Sully's article

[Leigh]

Central Coast Mariners Assistant Coach, Wayne O'Sullivan, gives fans an update from the dressing room in his weekly column.
“It's a fine line between winning and losing" pretty much sums up last Sunday’s game with Sydney.

Two lapses of concentration during two set pieces ended up being the difference between the two sides.

If John Hutchinson’s header goes in at 1-0 or Mitch Duke’s volley goes in at 2-0 when the game is in the balance who knows what could have been!

With three Hyundai A-League rounds down and the Westfield FFA Cup semi final upon us it’s probably an opportune time to give you some insight into the club’s thinking moving forward.

Unlike most professional sporting organisations, the Mariners have always placed a large emphasis on attempting to remain accessible with our fans and including you in our plans and preparation.

Last season when Phil Moss took over under the most turbulent of times, including a change in ownership, a senior management restructure, overhauls of playing rosters and a new head coach, the short-term goal was to re-stabilise and also remain competitive on all fronts.

During the off season whilst Melbourne City were recruiting from the English Premier League, Sydney FC were searching the globe for their latest marquee player and Western Sydney were proposing building a new stadium, our owner and the senior management decided we too needed a longer term identity that represented more than just the battlers who once again overachieved, or blue collar boys surviving another year.

At this point it was decided that rather than aim to be the Manchester United, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain of the Hyundai A-League, we would focus more on replicating the Southampton, SC Freiburg or Ajax Amsterdam models.

This model would be focused on youth and promote a long-term vision of success that could be sustained via off field development and long term on field success.

This is what we are going through now.

This year’s team is comfortably the youngest team to have played in the Hyundai A-League with an average age of just 24.

This team will naturally take some time to evolve into the finished article but is based around a long-term vision and playing style that will provide us with long-term success over many years to come.

The short-term challenge of this is to ensure that we remain competitive on a weekly basis while moving progressively toward our end goal. We may hit a few speed bumps along the way but we know that with your unrivalled loyalty and support you will help these boys achieve our ultimate goal of success.

The short term challenge for this week comes in the form of Perth Glory who are a very experienced and physical outfit and are coming off the back of some good results. However I have no doubt that with the support of our more experienced players and the energy of our youth we will provide you all with a very entertaining match on Sunday and hopefully a great result to end the week.

See you at the game.

Sully


Read more at http://www.ccmariners.com.au/articl...2vy0l6v6g3om1xp0rj4l8ww94#RB4WrLpL1Kt4hlmH.99

Must have been watching a different game to me... The difference between the two sides was astronomical. They played along the ground and beat us almost every 1-on-1. We just tried to lob over the top of their back 4 to Mane. Yes we had our chances, but had all chances been taken, we'd have lost like 11-3.

 

[tsd]

probably should just post this in the thread about the game, but agree with you

FYI this weekly column is a marketing piece for the local paper to drum up interest in the mariners, not provide critical analysis

 

[dibo]

Must have been watching a different game to me... The difference between the two sides was astronomical. They played along the ground and beat us almost every 1-on-1. We just tried to lob over the top of their back 4 to Mane. Yes we had our chances, but had all chances been taken, we'd have lost like 11-3.

We got more shots on target than they did. I agree that they were the better side, but not *that* much better.

Sully's right when he said that had Hutch or Duke put their chances away the game is completely different.

 

[Wombat]

Hutch missed a sitter instantly after Eddy missed a sitter.....from the same chance.
Duke hit the bar from a punt from the keeper.

How delusional do we need to get.

We were shite.
We were dominated by bling who are usually toothless but we made them look decent.
The clueless formula continues.....I'm wondering if Mossy will wake up after 5 straight defeats of maybe 7.
At which point he puts out a decent side and set up and we start winning in spite of the gormless (apparently ) coaching staff apart from Crawley.

 

[dibo]

Should I take your views seriously before or after I start consulting horoscopes and reading tea leaves?

 

[Wombat]

Should I take your views seriously before or after I start consulting horoscopes and reading tea leaves?

Keep fiddling Nero....keep fiddling.

 

[VicMariner]

We played well in patches, just gotta do it for the full 90 minutes.

 

[dibo]

Keep fiddling Nero....keep fiddling.

Neither you nor I have any influence whatsoever over tactics or selections, it's all just talking shit on the internet. Quit making out like we've got either the power or responsibility to make any sort of change, and thank your lucky stars that we don't. Whether Mossy's doing well or poorly we can surely both acknowledge that it's a much harder job than us two blowhards could manage based on our rants on here.

In short, get a bit of perspective FFS.

 

[Leigh]

Neither you nor I have any influence whatsoever over tactics or selections, it's all just talking shit on the internet. Quit making out like we've got either the power or responsibility to make any sort of change, and thank your lucky stars that we don't. Whether Mossy's doing well or poorly we can surely both acknowledge that it's a much harder job than us two blowhards could manage based on our rants on here.

Although talking about the problems with the tactics and selections increases the consensus of the fans that the team is just not playing well. I'm sure some fans know some of the players, it'll get around.

Additionally, talking about the games and what we think of the games makes us feel more part of the club. As a member I feel it's my right as a paying customer to have an opinion, whether or not Moss reads it directly.

 

[dibo]

Although talking about the problems with the tactics and selections increases the consensus of the fans that the team is just not playing well. I'm sure some fans know some of the players, it'll get around.

Additionally, talking about the games and what we think of the games makes us feel more part of the club. As a member I feel it's my right as a paying customer to have an opinion, whether or not Moss reads it directly.

No issue with talking shit about games, I'm into my 10th season of doing it about this club on this and the previous forum. I enjoy it and I've made some good friends over the years through this place. It's a worthwhile activity because it's a way for us fans to keep in touch outside of every second weekend in the summertime.

But that's not really my point - my point is that we're not changing anything by posting here. This is why I thought the comment

Keep fiddling Nero....keep fiddling.

is a bit bizarre. Are either Wombat or myself in a position to change either selections or tactics? Nope. So lets not pretend like we're actually solving problems here.

We're spouting off, and if there were ever a circumstance in which players were taking us more seriously than the coaching staff (who, whether we think they're doing well or badly, as professional coaches actually in there working directly with the players and the club are far better placed and far better qualified than us to comment) then they've got rocks in their heads.

It'd be akin to ignoring your lawyer and instead looking to the bloke you just met in the front bar for your legal advice. Even if it sounds like common sense it's an amateur opinion from someone who's probably not qualified to comment professionally.

 

[Wombat]

I hear you Dibo.....but my point is.......you will always defend the "club" and Hutcho regardless of the reality.....whatever!

However.....I hope we smash Perth and we can all start smiling again but I'm scared.

The pre-season was a shambles and we haven't progressed an inch in the first 3 games. The game were we got smashed by a non league side at Lisarow was a shock.
The fans were shocked and the players looked shell shocked........that can be forgiven as a preseason hiccup.

But we are not learning at all and the drivel quoted by Mossy and Sully is scary.

I set and expect high standards.....I'm not the sort of person to say nothing when there is an issue.

We have issues!

 

[style_cafe]

No issue with talking shit about games, I'm into my 10th season of doing it about this club on this and the previous forum. I enjoy it and I've made some good friends over the years through this place. It's a worthwhile activity because it's a way for us fans to keep in touch outside of every second weekend in the summertime.

But that's not really my point - my point is that we're not changing anything by posting here. This is why I thought the comment



is a bit bizarre. Are either Wombat or myself in a position to change either selections or tactics? Nope. So lets not pretend like we're actually solving problems here.

We're spouting off, and if there were ever a circumstance in which players were taking us more seriously than the coaching staff (who, whether we think they're doing well or badly, as professional coaches actually in there working directly with the players and the club are far better placed and far better qualified than us to comment) then they've got rocks in their heads.

It'd be akin to ignoring your lawyer and instead looking to the bloke you just met in the front bar for your legal advice. Even if it sounds like common sense it's an amateur opinion from someone who's probably not qualified to comment professionally.

I kinda enjoy the banter between you two,it does get quite funny at times.

 

[Roy Law]

I think Sullivan writes drivel which doesn't tell me how good he is as a coach; Moss always wrote well which also doesn't tell me how good he is as a coach. They both talk about the vision of where they are taking the club but we fans don't just want vision we want results and we want them now. That's because we are fans, we can't write and we can't coach, but we can blithely express our opinions at leisure on this forum. COYY!