R16 vs Newcastle Jets | Fri 24th Jan | 7:15pm | RoF/SS7

Devlin had 6 Tackles and 5 Interceptions. Passed at 90.3% - what a shift in amongst a flat game overall for us that lacked direction, especially through the midfield.

One of the big issues with the way the season petered out last year was that teams had worked us out and Rudey the Clown didn't have a plan B. Seems maybe Ufuk does.

We had some luck- but also we used our squad- Rufer came back early. We absorbed pressure and when the game opened up we were favourites.  Just ?.  The performance from the Jets in the first half was not a bottom of the table one. There are no easy games this year.

hard to watch, especially after they scored I was feeling quite a sense of here we go again! Even had to switch over to the black caps game a few times because the footy not great. Pleased to get all 3, Newcastle a wee bit unlucky not to get something. 

Hooper - 5.5 (A few nice touches and long balls, but several basic errors and poor control at times. Pretty uninspiring considering the money he is on and his pedigree.)

Wilson - 5.5 (Somewhat invisible. Looked okay on the ball, but didn't stand out for me. A bad mistake that cost us a goal.)

Standouts for me: Davila - 9.5 (goal and an assist. Class as usual), Devlin - 8.5, Marinovic 8.5 (clutch save at the end to secure the points)

bit of an ugly win, but 3 points is 3 points. Jets all over us first half and lucky to not sneak a goal. Jets will be feeling a bit robbed. Sotirio made a big difference. Jets came from Wilson turning it over right by our goal box. Will learn from that. Onwards & upwards 

geez, is it just me or is it bloody quite on here after a win?

Very enjoyable, after the first half hour at least. Newcastle were good, had chances to bury that game, but we battled through and won well. We needed Davila central, so Ball ended up out of position, but it was much better that way. I thought Wilson and Hooper were great, Hooper showed great class and awareness at times. Not a huge Sotirio fan but I think he looked more effective than mccowatt. 

Pissed about at the back a few times and got caught out, but overall a good night and another win. 

Imagine there is a lot of drinking going on and on and on and on...! As that performance deserves 

Thought Wilson was tidy, especially considering how good the Jets were 

Great night out at Robbie's in Christchurch with dozens of fellow Feverites watching the game. Lots of sweaty palms in the time added on at the end. 

Despite our middling performance it was a very entertaining game to watch. Jets played way better than Brisbane last week.  They had a good high pressing game and a fast movement from all of their players.  I think in general we tend to perform poorly against teams playing high pressing game and stifling us. Cacace was unable to play his natural game and Payne was equally limited despite both being talented players.

Many said their defence was crap. Actually, I thought their defence was solid. Instead, I wonder what happened to Dimi Petratos?  A shadow of his former self. Matt Millar, in contrast, nearly ripped us a new one singlehandedly. He was subbed probably to avoid a second yellow I thought.

To my eyes, the game turned on the inspired change by Talay bringing Rufer on for Wilson.  It restored the missing structure to our midfield. While our goals were superb in their own way, Rufer's  contribution also allowed for a better defensive effort late in the game denying the Jets what would be a well-deserved draw.

I hope Wilson doesn't get singled out, despite how unfortunate the error was. There was so much horrendous turnover of the ball from us tonight by players who should know better that the scoreline could've been heavily in their favour. 

I thought he showed a good calm head generally and a few nice touches when going forward. Looks to have good potential.

Seemed a bit like get ahead and hang on. 

Three at the back and wingbacks covering Payne and Cacace, I think, so cut down options a bit. And a good press. Two weeks in a row the opposition's managed to stifle a fair bit of the short passing game, but not entirely. 

But good to get the win. And a good vibe in the stadium bringing the guys home at the end. Could have gone the other way, 

The time of the season when sides have worked each other out a fair bit. 

win is win, got give credit to Newcastle they came to play, 28 shots 7 on target, once again we pull the rabbit out of the hat, Davila and marinovic are worth their weigh in gold, sotirio made a great impact of the bench, didn’t rate mccowatt tonight, was surprised to see rufer come on in the 2nd half thought he was still out

De Jong got something right tonight commentating, we were missing the ball from the two DM's to the forwards to create momentum and pace in the game. Both Wilson and Devlin to a lesser extent were very cautions with their passing, going sideways and backwards to often.

Newcastle pressed well.

Well, that second half performance certainly made up for a horrific first half. Barely any pass marks after that first 45 and we were seriously unlucky not to be at least 1 down by then, save for some equally bad shooting. 

Second half, we made the sub I was calling for (sotirio). McCowatt, needs to do more imo. There was a moment in the first half where you could see hooper was trying to play a ball behind but he refused to run into the space. Just hugged the touchline. I really want him to do it and I think it has to be a confidence thing, but it's not happening at the mo. Sotirio was exactly what we were missing. Pace up front. Incidentally, I thought hooper was poor (first goal aside). But a lot of people were. We were so sluggish in the first half. And some uncharacteristically poor defending. There were a few occasions where marinovic went for balls where Defenders just didn't hear him. 

Wilson, jury still out. Some nice touches and unlucky with the goal (wtf was the team doing at that point?!?) but didn't really shine. Newcastle deserve a lot of credit for their performance though. Did not play like a bottom side and pressed us as soon as we got the ball. 

Anyway, 2 goals and a win which we were lucky to get. Am I happy,? Too fudgeing right I am. They fought through it all and got the win, and marinovic made some superb, genuinely superb saves to keep us in it in that final 10 mins. Glad the players went to him at FT, deserves a lot of plaudits. Good subs imo. 

Nice to meet a sturm graz fan outside, seemed pretty chuffed with the result ?

Yeah Wilson was okay, despite the horrible giveaway that lead to the goal. Not willing to pay for his taxi home yet. 

Well, happy to get the win even though it felt like a muddled performance from front to back - apart from the standout performances of Marinovic, Devlin & Davila. 

That first half, it genuinely felt like roles were reversed, we looked like we were cellar dwellers and Newcastle looked a very good side. They pressed well, and hassled and harried us all over the park and should have been at least 1-0 up at H/T, but for Hoffman's poor miss with only Marinovic to beat. I can't actually recall us offering a serious threat going forward in that first half, bar a long shot from Ball and a teasing ball across the box which just evaded Hooper, but all said and done that half of football was probably the worst we've played so far this season. It was a frustrating watch, but credit to Newcastle for coming over here with a game plan to get in our faces and disrupt the supply lines down the flanks which kept us very quiet indeed.

Second half was much better, bar some absolute rubbish that lead to the Jets drawing level - that was a horrible sequence of play for all involved...

Substitutions were on point, they changed the game, gave us momentum and they all made an impact, which is probably the most pleasing aspect of the night for me as it shows Talay has got some tactical nous and flexibility to change things up when it's not quite falling into place for us.

We definitely missed Steinmann pulling the strings and giving direction to our play in the heart of that midfield, especially in that aimless first half, but in a way it was kind of a blessing that he got a week off to freshen up for Perth, where we'll need him to pull out a performance if we're hoping to get anything from our trip to Western Australia. That's not a slight on Wilson either, it's hard coming into the fold in midfield for his first game at the club and then playing a critical role as an anchor of our team, but without any rhythm, cohesion or momemtum behind him which we've built up over the season. That will come with time and he'll be better for it. He wasn't spectacular by any stretch but I thought he showed glimpses of what we can expect from him over the course of the rest of the season, he's a work in progress and he'll get there eventually.

Happy with the 3 points, even if it was a bit of a slog at times. Full credit to Newcastle for a good hard fought game as well. They'd be thinking they should be heading back across the ditch with at least a point for their efforts. But hey, we probably deserved a point in Brisbane last week too. Football can be a cruel mistress like that and it's even harder when you're at the bottom.

Roll on Perth in a couple of weeks!

COYN!

No way was there anywhere near 8k there. Excellent acknowledgement for Sy by all fans at the game in the 46th Minute - Jets fans showed class and respect for that. Spoke to a couple of them at half time and although C Diddy might complain, I found them to be quite friendly. A scrappy game but we won. Jets, should not be bottom of the table. They played quite well.

Sitting at the other end for the second half was fun. Could hear the Zone and also special note to those in Aisles 23, 24 & 25. You all played your roles well too. 

Question for someone, have the Nix ever made the finals, when their greatest winning margin in a season has only been 2 goals?

Perth, City, WU and Sydney coming up. 

If we can win all those by 2 goals or less I'd be happy. But won't happen unless we find another gear. 

For sure. Just a quirky little Nix stat, season to date, no win by greater than 2 goals, yet 4th on the table.

On other hand Glory have won 4 of their last 6 games by 3 goals or greater. Will be tough challenge over there.

Good news is Nix will be at full strength, touch wood.

It looked pretty good from where I was sitting, I guessed 8-9

I thought 7-8 but was surprised at how many people around us left at half time. But also put that down to me being quite a vociferous fan ? one thing though, why didn't the stadium have their regular bar set up? Only 2 fortune favours beers on offer?!? Was very disappointing. 

Weird that Marinovic said in the post-match interview something about they didn't expect Newcastle to come out with so much intensity.

I think the Jets showed how to diffuse us, the victory also did it earlier in the season. Press and foul to disrupt the passing game and pack the box to stop us trying to walk it in. With our experiences with Italiano I'd have foregone the normal passing game somewhat and tested him from range more.

Newcastle were real good - but punished like we were last week not taking first half chances. Think the bye has come up at a good time, even though we're off to Perth next start. We don't look as sharp right now so recharge won't hurt.

Nothing to lose at Perth as no-one will be expecting us to come back with anything.

But now we know how key Steinmann & Piscopo are, and will be good to be back to full strength. 

Cheers Christchurch fans! 

Awesome game.

See you all in a couple weeks.

Still can't believe we won this game.

I think our downturn in form has coincided with Hooper starting, personally. I don't think he quite fits into what we're trying to do. I also don't quite see what he offers - doesn't hold up the ball well, average in the air, poor passing, shooting not quite there, doesn't have that extra yard of pace to get away from a defender, doesn't press well, doesn't seem to link up with Ball at all (at times it seemed like they were playing in different stadiums). He's obviously a good finisher when he gets the chance, but is that really enough?

For me, he looks like a guy who is frustrated at his own limitations. He can't do what he used to.

My best team would have him and McCowatt on the bench. I can't believe I'm saying this; but Sotirio offers more in this current setup.

Not convinced its about who is starting but more about who has been missing from the starting lineup in those games in which performance hasnt gone as well as previously.

Im happy that we won thats just the sort of game in previous seasons we would have found some way to either draw or lose.

I think it's true that Ball, Hooper and Davila still haven't actually had much time with all three of them on? Ball out when Hooper's finally put in long minutes. Still think its possible they simply haven't found their combination yet. Hooper and Davila have some mojo together, but Ball kind of does a bit of what each of the other two do, so may take a bit more time for the three of them to gell. 

McCowatt and Sotirio both on the bench when Piscopo is back. 

An ideal week to have the bye. Get Piscopo back, and settle the team for a tough month of upcoming games. Ideally, everyone would be at 100% for next fortnight.

Nothing to do now but sit back and hope some results go our way!

This is probably our strongest line up atm.

Hooper still looks like he is getting up to speed, but has those quality moments. He set up Davilla's assist with a simple first time pass/flick into space etc.

It took the team 5 - 6 games to gel... Hooper has had two solid runs. Needs and deserves more time.

totally agree, two big changes this week - Wilson did well but there were moments where he didn't connect with the back four and Devlin. I rate Hooper but I think he is still short on fitness, Talay seems to want to start him, why wouldnt you when we score most of our goals with him on the park - I dont get the hate towards his work rate or the comparisons to Ball - they are two very different players with very different jobs. Hooper is an out and out front man sitting on the back line, he's not meant to be tearing around the park harassing the midfield. (thats what Sotirio/Piscopo/Davila and Ball are for). I think the team is setting up really well, they can win ugly and also play some really good possession football. Its simply a matter of time playing together and building something really special.

I was pretty frustrated with his input in the first half but he did make quite a few excellent passes in the second half when he dropped more into attacking midfield.

I was most frustrated with Payne last night. He looked like he was coasting a bit and got found out.

He has shown better in previous games so I hope its just a bad night out. Needs to up his game otherwise I would like to see Elliot get a run at RB.

The Jets definitely had a plan to press us. Other teams that have done that to us have also disrupted our passing game. We need a better plan to play against the press. 

Payne, like Devin has been one of our more consistently good players over the last 10 matches........one game where he's not at his bets doesnt mean you swap him for another player. The back four staying the same has been a massive part of our success so far.

Tally said in the press conference that the Phoenix need to be braver in possession and if that means making mistakes under pressure so be it. Seems like the plan to fight over teams pressing is to take more risks to retain possession.

I also think the ref really let the jest players bully and muscle their way through our players.....topor-stanley for one should have had a couple of yellows, his shoulder charge in all in the 14th minute was a yellow - ut got nothing but a whistle, he hits Davila a couple of times and gets nothing but a whistle.......could have easily been red carded for two yellows in the first half.

Sure I agree, but competition for places is also what brings the best out of players. They then know if they don't perform they might loose there place in the starting XI. So they can't drop there levels and just coast, they need to stay focused.

I think this bye has come at a good time, with key players coming back in. A chance to re-set.