When Moon says this is a free shot at City I call that BS.

Today's game is our one 'in our own hands' chance at the title. Winning puts us second, and means we still have to win everything from here (very tough ask) to be guaranteed the title - but a loss today lets City cement their clean break.

Moon is smart enough not to mention these things, but this is the point in the season where City must win this if they want to escape this crazy pack that the teams 2-8 or so are running in.

Our games in hand are not free games - other teams have points from their games already played and we have to surpass them.

It is a bit like playing against 10. Means nothing if you don't get the points.

We've all seen how tight the table is - come on Roar and get us out of this steaming pile!

Paul C. You're thinking of ........orange?

I done understand what this "free shot at city" means.

Unless Moon thinks City confident at winning the Title so they'll rest key players for this one ?

Maybe?

The bitters can jab me all they want. Water off a ducks back. But appreciate your kind thoughts 😉 

Bwahahaha............I didn’t even think of that lol

Pissed off!

We were outplayed for most of the the first half, but worse than that we played badly. In the first 10 minutes we gave the ball away every time we got it back - some of those not even under pressure.

Second half was pretty even - but by then we had lost our best team to subs.

Great effort regardless of the scoreline - we could have been 5 goals down with some really dodgy defending (or complete lack of defending at times) but we were a lucky even score at halftime. Champness does not fill a defensive role at all and that is fine when we have our best backline in place. With Aldred out injured, we could not afford to have Champness as the player shutting down the centre.

Kudo and Daley are not a starting combination. It kills us from midfield forwards and that is exactly where we needed to put pressure to stop City playing their game and their tempo. Switching Champness for Mehbratu was a step backwards although for a couple of high balls Golgol looked dangerous.

Shaun Evans is a crap referee and he played a very big part in us losing that game. Noone's hit on Akbari should have received a card and possibly a red one at that - deliberate hit with elbow lifting up into his face. The handball in the lead up to their goal was an arm clearly away from the body - that is one of the criteria that defines handball. It was exactly why the goal the previous night was disallowed and it should have been again. Accidental or not his arm was out from his body and they gained by the action. When Champness was held back by the player on a yellow card it should have been a second yellow. No doubt at all. He held Champness round the waist and impeded him when Champness was through the line with a genuine goal scoring opportunity and Evans did nothing. Fcking weak.

Really pissed off by those decisions.

A very off first half for us - some weaker player rotations in place - and yet some solid good luck for us in the first half saw a very competitive game that pushed City off their best play for significant periods of time.

Nothing we could do about a brilliant goal off a flukey loose ball for Galloway to win the game for City.

Disappointed by the loss, pretty disgusted with those crap decisions, and now to beat Mariners at Redcliffe on Wednesday. The sticky pack is holding us firmly in place for now.

I really dont know how the Roar players are going to survive the remaining games as energy levels continue to decline.
Today we were second best easily and its been a while since we copped three goals.
Also playing Gol Gol central and pushing  DWH to the wing seems dumb.Especially when Parsons and DWH have better communication together and Gol Gol is pretty crap.
Would we be better of playing DWH,Champness and Danzaki together and resting them together to keep our best front three together.
Hopefully Roar can bounce back against CCM.But CCM will be fresh .
Unfortunately i get the feeling that even if we make the finals,we will be legless and wont be able to do much.

I am less concerned with how we last - if we start with our best each game and just sub them off that bit earlier it isn't that much worse than training a couple of nights between games surely for those top 10 outfield players (am I wrong about that?).

Is there a factor that with close games but no training we can keep match fitness but lose our touch? Some very uncommon passing mistakes in those first 10 minutes across the entire team.

My concern is that starting with two or more of our second best players we start slower, are prone to a loss of control and concede easy goals.

Tonight, we had a horrible first half. I do not expect us to have another horrible performance like that for some time. Even with the bad start, and acknowledging that we had a good run of luck keeping them to two goals in that first half, we still held them overall in the game except for one really brilliant finish.

We lost to a much better team on the night, but playing the way we should be able to I did not see them as being far beyond our abilities.

I dont see how the roar could play any worse than that and Melbourne really couldnt play all that much better  (in general play at least). Hopefully things will be very different next time they meet. 

I thought nearly every player had a shocker, as did the coach.  Brindel South has been surprinsingly good this year. To be nice, he wasnt today.  How he wasnt substituted is beyond me. He really should have been subbed after 20 mins it was not his day.  i suppose he was marginally better towards the end, but it was too late by then.  Neville has been so dependable in the couple of games since he returned.  What Happened this week, he is  another who should have probably been subbed at half time. Trewin, i think has been a revelation, is far better than what most on here rate him in fact his form i think has been dependable and astonishing in his rise.  Today he was extremely poor, I wouldnt have argued if he was hauled after 20 mins.   Corey Brown, i have said he is underated and once he gets his one stunningly poor play per game out of the way he does well.  He has eliminated that error for the last 4 or  weeks and was looking really good lately.  hopefully he stocked up enough errors or poor play in this game to last him for the rest of the season.  Gillesphey has barely let a player run free or beat him all year.  He was beaten more times tonight than he has been all year. 
Daley, i thought has been a real revelation this year, and at times i have thought him unlucky not to oust Akbari from the starting position more often. Only age has probably prevented him cementing the birth or at least winning more starts.  Tonight, he was dreadful.  O shea did try hard and do a occasional decent things, but has ever given the ball away under no pressure, as often as he did tonight? That leaves our attackers.  Danzaki has been ever dependable this year and one of our better players.  What happened to his passing? he simply couldnt find an orange shirt for most of the first half.  Nobu.  I actually thought neither was that bad.  Nobu requires good service, obviously and he doesnt seem to really gel in attack, i am not sure why, but i do actually think he seems to be capable of making the most of limited chances and (maybe i am too optimistic) i still have hope that he will score a few goals and force his way into the team.  I would give his game a 5 out of 10 (i didnt think he made the errors others did though maybe only because he didnt get involved) Still i think that makes him one of the better players tonight, he did score a goal. Probably the only player who wasnt well below their best.  Jamie Young i guess is another who could claim this, he made some good saves, and cant really be blamed for any of the goals, but even then, to me, he even looked a little off on his game compared to normal.  Maybe it was just me, or the fact that he was beaten so many times by the post or near misses, but i didnt get that usual aura of invincibility and his kicks and passing seemed even more shaky than normal. 
This leaves the subs.  Akbari improved things, and did a couple of good things, but still made too many errors and wasnt up to his previous standards.  Mebratu is decent as a target man and did nearly score taht header but his general play was nothing to write home about.  I dont think he was any better than Nobu although with a few more opportunities perhaps.  Wenzell Halls did okay, but again not up to his normal standards, maybe it was the better opposition or fact that service, even in the second half wasnt anything special. Parsons did okay in his limited time.  Promising signs but obviously he didnt exactly turn the game on his own.  Flotman didnt really have much game time. 

This leaves Moon, as the coach.  I am still undecided on Moon.  He has done some good things, and there is plenty to like especially they way he has relied on and given opportunity to youth.  And over the course of teh season he seems to substitute quite well.  But today, i thought he has to take the blame or at least most of it.  He was poor.  I know this upcoming schedule has psyched everyone out and they do need to consider resting.  But this was a 6 point game.  To start your top goalscorer (and we really do rely on him more than everyone realises particularly now that scott macdonald is no longer there) on the bench was a major mistake and it sent the wrong message to those who did start. If anyone needs a rest it is going to be the older guys.  In the current team, i would have thought Neville, O Shea, maybe brown or brindall south, Hingert those type of players who are probably not as fit as some of the younger guys who can run all day who need the rest.  Not Akbari, Daley, Wenzell Halls etc.  And the subs, he has fallen into the habit of the preplanned Akbari/Daley sub.  Daley wasnt good, but wasnt the worse player. Our Defence, particularly down the right (though it wasnt just the right) was a clear problem.  Flotman or JCP should have been on for either Brindall South, Neville or perhaps Trewin. It really should have happened well before half time but i suppose you cant be too critical of him for that.  Then Mebrahtu on for Nobu.  Nobu wasnt our problem, our defence and simple errors was (and no it didnt start from not shutting down by the forwards).  This change did absolutely nothing to address the defensive shortcomings.  Our attack was actually picking up a little but without the ball we were still very shake all game.  And Champness was starting to look dangerous.  I really cant understand the thinking in bringing him off just so he can rest.  He is probably the least needing of a rest out of all of our players, because he often looks more dangers as a sub than a starter, so we could have easily give him teh rest against Central coast next game.  Why did we need a second forward in a game where our whole defence and midfield was struggling, not our attack.  This was terrible subbing by Moon.  It smacks of the Aloisi style of substituting to a plan rather than based on what is happening on the field, like fowler used to do.  I much prefer the Fowler method.  Id rather see Wenzell halls or Mebratu experimented with in Brindell Souths, Nevilles or Trewins position than what happened, and obviously i think that at least one of our two defenders or even Parsons should have been used before we wasted spots bringing attackers on. 

Anyway, sorry for the novel, but that really was the worst performance  i have seen from this team since pre fowler days. On a brighter note, i think they will beat City in the rematch.  They cant play as bad, adn i think that City's keeper is very very shaky.  I think they will really struggle if Roar take the game to them like they usually do.  

   

The run of games is partly the problem in my opinion. 
Yes other teams have the same problem but add to that The wet field last Saturday at Moreton would have been fine had they not played Wednesday. That field was so wet it would have sapped a game and a half in the energy output.
It adds up to fatigue physically and mentally. 
So that becomes a player management problem.
now I'm not saying Moon got it wrong but he maybe has to decide which game they are more likely to win and make player choices within that thinking. 
Difficult to be sure and it's maybe a degree of guesswork....but.....as it was a chance to go second I'd probably go all out to win it. 
And deal with whatever afterwards. 
Could they have won it....well maybe yes even tho the performance was off. 
A draw was absolutely on the cards. 

the first half (or specifically the first 30 or so minutes) was terrible. i will give some leniency with heavy legs, travel and a good opposition putting us under pressure but the game really showed the deficiencies with our squad. the biggest being depth, kudo simply isnt good enough to warrant a squad spot and having him in the starting line up put the whole team under pressure as we had no outlet up front to take some pressure off from defending. neville, gillesphie, trewin who have all been superb looked tired, with no depth in the squad to rotate them out. brown had an absolute shocker (again probably from tiredness) and JOS was limited in his effectiveness. again with no replacements in the squad to take the load off, and it only gets worse from here with games still being played every 3-4 days until the end of the season. 

we can only hope that the players fitness adapts to the new schedule soon and they start to get better towards the end (as long as injuries stay away). I hate saying it because i really want to win every game we play (and despite the way we played we could have nabbed a point or more from that game) but if we want to have a real run at the top 3 spots we have to be a bit more savvy with the squad management. I think we should write off the ADL game and the next city game, rotate every first team player out to give them a rest so they can be at their peak for the other games. 

The defence was naive from get go. Fatigue not an excuse.

Champness was a threat right until he was replaced. He was the only one that looked like penetrating the oppositions defence yet he was replaced. Sure the predetermined tactic was to rest players but this was stupid. Could have made the difference. Bizarre.

Yep, reflective of the Aloisi days. Maybe the run of games is getting into Moon's head. He was more proactive earlier in the season.
And CCM will really be on their game on Wednesday given the prior result down there.
Results elsewhere didn't do us any favours this wek with WSW and PG winning. The WSW result also brings them near our Goal Diff, which will make the end of season interesting too.
Big week for WU, facing PG and then SFC in 4 days.

Roars’s recent run has pretty much coincided with a more counterattacking strategy.
Against the more attacking teams we sit back because we struggle to regroup and get back if we are too high up the pitch.
MC is no doubt the best team at breaking down a defence and showed it yesterday.
Maybe if we had our best team playing and they were fresh we could go close but that wasnt yesterday.
Unfortunately the reality is there is no time for players to get a rest unless the Moon puts out a clear B team.maybe its time to do that.Because winning half the remaining games would get us in the six and keep our best players as fresh as our opposition for the finals.
The B team forwards would be Kudo,Gol Gol and Parsons
Midfield would be Kim and Daly
Backs would mainly involve switching fullbacks and keeping the back three.
 

And now back to 7th :D

We were very poor in the first 20 minutes and seemed to be sitting back.  If memory serves me correctly, this would appear to be an intentional tactic for the last few games (who knows, maybe to save the team's legs?).  I thought we did pretty well against City to pull back those 2 goals - very encouraging signs.  City's tactics of spoiling our counters (Noone and Good in particular) went largely unpunished and should have been carded, which may have made them think twice about some of their tactics and consequently opened up the game a bit.

On balance City deserved the win and we have a little more work to do.  As much as our attack has misfired at times, it was our defence that let us down yesterday  We scored 2 goals (which at very least should have secured a point).  Conceding 3 is simply unacceptable.  Onwards an upwards.

Heeeelpp. When does Aldred return, def missing him on yesterday performance. However, a quite decent second half and could have nicked it - with luck.

and of course there is rain predicted in the next 2 days to again make the pitch heavy. cant catch a break really

Bugger forgot about the rain. Then again the rugby did a number to Suncorp on the weekend.

So Flottman’s four game loan spell is over and he is back in Sydney.(yes wtf)
Hingert has done a hammy and Burke -Gilroy ,ex Tacoma Defiance and ex house mate of Jesse Daly ,is a new recruit  for the rest of the season.
What a weird season it is.

Given the weather tomorrow and how the pitch been a really can see the game getting cancelled. I can't see it being playable with the amount rain predicted 

Don't think they can cancel anymore games, given the already heavy schedule. 

I think we will feel the loss of Hingert. I know many Roar fans don't rate him, but I do. He makes useful runs forward that normally end in a less perfect cross than we would hope for, but he provides an attacking option all game regardless. In defence he uses his experience well and I feel safe with our normal back 5.

Nothing against Brindell-South who I think has been really good (other than last game like most of the team) - I still prefer Hingert in a defensive sense. Maybe that is just familiarity and the fact I like him.

Once again, wet weather is likely to be more of an advantage to the aerially adept and pugnacious, ground battling individual Matt Simon than it will be to our fleet footed, pack hunting, ball weavers.

Bugger of a season for us to be showing such good signs in.

I like the look of the stadium at Redcliffe, and played out there for a number of years at Power [AJ Kelly Park] before heading elsewhere. I don't ever recall a game at AJ Kelly being called off due to bad weather, it was always in top condition and ready to be played on. If Dolphins Stadium can't handle inclement weather, I think it might be time for you to shift stadiums for the rest of the season, as it's pretty unacceptable [to me] for games to be called off because a pitch isn't ready/gameworthy. I'm all for the players safety, so I have no issue in that regard, I just think it's unacceptable that the grounds staff can't ensure that it's fit to play on.

This isn't intended as a dig at the fans btw, so apologies if it comes across that way.

Btw: Burke-Gilroy is class, I really rate him. Altona losing him could consign them to relegation tbh, which is a bit of a shock considering that I [along with many others] thought that they would potentially win NPL Victoria this season.

If the ball can't roll, the pitch is unsafe for playing on. Which I would be very likely given past examples and it's going to be pouring rain.

the ground staff have done a pretty damn good job with what they have. For all the dry games this season the pitch at dolphins has been absolutely perfect. Even after all the rain in the first game last week the pitch was in very very good condition before the warm ups on Wednesday (despite the heavy rain that day) and held up surprisingly well through out the game (no big diverts or uneven bounces just a few players who couldn't keep their feet)

It is just that due to how low the pitch is it takes time to drain so with consistent heavy rain water will start to pool and take a while to disperse. good thing so far is that there has been sunshine today, which will have gotten rid of the water from last nights rain. 30 mm scheduled for tomorrow should be ok unless it all comes in the hour before KO. 30mm over the day will be fine and i expect the pitch to be in great condition (before we start on it)

Any updates on the pitch condition today?

there has been limited to no rain so far at redcliffe so i would say that at the current moment it is in mint condition. however it is about to get smashed so it may end up a swimming pool 

Some thunder and lightning in Redcliffe now, and looking at BOM we have not received the worst of it yet.

Having said that, when you look at the last half hour on the rain radar most of the really dark rain has dropped away before it gets to Narangba as the storm moves Southeast.

Who knows what happens in the next 2 hours.

Hingert's pace has diminished over there past couple of years. Injuries and age. He has was on the borrowed time.