Refs Take Centre Stage In Newy Draw

I can't believe that no one is seeing the real cause of this pathetic run. We are disjointed,lethargic and devoid of any creativity. In transition we have become disjointed and lack options because of poor decision making. There is only one man responsible for all our problems and that's Ange Posta-bog-loo. He is the one who took Ante away from us which led to the infection that is Ian Crook.

 

Some Jets fans chanting at the away support on our way out of the stadium:

You're more cr@p than us,

You're more cr@p than us,

La la la la la la la laaa,

You're more cr@p than us!

Somehow I could not disagree ...

Did they win or something ?

 

Everyone knows the spoon is theirs, it's just a matter of when.

RBB sounded great today, turned it into a home match for us.

 

Wait til you have a bad run they said, well here it is and we're still turning up so that last question has been answered emphatically.

 

Still, if anyone has a problem with the team then vote with your feet, I have friends waiting for memberships.

So we shouldn't have an opinion and if we do just give our memberships to your friends so they can jump on he bandwagon? Have I got that right?

westofcentre u r 100% right. was listening to arnie after esfc game and he talked about changing to plan b within an game to chase results, well done. popa is monotone in his experience. we just don't have any creativity in the mids. putting spira does not do this for me. he is just an extra cb on the park. will run forward then roll the ball under his legs and then goes side to side or back and for poljak not the same players this year. we are the worst passing team in the league.

Just saw the replay of topors disallowed goal at the corner. Wtffffff.

Kennedy was obstructed by his own defenders?!

 

Just on Popa.

 

I was speaking to a coach who although not well known is very well respected in football circles.

 

He said Popas achievements are fantastic. Especially for an inexperienced coach.

 

You dont win an Asian Cup if ur a sh it coach.

 

In his opinion though he thinks where Popa struggles is a Plan B. Or an effective plan B.

 

It is all too predictable and slow. He said the challenge is how do you change things around when it isnt working and getting stale.

 

Something a young coach has to learn.

I for one am willing to give him the chance to learn at our club.

I completely agree. He needs to learn how to change up his system. I doubt anyone would give him grief for trying something different. I'd actually applaud him, it would be hard after having so much success with what he's used. But he needs to now, no other option.

#PopaChange

Ian Crook out. Ante Milicic in.

Crook's attacking tactics are **** and he's just as clueless. We have decent players but we can't seem to get the best out of them. We need to make a change quickly if we want to improve our season, let alone survive in the Champions League.

Frustrating...

A good day almost ruined by a shite game of football with a shite ref again making sure that he is the one folk talk about

Traveling WSW fans put all those p-hlogs from other clubs to shame. And in the case of the Oh So Silent Jets fans, some when at home too

Just saw the replay of topors disallowed goal at the corner. Wtffffff.

Kennedy was obstructed by his own defenders?!

Yeah, both Victory and WSW had to settle for draws this week because of poor Ref decisions.

It's past time for the FFA to invest in full time Ref's.

The amateur hour that we have now is only making a mockery of our sport.

After watching the game here's what I think:

- Keep Ruka on the left.

- Last 15 mins was relatively good.

- Start Santa in the A-League and Tomi in the ACL. Tomi's physical presence in the air and in general would be good against generally weak Asain defences. 

- Watching the game, it wasnt as bad as the City game and it was just one of those games we should have won.... 

After watching the game here's what I think:

 

- Keep Ruka on the left.

THIS!!!!!!!

Its like our coaching staff has watched bayern play and said 'inverted wingers eh?' - difference is that  ribery can actually kick the ball with both feet - ruka's right foot is pub league standard.

After watching the game here's what I think:

 

- Start Santa in the A-League and Tomi in the ACL. Tomi's physical presence in the air and in general would be good against generally weak Asain defences. 

 

start them both - 442 and just hit it long to tomi with santa running off him. our 10's have done nothing all year anyway - why dance around the fact that we can't pass it. embrace our rubbishness and just go route one!

 

After watching the game here's what I think:

 

- Keep Ruka on the left.

 

THIS!!!!!!!

 

Its like our coaching staff has watched bayern play and said 'inverted wingers eh?' - difference is that  ribery can actually kick the ball with both feet - ruka's right foot is pub league standard.

 

 

After watching the game here's what I think:

 

- Start Santa in the A-League and Tomi in the ACL. Tomi's physical presence in the air and in general would be good against generally weak Asain defences. 

 

 

start them both - 442 and just hit it long to tomi with santa running off him. our 10's have done nothing all year anyway - why dance around the fact that we can't pass it. embrace our rubbishness and just go route one!

 

The Glory Days of Dino!!!

 

After watching the game here's what I think:

 

- Keep Ruka on the left.

 

THIS!!!!!!!

 

Its like our coaching staff has watched bayern play and said 'inverted wingers eh?' - difference is that  ribery can actually kick the ball with both feet - ruka's right foot is pub league standard.

 

 

After watching the game here's what I think:

 

- Start Santa in the A-League and Tomi in the ACL. Tomi's physical presence in the air and in general would be good against generally weak Asain defences. 

 

 

start them both - 442 and just hit it long to tomi with santa running off him. our 10's have done nothing all year anyway - why dance around the fact that we can't pass it. embrace our rubbishness and just go route one!

 

4-4-2

Covic

Tanaka Hamill NTS Golec

Castelen Kalmar Spira Ruka

Tomi Santa

Takahagi hasnt done much in the two games he has played, but I think he will be vital in ACL. Can't fit in a 4-4-2?

 

Just saw the replay of topors disallowed goal at the corner. Wtffffff.

Kennedy was obstructed by his own defenders?!

Yeah, both Victory and WSW had to settle for draws this week because of poor Ref decisions.

It's past time for the FFA to invest in full time Ref's.

The amateur hour that we have now is only making a mockery of our sport.

 

Personally, I'm very amused with this "make referees full time" stuff.

As if it will make them any better. The thing that makes referees better is more experience, more game-time, and more training - not more pay.

Was Ante the yang to Popas yin?

The problem with a 4-4-2 is that most teams play three in the centre of midfield. Unless one of the strikers drops in when we lose the ball it'll be a constant 3v2 in the midfield and teams will stroll through more than the are now. If one of the strikers is constantly dropping in to defend we'd pretty much be playing 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 anyway.

A midfield diamond is one way to have enough players in the middle but then we have the problem of lacking width, which seems like a waste when players like Ruka and Castelen are out an out wingers.

Maybe a 4-3-3 with Spira in front of the defense, Takahagi and Kalmar in front of him and a front three of Ruka-Tomi-Castelen. Probably a bit too attacking for Popa's liking and I don't know how you'd fit Poljak and la Rocca in there, which is a bit of a waste as they're two of our better players and taking up visa spots.

The problem with a 4-4-2 is that most teams play three in the centre of midfield. Unless one of the strikers drops in when we lose the ball it'll be a constant 3v2 in the midfield and teams will stroll through more than the are now. If one of the strikers is constantly dropping in to defend we'd pretty much be playing 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 anyway.

 

A midfield diamond is one way to have enough players in the middle but then we have the problem of lacking width, which seems like a waste when players like Ruka and Castelen are out an out wingers.

 

Maybe a 4-3-3 with Spira in front of the defense, Takahagi and Kalmar in front of him and a front three of Ruka-Tomi-Castelen. Probably a bit too attacking for Popa's liking and I don't know how you'd fit Poljak and la Rocca in there, which is a bit of a waste as they're two of our better players and taking up visa spots.

A 4-3-3 with a DCM in FIFA Ultimate Team works very well. Just keen Ruka and Romeo right up front with Tomi and have Takagahi as 10, Kalmar as 8, and Spira as 6

So 3-5-2 it is!

 

 

 

Just saw the replay of topors disallowed goal at the corner. Wtffffff.

Kennedy was obstructed by his own defenders?!

Yeah, both Victory and WSW had to settle for draws this week because of poor Ref decisions.

It's past time for the FFA to invest in full time Ref's.

The amateur hour that we have now is only making a mockery of our sport.

Personally, I'm very amused with this "make referees full time" stuff.

 

As if it will make them any better. The thing that makes referees better is more experience, more game-time, and more training - not more pay.

I'm glad that your amused, but who's taking about more pay?

I AM talking about more training. And more feedback and analysis. And more support from the FFA. And more professionalism.

But we can't do any of those things if the Ref's have to hold a full-time job elsewhere.

You can only improve the Ref's if you make them full-time.

If we keep them part-time, then that gives them no time to improve their game.

And we will continue to see amateur hour on display, week after week.

Got some good footage of both the 2nd disallowed goal and Santa's pen. How a ref can claim an oppo player behind the goalie impeded when there were two Jets people between Kennedy, and he had to reach over them to fumble the ball beats me:

The ref may have gotten a few calls wrong, but there was no sense of the chaos and frustration that seems to go hand in hand with Williams, Green, or KGJ.

In the end it was us who allowed the Jets to recover. In the Round 2 derby we were not able to take a 2:0 lead into the break, and we were not able to do the same against the Jets who didn't seem to have a single serious shot on goal in 90 minutes. WTF?

The Jets were knackered in the last 20 minutes, they just hung in there, and the goal for us was in the air. But as soon as we score we allowed them back into the game. Where was the cleverness and intelligence we demonstrated in the ACL and held on to narrow leads?

That's the reason why I am so p1ssed with this result. Totally unnecessary and self inflicted.

So 3-5-2 it is!

3 at the back, nothing beats 3 at the back

The problem with a 4-4-2 is that most teams play three in the centre of midfield. Unless one of the strikers drops in when we lose the ball it'll be a constant 3v2 in the midfield and teams will stroll through more than the are now. If one of the strikers is constantly dropping in to defend we'd pretty much be playing 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 anyway.

 

A midfield diamond is one way to have enough players in the middle but then we have the problem of lacking width, which seems like a waste when players like Ruka and Castelen are out an out wingers.

 

Maybe a 4-3-3 with Spira in front of the defense, Takahagi and Kalmar in front of him and a front three of Ruka-Tomi-Castelen. Probably a bit too attacking for Popa's liking and I don't know how you'd fit Poljak and la Rocca in there, which is a bit of a waste as they're two of our better players and taking up visa spots.

thinking on the same lines...try point down in the centre of the park......one holding as the #6 - this being la rocca for me and have both kalmar and takahagi in front of him....i'd drop spira back in alongside topa in the centre of defence...tanaka at RB ...as for LB.....well ?????? golec might have to be the option for now...

front 3 of ruka-tomi-castellan...

more attacking minded....but **** we are last so what have we to lose...

if all else fails we can always take a leaf out of Mike Bassett's book....

and go the 'christmas pudding system....and have 'tonker' as the six pence in the middle'

Frustrating...

 

A good day almost ruined by a shite game of football with a shite ref again making sure that he is the one folk talk about

 

Traveling WSW fans put all those p-hlogs from other clubs to shame. And in the case of the Oh So Silent Jets fans, some when at home too

One always wonders why we can take 5000 fans to Newcastle yet their shite fans can't muster up the same energy and effort to come to our crowd?? It is the same travelling distance? 😂😂 once again our passion is unrivalled on the travelling circuit.

_{u guys serious spira shpuld be no where near the middle, to slow to many touches and cant switch play for any sort of  attack.  we are basically playing with 4 cb on the back.  so negative}

Our performances all year point to a crisis of sorts but it's useful to separate the objective problems from the subjective ones.

Objectively speaking, we won an ACL title and that factored in many ways. A hangover from success, a tired playing group;a lack of preseason and an exhausting fixture schedule. Couple this with a pay dispute; the loss of an assistant coach.

Subjectively however we've had some serious issues around recruitment, Saba and Adeleke plus a lack of a marquee. A tired squad and tired system that has been ineffective. A team down on confidence; poor ball retention and pass completion and a lack of ability to make chances.

I don't think the players individually are the problem. Every squad in a league like ours is compromised. We have a few glaring issues at LB and maybe depth upfront. However we have enough talent.

In that case it is fair to take issue with Popa. He alone can turn this around (or not). Formation is an area but it is only an issue if it's the limiting factor to getting the most from our squad.

Blind Freddy can see Ruka is one-dimensional and must always be on the left. Also Tomi can't be relied on as a lone striker with the way our midfield plays. Not enough service and no one moving off him while he holds up the ball. Movement off the ball is totally lacking and that is on the coaching staff. No intensity and a low tempo.

I'm not in the #popaout camp but until he is placed in position where he thinks his job is on the line, what will cause him to act in a way in which he otherwise would not act? Even with us having all of the pieces back in Castellen and La Rocca I can't see "more of the same" working.

Kalmar looked good when he came on. The jap lads were ok but taka obviously needs more games to gel as a creative player. Spira did ok as a defensive mid.

To be fair to the jets fans they have been served tripe for the last four years and this year has been a debacle but they still have 10k members which I think is more than solid.

just disappointing overall. The A-league season is petering out. I know its not Popa's style but lets just tear into teams for the remainder of the games and see where that gets us!

Kalmar looked good when he came on. The jap lads were ok but taka obviously needs more games to gel as a creative player. Spira did ok as a defensive mid.

To be fair to the jets fans they have been served tripe for the last four years and this year has been a debacle but they still have 10k members which I think is more than solid.

just disappointing overall. The A-league season is petering out. I know its not Popa's style but lets just tear into teams for the remainder of the games and see where that gets us!

It should be our style to tear in from the start....seems like we are happy to "jag" one and sit on the slim advantage though. The jets moved the ball around quite well and regardless of their pen for the equaliser somewhat deserved something from the match. We were pathetic.

 I think some of the posts on here have been absolutely top notch and constructively criticizing the team. I think everyone needs to get their frustrations out after a game like that. I think its no coincidence we are playing bad football. We have been playing crap football every since Ante Milicic left us for the socceroos. Now this is not an indictment on Ian Crook who I think in the long term will be great for us, especially in terms on youth development. It is more a case of how well the working relationship was between Popovic and Milicic. Now before I hear the chorus of Ian Crook out , you have to remember that ultimately it is Tony Popovic who sets the tactics, picks the team etc. The thing that has got me wondering was how much of our success was down to Popovic and how much of it was down to Milicic. I think its fair to say we were lucky to have Milicic as our assistant coach because he should have been a head coach for an A-league side by now and in hindsight should have been the head coach of heart/city all those years ago. I think Milicic is someone who is able to influence Popovic to a certain degree and can get into Popovic's head a little bit more than Ian Crook can. Its not a criticism of Ian Cook either, its just that Popovic and Milicic probably have an almost telepathic relationship and that they compliment each other so well.

What is disappointing is this negative mindset we get into when we play "inferior" opposition. We all know that Newcastle have been having problems on and off the field, we know they are not a high scoring team, we know that have trouble creating chances and getting a shot on goal. With this in mind what are the thought processes in going to Newcastle with a 4-2-3-1 formation. We should be crushing a team like Newcastle and going for the jugular. For f*cks sake they had 60% possession on us in the first half after the first 25-30 minutes.

I think a lot of people under estimate playing positive attacking football. There is a positive mindsight when you go out there and look to score goals.  I am not saying Popovic is wrong either in playing more defensive either. The beauty of football is there is more than way of playing it and becoming successful. I just think when you play a more attacking style of football it creates a more positive environment in terms of team harmony, positive thinking (ie always thinking you can score anytime), creativity. There is nothing more demoralizing when you play a defensive style of football and you are chasing shadows all day, especially against teams you feel you should dominate.

There are a number of problems though and this is symptomatic of a lot of coaches. The philosophy or style of football we are playing is directly related to the style of football Popa believes in. It goes to the heart of how Popa believes football should be played. This continual belief in playing 4-3-2-1 constantly is doing everyones head in. Like I said before there is no right or wrong way to play football which is the great thing about this game, but as a coach you also need to be flexible in your approach and change things up when they are not working. In Popovics case he needs to recognise that playing 4-3-2-1 is not the only way to play football, in my view its certainly not the best way especially against a team like Newcastle.

Having said all that I think its important to recognise that Popa is still a young coach, he is still learning. He needs to take his ego out of the equation a little bit and become more adaptable, especially when we are chasing games. He has had success probably come a little bit too early in his career which has probably set him in his ways a little bit too much.  I want to see more positive play especially when we have good attacking weapons to absolute destroy teams, especially weaker ones like Newcastle.

Personally I would be benching someone like Topor because Hamill has been absolutely stellar for us as a CB. I would be putting Spira back in as a CB because like everyone else has noticed he plays like a CB in midfield, he does hold possession well but there is no go forward with him in midfield. I would be playing one holding midfielder  if any and that would be Poljak. He wins a ridiculous amount of ball in the midfield. You need to recognise he plays a bit like a poor mans Mile Jedinak. He is a midfield destroyer, he reads the play well, he tackles well, is ok in the air, but he doesn't distribute the ball all that well and lacks the sort of creativity that someone like Kalmar has. I would play Ruka on the left and tell him not to cut inside, play him as an out and out winger. Instead of playing long diagonal balls to him, which worked a few times, we ended up constantly trying the same tactic throughout the game. For goodness sake we had Mullins marking him and we all know how slow Mullins is. Just sit Ruka on the half way line, play the ball up the line and make him chase after it and leave Mullin in his dust.

We should have won that game and won it comfortably because Newcastle is a team we should not be fearing. Watching that was very frustrating. COYW.