdy!

 

[VicMariner]

Someone photoshop a croc or something hanging off Appiah's elbow.......

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Someone photoshop a croc or something hanging off Appiah's elbow.......

That is one horrific photo of Appiah.

 

[Capt. Awesome]

I do not believe for one second Faty had a cork. It was just a little fib from Okon to protect his player. It's good man management. He will keep any criticism of players behind closed doors. Not in the media. I thought Okon handled it very well. Cut the player but then protected him from a media witch hunt.

 

[VicMariner]

 

[true believer]

isn't the sydney game now enormous ..
ooooh my , the little team that can .

 

[Wombat]

I watched again and Faty is a 3 not a 0.
He will be an asset but has to learn......you play like a dog.......you get yanked
Off.

 

[Wombat]

Someone photoshop a croc or something hanging off Appiah's elbow.......

He shot was horrific......but somehow we scored

 

[pjennings]

I'm in the happy position that I was out last night and only came back to where I was staying after we had pulled one back and were looking reasonable. The following 30 minutes were quite enjoyable . I looked at the game tonight and must say we are a lot easier to watch than we have been for ages.

We still have defensive problems. Let's hope Faty's cork was legitimate and not just Paolo protecting his player. Storm still looks a good few weeks/months away from his best. Micky Neill didn't convince either. Thankfully Ivan seems to be very comfortable as number 1.

All in all a promising start though. We will score goals. We will control the ball better. Hopefully the defence with more time and coaching will improve. Taking a point away from Perth is not an easy task at the best of times, but this year they have arguably one of the strongest squads so the result should stand us in good stead.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I watched again and Faty is a 3 not a 0.
He will be an asset but has to learn......you play like a dog.......you get yanked
Off.

I thought your dog was quality in goals?
One of my last dogs was the best DM the world had never seen.

 

[pjennings]

Liam Reddy scored an own goal when he played against us in our first competitive match and he scored an own goal when he played against in our most recent competitive match. The more things change the more they stay the same.

 

[greenlig]

For anyone interested, you can re-watch the game here. Needs to be watched over at Youtube, won't embed.

[link removed - see note below]

[EDIT] Audio isn't synced properly, unfortunately.

MODS NOTE: we can't post Fox Sports copyrighted video on here. Fox Sports fund the game, without their cash the league isn't here. And we don't wanna get sued.

[EDIT2] Well, shit.

 

[Tevor]

CCM were not the only team to show defensive frailties over round 1. Scummers would be feeling bad with the goal they conceded and no wonder they are looking at Covic. I also think some are being a bit harsh both crosses to Taggart were quality and pin point and most defences would have struggled to handle them from what I seen over the weekend. The penalty Faty gave way deserved criticism, Paolo is handling him well so far let's see how it transpires over the next few weeks and hopefully doesn't start impacting team culture.

 

[kevrenor]

Back of the Net report: http://back-of-the-net.com/2016/10/coast-snatch-a-point-from-celebrating-glory/

 

[nebakke]

It's not much but, I think there's some mitigation in our newly found ability to hold the ball... If the boys can hold on to it the way they did for most of the second half, it removes quite a bit of the risk created by a somewhat shaky defence... You need the ball to score...
That being said, it's obviously not enough and you don't want to have to rely on the midfield and goalie exclusively, to keep you in the green, but it shows some good starting signs... Much as I want to be optimistic though, we came out of the first round quite nicely last season as well - arguably better - so I'm reserving my judgment for another couple of games... It IS a good start and we certainly did look better than we have in a long time. The whole team defended and while a fair few of them were overhit, the passes actually did hit the player that was targeted - just that they sometime bounced a bit too hard

Good start, let's keep it up and hope that the boys can shock Sydney next week - BOY would THAT be fun!...

 

[greenlig]

For me, this passage of the second half a few minutes after we scored our first, is emblematic of the game. We control it beautifully, Tav running the show, a nice attack forms...then we almost lose it entirely because of a fast break - http://imgur.com/a/jGQtU

The difference between the halves has a lot to do with confidence it seems.

 

[Gratis]

I'm still to watch the second half - damnable recording failed for some reason. That said...

Faty was disappointing, but it was only one game. I'm prepared to give him some more rope - he'll either come good or hang himself with it (clearly metaphorically speaking).

The defence still scares me and we lack major depth there. I think Okon will reconsider the defence as his main area to recruit for after all. Good thing we have Necevski!
Powell from what I saw has the decision making ability and technical skill to be 10 for now though is only growing into the role so expecting much improvement there yet. As the team possession mantra gels he will come more and more into the role.

I had high hopes for Pain and good things will come if he keeps it up.

Most excited about 3 things -
* Okon's decision making. He clearly pulled Faty and drew a line in the sand. He then nailed the move by protecting him in the media and leaving criticism for behind closed doors.
Whatever he said and did at half-time worked - I like a coach who can tweak on the run to improve the team. It's critical to success.

* Our new style/attempt - making use of speed and possession. Whilst we're a ways from being fluent in this style you can see it beginning - both Bris and Adelaide took between a third and a half a season to begin to dominate when they implemented similar styles. It may be a slow season start results wise but I like where it is going.

* The Mariners fighting spirit/never-say-die attitude appears to be back! There's half the battle right there.

Okon deserves credit for all of the above too in my opinion, but so do many of the players.

As I say I'm still expecting few actual points in the first 8 - 12 rounds but then expect we'll accelerate and be a real shot at the 6.
CCM! CCM! CCM!

 

[dibo]

Can someone get Monty to actually smack a corner with the laces rather than the little dinks he was hitting on Saturday? They were just skidding in when you want them pounded into the area.

 

[tim...]

Confidence breeds confidence. We lacked it completely for all 27 rounds last season.

If they can build confidence from that great 2nd half performance then more power to them.

(that was in reply to @Rowdy talking about Connor Pain thinking we were fantastic)

 

[dibo]

[EDIT2] Well, shit.