Calvin Harris spent 4-5 years in the academy, due to Fifa rules couldn't play for the 'nix because he isn't a NZer

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/103834006/wait-over-for-wellington-phoenix-hopeful-calvin-harris

He picked up an injury shortly after that article was written so unfortunately still didn't play much but picked up a scholarship at uni in the usa recently.

Wellington Phoenix to unveil Spanish midfielder Mandi https://t.co/T1Xs6JBdF8

— Liam Hyslop (@liam_hyslop) October 11, 2018

Ah ok thanks for that.

Actually noticed that his scholarship only starts next year and is playing for the nix reserve team over the summer

can we talk about rudan and how great a job he is doing?

Yes we can and Rudan is doing a great job, I think how he has the team believing in each other and the hard working mentality is all coming though. 
I think we will see how good he is when we play the top 4 teams. 

There’s a lot to like about him

“I like characters, I really do, I think we’ve gone way too far down the other way about players not being able to express themselves and being who they are,”

https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/football/a-league/wellington-phoenix-making-great-strides-under-mark-rudan-as-win-over-wanderers-lifts-them-into-fifth/news-story/71c3bee14549aaa7a32e7950a0807a5c

We have, should have bet Perth, bet Sydney, drew Victory.

All will be gone anyway when the Nix license will be taken off them

I think Rudan made a pretty astute choice with coaching Phoenix. If he'd failed most probably would have said, well it was the Nix ... what did you expect (so very little harm to his reputation most likely). If he succeeds he'd be lauded as a "master" coach for getting the Nix up.

I like what he has had to say, not getting ahead of himself and still looking to improve (hasn't made excuse after excuse either). How they finish off the season will be important I feel to determine how "good" he has actually done.

But in a short time, he has done really well with the team. You could see start of the season that they still had issues, but that they were working through it. They suffered some short term pain for a longer term gain IMO. The interesting thing will be if he can continue their upward trajectory (and probably most telling may be how he goes in the second season, a few managers can go good in their first year with a club but struggle to follow that up).

That's correct, I was kind a thinking the return matches especially Melb City. They(City) dicked us hard as did WSW but are a much more improved side since then however so are the Nix. Redemption is prob the word I'm looking for.

That feel when all the other club threads are in 4-5 figure post numbers and the Nix can barely crack half a k.

you guys are playing really well on the field now the challenge is to get the attendance up.

the game on saturday against mariners should have 10k minimum imo  

This is a hostile environment for Phoenix supporters, most don't bother. The Yellow Fever forum, reddit, and facebook groups are all very active.

Rob Morrison is one of the five clubs representatives on the new leagues working group, the Phoenix have the backing of all the teams, and he's confident that in an independent A-League the future of the club is secure.

Also want's to build a boutique stadium at Hutt Rec and play out of there.


https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/phoenix-aren-t-going-anywhere-insists-chairman-rob-morrison-20190204-p50vn9.html

Fenton's signed a new contract until the end of the 2020/2021 season. In case you're keeping track, that's a year past the expiry of our current license... promising stuff

https://www.radiosport.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/   Jason Pine interview with Mark Rudan - from 9am 
Waiting patiently for NLWG Report 

are you blokes in the a league next season? 

Sure are Buddy - 2019/20 Licence signed off!

This thread moves so slowly my comment's still here!

And hopefully the Nix are gone next season but I don't hold out much hope since Rob Morrison's on the new committee. 

but if they go we are back to ten teams and expansion of the league would be useless 

I don't care for New Zealand football nor do I care about New Zealand football fans.

Regarding the new period of expansion and move to pro/rel - you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. I do have faith that the A-League and the top flight, and whatever form it takes in the future, will survive booting the Nix out.

It moves slowly because a few no life's ambush any Phoenix discussions. It's not worth the effort. Fans are very active on other platforms.

Wellington has the support of other clubs regardless of Morrison's involvement. 

Look forward to seeing them prosper in an independent league that doesn't threaten to kick them out every couple of years.

We still have another season left before the doom and gloom, I'm enjoying it day by day.

💻 SOCIAL-MEDIA | ⚽ TOP 3 best @ALeagueTeams ranked by total views on youtube
during march 2019!
@WgtnPhoenixFC 34,3K 🏆🏆🏆
@SydneyFC 8,76K
@MelbourneCity 8,06K
Finanzas® (@DeporFinanzas) April 1, 2019 

https://twitter.com/DeporFinanzas/status/1112814314501627907

I've been really impressed with our YouTube presence this season; press conferences, interviews with players etc.

Before it started, I actually forgot I had subscribed to them a few years back!!

I’m intrigued why they’re using YouTube though, it’s so “last century”. Do they also use Facebook, Twitter and Insta which is what most other clubs seem to use?

Yeah, when we first joined the HAL the Phoenix had the highest likes on Facebook across the HAL for some time, IIRC even more than the FFA and/or HAL official page - obviously now overtaken by teams from larger population bases. 110k likes currently. 41.5k follows on Twitter. Probably on Instagram, with 17.9k follows, they are a under performing relative to HAL, not sure if this is due to social media habits across NZ as a whole or with supporters of the Phoenix.

do you blokes get big media coverage in nz?