Round 14 v Meow

[bikinigirl]

. this will probably get long so apologies in advance (i'll break it up)

. have to agree that the pitch is a disgrace ... and has been for a long time. just as people were complaining about the pitch in melbourne, the mariners shouldn't even be paying for that shit

. the crowd was lower than many expected, but i am not really that surprised. as somebody suggested i think aloisi did add to our crowds last year plus we were even higher up the table then. we have not played well at home this season which could be another reason. the heat during the day (and chance of nasty stormies) could have kept people away. but i think saturday nights in december have the potential for low crowds - i noticed quite a few members missing and as i missed three chrissy do's myself to attend i understand why

. the qld goal was more good luck than good management i feel, but probably impossible to save. it was interesting that auburn in defending danny's positioning said there was a defender (in addition to d'appuzzo) blocking his view of van dick. i am not saying it would have made any difference but when there is only two people likely to have a dig from a set piece ... why block them from your view with the positioning of your defence?

 

[Bear]

Danny moved left a little bit as the ball was moving

He then watched the ball for a few seconds (to be fair, it was a rocket)

He then "fell" to his right, in an attempt to save it, it was not a dive, again, it was a rocket, but (I cant believe im saying this) I agree with kareem, his positioning should have been a little better. Iv come to expect better from Danny

I believe Danny was flat footed, and said it at the time, and still believe he was

Only my opinion, and I stand by it

 

[jaypee]

Danny moved left a little bit as the ball was moving

He then watched the ball for a few seconds (to be fair, it was a rocket)

He then "fell" to his right, in an attempt to save it, it was not a dive, again, it was a rocket, but (I cant believe im saying this) I agree with kareem, his positioning should have been a little better. Iv come to expect better from Danny

I believe Danny was flat footed, and said it at the time, and still believe he was

Only my opinion, and I stand by it

spoken like a non goal keeper

 

[Sym]

but (I cant believe im saying this) I agree with kareem

Oh My

 

[jaypee]

I'd love to hear what the handbags at 5 paces was between Reddy and Mile

 

[bikinigirl]

. and now the team

. danny, in all honesty didn't really have that much to do, other than the free kick which i think has been discussed enough. i think he would have been happier with his defence than he has been for a while

. porter i still don't think is a great defender. would love to see him playing further up the park where the confidence in his passing and attacking is not constantly being undermined by the second guessing of his own defensive frailties. passing and crosses could be brilliant but are sometimes atrocious

. ledj ... nuff said i think. generally give no sympathy for dissent, but there is always exceptions

. wilko i think comes in for some unwarranted criticism sometimes, but he is the sort of player (clean) where a good game often goes unrecognised. good game

. d'appuzzo i didn't think was too bad ... lacking in experience and keen to impress yes, but not bad. the game i saw him play for the kiddies i thought he was a standout - to continue to improve he needs to play with the big boys. as with porter he can get caught out positionally which looks bad but his speed may help to mask this

. ossie i don't think was as bad as most people are making out. if his role was to attack then there is an argument, but he seemed to be one of the few players willing to move off the ball. made a few strong tackles and i would prefer to see him swap positions with porter - he seems more defensively minded (and a better defender) but i feel would not be afraid to attack now his fitness is returning

. jedi ... the guy is starting to worry me. admittedly he is our rock and a real talent but his passing game really worries me - unlike others i don't think it has ever been brilliant. the biggest concern though is those shitty little chip thingies they really piss me off and more people are starting to jump on the bandwagon (should be enough to ensure one of them actually works now and we score as a result)

. hutcho, well it doesn't really matter what i say because people have their minds made up before a ball is even kicked. thought he was alright and in the end i think he was unlucky his shot didn't go in. although he has copped a bagging for it again, i don't think he tried his turn and drop technique at all last night (but could be wrong)

. caceres i think does very well considering the attention that he gets. although many see him as the messiah i think he often brings himself unstuck unfortunately. somebody needs to provide him with more consistent service ... on last night's evidence gumpy could be the man. but i don't like seeing him come back behind the back 4 (he did it a number of times last night), its the only time the opposition leave him alone

. sash is always one to confound, but i think he outperformed last night. his situational awareness was pretty ordinary and dylan must be pretty quiet out on the pitch. perhaps we need to use his constant off-side positioning to our advantage - dylan would have been gifted an opportunity last night if he had kept running and if sash had stayed out of the play

. dylan also does a lot without getting a lot of credit, wouldn't take much for him to start racking up the goals. perhaps someone will even pass him the ball one day while standing alone in the box (only a matter of time before he jobs sasho i reckon??). but i think he needs to attack the ball more as it comes to him ... he almost always tries to hold the defender off and shield the oncoming ball but it rarely works - until we learn to pass the ball firmly to his feet this tactic will be tough to execute

. gumpy was fantastic for us last night. i had started to think he may be past it but he really added something ... space. from an attacking perspective he really knows how to move off the ball - he makes their defence move whether he is ultimately involved in the play or not and that gives us opportunity. the midfield is difficult to benchmark at the moment because the formation has been changing, but we can't continue to play three or four guys with 15m of one another where each individual thinks their job is done because they have laid the ball off to another. oh yeah and great goal, have seen him launch a few of those high and wide ... proof he was on song last night

. nik is still an enigma but it is time for him to really start to shine. made a couple of odd choices last night ... if i see him dribbling towards the box and having a dig from well outside the box again while the ball is running away from him, he is gonna have more knee trouble. might be time to do something a bit crazy ... start nik and swap him out for dylan before the half is out

. also interesting that there were grumblings of discontent around me and at the 54 minute mark i re-assured everybody that the game doesn't even start for another 6 minutes ... wasn't far off the mark. earlier this season we switching off too early, now it is taking us too long to switch on - i am sure we will play a full 90+ soon ... then look out

 

[Pokes]

My mate got pinned for the firecracker/whatever it was incident...

He didn't even see it being thrown.

So yeah, innocent guy, got a fine for it. Lame. Police at Bluetongue need to get their eyes checked.

 

[Part_Timer]

mariners - dire..... marinators - dire.....

maybe i am actually emo

 

[Auburn Mariner]

Ah, if the Marinators were dire, it was completely justified. And we WERE NOT dire in the last 15 minutes.

Miss Carmichael, was your mate wearing an Everton guernsey with "Chang" as the major sponsor?

Bear, great to hear an opinion on Sergio's strike from someone who has actually kept for a long time. I still think Danny is blameless, but interesting to hear your opinion. Must be hard to agree with FIGJAM Kareem!!!

DT_Ultras, please don't say you are an emo. They are clueless, you are NOT (despite being a Potter!!!).

 

[marinersman]

Just on our crowds, I have been very disappointed with the numbers we've been getting this year but to be fair, I think that's the highest crowd we've had against Queensland ever.

Please correct if I am wrong.

That's positive and I think we'll see a good crowd for the chopper filth. They'll come in big numbers as always. Especially after winning today.

Then we've got NYE, which is always our biggest crowd of the year during the regular season. I think we're heading in the right direction.

 

[LFCMariners]

Well, the Scum got > 8,000 today. Sure they're at the arse end of the table (LOL) but it was one of their biggest match-ups of the season against the Bling. We're doing ok.

 

[Don]

agree with bikinigirl inlast post.

 

[FFC Mariner]

And there would have been at least 1,000 Bling at the scumdome so the scums crowd is even worse than it looks.

Band wagon is well and truly derailed up there

LOL

 

[Krispy]

How long is Matty out?

We missed him on SAt night

Nik is heart attack stuff - he needs to score a brace- Sat night would be a great start!!!!

As for crowd - the heat ( b4 the southerly hit) and earlier start would not have helped.  the test will be SAt night as I have friends who only attend the Sydney game for the atmosphere with their travelling fans. Lets hope for 12K plus. There is obviously a core group of diehard supporters of say 9K !

 

[ponno]

I reckon it will be a big crowd providing there is no chance of rain - factor in the cove loyalists and this is always a cracking game we hopefully will get 13K. .. .. later start helps too the cricketers on the coast struggle to make the early games