Good summary at where we are at. I'm with Waz, we need a Broich or a Matty (at his best) play maker.

The difference is that last year you were shit. This year your shit but lucky. What a difference a year makes.

The positive thing so far is RF's preparedness to change players and instill with those who have more skill and flair, as moderate as it may have been. Results have been trending in the right direction since.

This is what many wanted from the start, with the hope of 1 or 2 really good quality players up front / mid however the acquisitions during the January window have fallen short of being really good, although Scotty Mac is a moderate improvement IMO.

 The side still looks quite shakey and is not playing to the standard of a top 4 contender. Let's hope the improvements keep coming.

Maybe not quite at the top 4 quality yet but i dont think we are far off. in one of the games this weekend a commentator pointed out that the a-league is a transition league. games are won and lost in the transition from defence to attack or the other way around. the teams that have done well and are commended are teams that can break up play quickly and hit on attack quickly and the players that are recruited across the league are players that suit that (think rojas, Kruse, barba, brillante, ect.) generally across the league this is what most teams are trying to do. attack in transition, win the ball back in transition, and at best not get caught out when in defence or with sustained ball possession. some teams (wellington for example) set themselves defensively but still try to attack in transition. 

this is different from what Fowler is trying to do. our whole game plan is based around attacking in possession and getting back into shape defensively before trying to win the ball. that is why the play has seemed slow, it is because transition is for getting into shape to implement our defensive and attacking strategies. this is quite different for the players, and it has taken them quite some time to pick it up effectively (and for fowler to get the right attacking and defensive strategies/combinations to work against other teams). if it clicks then i think we can be a top 4 team this year, but it is definitely a longer term plan. not one that can be picked up overnight.

I get frustrated sitting in the stands listening to people bemoan slowing the play down and keeping possession or playing a backwards pass, that is how they are being told to play and the game plan relies on it happening. it was especially bad during the ange glory years where we would slow the play down and dominate possession with slick passing and win games and still get idiots yelling play forward, or calling for them to play the long ball. the difference with anges team was the emphasis was on smart football/footballers. player knowing when to hit on transition, when to press high, but also when to slow it down and keep possession, and when to get defensive shape. 

i think Fowlers ultimate goal is to get to that same point but is first focusing on ball possession and ball possession opposition phases before including the plans for the other phases. 

He doesn't have the quality players to implement the quality of a top 4 team. I think we're getting carried away a bit with these last results.

I think we do - we just have to acknowledge that there is work to do before we get there and maybe we won't make it.

We may not achieve our full potential - plenty of teams and players don't - but as long as we are improving (do you not think we are?) why call it a night this early?

Maybe it balances out the posters that get carried away after the losses

Not calling it a night. This is what I said......."Let's hope the improvements keep coming". 

However, if we can't or won't get better skillful players, then I'm predicting we have no chance of a top 4 spot. I hope I'm wrong and our future this season improves, but looking at what we've got and saying we will be top 4 quality is looking at the crystal ball with orange tinted glasses.

It would appear that RF has been given a very tight budget and filled the foreign spots with players that he (or his assistant) were familiar with and thought were good value for money in comparison to their skills/experience.  As the season has progressed, it would appear that three of the recruits are vindicating his decision (based on the budget he was operating under)
  
Galesphy, O'Shea and Aldred are all finding their feet and have at times made team of the week.  I think they will get better as the season progresses and I think O'Shea could pleasantly surprise some doubters towards the back end of the season.

AAH is a "diamonds or dust" player.  What happens is anyone's guess.

Roy was a mistake (as many of us stated at his initial signing) and RF has moved quickly to cover this with Scott Mc

I wonder if Bakries held onto the marquee money to test Fowler out first. Don't want to splash cash if he can't actually coach. Maybe if he keeps getting results, they'll open up the wallet next season?

Nah, this current Roar team is just bang average. Fortunately the Jets CCM and WSW are somehow worse.Need about 3-4 VERY GOOD signings just to become a top 4 contender. 

I think Roar are still too flakey defensively, which is possibly why when they lose the ball the first instinct is to drop back into their structure and not press to try and get the ball back in their opponents half if the opportunity is there. We need a couple of better centre backs - Bowles, Neville, Aldred and Gillesphey (despite his TOTW places - it seems to me the selection is based on a couple of moments, specific tackles in Gillesphey's case, rather than looking at quality across the whole game) are not at the quality required. I think Aldred is the big let down, I'm not impressed at all especially as he is the captain. As I've said before he gives way too much time and space to attackers in and around the box, and I think the team actually defended better (better structure, better picking up of players) without Aldred in the side in the last game.

 We really miss the angry Greek freak, big papa. 

The Bakries have always provided the value of the cap as the budget as far as I am aware. Same as every other club that utilzes its full allocated cap, with CCM perhaps the exception. The difference is whether there has been marquee money splashed out, ROD? Don't know who is on marquee wages.

I don't believe RF is on a very tight budget at all, other than for a marquee (perhaps).

The evidence keeps popping up time and time again, is that we do not have sufficient quality.

Based on the article that was posted, no money is being spent outside the cap. The extra $1,000,000 that Bakries have previously provided for marquee would make a big difference I think. 
You have teams like Sydney who are spending big money on their marquees, spending the entire cap, and then being able to pay players outside the cap for the various homegrown/loyalty exemptions, it makes sense that they are able to have so much more quality in their squad. 

Doubt we will attract another 40ish capped international player from Europe for a long long time. Don't think anyone was capped more than him for a European player. I know Adnan was capped alot more for Bahrain though. He was pretty solid. 

I’m not sure if I understand what that means but I have seen the financial reports from a couple of years ago, along with another RSF colleague, before the numbers were presented at a fan forum. 

I have been lead to believe that the current squad is below the cap and no money is spent on marquees.  Not saying it's fact, but a source that has previously been accurate told me this.  Again, it's just 2nd hand reports.

The current squad is different, the Bakries - love them of hate them - have a track record of spending the full Cap, plus any allowances, and then 7 figures on marquees. 

we dont have many loopholes to exploit this year if we want to spend more on the squad.
young and bowles are eligible for 25% reduction as of this year and Hingert is at 40%. (5% extra every year from now until 50%) reardons pay for the next 2 years is not counted towards the cap as he came through the academy, Im sure that we could be banking some of the cap this season. i would like for the club to really go after things next season, and pay the full cap, loopholes and marquees. a couple of good acquisitions and we could be a title contender i think

I wasn't actually having a go at you - just so you know that.

The quote I was referring to said "He doesn't have the quality players to implement the quality of a top 4 team". No word of improvement there just a plain statement that the players are not up to scratch for a top 4. I agree we are not top 4 quality at the moment, but I strongly disagree that it would be beyond possible for us to improve that far with our current squad.

I have never said we will be top 4 - that would be looking in the crystal ball with fully orange glasses - just that I see enough potential for it to be a possibility, and as long as the improvements keep coming I still hope that we might get there.

I have more hope against your pragmatism.

No offence taken. Nothing like a good robust discussion.
If there's a possibility of a top 4 then it will probably be 0.1% if that. I just can't remotely see it with this lot of players. Even this last win I still felt Wellington were playing a class above Roar, just not good enough to win this one but look classy and effective enough to be in the top 4. We need to look at reality and differentiate between what his possible and what is very unlikely. Like I said I hope I am wrong, but there's nothing wrong with wishful thinking either, it's just I don't look at it that way..

So for the record, you have conceded we are a chance of making the 4 with our current team and only an 'if', a 'possibility' and a 0.1% chance standing in the way.

I think there is a little dreamer in all of us ;)

Edit: Forgot one 'probably' too. Don't want to misrepresent you.

On the statistical side, IF we beat Mariners in our catchup game (and Adelaide do not win their next game against Western United) we are 2 points outside top 4.

We are not playing like a top 4 side as we usually know it, and yet we are not far out of it. Add in the improvements in our play that we would like to see based on what we have seen those glimpses and cameos of and 4th is really not a ridiculous proposition.

Yes, that says something about this season that many have rightly commented on - but that is the environment we are all competing in.

As the greatest player in orange once said
"Quality without results is pointless, results without quality is boring"

Roar need to stop play functional football which is boring.

Looking forward to the week-end.  Australia day holiday and a chance for the Roar to continue their unbeaten run.

Every game is interesting, but Mariners are battling to get up the ladder like us and I think they have as much drive to succeed as us.

Will show us if we have enough fire in our bellies regardless of quality.

Looking forward to this game, but more nervous than when we play a higher placed team to be honest. Can't trust a lower placed team to know that is where they belong ;)

ABC game too is a bonus.

If you’re Mariners you’d be looking at the next 4 games and thinking they’re ALL winnable, and they’re probably not wrong.