Sydney Olympic midfielder Phillip Makrys has issued a rallying call to his Blues teammates that things need to change for the better if they have any intentions in taking part in the 2010 NSW Premier League Championship Series.


The former NSL giants have had an abysmal start to the year having only recorded one victory against the Sutherland Sharks in round one and have lost four putting them in eleventh spot on the NSW Premier League ladder.

Makrys believes the club’s slow start to the year has been down to the fact that the players have not responded with coach Pat Marando’s instructions.

“I have to say that it has been players that have not responded to the coach’s instructions from the start of each match which has given us this slow start.

“We have nothing to complain about.

“We have the best facilities, best football pitch, the President and board have been very helpful, we have everything but I believe the players are taking all this for granted.

“I know that some of us aren’t performing and we need to snap out of this in rescuing our season.”

Personally, the 24-year-old has had an OK season but admits that his fitness is coming along nicely after injuring his ankle in their round 3 clash against his former club Bankstown City FC.

“I ended up missing one match after that foot injury against Blacktown City FC which I hate doing but I have since come back and have been fitter than ever so I am pretty pleased with that.

“Obviously I would love to be higher on the table but I know the players will regroup in getting further up the ladder.”

Finals football is burning in the mind of Makrys and his teammates and he hopes this can become a reality with the Blues after their sluggish start to the year.

“I definitely want to be part of the finals series set-up as I came to Olympic to be involved in this.

“I think two or three wins in a row will put us back in the mix and we need to start this roll against the A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers this Sunday.

“I came to the club also to finish in the top four; it is of course the club’s goal to finish in the finals series as well as the players.”

The match this Sunday against the A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers at Leichhardt Oval has been dubbed a “Grand Final” by the Olympic midfielder with the club going for three points and nothing less.

“We’ve had a good chat at training this week and we’ve all put this down as our Grand Final for 2010.

“For us a win is expected and nothing less but I know it will be a battle as the Tigers are fighting as well.

“It will come down to who wants it more and looking at everyone’s faces this week at training you can tell we want it badly.

“None of the players want a repeat of what happened against Rockdale in Round 6 as losing to them was a low point for us as we let our fans down, the club down and as players we took full responsibility for the loss.

“The club has a number of good young players as well as experienced ones too so I expect us to turn it around.”

Makrys has been a part of the NSW Premier League set-up for the last five seasons but believes 2010 will see the closest competition yet.

“I really believe that 2010 will see the title go down to the wire as there is no standout team.

“There are no more easy games it is much more competitive than ever before which is great for the league.

“There are also a number of good players coming through the system as well as players joining from A-League clubs so this has assisted in the improvement of the league.”

-By Mark Stavroulakis

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