On the defence, we have questioned the defensive coaching side for sometime now. I was just thinking that if the defensive coaching side is not as solid as we would expect it to be, the only other place our defenders would have to practice working together would be against the might of our own forwards at training - and there is every chance that our defenders would not be tested by the quality of attack or develop the speed of thought needed against the quality they meet in our opposition.

A bit like training against an enthusiastic under 19 squad then just not having the skills to step up to the seniors.

Anyone who understands coaching - is that a reasonable line of thought or off planet? Does our defensive team just not have enough quality opposition in training?

The basics of defending aren’t there. Look how often players go to ground (DeVere cost us the second and O’Toole a later goal - 4th?). Defenders shouldn’t go to ground that easily - that’s a coaching problem.

I also question not staying goalside as a key principle. I have never been an outdoors defender but it seems to me you should never go the other side in a risky move when you are in the last line - but we lunge in and get stranded, or buy a shoulder drop time and again leaving a hole and a stinking pile for someone else to deal with.

In the transfer window I would like a top notch defensive coach please (yes, I know they are not subject to the transfer window).

I’m not picking n the bloke but it must be like having a bad smell with Ross hanging around, can’t be easy for anyone.

Davies Job interview is complete, it’s a thanks but we’ll call you.

It’s just how long will it take to hire someone now?

The question is; is this rock bottom?

Agree with your point to an extent Waz, in that it's obviously that Bakries are investing more in the club than they have previously. You have to admit though, the Bakries aren't completely blameless. If the Bakries want to invest some cash and then let the club run itself with little to no intervention, then surely they need to give someone in Australia power to make decisions and follow through. 
Yes, Aloisi is to blame for the poor recruitment and coaching and how the squad is setup. Bakries are surely to blame for Aloisi being at the club for so long, given they are who he was answering to. 

@Mello-D

Agree with that. This has been a long time coming and every crisis we have had (and this is a crisis) is because the Bakries haven’t been paying attention.

They typically sweep in, mop the shit up, and fly out again until next time. So yes, they ate not blameless but it’s a JA “thing” this ... he should never have been hired, he should never have been extended three years, he should have been fired last winter. That’s their fault.

So agree, control and oversight has to come back on-shore with a proper MD/CEO and proper Board running the club with oversight and governance

On field - yes
Off field - no

Sadly, the efforts Taggart puts in in hassling the opposition are woeful. Does he want to be here? no change since the change in coach, so that is not an issue. We have always defended from the front. Why does he think he's different?

last night was a team with no confidence. one goal and a duffed chance from taggs and the team looked like we were dead and buried there was just no belief from the players. 

we took 20 or 30 minutes to figure out how to play with a back 3 and we were atrocious while figuring it out. Noticeably it was Devere that at every break down was explaining to players where they should be and how to play the back 3. once they figured it out we looked good, 3 or 4 clear cut chances came and Taggs duffed the lot of them. The pen was disappointing (does no ref in australia know  the hand ball law "intentionally handles the ball" no intent there) and then once devere was gone the team fell apart because no one knew how to defend. 

the first goal i dont blame Otoole too much, yes he let toivenen get too far away from him  for a free header but he was reacting to the poor positioning started by,  Daggers, Nigro, Callettie and eric being out of position. this is the beginning of the play for the first goal. Nigro should be 3-4 meters higher causing calettie to be more central, and daggs should be nowhere near where he is and all 3 of them got sold by a simple pass. 3 players well and truly out of position and then beaten and taken out of play causes devere have to come across and then otoole has to come and cover too leaving toivenen free. that is damning and really a schoolboy defending by Daggs, Nigro and Calettie.

from last night i can see why Nigro has not had much of a run this season.he is not a good defender and his passing was terrible. happy to see him not get any more game time. from the 2 outings so far Devere is still the second best defender we have behind Papa so no idea why he did not get game time earlier, it probably could have turned a couple of games. 
honestly though it does not matter who gets played with the team so low on confidence once the slightest thing goes against us we fall apart. 

We need our new coach in as soon as possible. the club has said that they are not going to wait for a coach to sign players so the coach needs to get in to make sure we are not signing more duds. 

Well that was quite a display wasn't it?  It just goes from bad to worse and I still think Brisbane might give CCM a good scare for the wooden spoon.  There are so many problems with the team at the moment, I am afraid there isn't enough server space on Inside Sport's server to accommodate the post.  Whatever way they decide to go with a coach, I hope above everything else, it's a coach that will restore a winning culture and unique identity to the club.  

As for the Den, the less said about them the better.

It looks hopeless.But if we get a good Playmaker and DM ,we have enough quality to build a decent team.
Until then....meh!

And....a quality centre back if we loseDevere.

We have to lose DeVere. He’s done, he’s slow to turn, he’s just not the same player he was.

Waz, he’s barely played for 18 months. What do you expect?

How many of CCMs first 11 tonight would have made Roar’s first 11 on match-day 1.
Anyone? One or two?
Mulvey getting way more out of his players than JA or DD has got this season?

@ clockwork

I’m not sure you can blame DD here?

I can't believe some of you are saying "We still have quality". No we don't. We are the worst team in the league and the Mariners will plonk us in last when they knock us off this weekend.

OToole, Caletti, Lopez, Eric, Taggart are probably the only players we have who even make an extended squad for any club other than CCMs. Maybe. Most still not starting.

Jamie Young is our only "good" player.

Waz. Against Victory I was disappointed with the effort. Taggart barely got out of a jog unless the ball was played to his feet. I just don’t get any sense of desperation from anyone other than Eric, Calletti and Daggers. The rest seem to be just going through the motions in the knowledge that their performance has no bearing on next weeks team selection.

@ clockwork

I hear ya. It’s the kind of performance that would lead to calls for the coach to be sacked normally

have there been any rumours floating around about player or coach signings. something needs to change quickly. 

I honestly can't pick a player I really really want to keep next year. Even Eric with all the big wraps around himhas done nothing really over two seasons. Avram is decent but getting injury prone and on in years. Huge cleanout needed with the mess of a squad JA has left us.

Apart from the contracted players where you have no choice, I’d keep:

Young
Ingham
Caletti
D’Aggers
DWH
Reardon
O’Toole


As part of the main squad. I’d also look to keep the following as benchwarmers.

White
Pepper (you know I like him) or Bowles
Nigro

Plus you have contracted players:

Mauk
Hingert

The rest can go. That would leave 9-10 players to be recruited.

I am hoping the club is looking to the future and will be playing (as much as possible) exclusively young players in their respective positions. This season is gone, we may as well see if, given enough time, some gems are uncovered. 

Reardon partnering with their Devere or Papa for the rest of the season
O'Toole LB for the rest of the season. . 
Caletti partnering Lopez for the rest of the season. 
Ingham on the RW for the rest of the season. 
Daggers on the bench to come on for Mauk for the rest of the season. 
Taggart should be getting dragged after 60 minutes and replaced with DWH, especially with how lazy Taggart has been looking. 

I'd like to see Nigro given some time at DM partnering with Caletti to see if Victory fans talk of him being a midfielder was correct. If not, i'd like him to be given time at RB as well to see if he can take Hingert's spot. 

Amen to the youth players playing. In their correct positions.

I agree with your post, but give DWH a little more time and am unsure of O'Toole's defensive abilities (he is good going forward).

Defence can be taught . Do clubs actually hire specialized defensive coaches ?
If not..... they should because the first part of winning is not conceding as many goals as your opponent. A solid defence is so important....yet it seems some coaches give it scant attention.
Someone like O'Toole is good on the ball and going forward but he makes rookie errors every week so I can only assume he is not being coached individually by anyone who knows how to defend. If he is being coached then he is obviously not understanding what he is being told .

Anyone else noticed  how much better Corey Brown looks defensively at Victory than when he was at the Roar ?

With us he was always good in attack but would constantly be caught in no mans land or ball watching in defence.....not anymore .
Hate to say it but Muscat has improved him out of sight .

“Anyone else noticed how much better Corey Brown looks defensively at Victory than when he was at the Roar ?” ... that’s not what a lot of Victory supporters are saying and although he’s been okay this year he hasn’t returned to his peak yet. .

But look, Brown (like O’Toole today) was developed out of youth, the first two seasons he was inconsistent but the year he won POTY he was a excellent. Last year not so, but he knew he was leaving.

Teams can hire a specialist defensive coach, Roar don’t at the moment but agree they should.

I wonder what happened on the Pourre and Pedj (?) trip to Indonesia ?
I believe it was to gain direction as to how to select a coach .

I assume they are now back and now searching for our new messiah ?

I hope they pushed for aiming for a long term ,experienced coach who has an attacking philosophy..and can articulate to the club , players and fans exactly how he intends to implement that .
I also hope they are not penny pinching and don't end up with another cut price coach ( I am assuming JA was cheap because why else would you hire a coach with the record he had when he came here ?)
We don't need or want some ex-star player who has a name and not much else.
I also hope the Bakries see this as a sound financial investment in their asset.
Hopefully we are chasing some recruits this transfer window as well.....half way through January already ...time is slipping away.

I am normally a positive person ..........so why do I have this sinking feeling that I will be underwhelmed by both the coaching choice and any new player recruits ?

@ miron

As a matter of urgency the club need to communicate the results of that visit. They apparently have an update planned (email or web I don’t know) and it needs to go out ASAP.

I have an idea of what’s to be said as the RSF has discussed the dire situation with DP since his return from that meeting, so they need to tell fans ASAP.