That is exactly how I feel when they name the starting line-up at the game (and the broken record applies to me too).

I acknowledge that they both bring enthusiasm, a high workrate, desperation and some real game saver stuff to games - but the negatives that they carry just kill the team.

Pepper's general ambling around the middle of the field sees him in the way regularly when we attack, quite ineffective in defence when it comes to shutting down actual threats as they build, and his brain snaps see cards for him and opportunities to score for the opposition. At least he is not in the back line with Bowles.

Bowles just does those stupid frustrated hacks and fouls - and most often when the pressure is greatest - the time when we need our defenders to stay in control and think.

Having both of them in a team at the same time usually means at least two pointless yellows - when we are lucky it is one each.

But despite them both being on we won a tight game last night :)

The first third was the first time this group of players had seen each other in a real competition match, and against the level of opponent that we had not faced before that in pre-season.

There was a great deal of understanding to develop, and a lot of combinations to work out. No point being great at something if the player you pass to going forward or depend on to do something in defence are not thinking the same.

Totally normal to have a lengthy drop in results while a team rebuilds almost from scratch.

I just realised - you are deliberately tipping that knowing it will now go the other way.

Damn you, you cunning b@stard!

Your anti DWH bias is getting embarrasing.Almost as bad as D'Agostino during his Roar days.
He recieved one good pass in the whole first half and had a shot.The rest of the time he was given zero opportunities.He made runs  through the defence and passes never got through.He recieved the ball under close attention and back passed like everyone else from time to time.He defended and scrapped for possession.
When DWH made an excellent run and passed the ball from close to line ,there was noone centrally to score.It would have been a gimme.
As Fowler said AU were defending well and made life difficult for all Roar players in the first half.In fact the whole team was poor.
If you have a serious evaluation of players ,how about JOS.He continually turned the ball over with poor passes and was closest but missed blocking the only goal by AU.Or how about Inman last night.He was average too.
I'm still not bagging JOS,he does his best and has his limitations.Inman the same .It was one of those games against a good opponent.

It’s not embarrassing, it’s merely my opinion which may be right or wrong. Don’t feel you have to engage to try and change my opinion ... 

Seriously,'the midfielders cant split the defenders,without him moving at the right time'?
He had two defenders on him when he was in the line .Where exactly was he supposed to run?He tried a few times and the defenders intercepted.
Then he is back defending or on the sideline recieving the ball with two men on him?
We had five back defending most of the time in the first half.
In the second half we pushed up and the game opened up.
If you listened to the commentators and RF,you would realise that half way through the second half players tire and there are more opportunities .
What about JOS and Inman.Were they playing well in the first half?
You are entitled to your opinion.But so am i.And im just saying  in my opinion ,your bias is embarrassing.

To me, we are still a team of very average quality players ......but we are beginning to show signs of becoming an above average quality team .
Great teams are consistent.
We are not there yet and I think we will need a few more quality players to be Great but for this season at least ...we are improving and that is all we can ask after last season .

So .....average players playing some quality football ...to me that indicates very good coaching .
Robbie is in his first season of coaching . He has a very ,very long way to go but he is showing good signs.

Is God, the player, showing very early signs of becoming God the coach ?

Its great to see the development of a team and,  probably more importantly, a coach.  We are privileged to be seeing both with the Roar and RF this year. 

I partly agree with both Waz and CrimsonCruse on DWH.
He does lack touch at times and hasn't really figured out his role in this team.
Sometimes he does some glorious balls and switches play better than our midfield .
Other times I hold my head in despair at things he does.

However this ambiguity in his game is also one of his best features.
You are never quite sure what he will do .

He has no fear of having a shot from anywhere and chases all day .
The trick is getting his team mates to understand how to best use him, and maybe Robbie as well.
For the time being maybe he is best served coming off the bench and running at tired defenders ?
My later years were spent in central defence and I hated fast unpredictable young players coming on late in a game.
Lets face it he has scored most of his goals that way.
Until he matures a little he can still be an impact player of some value .

Of course you’re entitled to your opinion. 

I've been turned around on Holloway.  I think he's bringing more and more every time he's on the park.

Whoa there, cowboy.  That first half was definitely not a privilege, and there are a lot of them.  Lot of work to do yet to justify that second sentence.

Agree 100%, MM.  Same thought occurred to me after the second half transformation.  We were seeing a team playing as significantly more than the sum of its parts, and that's coaching.  This was Ange's gift at Brisbane (not with the NT tho!) and is exactly what Graeme Arnold can't do with the NT now.

Agreed. was AAH effective when he came on. Yes and Yes. 
Pity he missed that goal because that would've given him the confidence to go in with it. it'll come. 
Beat game from him yet. He got stuck in and and with his size, he could scare defenders. 

I think I’ve been drifting the opposite way but he was superb when he came in. Just needed to finish that chance - or at least force Izzo in to a save. 

Re discussion on players. I like DWH, he adds enthusiasm, and yes he's still learning technique but now that RF has finally cut ROD loose, DWH AAH Mura will all get more time to grow. I'm happy with AAH too. 
Pepper? Yes he can do a job, not as good as others but I don't mind him. 
Bowles? No and No. never gonna change IMO, just too risky to give stupid fouls, happened far to often. 

And this is truly where the discussion sits. The core of the squad is in place and RF just needs to decide who he keeps and who he lets go. There’s maybe five players to change out with two marquees and a visa player that could come in. 

One issue to qualify the performance of strikers for Roar is Fowlers approach to the first half of games.He tends to pursue a more defensive approach.
Roar are the worst first half team.Players tend to be more defensive and opportunities are few and far between.
A ball played forward to a striker is often recieved with back to goal and noone on the wings to pass to.Hence the back ward pass.
Even when Roar got an overload on the left defensive side of AU,the AU defence was set and Roar couldnt find a way through.
In the second half again,Roar pushed up ,AU tired a bit and more opportunities were created.
Given the methodology of Fowler,it's unlikely any striker in the first half will score,given the limited opportunities created...It's a game of attrition,Hang in there,wear out the opposition and up the tempo in the second half.
DWH and Inman who scored games ago and pllayed the second half.Now the last few games ,both play the first half.They are replaced in the second half  and havent scored. 
Marautovic switches halves and scores.
AAH playing the second half yesterday should have scored.
So far so good ,as Roar have been very competitive lately.
SM has also quickly become a key player.As a lock picker.More so than JOS.

We still have weaknesses.But at least we are improving.And we have cash to spend.

The press conference last night Robbie did indicate it's part of his plan to be more defensive in the first and open more in the 2nd. He wants to get a feel for the opposition. It's always a balance and I think Robbie doesn't want to concede in first half. 

One thing I did notice now is with hinget back the formation is far more fluid. With hinget being the FB that moves into a rm, rw or even a rdm. With bowels moving in the RB position For a fair bit of time we where playing a gold old 442. But we change to a 433, 343, 532 or 541. I think this flexibility has taken time for the team to learn but I think this one of the reasons for the late surge.

Some of us put up with (as in laughed at) the rants aimed at us for seeing something more in both Robbie and the team. Feels bloody awesome to have had faith in the evolution of both Robbie and the team and seeing some of it come to fruition. Even the most orange spectacled of us have said there is a distance to go - but we are certainly travelling in the right direction.

Personally, in relation to both Robbie and the team, I don't care what happens over the rest of the season - they have proven themselves competitive and worthy of this league and we can now cheer, laugh, cry, scream and be frustrated like any other fans.

Fulltime Score:
Robbie, Roar and Nuthuggers 1 - Haters, Bitters and Spewers 0

Crimson - you see the first half defensive play as a failure. I see halftime without conceding as a bloody good start to any game for us.

I can't settle in to any of our games until I have ticked off 15 minutes then 25 minutes without conceding - such is the scarring of previous seasons.

G   aBrisbane roars gain is Macclesfield Bristol rovers western Sydney and Newcastle jets loss.

The hipster is similar to Houghton was at Brighton, dull functional football, here's hoping the roar get someone similar to potter and play football on the front foot rather than just. Sitting in

Jacob Melling  any one?

No thanks

I’m assuming Roar will be shopping for a 6 and 9 with only one visa spot available - there’s fewer Aussie 9’s than there are 6’s 

Are you talking about for the rest of this season, in which presumably only free agents can be signed, or for next season?

Just generally - Australian No 9’s must be the shortest  availability of all positions so I’m assuming that’s a high probability for the spare visa slot. 

I agree that Australian 9’s are pretty rare. At the moment AAH, who I don’t rate, is more-or-less a 9 taking up a visa spot, and I would be looking to replace him with a better player and use the other visa player elsewhere.
Getting a reasonable visa 9 does seem to be difficult for A league clubs though, there have been a lot of misses over the years. Even this year, as well as Roar with AAH, you have Adelaide with Opseth, WSW with Meier, as examples.

Another good performance by "Robbie Fowler".

If only he had the players!