Speaker 1: Well, go to Football Fever. Yes, hello there and welcome
Speaker 1: into a fresh episode of the Football Fever podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Jason Pine with Bonnie Jensen here too.
Speaker 2: Hello Bonnie, Yoda Piney, how are you very good?
Speaker 1: Thank you? A bit of a mixed bag over the
Speaker 1: weekend for the two teams that were in action in
Speaker 1: the A League. The women of course had the international break,
Speaker 1: although yes we know that well well, the competition certainly
Speaker 1: stopped and a lot of teams played, but the football
Speaker 1: ferns did not. We can get to that in due course.
Speaker 1: But no game for the Wellington Phoenix women. They've got
Speaker 1: a massive, massive game this coming weekend which we can
Speaker 1: talk about. But let's go back to the weekend past
Speaker 1: and start with the A League men's Saturday afternoon. What
Speaker 1: a cracking afternoon too, by the way. In Auckland Go
Speaker 1: Media Stadium, Auckland FC one Western Sydney Wanderers won eleven
Speaker 1: games under beaten. Now for Auckland FC, but four draws
Speaker 1: in the last five and three straight draws at home,
Speaker 1: giving up the lead in all three of them. Will
Speaker 1: there be any worry lines on the face of Steve
Speaker 1: Coriker Do you think.
Speaker 3: Well, there's certainly worry lines on the face of Bonnie Jensen.
Speaker 3: How can I'll tell you that much?
Speaker 1: Well, I saw you the other day. I didn't it
Speaker 1: looks it looked, it looked, it looked as pristine as
Speaker 1: it always does. I don't know.
Speaker 3: No, well thanks Pinney, but yeah, I was confident they
Speaker 3: would surely get the job done this weekend. And can
Speaker 3: I just make a note of the crowd Piney, you
Speaker 3: were there. I wasn't this weekend, but so impressed, so
Speaker 3: bloody impressed by eighteen thousand fans that turned up and
Speaker 3: the fact that they got far more than what the
Speaker 3: Blues Hurricane Super Rugby match did over the road in
Speaker 3: saying that absolutely gutted they didn't get the result they
Speaker 3: were after. And I do just feel like it was
Speaker 3: a bit of a lackluster performance.
Speaker 1: I think the first half definitely was. I think they
Speaker 1: whether a lackluster I don't know. I'll put it this way.
Speaker 1: Western Sydney certainly dominated the first half. By the stats
Speaker 1: and just by the feel of the game. You know,
Speaker 1: you get a feel of the game and you look
Speaker 1: at the stats, and the stats off and back up
Speaker 1: what you think in terms of possession, territory, chances, all
Speaker 1: of that sort of thing. But the momentum of the
Speaker 1: football match for the until Auckland scored and about what
Speaker 1: the forty four to forty fifth minute was totally with
Speaker 1: Western Sydney. They came into Auckland and took the game
Speaker 1: by the scruff of the neck, didn't they.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they did, and good on them for doing that.
Speaker 3: They're a good side and they've had some great momentum
Speaker 3: over the last few weeks and I knew they were
Speaker 3: going to be a challenging side for Auckland f C.
Speaker 3: And saying that, we know how good Auckland have been
Speaker 3: at home and so the fact they came out like that,
Speaker 3: I'm putting it down to the structure, and I don't
Speaker 3: think the structure is right for Auckland f C right now.
Speaker 1: What would you do differently then?
Speaker 3: I just feel like gm My and Max Mutter they
Speaker 3: play very similar styles and they're both out and out forwards,
Speaker 3: and I feel like we've got to go back to
Speaker 3: a four three three in the midfield where there's more
Speaker 3: of a link. I've mentioned this before between between the
Speaker 3: midfield of the strata and Diegos to my up the top,
Speaker 3: because right now there's no kind of attacking met and
Speaker 3: I think it's leaving the gaps.
Speaker 1: So you wonder whether maybe that means Jake Brimmer comes
Speaker 1: back into midfield, for example, So you I mean, let's
Speaker 1: leave the back five as it is. I think that's
Speaker 1: the best back five. So you're saying, for Strata guy Goss,
Speaker 1: by the way, I think was Auckland's best player on
Speaker 1: the weekend, apart from the goalie scored, which we'll talk
Speaker 1: about in the moment. I thought he covered every blade
Speaker 1: of grass. He was terrific. So Forstrata Guy Goss, Brimmer
Speaker 1: and then my with I guess Rogerson one side and
Speaker 1: maybe when he comes back nada modo the other.
Speaker 3: Is that what you're thinking, Yes, that's that's exactly what
Speaker 3: I think. Either Brimmer in there or someone like Cam Howison.
Speaker 3: You know, you could you could slot into a defensive midfielder,
Speaker 3: or he can even play more attacking. I just feel like,
Speaker 3: you know, right now, Logan and Marley, who's been playing
Speaker 3: on the other side, don't potentially come in deep enough,
Speaker 3: and it's falling a lot on my to like drop
Speaker 3: into that pocket. So I'm not sure that's exactly it.
Speaker 3: On Marley Francois. I think he's a he's a good player.
Speaker 3: He doesn't offer a lot for me, though I wouldn't
Speaker 3: say he's, you know, very threatening.
Speaker 2: I would. I feel like Liam Gillian.
Speaker 3: Who we've talked about as well, is you know, yes,
Speaker 3: he hasn't got on the score sheet and he had
Speaker 3: a lot of chances up there, but he's far more
Speaker 3: intimidating than a player like Marley franc I'm probably being
Speaker 3: very harsh right now. I just feel like we're missing
Speaker 3: Nada as well, when we're missing a bit of spark
Speaker 3: up there.
Speaker 1: I think you're right about Marley Francois. I think he's
Speaker 1: been given a couple of chances to start in the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, and I don't think he's taken
Speaker 1: those chances. I think Nada Modino, when he is football,
Speaker 1: comes straight back into the starting side. I just on
Speaker 1: Liam Gillian too. The question was asked of Steve Carricker
Speaker 1: and the press are on the weekend. He said, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's getting back to the point where he might be
Speaker 1: in contention. So that would speak of injury right that
Speaker 1: he's that he's he's picking he's picked up an injury,
Speaker 1: so yes, so maybe we will see Liam Gillian. It
Speaker 1: was the change to the mutter my front two that
Speaker 1: really saw Liam Gillian drop out of the side. That
Speaker 1: was after the loss away at Perth Glory. That's when
Speaker 1: they said, right instead of that the four three three
Speaker 1: that we've been used and we're going to a front
Speaker 1: two to allow I guess Cousumer might have drop off
Speaker 1: a little bit. Maximutter is always going to be the
Speaker 1: point of the arrow. Yeah, I wonder whether yeah they
Speaker 1: they may well as you say, go back to to
Speaker 1: the to the four three three. There's certainly some thinking
Speaker 1: to do for the team because from a position where
Speaker 1: it looked as though they were running away with the
Speaker 1: Premier's plate. You look at it now and look, if
Speaker 1: Melbourne City win on Friday night against Brisbane Raw, they
Speaker 1: will move to within three points three points of Auckland FC.
Speaker 1: You know, so we were talking about double digit leads
Speaker 1: not that long ago. They would have played one extra game.
Speaker 1: I know that, but but yeah, it's it is closing
Speaker 1: up a little bit. Let's talk about the game. Boshad
Speaker 1: Arkray have got a goal ruled out for offside hairline
Speaker 1: call with Zach SAPs for dropping off the line to
Speaker 1: pick up the ball he was off side. Good finished
Speaker 1: by Kray, but it didn't count unfortunately. You know, again,
Speaker 1: there was just a it just took ages. There's no communication.
Speaker 1: Even in the commentary box, we couldn't. No one was
Speaker 1: putting the lines up on the screen for us to
Speaker 1: have a look at. It was all very confusing and
Speaker 1: utterly hairline call. And I think Western Sydney probably deserved
Speaker 1: a goal at that point.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree, I think you know it was. It
Speaker 3: was very close. It could have gone either way, but yeah,
Speaker 3: the momentum was all in the favor.
Speaker 2: You're absolutely right, Philippe.
Speaker 1: Guy Goos though from a Lawrence Thomas mistake, scoring his
Speaker 1: first Auckland FC. Yeah, Lawrence Thomas won't want to look
Speaker 1: back at the tape of that one. He just kind
Speaker 1: of slipped as he was trying to play a ball
Speaker 1: out when straight the guy got seage of the penalty area,
Speaker 1: scored a goal. And then what about the bicycle kick
Speaker 1: from Max Martter just before halftime, That would have been
Speaker 1: goal of the season stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I loved your commentary on that. Paroney exactly right.
Speaker 3: Would have been would have been goal of the season,
Speaker 3: would have been, could have been should have been, but
Speaker 3: obviously maybe too good to be true. But yeah, wow,
Speaker 3: he'll be reeling that one.
Speaker 1: I think I didn't know that Max Martter had that
Speaker 1: in his locker. You know, I knew he was an
Speaker 1: imposing center forward. If you're thinking about a guy on
Speaker 1: the orkle left C team, with no disrespect to Max Martter,
Speaker 1: who's going to come up with an overhead kick, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that it would be him that you'd first
Speaker 1: think of.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, he's quite a tall kind of I don't
Speaker 3: think lanky's the right word, but he's got a you know,
Speaker 3: long levers I guess. So the fact he was in
Speaker 3: that position and unmarked, you know, pretty pretty smart of him.
Speaker 3: And yeah he was well on target for once with
Speaker 3: those bicycle kicks. I do get sick of players that
Speaker 3: just try their luck completely off target, So yeah, get on.
Speaker 1: Him, absolutely right. Another good say by Lawrence Thomas so
Speaker 1: at halftime Aukland FC going one dill a head. I
Speaker 1: think everyone would say against the momentum of the game,
Speaker 1: but to give Western Sydney their due, they came out
Speaker 1: in the second half. Nicholas Milanovitch, who's been terrific for
Speaker 1: them all season equalized funny old goal ay and through
Speaker 1: a sort of a whole bunch of people in the
Speaker 1: penal the area he was fighted and he's made pretty
Speaker 1: good contact Alex Paulson maybe a bit of son in
Speaker 1: his eyes. Didn't he got a hand on it, couldn't
Speaker 1: keep it out. It was a funny old goal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think Alex Paulson will certainly be pleased
Speaker 3: with that effort, if only you could kind of you know, obviously,
Speaker 3: when an opposition player is touching the goalkeeper or interfering
Speaker 3: with the goalkeeper, you know it's an immediate foul. But
Speaker 3: I don't think that goes away of when it's your
Speaker 3: own teammates standing in front of you and blocks your vision.
Speaker 3: So yeah, but gutting there and one Alex Paulson will, yeah,
Speaker 3: not be probably happy.
Speaker 1: And then from then on it won all for the
Speaker 1: rest of the game, really, the remaining forty minutes or
Speaker 1: so pretty even although I think Auckland f C had
Speaker 1: two terrific chances. Western Sydney did hit the crossbar through
Speaker 1: Jack Clisby laid on, but the two chances in particular
Speaker 1: one for Gizumo may I know it fell to his
Speaker 1: right foot, which is his less favored but he's he's
Speaker 1: been pretty two footed all season, hasn't he. I thought
Speaker 1: that was a real guilt edge chance that he missed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, was that my? Or was that Sarka.
Speaker 1: Sarki's one as well? Mys was the one that fell
Speaker 1: to him in the six yard air and he blazed
Speaker 1: it over. Sarki is the one that Guy Goss pulls back.
Speaker 1: Sarki is coming in from right back and hits it
Speaker 1: with his left foot and doesn't really make any sort
Speaker 1: of contact and Lawrence Thomas has no trouble saving it.
Speaker 1: But as that ball's played across, honestly, inside that ground,
Speaker 1: there was just the split second of silence as everybody
Speaker 1: held their breath and I thought, look, if that ball
Speaker 1: goes in the place is going to explore. It is
Speaker 1: absolutely going to be bedlam in there. And unfortunately it didn't,
Speaker 1: but I can only imagine what it would have been
Speaker 1: like if that ball hits on that Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, they've had so many of those big moments this season,
Speaker 3: and again, you know, maybe their lucks just running out.
Speaker 3: But I did, like Piney Watt, James mcconie, Sky Skysport
Speaker 3: commentator said, on your weekend sports show on zaid Be
Speaker 3: on the weekend saying, u'se your bloody left foot, you know,
Speaker 3: and it needs to be Yeah, the importance of players
Speaker 3: developing both feet and making just you know, either foot
Speaker 3: as strong as each other. So yeah, that was definitely
Speaker 3: evident in that strike from Hirokio went back and watched
Speaker 3: it again this morning. But yeah, no, I just feel
Speaker 3: like maybe it's Auckland f C that you know, They've
Speaker 3: got a massive target on their back and other teams
Speaker 3: are listening and watching and responding.
Speaker 1: And they've got a tough running Apart from the Perth
Speaker 1: glory at home, Sydney FC away, Melbourne victory away Western
Speaker 1: United away, those are three of their last four games
Speaker 1: and amongst it all Perth glory come to go media.
Speaker 1: So look, Auckland haven't won at home since the twenty
Speaker 1: second of February. What's the day, the seventh of April?
Speaker 1: You know, the Derby win, the big Derby went over
Speaker 1: the Phoenix was the last time they won it home.
Speaker 1: Let's not get too carried away. And now Steve Corker
Speaker 1: said afterwards, we're eleven games unbeaten. But that does mask
Speaker 1: what has been a bit of a worrying trend of
Speaker 1: giving up Leeds to drop points. So they are five
Speaker 1: points ahead of Western United at the top with those
Speaker 1: four games to go. Sidney FC next that's Steve corrig
Speaker 1: Is former club of course, so that adds another layer
Speaker 1: of intrigue. Saturday night seven o'clock the first meeting back
Speaker 1: in round two. That was that Nando pinekeer back heel
Speaker 1: in the ninety seventh minute ago media that gave them
Speaker 1: the win. Sydney also have to go up to Singapore
Speaker 1: for a Champions League two semi final during the weeks.
Speaker 1: The travel fatigue maybe plays a part. I don't know,
Speaker 1: Awkland FC could well go over there and win, but yeah,
Speaker 1: they feel like they're being hunted down rather than doing
Speaker 1: the hunting in the land stages of the season.
Speaker 3: I think I would have liked for them to be
Speaker 3: a little bit more in control of their fate by now,
Speaker 3: with what four games to go. Yep, yeah, I do
Speaker 3: feel like it is coming down to you know, that final,
Speaker 3: you know when it takes all match against Western United
Speaker 3: and Western United and the bloody desert. So yeah, I
Speaker 3: really hope it doesn't come down to that, and I
Speaker 3: hope they can have it all signed and sealed by
Speaker 3: that Perth Glory home game.
Speaker 2: But it is it is a tricky run.
Speaker 1: Well, they now can't win it this weekend. When we
Speaker 1: spoke a week ago, there was a set of circumstances
Speaker 1: under which they could have claimed the Premier's plate this
Speaker 1: coming weekend. That now is not possible. Even if they
Speaker 1: beat Sydney FC and Western United were to lose to
Speaker 1: Western Sydney on Sunday, Auckland f C would still only
Speaker 1: be eight points clear with three games to go, so
Speaker 1: that could be made up. And as I said, Melbourne
Speaker 1: City they're also the smoky in this. Like I say,
Speaker 1: there are only six points behind in third place. When
Speaker 1: against Brisbane on Friday, which they should, they'll close the
Speaker 1: gap up to three points. So you know, it's just
Speaker 1: I don't know. It just you're looking back over your
Speaker 1: shoulder and instead of seeing teams way way back in
Speaker 1: the distance, they're starting to get a bit closer. Look.
Speaker 1: I think Auckland f C will still be okay, but
Speaker 1: it's an interesting little stumble in the home straight, isn't it.
Speaker 2: It certainly makes it more exciting.
Speaker 3: You know, it's what we love about football and we
Speaker 3: we want the competition to be tight and we'll get
Speaker 3: onto it in a minute, Piney. But I heard the
Speaker 3: commentators say last night the Phoenix are still mathematically in it,
Speaker 3: so yeah, it certainly is exciting that. You know, it's
Speaker 3: potentially not a walk in the park, but we probably
Speaker 3: would have preferred that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the word mathematically is doing a lot
Speaker 1: of heavy lifting there in that statement. You're right, we'll
Speaker 1: get to it in a set. Nato Madana and Liam
Speaker 1: Gillien as as they could return, and I think they
Speaker 1: may well play quite a big part those two in
Speaker 1: the running and into finals. And just a word on
Speaker 1: the atmosphere at go Media. Yeah, like you said, incredible
Speaker 1: again eighteen three hundred and forty plus including a big
Speaker 1: group of traveling fans. I'm sure you've seen that. There
Speaker 1: are some suggestions of fan trouble which are being investigated.
Speaker 1: A Western Sydney fan suffered a broken jaw at the
Speaker 1: game after an alleged assault on her. Police are looking
Speaker 1: into that. There's some footage as well around of some
Speaker 1: pretty ordinary scenes between the two sets of fans, which
Speaker 1: is a shame because going to an Auckland FC game
Speaker 1: has been the place to be across the summer and
Speaker 1: I'm reasonably sure that this one incident won't change that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, another really really big crowd there to chair
Speaker 1: Auckland on unfortunately not to the victory. So let's go
Speaker 1: to that game last night, which kept the Wellington Phoenix
Speaker 1: mathematically alive in the playoff race two to one win
Speaker 1: over Newcastle in Newcastle, snapping an eight game winless streak
Speaker 1: for the Phoenix, the first time they've won since they
Speaker 1: beat MacArthur back on the twentieth of January. Same two
Speaker 1: players on the score sheet, Costa Barbarusis and Kazuki Nagasawa,
Speaker 1: got to have the Phoenix win a game.
Speaker 2: Bonnie, they're back, Baby, They're back.
Speaker 1: You're doing a lot of heavy lifting with that statement
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 3: No, but I was just so pleased for them Piney,
Speaker 3: especially against the sidelight Newcastle. Yes, senor Newcastle coach was
Speaker 3: announced during the week that he would be leaving after
Speaker 3: the season, so maybe a few issues going on in
Speaker 3: their camp, but no excuses the fact they got it done.
Speaker 3: Newcastle have been a good good side as of late.
Speaker 3: Auckland FC couldn't even get the job done over there,
Speaker 3: so you're really, really pleased with the Phoenix and it's
Speaker 3: nice to see a bit of an energy boost, you know,
Speaker 3: particularly in that first half they looked like the better team.
Speaker 3: They had some really good chances. Newcastle came out firing
Speaker 3: in the second half. They were on the back foot
Speaker 3: a lot of it, but that's to be expected when
Speaker 3: you're a new eight team.
Speaker 2: With the league's with the lead.
Speaker 3: So really really pleased by their efforts and it's really
Speaker 3: nice to see some of these younger players starting to
Speaker 3: kind of fulfill, you know, reach their potential.
Speaker 1: Your best. They've played for ages. Right in the first half,
Speaker 1: it was just it was just so pleasant to watch
Speaker 1: Wellington actually play that way. I think they had well,
Speaker 1: they had fifteen shots in the game. I can't remember
Speaker 1: hardly any of the second half, so at least ten
Speaker 1: or twelve of those would have to be in the
Speaker 1: first half. They just came out and thought, right, we'll
Speaker 1: get on the front foot, we'll play Costa Barbarusis another goal,
Speaker 1: one hundred and two all time for him, nine this season,
Speaker 1: thirty one for the Phoenix, only a couple behind Paul
Speaker 1: Liifele now in a league terms. Kazuki Nagasawa with the
Speaker 1: second goal. Really nice move down the right with tim
Speaker 1: pain pull and the cross and Nagasa were finishing. I
Speaker 1: just really like Nagasawa in that advanced role. I just
Speaker 1: wish we'd seen it more often this season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it was great to see both the
Speaker 3: two Japanese players getting the start. And you know that
Speaker 3: I've spoken a lot about this, but Japanese raised footballers
Speaker 3: are so technically gifted it's just insane. And when you
Speaker 3: have two of them on the field and they work
Speaker 3: together and they can read each other like like that,
Speaker 3: like they showed they could do in the match last night,
Speaker 3: was Yeah, it was very exciting to watch. I think,
Speaker 3: just with the with the Phoenix, why wouldn't you come
Speaker 3: out and play the way they did last night. You know,
Speaker 3: they're an underdog team, they've got nothing to lose, so
Speaker 3: it's yeah, as I mentioned, it's great to see them
Speaker 3: kind of reach the potential that we've been looking for
Speaker 3: all season.
Speaker 1: What I would like to have seen, though, was them
Speaker 1: to play the same way in the second half as
Speaker 1: they did in the first tilf because.
Speaker 3: It was one shot. It was one shot they had
Speaker 3: I believe in the second half.
Speaker 1: One Okay, you go so fourteen then in the first
Speaker 1: half to one. It just told the tale of a
Speaker 1: team that just sort of sat back and became passive again.
Speaker 1: You know, I know, you've got a two nil lead
Speaker 1: and you think, Okay, well, we haven't had a lot
Speaker 1: of wins this season, so what's the best way to
Speaker 1: make sure we exit Newcastle with the three points. I
Speaker 1: just feel like they were so dominant in the first
Speaker 1: half and Newcastle just really couldn't get near them. Just
Speaker 1: come out and continue to play that way?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so, but I mean it's hard. The
Speaker 3: mindset definitely shifts when you're a team just so hungry
Speaker 3: for points and you're an away team and the home
Speaker 3: team are coming at you. You know, they know they
Speaker 3: shouldn't be in the position they're currently in. So I
Speaker 3: kind of probably respector or understand the way they were
Speaker 3: trying to just get something out of the match. And
Speaker 3: I just felt that that goal was coming from Newcastle
Speaker 3: and then it would wouldn't have felt worth it.
Speaker 2: But they got it done.
Speaker 1: Indeed, the goal an own goal from Josh Ollaway Amy
Speaker 1: in the sixty fifth minute, challenged in the air at
Speaker 1: a corner, couldn't hold on the ball, hold onto the ball,
Speaker 1: dropped it into the net. What was your view on
Speaker 1: whether that was potentially a foul on oll away Emi
Speaker 1: or not.
Speaker 2: Not hold on to the ball mate. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't really feel a lot of sympathy for him
Speaker 3: and fill away Emi in that position. I think he
Speaker 3: was just the shorter of the two players, and to
Speaker 3: call that a foul I think would have been quite soft.
Speaker 1: I agree one hundred percent, agree exactly what you said.
Speaker 1: Hold on to the ball mate. You know, he's a big,
Speaker 1: imposing figure. He's a goalkeeper. Jump up there. It's not
Speaker 1: like he's being challenged by you know, there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of traffic around him. There's just the Newcastle player
Speaker 1: jumping with him for the ball. Just catch the ball.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: You got to say he did make up for it
Speaker 1: because he made a number of big saves, including one
Speaker 1: right at the end. But he'll look back on that
Speaker 1: goal and think, you know, just be stronger, just catch it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I feel the same party. I feel like it was
Speaker 3: quite embarrassing him trying to contest it. So I mean,
Speaker 3: you always do. I mean I was in that position
Speaker 3: and I would as well. But yeah, it wasn't it
Speaker 3: wasn't necessarily a good look.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of players who aren't goalkeepers have
Speaker 1: thought for a long time that goalkeepers get too much
Speaker 1: protection in situations like that. All they need is just
Speaker 1: a little touch from an attacking player and you know,
Speaker 1: they get a free kick given. But I was like you,
Speaker 1: I was pleased to see that it wasn't wasn't whistled up.
Speaker 1: Var had a look as well and said nothing to
Speaker 1: see here. So, yeah, the goal goes down as a
Speaker 1: own goal. But a controversy laid on Newcastle and Port Cota.
Speaker 1: Musu Numa went down in the area. He was booked
Speaker 1: for diving, but on the replay it looked pretty obvious
Speaker 1: that Isaac Hughes had actually clipped his feet. Thankfully they
Speaker 1: didn't have to examine it for a penalty because Misunuma
Speaker 1: was offside in the build up, but it was a
Speaker 1: rather confusing kind of sequence.
Speaker 2: Yes it was. In the officials.
Speaker 3: The commentators rather were also quite confused, you know, if
Speaker 3: that yellow card would stand, seeing as he was off side,
Speaker 3: and it looks like it did stand. So it was
Speaker 3: all very, very very confusing. But I just felt so
Speaker 3: bad for Isaac Hughes, and I was like, not another
Speaker 3: one because he seems to always give away.
Speaker 2: But no, thankfully for him it wasn't the case.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was a bit of a magnet for that
Speaker 1: sort of thing earlier in the season. Was good to
Speaker 1: see him in scot woodn't back in the side. To me,
Speaker 1: that game looked like a game between two sides that
Speaker 1: won't make the top six. That's kind of what it
Speaker 1: looked like to me. You know, Newcastle huffing and puffing
Speaker 1: to try and score, laid On to get something out
Speaker 1: of it. You know, the Phoenix holding them off, Like
Speaker 1: I say, the Phoenix sitting back when really at tunil Up. Look,
Speaker 1: if you're Melbourne Victory or Melbourne City or even Auckland
Speaker 1: FC at tunil Up, you don't come out and sit,
Speaker 1: You beat your chest, you go for a third and
Speaker 1: a fourth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you definitely do, especially when you're kind of in
Speaker 3: a position where you've got nothing to lose on the
Speaker 3: table necessarily. So it was interesting. But maybe they just
Speaker 3: ran out of puff. Maybe that first hime of football
Speaker 3: was something, you know, that's something they haven't done at
Speaker 3: all basically this season, and they didn't have it in them.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure, but we're just taking the small wins, okay,
Speaker 3: Piney give them a break.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I will, I will, And no, you're right,
Speaker 1: it is perhaps harsh because they held on for the win.
Speaker 1: I just you know, I am nitpicking there, You're right.
Speaker 1: So let's go with the positive. They're now three games unbeaten.
Speaker 1: They stay eleventh on twenty four points. The Mariners are
Speaker 1: one spot above them, and one point above them that
Speaker 1: they've played an extra game. They're on twenty five, and
Speaker 1: the Newcastle Jets on twenty six, so it goes twenty six,
Speaker 1: twenty five to twenty four. When the commentators were saying
Speaker 1: that they can mathematically make the sixth, that I guess
Speaker 1: is theoretically true. So four games to go the Phoenix
Speaker 1: if they won all foard get to thirty six points now.
Speaker 1: Currently Melbourne Victory, who are fifth, are on thirty six,
Speaker 1: Sydney FC are on thirty three, Adelaide United are on
Speaker 1: thirty three, so they'd have to absolutely implode those two
Speaker 1: sides and the Phoenix would have to win their last four.
Speaker 1: So yeah, the maths say that it's possible, it doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like the most likely outcome.
Speaker 3: So what you're saying Pineyer is that they're going to
Speaker 3: make the top six.
Speaker 1: What you're saying is there's a chance.
Speaker 3: That's all I'm That's all I'm saying, and that's all
Speaker 3: I'm holding on to imagine that though.
Speaker 1: Well, it would be, it would be among the more
Speaker 1: surprising sports stories of the year. I think, oh, look, well,
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got to say. And then you look
Speaker 1: back at the game against Western Sydney the week before
Speaker 1: and you think, if only they could have held on
Speaker 1: to the to the win there instead of conceding the
Speaker 1: late equalizer that actually now be on twenty six points,
Speaker 1: And so then you do start to think about it.
Speaker 1: Because John Calo Italiana was saying two or three weeks ago,
Speaker 1: we're out of it, you know, I sort of feel
Speaker 1: as though, yeah, while the maths are still even even,
Speaker 1: you know, just slightly, your new favor you carry on
Speaker 1: and they will, look, they might they may well continue
Speaker 1: on this momentum when Melbourne Victory visits Sky Stadium on
Speaker 1: Saturday five o'clock kick off. Look, they are certainly in
Speaker 1: a lot better frame of mind, I think, flying back
Speaker 1: than they have been earlier in the season, with that
Speaker 1: long run of not winning matches. No game for the
Speaker 1: Phoenix woman this weekend, as we say, but this weekend's
Speaker 1: huge game. They play camera away Sunday afternoon, five o'clock
Speaker 1: New Zealand time. It's their second to last game of
Speaker 1: the season. It's a basic equation, Bonnie. They've got a
Speaker 1: win or their top six hopes are gone. No other
Speaker 1: result will do. A draw won't do it. That would
Speaker 1: would not get them close enough to stay in contention.
Speaker 1: They must win. Can they win?
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so. I think Canberra playing really
Speaker 3: well at the moment and they didn't have a very
Speaker 3: good season last year, so are going to be kind
Speaker 3: of hunting down a top six spot. And I just
Speaker 3: feel like the Phoenix haven't given us any signs that they're,
Speaker 3: you know, can compete at this late stage in the season.
Speaker 3: So I know that's really harsh of me to say,
Speaker 3: but yeah, I just don't feel like it's going to happen.
Speaker 3: I hope it does, A bloody hope it does. I
Speaker 3: hope they can finally make history and qualify for the
Speaker 3: playoffs for the first time.
Speaker 2: But I just don't have a lot of confidence.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the form lines would say that they know they're
Speaker 1: not favorite to do it. They've lost their last three
Speaker 1: and five of their last six, so yeah, they certainly
Speaker 1: don't take any foreman. Yeah, Canberra, I mean, yeah and Canberra.
Speaker 1: The other than Canberra know is that if they even
Speaker 1: take a point, they eliminate the Phoenix from top six contention.
Speaker 1: Brisbane Raw are still floating there or thereabouts, but I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Canbra. I think a Canberra win would secure
Speaker 1: their top six spots. So that's probably or come close
Speaker 1: to it anyway. So yeah, I've got plenty of play
Speaker 1: for as well. It's not as though the Phoenix are
Speaker 1: playing against a team who's already locked in or already
Speaker 1: you know, out of contention. Canberra have as much to
Speaker 1: play for. Probably is the Phoenix do.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, That's that's what I mean. And playing Canberra away
Speaker 3: you know, where their home bases or their club is
Speaker 3: only the women's team, you know, so they probably have
Speaker 3: a bit of a stronger fan base. As you say, Piney,
Speaker 3: they want to get the job done. They didn't have
Speaker 3: a very good season last season, so yeah, yes, it's
Speaker 3: going to be really tough for the Knicks. And saying
Speaker 3: that they've put in some pretty good displays over the
Speaker 3: ditch across the ditch just this season, and maybe this
Speaker 3: week will be.
Speaker 2: One of them.
Speaker 1: I've got the Phoenix winning the game, do you yeah?
Speaker 1: I just I don't know. It's not based on anything
Speaker 1: other than a vibe. I just got a vibe. Well,
Speaker 1: I just hit. Well, we both hope they win, right,
Speaker 1: we both hope they win. Look if you if you
Speaker 1: have her above it and look at all the stats
Speaker 1: and look at all the form lines, et cetera. They're
Speaker 1: certainly not favorite. I haven't had a look at any
Speaker 1: Ta b Odds or anything like that, so I don't know,
Speaker 1: but i'd imagine Canberra at home would be favorite given
Speaker 1: everything we've just said. But maybe it's one of those
Speaker 1: where you know, an unexpected heroene arrives. I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe Daisy brazen Dale scores her first goal for the club,
Speaker 1: or Olivia Ferguson gets a hat trick, or Annalie Longo
Speaker 1: produces another magnificent performance and drives the team to victory.
Speaker 1: I don't know. It's not beyond the realms of possibility,
Speaker 1: is it.
Speaker 3: No, it's not, and it should still be a competitive game.
Speaker 3: And when I say Canberra is certainly likely going to
Speaker 3: get up for this. I don't think it's going to
Speaker 3: be necessarily easy for them. The Phoenix will absolutely put
Speaker 3: up a good fight. And you know they've got Annalie
Speaker 3: Longo and Mania Elliott coming back from the international window
Speaker 3: where they didn't play a match of football, so it
Speaker 3: should be very fit and ready to go.
Speaker 1: All right, Can we just finish with that, because the
Speaker 1: news came through last night that the Football Ferns friendly
Speaker 1: against Chinese Taipei, which was set to be played in
Speaker 1: Taiwan tomorrow, called off because of safety concerns over the pitch. Now,
Speaker 1: there was a training game behind closed doors that were
Speaker 1: set to be played on Saturday, same venue that was
Speaker 1: called off, and so has this one been because apparently
Speaker 1: the pitch is just a no fit state to ensure
Speaker 1: player welfare. So they look for some alternative venues, couldn't
Speaker 1: find any, so they've gone all the way over there
Speaker 1: for what.
Speaker 3: I feel gutted for three reasons. Firstly, the fact that
Speaker 3: why the heck this is still happening in the women's
Speaker 3: game and they you know, this was unable to be resolved,
Speaker 3: is just beyond me. It's quite embarrassing. Frankly, I saw
Speaker 3: a tweet that Chinese Taipei haven't played a home game
Speaker 3: in five years. Maybe they should have been considered before
Speaker 3: the football firms scheduled to match over there. Secondly, the
Speaker 3: waste of resource and how much it would have cost
Speaker 3: them to go over there when they probably could have
Speaker 3: spent their resources elsewhere and you know, sustainable talk about
Speaker 3: flying a whole bunch of people to tie not to
Speaker 3: have a match happen. And thirdly, I feel real gutted
Speaker 3: for Michael Mayne. You know, it would have been one
Speaker 3: of his last chances to prove to New Zealand Football
Speaker 3: whay he's the best candidate for the Football Fern's head
Speaker 3: coach role, and he may not get another shot so
Speaker 3: that they don't have any more fixtures scheduled that we
Speaker 3: know of.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I feel real gutted for him.
Speaker 1: Very good summary, Bonnie. I guess the only positive is
Speaker 1: they had time together even if they didn't get a game.
Speaker 1: They had training sessions all that sort of thing. And
Speaker 1: as we've talked about a lot, you know, our international
Speaker 1: teams don't spend a heck of a lot of time together,
Speaker 1: so anytime is valuable. Sure, games would clearly have been
Speaker 1: a lot more valuable, but at least they had time
Speaker 1: together in camp to continue to forge, you know, some
Speaker 1: connections with one another off the pitch and even on
Speaker 1: the training pitch as well. You're right though, Michael Maine
Speaker 1: doesn't have any more opportunities because as I understand that,
Speaker 1: they're in the process now of coming up with a
Speaker 1: shortlist for the Football Ferns head coach job. Michael Main
Speaker 1: certainly beyond that shortlist. I can't see that he wouldn't be.
Speaker 1: But you know, there's just been I mean, well since
Speaker 1: the Olympics, the two games against Costa Rica in February,
Speaker 1: they are only two games in New Zealand have played com
Speaker 1: bear it to what's happening across the Tasman and in fact,
Speaker 1: we take it back to twenty twenty three right the
Speaker 1: launch launch pad that that World Cup gave to Australia
Speaker 1: and New Zealand has been capitalized on by the Matildas,
Speaker 1: but not by the football fans.
Speaker 3: No, it's yeah, it's a joke. I don't know what
Speaker 3: who's fault to put that on is, you know, I
Speaker 3: don't know if that's just New Zealand football fans not
Speaker 3: really getting behind the football Ferns as we would have liked.
Speaker 3: Whether that's because the Matildas were far more successful or
Speaker 3: what it is, but yeah, you would expect that there
Speaker 3: to be a little bit more attention around this football
Speaker 3: Ferns side. And I also feel bad for them because
Speaker 3: this team can't get out of the bad press or
Speaker 3: the negative narrative, you know, like to have games canceled,
Speaker 3: like come on, the last thing they need after everything
Speaker 3: else they've faced.
Speaker 2: So yeah, not ideal.
Speaker 1: Let's hope for an upswing, right, Let's get this coach appointed,
Speaker 1: all right, Let's get a coach in place so we
Speaker 1: know where we are. If it's Michael Man or whoever
Speaker 1: it is. What I mean out mid twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: When's the next World Cup mid twenty twenty seven. So
Speaker 1: let's get this coach in place in the next month
Speaker 1: or so and then give him he or she two
Speaker 1: year runway towards the next World Cup, you know, through qualifying,
Speaker 1: which they'll do through Oceannia, but with decent games, get
Speaker 1: the team back here, get them back into the public consciousness.
Speaker 1: Look ause, some of these younger players who are starting
Speaker 1: to turn heads a bit of a next generation of
Speaker 1: talent let's let's get some positive momentum behind this team.
Speaker 2: Poney, I think you should coach them.
Speaker 1: Look, I don't have any ability to coach football.
Speaker 3: I have none of this right inspirational though, and I
Speaker 3: feel like you're right on the money.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know whether maybe you could be used
Speaker 1: in some sort of ambassador role. I don't know, but
Speaker 1: you know I don't have the Badgers necessarily, and I
Speaker 1: think applications have closed anyway. So all right, so we
Speaker 1: hope for better things from the from the Football Fern
Speaker 1: side of things in the in the next month or so.
Speaker 1: All right, So looking ahead to the weekend. Saturday, a
Speaker 1: couple of men's games, Wellington Phoenix Melbourne victory five o'clock
Speaker 1: Sky Stadium, immediately followed by Auckland FC Sydney FC across
Speaker 1: in Sydney. That's a seven o'clock kickoff, so double headed
Speaker 1: there for the men. And on Sunday that crucial game
Speaker 1: five o'clock New Zealand time the Phoenix away at Canberra.
Speaker 1: Have an excellent week, Bonnie, and we will reconvene for
Speaker 1: another Football Fever podcast next Monday.
Speaker 2: Can't wait, Parney, We'll see you then.
Speaker 1: This is footboar,