7 Goal Thriller Ends With Santa Winner

Late post here for me. Over the moon about our result. We score 4 goals. That's good signs that we actually do have the capacity to sink the ball in the back of the net.

 

First half Jamo for me was outstanding in his defensive work. Really solid play from him. Obviously bridge and Mitch were outstanding. Mitch was unstoppable. The high pressing games are so good to watch when we find space. We found a lot of space behind opposition and could release our wings.

 

We were able to hold the ball up the park and though our possession stats are lower it didn't seem like they dominated the ball.

 

Lloydy, I agree with everything you have said except for redders thing. He still doesn't fill me with confidence. My hearts in my mouth every time opposition gets within goal range.

 

Death to Novillo. What a **** and a ******* cry baby. We should make an anti Novillo chant. **** the ****.

 

 

 

 

Sotirio was absolute garbage tonight. He offered nothing and was a liability.

And we won despite him

I must've watched a different game then, the Sotirio I saw didn't stop running all night and had his best game for us to date.

He might have been running all night but this is not Athletics. The problem was when he actually got the ball... and then lost it... and then lost it... and then lost it.... and then lost it.... all friggin night! His performance accentuated the disappointment of Golgol not making the squad.  It was good to see Nichols back to his early season form... great game. Andreu and Dimas (with a few hiccups)... brilliant. Lets hope we can sign them for next season. Wish we had our own Fornaroli... that goal was pure class. Reminded me of ADP in his prime. He must have shifted just millimetres to the right, no back lift, ping. No-one's fault... a thing of beauty. Novillo's was well taken but the midfield cough up was ugly. Vidosic is still a worry. Something not right there (apart from not being a winger). He doesn't look a happy chappy.... and also looks in need of a good feed of the edible variety!

You do realize that the first goal we scored was due to Sortirio disposing a Melbourne City player off the ball. You do realize that when he chases and retrieves the ball it is not just him but other team mates who are then able to get into good positions in attack. You do realize that when he came off we looked pretty bad defensively and let them score three goals.

 

The guy is relentless and doesn't give the other team an inch. His role was purely to negate them and not make them feel comfortable coming out from the back. He is a good player to use in big games against teams who build out well from the back. If people don't realize by now why Popa plays him then I don't think you ever will.

 

 

We all have our own opinions about what we want to see in a football player. Personally I think you are overestimating Sotirio's contributions and his effectiveness in the team. Doesn't mean he isn't effective at what he does, I just prefer to look for other things in a footballer besides running hard and having a good engine. Am I being harsh on Sotirio, yeah maybe, but we just see different things on the football pitch. I am not a fan, because he does a lot of things wrong. He holds onto the ball too long, releases at the wrong time, tries to take too many players on, loses the ball, gives up possession to easily. He frustrates the hell out of me, but yes, he can run. 

 

 

Sotirio ran his ass off and won plenty of ball and stopped plenty of City's raids from their fullbacks who have killed opp teams in the past few weeks, why else do you think he started??   surely you saw the difference when Castelan came on and the space that was allowed and eventual goals we conceded.  As for his attacking ability and knowing what to do with the ball when he has it in space, sure he gets it wrong, but the kid has just turned 20 a few months ago, he has plenty of time.

Sotirio played well...only issue he needs to go more direct and take on players or just keep running he stops instead of going forward great game by him though!!

I thought Sotirio was good. I do understand where jukes is coming from though. He would make good runs and then just lose the ball. Happened few times.

 

Still I think the good outweighed the bad. Great runs, good releases and found space well. I rated his performance.

Sotirio did alright, there was a great run in behind somewhere in second half and then he pulled the ball back across goal (can't remember why we didn't score)

 

There is a decent player in there

Some observations from yesterday:

#Good crowd number considering that it was a Friday night and a lot if people piked out due to weather concerns.

#The noise/atmosphere especially after the 1st goal reminded me of the Sanfrecce game.My son SMS me from Northmead saying he could hear us.

#Redmayne had two good saves and not much he could do with the goals.

#The 3 Spaniards are fantastic.

#Jamo is getting better with every game.

#Satiro had the best game for us but he still needs to improve heaps.

#Bridge & Nichols when they are in sync they are as good as they come.

#Castelan very unselfish for the pass to Santa, pity about the one on one.

#If Santa keeps coming in and tapping the ball in, I don't really care if he comes in for 10 mins every game.

#Subs had to happen when they did. Dario was finished after 70 min.

#We switched off for 5 mins and got punished...cannot happen against Victory.

#Ref had the worst performance of the night. I think it would be fair to say he will be having a week off next week.

Edited January 29, 2016 by tardotz

I appreciate the posts and everyone makes good points about Sotirio and he does bring his own unique traits and abilities to the game. He doesnt strike me as the most rounded or multi dimensional player. He certainly lacks a bit of football iq and that just comes with more experience and maturity. The problem for him is that while he can rely on his speed and stamina for the moment it wont take him towards a long career. He ends up being like a poor mans Brett Emerton who was also blindingly quick but showed when he came back to the A-league at a decent age just how one dimemsional he was. Sotirio needs to ask himself if he wants to be a footballer with a long career or a short one. More time on analysis and watching tape for him than spending it on the training fields. He does have value to the team and I understand why Popa picks him its just that I dont value those things over others I have mentioned.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Jukes01

What a night! Rollercoaster of a game but I came home with a smile on my face.

 

Btw, for those in the active area...I forgot to take my bag with me home after the game. Is there a chance that someone might've seen a black backpack in 56 after full time? 

 

No bag... just realised who you are though I think! Have you asked Stevo he would be better placed to spread word around that area to see if anyone picked it up...

 

You know. ...I was reminded of the Sanfrecce game too, for noise. At that game, a colleague in Oatlands (other side of Parra) heard every goal celebration.

She loved it.."You bloody Wanderers fans....we heard every bloody goal...hahaha"

I'll report back if she tells me that we were as loud as that last night.  

 

• That was a wild game of football. This is the most entertaining football we've ever played.

Do they have special breeding projects here in Australia for producing refs?

NTS didn't get the red card that Ryall didn't get in the derby either. It was almost in the same spot too.

The three Spaniards are the backbone. NTS, Jamo, Nichols, Bridge are the team's heart, soul, and wings.

Vidosic: excellent work rate, excellent player. Gets himself in position and is always dangerous. The goals will come. 

We finally had a game where we clinically put the ball in the net. Hallelujah.

Neville has developed into a very good RB. He's hardly ever beaten.

When City kept coming for us even after the 3:0 I thought "this game isn't over yet". Can't give Novillo and Fornaroli any breathing space. Excellent strikers.

City have a great squad. With a CB like Alberto they'd be hard to beat. The team certainly has character, but the whole club has as much soul as a terracotta roof tile.

It's all coming together. Now let's see if we can f8rk the Victory next week.

Neville even put a decent cross in unfortunately (I think it was bridge) was offside!

Neville even put a decent cross in unfortunately (I think it was bridge) was offside!

 

vidosic header?

Let's keep in mind Sotirio is 20 years old. For a kid he did well not to bottle it under that pressure.

I thought it was one of his better games for us.

 

Castelan also had one of his best games for us. He linked (passed) well with those around him.

It definitely felt like a win for me, it was just a bit strange because I wasn't sure whether to be concerned about the last 15 minutes or just forget it cause we won.

 

The RBB was way more packed than I expected last night, good to see. I feel like we are getting better at everybody in the stadium singing together as one, there were a few times where the sides were getting involved and it was sounding good.

 

After the first goal, the side stands got quite involved, which was excellent.

 

I agree, I feel an unspoken formula is gradually being worked out between the RBB and the side stands about when they join in. First it was WDYSF, then West, now the 'Ole, ole' celebration chant. It's good stuff.

Great night. Yep, RBB got the chants spot on and the atmosphere was electric.

Great night. Yep, RBB got the chants spot on and the atmosphere was electric.

 

Last night's game was everything you could ask of a home match. Great atmosphere, decent crowd and a cracking match, all topped off with us winning.

Crazy game, hope the eurosnobs that would rather stay up to 2am to watch their "beloved" club in England were watching that. Our league is good.

 

Crowd surprisingly good at 14,820 as well considering the rain. Just on TV it looks like the South End was more empty than usual but RBB fuller. Was this the case at the ground?

 

Great fun.

 

Yeah the South end was a bit emptier thsn other games this year. It is the quickest to empty when rain is a threat, for the obvious reason that it is totally uncovered.

 

In past years filling the South end in sold out games was a real issue, but that problem has been fixed this year.

 

The RBB (I was in the middle, so I didn't get a great view of the edges) did appear fuller than most games this year.

 

Am I being harsh on Sotirio, yeah maybe, but we just see different things on the football pitch. I am not a fan, because he does a lot of things wrong. He holds onto the ball too long, releases at the wrong time, tries to take too many players on, loses the ball, gives up possession.

 

I don't think he overplays it so much. He just loses composure with the slightest bit of pressure.

 

If he could work on his crossing and bringing down the ball from the air, he could forge a decent A-League career. Rather than slowing down/holding up the ball, he should be playing to his strength - using his pace to get to the corner flag before whipping one in. Cutting inside only brings out his indecision.

Yeah hesitation is his biggest problem. After he 'scored' against the smurfs he seemed to grow in confidence and was putting in little back heels etc, but that seems an age ago and he is back to indecision.

Dimas being everywhere

 

**** yeah! Nichols and Bridge will rightly get a lot of plaudits, but Dimas was bossing that game. All over the place! Actually, Nichols was all over the place too, in a different style, Edited January 29, 2016 by btron3000

Crazy game, hope the eurosnobs that would rather stay up to 2am to watch their "beloved" club in England were watching that. Our league is good.

 

Crowd surprisingly good at 14,820 as well considering the rain. Just on TV it looks like the South End was more empty than usual but RBB fuller. Was this the case at the ground?

 

Great fun.

This,

 

 

forget gimmick marquees etc. We are developing a proper league here with good games, crowds, atmosphere etc

 

If people can't get into games like last nights, and the last Melbourne derby etc. Then stuff em.. Bunch of telly clapping bellends

Sotirio had an OK game but he needs to be more decisive. Look at someone like Fornarolli, little shift to the right and shoot. Sotirio does it, he hesitates and the moment is gone.

 

**** that. I want something krass.

 

That referee was a wanker.

Ref your mums got two ****s and you're one of them,

You're one of them

You're one of them

Edited January 30, 2016 by GD07

Can't understand why Fornaroli didn't get carded for that blatant shove on Neville at the end? Hope Van't Ship faces a touchline ban for coming on the pitch then, and then abusing the ref at the end. 

Game shown again on SBS 2 today (1pm) and tomorrow on NITV (10am).

Re Sotirio...understand some of the criticism however for me he showed more competence last night than he has for many a game. Ran like a bastard, made a couple of incisive movements, but lacked a real head on his shoulders when it came to shoot *****.

 

In retrospect can't be too hard on Redders. He made a brave save early in the first half, snatching the ball off the volleying boot of Novillo I think. The first goal was basically down to NTS getting skinned, the second would've got past anyone and the third was your bog standard fail from the defence on a dead ball.

 

Fat Head was sublime, with some flashes of season one individual brilliance. One thing I noticed though; he's lost a bit of pace from 2012/13. There was that time in the first half where he was almost one on one but was run down by the CityFlog defence...go back to (for example) the goal he scored against Newy out at Campbelltown for our community round match and he was all over that.

 

Vidosic was frustrating, insofar as he was technically sound but the fitness seems to be a prob. There were some times me and the Bay 65 lads had to really give him an earful for not getting stuck in.

 

When they write the annals of Wanderers greats Santa is going to be way up the front of the accounts. He was and still is the best pick up we got from Season Two, and that includes Spira. It's well nigh impossible to think of a game where, coming off the bench, he hasn't done something to merit adulation.

 

Everything that needs to be said about our Spanish trio has been said. ¡Magnificos! I was utterly wrong about Dimas from his pre-season showing...thought he was too slow and too aggressive in his tackling...the guy is a maestro.

 

As for the oppo...they have a roster that should be shitting it in. A striker who is banging goals in for fun. The supposedly best domestic player in the league. Ex-Socceroos like Zullo and Paartelu. A Danish international goalie. Yet they looked out of the game until a mad minute or so of complacency from our behalf and a miracle shot from them. They had the ref giving them more slack than a femmo vego lezzo commo bleeding heart magistrate at a hearing against a single mother dole cheat, yet they look unable to compete for all bar the last 15 minutes.

 

Oh, and as someone who travelled with a bunch of great WSW folk to their Plastic-Dome and saw their bunch of Æ‘logs only muster under 10K on a perfect Saturday night in the middle of the school holidays, I can truthfully state their club culture is shite. On a Friday night in the first week back for school, after a thunderstorm that if Noah had seen would've said 'Gonna need a bigger boat', we got over 14K. And if anyone saw more than the guy in the heart shirt in Bay 65 or that waddling woman heading down the back of the Eastern Stand then you deserve a spotters fee from Manchester City.

Spira > santa

Re Sotirio...understand some of the criticism however for me he showed more competence last night than he has for many a game. Ran like a bastard, made a couple of incisive movements, but lacked a real head on his shoulders when it came to shoot *****.

 

In retrospect can't be too hard on Redders. He made a brave save early in the first half, snatching the ball off the volleying boot of Novillo I think. The first goal was basically down to NTS getting skinned, the second would've got past anyone and the third was your bog standard fail from the defence on a dead ball.

 

Fat Head was sublime, with some flashes of season one individual brilliance. One thing I noticed though; he's lost a bit of pace from 2012/13. There was that time in the first half where he was almost one on one but was run down by the CityFlog defence...go back to (for example) the goal he scored against Newy out at Campbelltown for our community round match and he was all over that.

 

Vidosic was frustrating, insofar as he was technically sound but the fitness seems to be a prob. There were some times me and the Bay 65 lads had to really give him an earful for not getting stuck in.

 

When they write the annals of Wanderers greats Santa is going to be way up the front of the accounts. He was and still is the best pick up we got from Season Two, and that includes Spira. It's well nigh impossible to think of a game where, coming off the bench, he hasn't done something to merit adulation.

 

Everything that needs to be said about our Spanish trio has been said. ¡Magnificos! I was utterly wrong about Dimas from his pre-season showing...thought he was too slow and too aggressive in his tackling...the guy is a maestro.

 

As for the oppo...they have a roster that should be shitting it in. A striker who is banging goals in for fun. The supposedly best domestic player in the league. Ex-Socceroos like Zullo and Paartelu. A Danish international goalie. Yet they looked out of the game until a mad minute or so of complacency from our behalf and a miracle shot from them. They had the ref giving them more slack than a femmo vego lezzo commo bleeding heart magistrate at a hearing against a single mother dole cheat, yet they look unable to compete for all bar the last 15 minutes.

 

Oh, and as someone who travelled with a bunch of great WSW folk to their Plastic-Dome and saw their bunch of Æ‘logs only muster under 10K on a perfect Saturday night in the middle of the school holidays, I can truthfully state their club culture is shite. On a Friday night in the first week back for school, after a thunderstorm that if Noah had seen would've said 'Gonna need a bigger boat', we got over 14K. And if anyone saw more than the guy in the heart shirt in Bay 65 or that waddling woman heading down the back of the Eastern Stand then you deserve a spotters fee from Manchester City.

 

   Entertaining as always Manfred.

I'd headline this as "7 goal thriller ends with Santa keeping Partaluu onside for the tap in"

BTW...what gives with the way that 'Glorious' is done before the kick off? The RBB was in fine voice and delivering it absolutely perfectly, with able assistance from us non-actives. Then the PA system cuts in with their instrumental version and fooks up the rhythm. FFS leave the chants to the men, women and children in the stands

BTW...what gives with the way that 'Glorious' is done before the kick off? The RBB was in fine voice and delivering it absolutely perfectly, with able assistance from us non-actives. Then the PA system cuts in with their instrumental version and fooks up the rhythm. FFS leave the chants to the men, women and children in the stands

And the announcer talking over the top of it confused everybody

Very pleased to hear the comments by Danny Mills post match. One of the best atmosphere from around the world.

Very pleased to hear the comments by Danny Mills post match. One of the best atmosphere from around the world.

Anyone got a link where we can watch all the post match and half time analysis includinf him?

Heard he ripped jvs a new one on his coaching.