CCM vs Victory Away

[Hello Sailor]

Things are WAY better than the dark ages we just went through.

Although I'm also not renewing our memberships, you are right to give some perspective. Over the last ten years I didn't demand premiership winning teams and performances, just a reasonable chance of getting into the finals. now that we have managed this in the last couple of seasons, our expectations have [justifiably?] risen. We made shrewd signings, have a talented and passionate manager now compared to the spoon years, but we seem to be throwing away the achievements from the first half of the season. Something is wrong if we can fly so high for so long in the early/mid part of the season then just flounder at the arse end of the season. Last week [well the first half that I DID watch] we looked like a scratch team that hadnt played together before.

 

[FFC Mariner]

A very young team is cheap so that meets the needs of the clubs financial situation. The sad fact is that they dont "know how to win". By that I mean the experience to simply hang in games until you can get on top or close out games isnt there yet. They dont have a core of experienced pro's to guide them. I completely understand why Bozanic was Monty's "Ronaldo" moment and he had to do it but that kind of experience costs $$ which we dont have
Perfect example was us winning a comp with Sterj, Hutch, Patrick, Monty and McBreen as the calm heads.
We dont have that. Kaltak, Benni, Tulio and Cumdog arent all that old or experienced in these situations.
Given all our the restrictions on us, we would all have happily taken being in the 6 at this stage of the season.
Add a Mitch Duke and a grizzled experienced CB and CM to this squad and we probably win the thing but we would need $1m a season to do it - so we wont
On we go

 

[Hello Sailor]

Any ideas on why we start so slowly, concede and then [often successfully in the past] come from behind?
Fitness could be a factor, but the early concessions seem to be a more recent development. Is it the loss of Lewis Miller? I love Nizzy to bits, but maybe we need another neanderthal beside him to screen the CBs? I'd love to see him play as an AM-that low centre of gravity, spatial awareness, close control, accurate passing for thru balls etc. Monty doesnt see it and thats OK, but benching him for Steele, and also playing Steele as AM-what is he thinking?

 

[turbo]

When similar forces tried to undermine Monty he was able to arrest the situation, let some protagonists go, while others pulled into line.

Is there any chance some that pulled into line are back to their old tricks? Feels like there must be something going on with the lack of enthusiasm weve seen of late.

 

[pjennings]

I think with injuries, illness, suspensions, departures, arrivals & NT duties we have not been able to settle on our best 11 and develop the sort of cohesion we need when we are playing the better teams. Hopefully we can develop the cohesion going forward and end the season better than we have the last two campaigns.

 

[midfielder]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Two youth coaches left a little while back, plus the academy coach.... speculation on the site has suggested off field management is perhaps wanting to much say in on field management especially of the academy....

At this stage I am not overly worried but all back rooms go thu these things from time to time... its the ability of senior on field staff i.e. Monty and senior off field staff i.e. RP to cuddle, kiss, kick and whack... and lead, the team back into fire in the belly stuff...

Both are very new in their roles... lets hope between them they have the collective skill set to put our ship back in the upright position on on course...

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Thanks guys for some good bits of advice.
I do tend to overcommit and be passionate (some would say obsessed) to anything I get involved with.
The problem is not following a losing team.
I started following North Sydney Bears with my father and grandfather before they were called the Bears until they were shafted. I was about 10 years old them. I then switched codes (but not grounds, yes Jim I like NSO) and followed Northern Spirit. So I am well trained in following losers.
My frustrations stem from decisions and the way the way things are run, some in the Club, but mostly in Australian Football in general and specifically the A-league to the point where I see less chance now of waking the "Sleeping Giant" than anytime since the A-League started.
There are many positives especially in the way our Club is approaching the lack of an owner with billions to waste by bringing on you footballers. It is survival for the Club but must happen in other clubs as well for our national teams to be competitive in the long term.
Unfortunately without a lot of luck, continuing dedication and especially a lot of nurture from the parent organisation I see it will be extremely difficult for our Club to survive to bring this scheme to fruition. There is no way we will survive if in the future we go back to the minimal survival funding of the past.

I can see I will have to list the issues to explain my frustrations and ultimately fears for the future.

There is no one thing, it is a combination of many, some big some small, but when I put them altogether I see a fairly depressing downward spiral (again) of the professional game in this country.

I am still loathe to do this as I do not wish anybody to follow me on this path.

Maybe it would be for the best, in order that my observations can be shot down by others here.

I am not going anywhere soon and probably a vigorous discussion could take place and who knows someone may read it who has the ability to fix things.

The thing that worries me most is that I am the optimist on this forum. Things must be bad.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Thanks guys for some good bits of advice.
I do tend to overcommit and be passionate (some would say obsessed) to anything I get involved with.
The problem is not following a losing team.
I started following North Sydney Bears with my father and grandfather before they were called the Bears until they were shafted. I was about 10 years old them. I then switched codes (but not grounds, yes Jim I like NSO) and followed Northern Spirit. So I am well trained in following losers.
My frustrations stem from decisions and the way the way things are run, some in the Club, but mostly in Australian Football in general and specifically the A-league to the point where I see less chance now of waking the "Sleeping Giant" than anytime since the A-League started.
There are many positives especially in the way our Club is approaching the lack of an owner with billions to waste by bringing on you footballers. It is survival for the Club but must happen in other clubs as well for our national teams to be competitive in the long term.
Unfortunately without a lot of luck, continuing dedication and especially a lot of nurture from the parent organisation I see it will be extremely difficult for our Club to survive to bring this scheme to fruition. There is no way we will survive if in the future we go back to the minimal survival funding of the past.

I can see I will have to list the issues to explain my frustrations and ultimately fears for the future.

There is no one thing, it is a combination of many, some big some small, but when I put them altogether I see a fairly depressing downward spiral (again) of the professional game in this country.

I am still loathe to do this as I do not wish anybody to follow me on this path.

Maybe it would be for the best, in order that my observations can be shot down by others here.

I am not going anywhere soon and probably a vigorous discussion could take place and who knows someone may read it who has the ability to fix things.

The thing that worries me most is that I am the optimist on this forum. Things must be bad.

My one piece of advice for you Ancient, and you have always been a terrific and intelligent poster on here, is to enjoy the club while you can for all its flaws.

I think we are quick to forget how many top tier clubs have disappeared forever, especially the poorer ones. The A-League has offered relative stability on that front but even then Heart, Knights, Fury and Gold Coast fans would kill to be in our position.

The last few months have been incredibly frustrating, culminating in a terrible performance against the bottom side. I think the biggest frustration and fear on here is that we are back sliding to the dark years, something that I don't know if we would be actually capable of emerging from again.

But there are reasons to be positive, we're still in the finals places, something inconceivable in the dark years and we have a side that can beat anyone when on song.

For our limitations we have built a formidable if inconsistent side, and one that can produce as much joy as frustration. Hopefully after the Roar game we can get back on track.

 

[midfielder]

Thanks guys for some good bits of advice.
I do tend to overcommit and be passionate (some would say obsessed) to anything I get involved with.
The problem is not following a losing team.
I started following North Sydney Bears with my father and grandfather before they were called the Bears until they were shafted. I was about 10 years old them. I then switched codes (but not grounds, yes Jim I like NSO) and followed Northern Spirit. So I am well trained in following losers.
My frustrations stem from decisions and the way the way things are run, some in the Club, but mostly in Australian Football in general and specifically the A-league to the point where I see less chance now of waking the "Sleeping Giant" than anytime since the A-League started.
There are many positives especially in the way our Club is approaching the lack of an owner with billions to waste by bringing on you footballers. It is survival for the Club but must happen in other clubs as well for our national teams to be competitive in the long term.
Unfortunately without a lot of luck, continuing dedication and especially a lot of nurture from the parent organisation I see it will be extremely difficult for our Club to survive to bring this scheme to fruition. There is no way we will survive if in the future we go back to the minimal survival funding of the past.

I can see I will have to list the issues to explain my frustrations and ultimately fears for the future.

There is no one thing, it is a combination of many, some big some small, but when I put them altogether I see a fairly depressing downward spiral (again) of the professional game in this country.

I am still loathe to do this as I do not wish anybody to follow me on this path.

Maybe it would be for the best, in order that my observations can be shot down by others here.

I am not going anywhere soon and probably a vigorous discussion could take place and who knows someone may read it who has the ability to fix things.

The thing that worries me most is that I am the optimist on this forum. Things must be bad.

AC

Recently or about six months ago because of work I was forced to do some analysis on the MLS.... like most I saw the MLS as a retirement plastic skill less league... however after starting the journey I kinda grew into it and even when finished kept looking....

Today I have a totally different opinion of the MLS and believe they have a lot we could learn from.... as an example last season i.e. 2022 with 28 teams they had a crap media deal over three networks often cancelled and the MLS share was 65 million.... their turn over was 1.85 billion ... like wow their media deal was only 3.6% of there total revenue....

This year with 29 teams revenue is expected to exceed 2.3 billion... helped by new media deals of 300 million....

The issue was they made a decision to become totally fan focused and rely on fans for revenue.... this has led to many clever decisions over the years...

Australian professional Football from the 1955 revolution Les Murry waxed lyrical on thu to today ... Football has never been able to connect to its player base... infighting, ego's power plays etc... maybe one day we may be able to work it out...

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

 

[marinermick]

Is there any chance some that pulled into line are back to their old tricks? Feels like there must be something going on with the lack of enthusiasm weve seen of late.

Don’t know

 

[Ben10]

AC

Recently or about six months ago because of work I was forced to do some analysis on the MLS.... like most I saw the MLS as a retirement plastic skill less league... however after starting the journey I kinda grew into it and even when finished kept looking....

Today I have a totally different opinion of the MLS and believe they have a lot we could learn from.... as an example last season i.e. 2022 with 28 teams they had a crap media deal over three networks often cancelled and the MLS share was 65 million.... their turn over was 1.85 billion ... like wow their media deal was only 3.6% of there total revenue....

This year with 29 teams revenue is expected to exceed 2.3 billion... helped by new media deals of 300 million....

The issue was they made a decision to become totally fan focused and rely on fans for revenue.... this has led to many clever decisions over the years...

Australian professional Football from the 1955 revolution Les Murry waxed lyrical on thu to today ... Football has never been able to connect to its player base... infighting, ego's power plays etc... maybe one day we may be able to work it out...

Possibly an unpopular opinion here but I believe the MLS has the potential to be a top 5 league in the world within the next decade or so

 

[FFC Mariner]

Possibly an unpopular opinion here but I believe the MLS has the potential to be a top 5 league in the world within the next decade or so

If they have top 5 money they will be a top 5 league

 

[Hello Sailor]

speculation on the site has suggested off field management is perhaps wanting to much say in on field management especially of the academy....

Is this code for RP, or should we not mention names and call him Voldemort?

 

[FFC Mariner]

I think the "owner" of a business can make whatever decisions they like. Thats their right for footing the bills. However, whether those decisions are right, wise or long term sensible is different.

 

[Jerem]

Ok
Context I didn’t have?

Hiddink it is, or ange?