Lel

http://forum.insidesport.com.au/2642829/Brisbane-Roar-8-Consecutive-Finals-Appearances

Bugger JA was good all along.Who would have guessed.

@ crimsoncrusoe

Hard to know what JA has got right this season, there was a small minority’s of fans openly hoping we’d muss finals to cause a JA spill. I don’t agree with that stance but can see their point, making finals in 6th place is nothing to celebrate full stop.

Playing O’Toole at CB (and not LB) is a small win for him though - the irony of said critics openly criticising his planned set up pre-game only for his plan to prove correct was fine many in itself.

Where to next on the Aloisi roadshow??

I suppose the next question now is team selection for Friday night , will Holman be fit and if not who comes in to start as clearly Ricky can’t see out 90min , will it be Caletti or Oxborrow or maybe a Akbari or Leck with BKF pushed to 10.
Will he keep O’Toole at Cb or will he play a returning DeVere or Bowles with a dodgy ankle .
This could be the making of a very good game , City are not in great form and I recon we can give it a good shake for a possible semi with FC

@ Jonsnow

I’d have Bowles in if fit, North isn’t fat away but the lesson from the WSWs defeat has to be - only play fit players John.

North/Bowles Holman to the bench if fit along with Ricky.

Khalfallah to 10, Leck to the wing.

Going by the comments above regarding availability, i would like to see:

Devere - In - He was out of form, but he is a step up on other options but if we Roar are going to win the league (and they are good enough to even though i doubt they will) the best players need to be playing.
O'Toole - Stays.  He is in good form, he has shown the ability and talent in all his chances and may actually improve substantially with the experience and to be honest he is (from the little i have seen) a smarter and better positional player than Pepper or Bowles, and possibly even Devere to be honest. 
Pepper - benched  He is playing as well as he can but he still makes too many vital mistakes in a game, even if he is slowly getting better.  I would keep him on the bench, but bring him in if any of the back 4 are playing poorly even if it is in the first half.  Unfortunately Aloisi doesnt seem to be able to make those hard decisions.

Mackay stays ahead of Caletti.  He is actually starting to play a little better, but again, Aloisi needs to monitor his form and sub him if it warrants.  Caletti is stronger in some ways, but is a better option off the bench, if ball possession and control is required.

Henrique to stay up front next to Maccaroni.  It is hard to believe that there is even consideration given to bringing in an injured Holman. Henrique and Maccarone were really starting to work great off each other.  Despite being replaced before the end of the game, Henrique has shown nothing to suggest he is a weak link in the last 20 mins, but if he is Holman (if fit) and Gameiro could both slot in easily and are both more dangerous coming off the bench than starting.  Holman in particular can be lethal in 20 min spells where his hot cod form in games usually blows hot for most of this time. 

The only weak link for me is Kalfallah, who i think has struggled for form in the last few weeks and who has been inconsistent all year.  I think it is important to ensure he is subbed early if not playing well (he doesnt seem to have the fitness anyway). I would also be thinking seriously about switching him with Holman if Holman is fit

Looking at the Roar side honestly, i still think (if they hit form which they are slowly coming into) they have a notch or two they  can lift themselves.  They have arguably the best keeper in the comp, imo they have arguably the best striker in the comp (even if Maccarone is looking old and disinterested at the moment), Probably the best fulback in Franjic, and maybe even the best defensive midfielder in Kristianson.  And easily the best bench in the league and most depth of any team.  Over the last third of the season they have actually scored as many points as anyone so they are also the form team (possibly exception of Sydney i am not sure).  They beat both Melbourne and Sydney who are their next opponents the last time they played each. 

In my opinion, they should be aiming for nothing less than Grand Final win and John Aloisi needs to be judged very harshly if they do not win.  This is a potential title winning team and their dreadful form over most of the year should not take focus away from that.  I am not confident because of it, but i think i might even go as far as suggesting that they are the biggest danger to Sydneys Title challenge, if (and only if) they actually hit some solid form.  Last weeks game was a half decent start. 

I had a look at our results for home matches this season. So dreadful! 14 games for only 13 goals. Only twice did we score more than 1 goal, and 5 times didn't trouble the scorer. Where did JA think we had a fortress!

I guess we are fortunate that our remaining games are away.

@ footballkingz

C’mon, JA created a home fortress for the last two seasons ... only the away form was pants.

Aloisi realised very early that we were useless at home ... hence his cunning plan to ensure we had no home finals. He is an evil mastermind.

I’m with clockwork , 3 games away and we win the comp
JA .......genius 😊

yeah, yeah .... when JA arrived and said he wanted to make Suncorp a “fortress” everyone laughed, but he did for the first two seasons - best home form we’ve had bar Ange’s long run 👍

Anyhoo ... Holman and Bowles out tonight. I’m convinced Holman being out is a positive, we’re able to play better without him tbh.

But Pepper and O’Toole? I can’t believe Joyce and Fall-n-roly won’t havd figured out how to exploit that makeshift pairing. Let’s hope Maccarone and Ricky continue their great understanding of each other at the other end - this could be a shootout

Suppose we will know in a few hrs , I recon we can do it.

I recon we can, but that defence is going to be severely tested.

Let the cleanout begin!

Okay, so what changes?

IN

- a striker
- a right winger
- a decent attacking midfielder

OUT

- FBK
- Holman
- Maccarone

Maybe add in a new DM

Aloisi just claimed that we are building for next season. I’m excited .....

he was talking about Logan maybe??

Khalfallah announces his retirement.

Gombau was waiting to build for next season,and finished one place below us,playing real football.JA is already building and we are nowhere but in the mire,playing shite all season and culminating in the most pathetic performance of anti football rubbish.
Football pundits have crucified Gombau ,yet JA is like teflon doing much much worse.

Yeah but nah crimsoncrusoe

Gombau deserved more time, not sure why he’s getting crucified he just is; Aloisi is on the right track - he just needs to pick the right system and the right players next season.

And a heap more.
I will be disappointed if many more players bar Eric and Toole are still in our starting team next year. Jack is alright. And Young of course. TK is great but we can't rely on him for more than a handful of games. CBs - again, injury plagued.

Young, Reserve GK (White could be fine - we don't know really so far)
Jack, Reserve RB
Papa, Starting CB+Reserve CB, LDV
Connor, Reserve LB
TK, Reserve CDM
Caletti, Starting CAM, Reserve CAM, Akbari
Eric, Starting Wing, Reserve LW, Reserve RW, Henrique
Starting ST, Reserve ST

That's if we are being brutally honest with ourselves and the playing group and wanting to actually be competitive next year.

@Waz You’re right, he just needs to fix those two little issues and we’ll be fine. And after all, you couldn’t expect him to be further advanced after only 3 years in the job.

Quote from Aloisi interview: “We'll be better next season, 100 per cent we will be better. We already started building toward that five months ago."

In what way has he been building for 5 months? Did nothing in the January transfer window except get rid of a young striker and re-sign Henrique, a player Aloisi previously didn’t rate. The only time young players have had a chance is when we’ve had injuries. As soon as an oldie was fit the young player was back to the bench regardless of how well they performed.

If the rubbish we saw last night is the culmination of 5 months of building, then I can hardly wait for next season.

@waz

What was his excuse for that game?

@ PricklePear

I haven’t listened to his post match interview (and probably won’t) but I’m reading things like “rebuilding” and “injuries”.

All in all it’s a fair outcome for me, just in to 6th and knocked out first up in the finals is the most we deserved.

The 4 teams below us fired their coaches and JA will be on thin ice but suspect he will survive, he is well liked by players and staff at the club and the owners overall seem to view two third place finishes and one sixth place finish - not just this seasons debacle. Fans seem more brutal than that

In the gossip column I’m hearing they’ve already signed a right winger, a visa player from Europe to replace FBK and close to signing a striker (presumably Maccarone is going too) which if true indicate JAs already been given the nod to rebuild.

Unfortunately I cant see Brisbane making finals next year, Aloisi cant adapt and each season hes been in charge, the club is dropping down the ladder. If Jamie Young wasn't your keeper then wow, it would have been a disaster!  (Actually, someone should do the calculations, that if his save% was the same as the 2nd or 3rd best on the list, how many goals Brisbane would have conceded and points dropped)

He simply can't coach, and if Ross wasnt next to him he would be even worse. In any other league, after his season at Heart (Im still traumatized) he would have never got close to another job.

Having Radinovic around will help us with player signings. Sounds like it already has judging by what Waz has said.

@ PricklePear

Personally I tend to agree with that view.

Last nights first goal was a classic Aloisi coached goal - Hingert had done all the hard work, has the ball, all he needs to do is clear it. Instead he turns back into danger, slips over, and hands the ball over to one of the most dangerous players in the competition. That’s Aloisi’s Roar teams, always a bit sloppy.

I’ve no doubt he’ll get fired if next seasons the same. It comes back to what do the club (owners) want?

This season will either make Aloisi as a coach by toughening him up (and the teams he produces) or it’s the penultimate season in the end of his coaching career

@ BRFC92

Radinovic does seem to have made a difference. Again it’s gossip but I’m hearing there’s been lots of transfer activity since he arrived and several re-signings have already taken place; so providing JA is picking the players he wants, to fit his systems, and he sticks to the gameplan he had (with Maclaren up front) we’ll do okay next year.

I still think Ross is too inexperienced to be assistant coach though, and if there’s a change that’s where I think we can improve.