Ok, so there were some good things out of last nights game - not forgetting it was only CCM and if they’d kept 11 on the park who knows what would have happened.
So, wouldn’t it be great if DD actually kept much the same lineup for a couple of games? Obviously Eric is out next week, so bring in a LW from the youth team rather than change everything that worked. Powell for Ingham is an obvious change.

Henrique did really well in ‘the hole’. Showed what can happen when you have someone mobile there with a good touch.

Lopez and Mikkelson both showing there attacking abilities - such a shame Mauk is gone for the season- would love to have seen what we could do with a front six of:
———————-Mauk
——Mikkelson————Lopez
——————Henrique
————DWH————Eric

@ clockwork

Agree. There’s not much more to be learned by experimenting - DD should know what works and what doesn’t.

Henrique has been a revelation and borderline MOTM each week

Any further experimentation can come off the bench in the last few rounds.

The key has got to be supporting Wenzel-Halls, he’s probably the only forward that will be here next season so he needs game time to figure out his strengths/weaknesses ahead of next year.

The thing that has been missing from Brisbane for the past few seasons is any scoring threat from midfield. Since Nichols departed I can’t remember a midfielder scoring more than a couple in a season.
When your midfield poses no threat, teams can just sit back and crowd the box.
Mikkelson has been a revelation in the past month.

While Tongjik did well,we still conceded three goals against the Mariners and looked vulnerable against ten men.
Pepper was marking space for two goals and TK and DWH somehow ended up as the last line of defence for the third goal?
Something is seriously wrong .
Yesterday again..i couldn't see or hear any talk in the backline,other than Young after a goal.
When McKay played in defence for half a game,we looked more solid.That says something.He was yelling at everyone.
Pepper and Bowles have always been stop gap players,there to back up a senior defender who knows how to defend.Someone like a Devere.
Bowles and Pepper are struggling.Bowles is a revolving door.Does he have any trick other than grabbing opponents?

DD must have rocks in his head.
Ingham was again playing LB,where he is shocking.
Powell despite his inexperience is a much better tackler.
Bowles is just a taller Ingham at RB.Useless.

Whoever plays CB next year,they need to be leader who talks and organises.
Whoever playe FB needs to know how to tackle one on one.

Ingham never will be a FB.He is a forward.
Bowles is not a back.
Pepper should only be a backup CB.
Nigro should be gone if he is worse than Bowles and Ingham.
TK should be gone

Mikkelsen has starred in attack,since switching to the right.
Henrique can do a job at AM.
Bautheac plays better on the left.
DWH...good roaming
It's amazing JA couldnt see all this.

First headed goal by Pain appeared to be McKay's man ...McKay just watched him run past him and onto the header. Roar has too many midfielders who don't defend back to the goal line . There seems to be an attitude of "oh well he is past me.. now he is the backs problem . That Pain goal was atrocious team defending .
I really enjoyed the win , the great goals and some lovely to watch play ....but gees we have some structural defensive problems...and it starts at the front line .
The backs are poor..no question ...however if you having screening midfielders who are merely speed bumps to good attackers your backs are under needless pressure all game ..so if they are poor they will ship goals for fun ...and we do .

Reality check:
Firstly ...we just shipped 3 goals ,all preventable with a little more awareness, to the bottom team in the comp !
Secondly we scored 5 great goals .....but it was against the bottom team in the comp !
We played some great football and passing movements ...against the worst team in the comp !
Another sobering thought .... CCM may well end up as officially the worst team in A-league history !
So as much as I am normally a glass half full kind guy ... we should not get too excited about this game or any particular players at all.

Those 3 goals against, by such an incredibly poor side, worry me more than the 5 goals for, against such a poor side, excites me .

Not sure if everyone caught it but in the telecast last night they said Eric had a deal sorted to move to the MLS after the season.

@ crimson

“While Tongjik did well,we still conceded three goals against the Mariners and looked vulnerable against ten men”

That’s true. One man doesn’t make a defence though and the whole back line is just disorganised - for me that’s just a coaching issue and I’m surprised DD hasn’t been able to improve it. Even with the current mob.

Shopping list for me is still:

2 CBs
1 DM
1 RW
1 LW
1 Striker

And possibly a new LB or AM with next season looking like:

Young;
Hingert, New, New, New;
New, Mauk, New, New;
DWH, New

That’s pretty damning in JAs recruiting imo

Agreed...I read a player (Mckay ?) commenting on his time at the Roar and he cited Ange and JA as his two great coaches ...Ange I understand ...but he stated how meticulous and organized JA was ??????..
What did he do with all that meticulous organization ? It sure never showed in his teams play.
I suspect JA may be a very good assistant coach . He apparently scours videos to study opposition etc  ala Rado ...maybe he just stepped up above his level of competency because everyone expected, and wanted ,the "Socceroo legend to" be a great head coach ? 
Maybe we all did  ?

I remember someone saying Eric agreed to stay to the end of the season but if this is true he should just go, no point staying with us in our condition when he could be playing in the MLS. I see the league is just about to start as well, he deserved better from the Roar, numbers falling off his shirt, average players around him, best of luck to him, good player.

Tongjik could be ok with an experienced guy next to him.But at the very least he is better than Pepper or Bowles and his height is a huge plus.

Last year and this year we needed agood DM.Put him next to Lopez and maybe Lopez isnt so bad.
But what is glaringly obvious at the moment is that whenever an opponent presses us ,our midfield is rubbish.Who in midfield is actually making tackles
Who in midfield receives passes from the backs and passes to a forward without a speculative long ball?


LB should be covered by O'Toole and Powell and good coaching.Afterall are they any worse than Brown in MV?
Hingert? It would be nice to have someone of quality there instead.

Wingers,AM and Striker all up for renewal.

Henrique still adds value,so should be there next year.


Two of the new players need to be leaders who organise and yell at players.
A CB and Midfielder.

McKay..Cant we just put him on the sideline yelling?Thats his value really.He doesnt tackle!
.

I think all the visa players need to go.

Eric goes with best wishes (he did deserve better), TK is a con man pretending to be a footballer, Lopez is good but we can do better, Mikklesen is too little too late.

Probably agree with you there Waz about the foreigners. They’re all decent but they’re not to the level we need if we want to be back up the top.

TK has declined rapidly, should have gone end of last season or at least in January. Shame because I like him.

I have reservations they'll give Tobi another year and say it took him time to adjust. I just don't think he's any good.

I agree with your above - squad should be gutted.

Young/White/YTer
New/Hingert - Ruon/YTer - New/New - OToole/Powell
New/Caletti - New/New/Barnett
New/Leck - New/Mauk - New/New
DWH/New/Loko

Fill the bench/squad out with the kids from the YT that just won the NYL and spend money on a gun first team + marquees.

If we do stink again next year, at least we would be taking a swing with a new coach and fresh players rather than the same stale old crap.
Squad turnover isn't a huge concern for me - Popa did it every year when he was at WSW and they were fine. Bring in a new team and let's see who sticks to build toward the future.

Tk was good in his first season with us unfortunately age and injury caught up with him. He was decent last season as well(in that we were much better with him on the pitch than off) this season he fell off a cliff but I think it is a lot to do with our lost structure defensively and he does not know where he should be. 

I would keep Tobi if there is no one else we can find but the rest should go.

Hingert is going to be out until Christmas and will no doubt be at a lower level so we really need a RB to come in, we have no one that can play there at the moment. Tongyk has done ok but is only an upgrade to bowles and pepper I don't think he is a starting 11 player yet. So 2 CBS needed. Lb Im happy with otoole and Powell.

 The only starters I see in the squad for next season are young, O'Toole, mauk

Dwh has been fantastic and I am a huge fan but unless we are playing with 2 strikers I don't see him starting. He just isn't quite up to leading the line by himself. 

They means 8 starting 11 players need to be brought in. And probably 4-8 bench players. They needs to start happening. We need a coach asap

“Dwh has been fantastic and I am a huge fan but unless we are playing with 2 strikers I don't see him starting. He just isn't quite up to leading the line by himself.“

Agree.

But he’s cocky and can finish, the best way to nurture that is to play him more but yeah, he needs to be playing off someone.

Mikkelson has 3 goals in four games. If he’s got 6 or 7 by the end of the season I’d be keeping him. Not many midfielders with that sort of output. He’s better than anything local and realistically, what are the chances of us actually getting 4 new foreigners who are all top shelf? Zero. If Mikkelson in current form is the worst foreigner we have next season then I’d be a happy man.
We know we need a better defence. That’s a given.
For me, the most important decision for the coach is this: Is Mauk going to be our DM or our AM next season? Because we need to go all in on one of those positions. We are unlikely to be able to afford a quality foreigner in both spots.

Re-multiple posters above wanting 7 or 8 starting 11 players. This is not realistic at all.
I think we start with Young, Hingert (tho I’m not his biggest fan), Powell/o’tool (should be good enough), Mauk, Calletti, Mikkelson (if form maintained) and DWH. That’s 7 starters. Focus on getting the best 2 CBs, the best partner for DWH, and the best AM or DM (depending on wher Mauk will play). Anything else is a bonus.

My concern with Mikklesen is that he’ll revert to type next season.

Hard to know what his "type" is ..I wouldn't have given 2 cents for him 2 months ago but since JA left he seems to have come out of his shell. I wonder if he really was affected by "family not being happy here" issues ? and if so have they been resolved ?

Yup, possibly.

All the more reason to appoint the new coach so he can have a look at some of the “maybes”.

I’m not against keeping Eric either

Someone posted about spending big on a few players.

Totally agree with that. Let's forget about wasting money on benchies like Bowles, Ingham, Mackay, TK and whoever else etc. and let the bench be primarily youth.....Powell, Barnett etc. I'll include DWH, Caletti , Tongjik as youthFUL players also.

Put that cash into CB, RB, DM and Striker.

That makes heap of sense to me.

2years ago I had two injuries on players in a grand final. A Gun 9 and a gun 6. One hobbling, one gone.

Oh shit I thort, I can fix the 9 but had to throw 16 year old kid on as a 6, who was and still is primarily a CB.

He friggin nailed it. Kids have gotta get a chance whether amateur or pro.

Use the youth,

@Jimo8

That’s actually been Victirys strategy over the years. It works

Oh god, don't tell me Muscat figured this out before Roar.

I just cant reconcile agreeing with Muscat on anything .

@Jimo8

Good point.

It’s not dissimilar to what Ange did at Roar though so let’s say Ange took it to victory and Muscat is just carrying on “our idea” lol.

There, sorted.

Yes ok I can live with that.

What contract is dwh on ?

2 1/2 years for DWH.

Other players on multi-year contracts are Mauk, Young, Hingert, O’Toole,

So for next year they're currently the only guys under contract?
Awesome! Easy scrap for a rebuild!

Courier Mail is reporting 14 players off contract, of those there’s some big money walking out the door:

DeVere
TK
McKay
Holman
Taggart (already gone)

That lots probably $1.1m of cap.

Are all on their way for sure, then there’s a few others likely to go:

Bowles
Nigro
Pepper

Plus youngsters on their way like Brady and D’Aggers to be replaced by NYL promotions.

Then question marks over

Eric
Mikklesen
Lopez
Ricky

(I think Ingham has another year on his contract as well)

Positive Thinking - Roar Style:

This round only two teams won.
In their most recent conflict, Roar beat that other team.

It is just icing on the cake to note that we scored as many goals this round as all the teams in all the other games added together.

We are far and away the most successful ALeague club this round.

Anything you have to say contrary to that - Lalalalalalalalala I can't hear you.