So whats plan B??

[FFC Mariner]

Lawries after match comments were pretty spot on TBH

"We conceded two bad goals and in the second half Danny had only one save to make and their other shot was a goal," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna after the match.

"Weve went from being the best defensive team in the Hyundai A-League to probably the worst over the last few weeks and one win in seven is not good enough.

"Its not just defending though, were creating chances and were not taking them, were taking the wrong options and not talking enough, definitely the boys have gone into their shells a bit."

So, the $64,000 question. What does he do about it and how does he fix it??

For mine, I would.

1) Pray that Boogs was fit enough to take O'Grady's place and have a back 4 of Checkers, Vidmar, Boogs and Clarkie (sorry Wilko)

2) Get Owens back ASAP - if not, Gumps for Kwassie

3) Drop Sasho and have JA with Simon.

I would also consider another Captain. Nothing against Wilko but we need strong vocal leadership (the Musc**t factor) and that doesnt seem to be happening.

 

[northernspirit]

This season we hit the ground running and maintained it for 2/3 of the season but the last 1/3 of the season we've tapered off and the other teams are all building up for the finals whereas were going backwards

I thought this comment from lawrie said it all:
"Our hard work was all done in the beginning of the season and middle of the season, but at the end of the season we've just tapered off at the wrong time"

 

[bradley]

Our problem is that we keep handing over possesion to the opposition when we are attacking and in defence there are too many mistakes. ie back pass from brownie vs melbourne.

 

[Atomic]

I'm not sure what topic to put this in but what the hell's going on with our throw in's??? We seem to take an eternity to get the ball back in play and when we are looking to throw the ball in, not many of our guys are running around creating options for the thrower. Also, when the ball does come into play, the throw seems to be coming at an awkward height or too fast... I find it frustrating 

 

[striker]

I agree with most things you say.  one other option is:

[size=8pt]1) Pray that Boogs was fit enough to take O'Grady's place and have a back 4 of Checkers, Vidmar, Boogs and Clarkie (sorry Wilko)[/size]

Why not play 3 backs Clark, Vidmar, Ceccoli


[size=8pt]2) Get Owens back ASAP - if not, Gumps for Kwassie[/size]

Gumps - based on his performance last night for sure. the midfield would be Tommy, jedi, Gumps and hopefully owens


[size=8pt]3) Drop Sasho and have JA with Simon[/size].

I'd keep petrovski - I know he's lazy, but he can do a fair bit graft and he's a great hacker. So, we need 3 strikers.

[size=8pt]I would also consider another Captain. [/size]

A captain with lots of international experience - who else but Vidmar. ;D

 

[Gen (MarinerMum)]

Drop Sasho, he and Aloisi play similar styles except sasho gives up easier.  Aloisi and Simons or Sasho & Simon but NOT Aloisi and Sasho & then adding Mat just squashes them up.  Three up front has not worked yet why would it work last night.

Defence also let griffiths in when they had concerntration lapses.

They even had to stop and think about who to pass it to.  PLEEEEEEEASE we are A League.

Get a SPORTS PSYCHgOLOGIST (WHATEVA) IN to motivate them.

 

[Omni]

Saso has been rubbish in the last couple of weeks, mind you Matty has missed some sitters in the last couple of weeks too. Defence is the problem, ever since Matthew Breeze allowed Talay to end the season of Heffernan. Vidmar, I think too slow to be honest, but he probably should have started ahead of O'Grady last night. It's sad to be in this position, leading for 19 of 21 rounds, most wins in the league, but ever since that Sydney game it's collapsed, and even then, that much was a bit encouraging.

 

[Ursus]

I do not think it is time for major changes.

Option 1: I would like to see Greg O and Boogs back. I would also put hutchi back in the centre and have Tommy playing wide but making runs into the middle.

Option 2: We need to work on our attack at the moment both our strikers are playing with their backs to the goal and both are too slow to run onto a sneaky through ball. How about 4,3,3 with JA holding and Sash/Kwassy/Simon/Tommy playing inside right and inside left? Our think our defense is too slow or not good enough to play 3 at the back especially as it seemed Kwassy was the only one last night with the pace to get back when needed.

Option 3: Is it time to move Mile back to centre half. He was the best player on our team last night outside Danny but with Heff not coming up from the back the front two seemed to lack attacking support. At this stage do we need a more attack minded DM? Personally I disagree with this option but it is up for discussion.

Option 4: Tell the midfield to throw caution to the wind (somewhat) and play one touch football. Touch and go. Tommy used to play this way with Petrie and Gumps. Last night every one of our starting attacking midfielders, Tommy, Hutch and Kwassy sat on the ball looking and waiting for something to happen. Too many slow looping crosses from wide against an organised defense. When kwassy brought the ball in he scored, after that he was dispossessed twice and then seemed to settle for long crosses which, apart from one good one, never worried the organised defence. SPEED IS THE KEY. Not just pace, but in thought and action. Too many people worried about taking the wrong option so they take the slow option which will never open any defence.

Combine options 1 and 4 and we will be undefeated for the rest of the season.

Our last 4 games have been played against teams with nothing to lose and all to win. Let's see what happens from here on in. I am quietly optimistic.

 

[serious14]

"Rest" (read, one yellow away from a 2 match ban) Hutch....... it might be a massive game, but think about it - we're already in the finals, and quite frankly, I think he will be needed more in the 2 legs of the semi than next week.

Get Grego back as soon as we can while we're at it.

Oh, and have a go too.  You'd be surprised what happens if you play short passing on the ground at speed - y'know, like we used to do (and did damn well)??  Bring back de Sexy Futbol.

 

[Ursus]

"Hear hear"

 

[striker]

Get a SPORTS PSYCHgOLOGIST (WHATEVA) IN to motivate them.

why not try to kick arse first ?  it's the greatest motivator !

 

[Pete]

I'm putting on my flame proof suit here.

1) Simply weren't good enough v. Newcastle.

They let Griffiths run way too much even tho they knew BEFORE the game that would be a recipe for disaster. The players choked. Kwassi was too uncomfortable to continue after the knock on the nose, 10 points for trying to continue, but he should have come off earlier. O'Grady wasn't in the ballpark, so slow to turn, slow in chasing down, even lost some balls in the air. Not the right time of the year to ease back after a long layoff. His backpass that resulted in a goal was as bad as the mistake Browny made v Melbourne. Not good enough at this level.

2) I honestly think there's something going on behind the scenes that has the players ruffled a bit and distracting them from good solid training in both body AND mind. They didn't seem prepared for the game, in the head.

It was only when Gumps came on, fighting for a contract- as Mick said in his broadcast- that there was some fire and uplifting play.

Is there contract negotiations going on that the players are involved in that isn't pleasing them? (I'm saying this because the same thing happened last season [the team played their worst games at the tail end of the season], and it was only after the season that we heard that McMaster, Petrie, Tomasevic and Spencer were released/unable to come to terms). Has Porter been offered a contract? What about O'Grady and those senior players. There's a hell of a lot of paperwork to do this off season, and maybe this all starting to happen and impact on the players' minds a bit.

3) Plan B.

Get the players minds around the fact they've just blown the minor premiership QUICKLY. That may have been going over in their minds since the Sydney defeat.

Look at the fitness of Owens and Boogaard. They've been mostly playing with a back 4 this season, no need to change that only the personnel. We don't have enough speed to run the risk of a back 3. Wilko RB, Boogs and Vidmar in the CBs, and Ceccoli LB. Drill them til they anticipate when the other defenders near them are going to pick their nose!

Get the midfield to believe they are the best in the League, get them coming back to assist Jedi in defensive duties.

If we are to play Qld. start with Simon and Aloisi upfront, the Qld team still have fresh memories of Simon cutting loose quite a bit at their defense. Sydney maybe best to try and play with 3 upfront and try and take the pressure off Aloisi as he will be closely marked by Poppa. Maybe lighten up (play 3 mids) the midfield if they don't play Juninho.

I wouldn't change too much, after all it's the same squad and players who ran over the opposition in the first 2/3 of the season. Which tends to suggest the players themselves have to find that sparkle they had back then.

 

[FFC Mariner]

I think Lawries comment that about 75% of the squad have never won a championship has a bit to do with them choking so badly.

Is there a higher level of expectation from above given our new found $$ that is causing a cultural conflict between them being "Lawries battlers/plucky little CC" and "We expect Asia/Minor Prem"

Just a thought