Round 18 vs Melbourne

[C U JIMMY]

Just seen the stats on Fox, 23 shots to their 9, possesssion 55 % us 45% them. All the damage and goals came from left side of our defence,  sorry Vidy is copping the blame when our left defence was non existant Brownie was just awful and Porter would have been better sitting next to me he did nothing in the game, we desperately need a left back now Heff is gone for the season. 10 goals in 2 games makes it very hard to swallow. Happy New Year Mariners I'm sure the next few weeks will see us  rise from the depths and get the ship back on an even keel.

 

[marinersman]

For the first time ever, I refused to clap them off the pitch after the game.

Totally unacceptable performance. I have never seen us so bad at the back. Browny and Wilko were shocking and as pointed out a couple of posts ago, Porter may has well not played. It was like having ten men.

Never again we will see Johnny miss so many chances and I hate to say Maty's finishing was a distaster.

Ten goals in two games is disgraceful.

Every season has a turning point for the better or worse. I just hope the game against Sydney wasn't out turning point in the season.

Lawrie's going to have to work some magic to turn it around quick smart.

It will be a massive blow not to get the Premiership from the position we were in a couple of weeks ago.

Sorry for the doom and gloom. We've still got everything to play for (obviously!), but tonight's effort was just terrible and I hope that's our last bad game this season.

I'm constantly amazed at all the twists and turns in this league. Just when you think all is going swimmingly, this happens.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Lets face it, without Hutcho, Danny & Owens we are V2 again.

Shit performances from Brown Vidmar and Trott together with some woeful finishing. I wont bag Simon, at least he got into positions to have a go. Where was Saso tonight??

Every team cops 1 hammering each season, that was ours. Forget it, welcome the boys back and lets win the thing.

 

[kevrenor]

Trott - picked the ball out of his net for 5 goals - had little to do with any one them, but then again he did not command his area

Vidmar - 1/2 game -  beaten for pace but still covered a lot with his experience - seemed frustrated by lack of movement in front of him when playing out

Wilkinson - played like he was still at Ryde City not the commanding presence of last season - is his head baxck on straight after that injury?

Clark - did OK but could not really get forward

O'Grady - 1/2 game - well that is what coming back after being out for the season looks like - odd substitution

Gumprecht - lot of running but little to show for it

Damien Brown - had trouble settling but just when he seemed to be he was substituted

Porter - not sighted much in first half but his crossing was about all there was of danger down the left after Brown went off.

Pondeljak - contributed across the park, which was part of the problem - at times he was sweeping

Jedinak - Mostly our best but could not dominate the midfield

Petrovski - learn to pass to your own man

Aloisi - battled hard but is not looking sharp

Matt Simon - gave us more bite up front but how did you miss from there?

 

[marinersman]

I'm still sure we can win it and I remain very confident we will. Queensland have three very tough games - Melbourne and Sydney in Brisbane and then Adelaide away. I fully expect them to drop points in at least two of these games.

I can cope with a loss, I'm just very disappointed with the overall performance tonight. We lost far too easily and there was no intensity from our boys. It was all too easy for the tards tonight.

 

[Mini In Bay 6]

Does anyone know what happened with the old guy in the ground announcers booth getting ejected just after half time? 

 

[georgemladenov]

Hmmmm... I'm speechless. What a terrible way to end what was probably a fairly ordinary 2007.

At the end of the first half I was wondering if the A-League had surpassed Browny... Lawrie then substituted him!

Enough has been said about Porter's non-existant performance and the shocker both Vidmar and Wilko had. I suppose better get it out of the system now than in the finals when it truly matters.

After Jedi had scored his cracker, I was sure that we would come over the top of Melbourne, similar to how Sydney rolled us over last week at 2-0, but Thompson's first goal literally took the wind out of our sails (...mind the pun).

Matty Simon fluffed two golden opportunities which was disappointing, but on the plus side he's beginning to create even more of these opportunities through intelligent running and his role as a target man. Sasho was more quiet than usual, Muscat seemed to usurp him.

POSITIVES:
- Record crowd
- Fireworks were entertaining

NEGATIVES:
- 2nd Place; 10 conceded in 2 games;
- Borat Lycra wearing fools.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Last comment on tonights dabacle (honest)

If, at the beginning of the season, you were told that we would be 2nd on GD with 3 games to play and 2 of those were at home, would you have taken it??

I know I would

 

[georgemladenov]

Quote from the SMH:

They will get both Vukovic and Adam Kwasnik back from suspension for Sunday's trip to Perth, but their return will be offset by the loss of Vidmar and Andrew Clark after both centre backs received their fourth yellow cards of the season last night.

 

[pjennings]

What did we learn tonight. We can still score goals but where is our miserly defence.Danny needs to be our keeper. Trott didn't do a lot wrong but someone needs to organise the defence.

Clarky - good game

Wilko - shocker

Viddy - good 1/2 game except penalty- should start with Boogs each week in central defence.

Brown - slighter better than Wilko

Jedi - good game - great goal

Tommy - good game - but one touch too many too many times

Gumps - seemed to try hard but seems to be half a yard too slow now.

Simon - needs to put one away. Hopefully the dorught wil break.

Sasho - looked okay at times but was monstered all game

JA - missed a few that he should have got.

Oh and I forgot Porter - did he turn up.

We need a left back. Heff is out. Viddy needs to play centrally and Browny is looking ordinary. Hutch Owens and Danny coming back will help but I'm afraid a few probably cruelled their chances for a new contract tonight.

 

[serious14]

What.  The.  F*ck.  Just.  Happened.

Totally unacceptable performance from nearly all concerned.  Tommy P again showed why when he is on song he is our best player bar none.  Best Centre Back, Defensive Mid, Right Wing, Left Wing, sweeper, and No. 10 on the park??  That's all well and good, BUT WHY THE F*CK DID IT HAVE TO COME TO THAT??    Anyways, it was a stunning game from him in a highly disappointing outfit.  Jedi, Aloisi, and Simon (aside from _that_ miss) can hold their heads up too.  But everyone else, PARTICULARLY Brown and Porter??  Hope they're on the training paddock at 7am this morning.  We're supposed to be title challengers, not a pale imitation of also rans!!!!

Perth had want to be annihilated by about 7 goals next week - farkin' HEADS UP BOYS!!!!

Oh, and get Grego, Hutch, and Danny back as soon as possible.  Oh my.......

 

[Andy]

What the f*ck was that?

That's all  I want to say.

 

[Lloydo]

Poor Trott.
Conceded 10 goals and he's only started one game (being subbed into the other).

Melbourne are finally lifting their game.
Amazing goal by Jedinak, truly something you'd see in the top teams of the EPL.
Though I still think Santalab's goal has the edge on Jedinak's, with the curl and the fact that Santalab's shit and Jedinak isn't.

I commend whoever did the fireworks at the top. Very nice.

 

[rosko]

Come on guys... Put the knives away... The penalty against Viddy was a no brainer. you should have the seen the look on his face as soon as Archie came down.. We still have the best team in the comp.. When they are all on the paddock of course.. Everyone needs to get behind them and bring them home...

 

[yellowcake]

If, at the beginning of the season, you were told that we would be 2nd on GD with 3 games to play and 2 of those were at home, would you have taken it??

I know I would

Me 2!

POSITIVES:
- Record crowd
- Fireworks were entertaining

- And (believe it or not after tonight) we're now the equal best attacking side in the league (26 goals, with Adelaide). Which was otherwise only the case in after Rd 2 (again equal with Adelaide). Compare with V2!


F__cked if I'm giving up hope yet.

 

[jaypee]

I'm not giving up hope but I can't believe some of the comments about Aloisi

Again - apart from the 50/50 ball he shoveled over the keeper but wide I would like to be reminded of another shot he missed.

Muscatt cleared his free kick of the line, he had a header turned away.

I agree Sasho needs to pass to our guys and Matty needs to shoot.

The reason we need Nick next year (if fit) is that he can pass and shoot...

 

[mariners_4_ever]

can  you guys stop being so negative
so what our boys lost every team loses once in a while
stop finding negative excuses about our boys and how they played shockingly
lets just put this game in the past and look forword to getting our 3 points in perth

 

[mariners4ever]

all i can say is WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Atomic]

What's our situation with yellow cards? Who has how many? I'm getting fed up with losing players every week because they pick up one yellow (which happens to be their fourth).

 

[CCM-JAM80]

I will watch the replay before commenting all too much though that was unacceptable. I will not "put the knives in" or kick the team whilst we are down, though another 5 goals conceeded is a massive concern at this time of the year.

Yes, we are "plugging holes" due to injury and suspension, though we are (or is it were?) the the team who has set the benchmark and we cannot offer up excuses for that effort.

mariners_4_ever, your "head in the sand" attitude as stated above may help you sleep easy though it helps none. Being a supporter of your team doesn't contract you to not stating constructive criticism. Wiping your hands of that performance pretending all is well is something I hope the majority involved with the club do not adopt.

We cannot accept mediocrity. We are too proud a club to lower ourselves to that.

We can however look at our last two performances and work toward getting the season back on track starting with Perth next week. The coaching staff have some work to do, McKinna acknowledged that, let's hope we can turn it around.

I don't think we should panic, I do however believe we need to be able to provide an honest assessment of the team's performance and demand improvement as we strive for AFC Champions qualification.