Phoenix/A-League 2008/09

After 5 days of team building in the gold coast in which the nix scored 18 goals conceded 2 in 2 matches its only 15 days until we see the new look Phoenix in their first tough pre-season match of the year against the mariners in wellington.

some good solid signings in the off season.

Andrew Durante (captain of the jets last season, lead and was player of the match in the grand final)
Jon McKain (12 caps for the ausies) in the back, this will tighten our back 4 and prevent those leaky goals that cost us matches last season, will add some much needed leadership aswell.

Leo Bertos comes back home to find his place in right mid, far more attacking options now for the nix on the flanks, always good to have another all white in the team aswell.

LeiLei Gao comes back to NZ after a slow start with the knightz he really grew as a player and we saw the best of him when Ricki took charge at the knights for the last 6 or so games, expecting alot from him this season.

Adam Kwasnik proven goal scorer in the a-league, esp against the knights. comes from the Mariners and will be the perfect partner for smeltz up front.

Sereposis is a cunt.

I thought Terry was revered down there psssst

Leo Bertos is a great signing, and I hope Phoenix will be able to invite a high calibre overseas club team to play another exhibition match down at Welly.

I'll have to get my Phoenix's gears out soon, and show the support, got my jacket, scarf, and bag.

He may have been by the football faithful until he blocked a couple of star players from being selected for the Olympics. Smeltz and anotherdudewhosnameescapesme. I don't even think the season is running during the Olympics...

Very bad PR IMO; you can't come in as the 'saviour' and then play god with players when it comes to representing New Zealand. His actions tell me that he's greedy & selfish and doesn't have the best interests of the NZ game in mind. Oh wait, he's Greek.

I wonder how it might affect the team's support; I feel it will waiver and the media will make a big long-running issue of it. Fair enough I reckon. If you're going to put yourself in the limelight through all the money you've got by buying a football team and making yourself the big man on campus, do it right or get shown up for the unscrupulous character you may very well be.

lockhead is the other player.

but sadly with football club comes before country. its the same with any league.

the nix are releasing players for the Olympics, its also an under 23 tournament, i personally don't agree with the 3 players over the age allowed in the team (unless they were invloved in qualifying and have just turned 24)

the nix are a professional business, and they must field their strongest team week in and week out, to build a soild bases of results, this will get the support of fans, losing will not.

ryan nelson should not be in the team, sure he will add something for the younger guys in the team, but only allowed to play the first 2 matches - waste of time, a younger player should be in there.

not letting lockhead and smeltz go is not an issue. it is better for football in nz and for the nix.

This is why I think soccer is gay.

Hope they play costa a lot more this season around.

He's a great player .

agreed, great player and great future ahead.

i dont see him getting alot of game time tbh unless smeltz or Kwasnik are injured or sadly out of form

seeing as we have coveny and drapper listed as strikers also.

Agree with all except this. How can you say that? Our best footballer ? If he helps us beat China 1-0 then anything after that is a bonus and suddenly the Olympis is interesting



Nelson = legend. In a white shirt = omg

This is the same stance taken by any other club in the world... and they have already released 3 players who are under 23 to be in the team.

All that doesn't matter now anyway, cause Smeltz and Lochead would not have got picked cause Killen, Nelsen and Simon Elliot have all been released to play.

And not sure if Terry would even make that decision it was the CEO on TV explaining the reasoning.

i would of taken lockhead over elliot if it was possible.

elliot quite simply has to be one of nz's worst players in history

Is that why he got the MLS MVP while playing for the LA Galaxy Zenny?

And why Fulham signed him up?



I could think of a few worse players to have played for NZ in previous years...

MVP in 2000.

He scored 10 goals in 122 matchs for LA.

before LA wised up and dumped him to columbus where he scored 0 goals in 26 matchs.

before being signed to Fulhum (lol) on a free transfer were he played 12 or so games in 2 seasons, he was hated by the fans and cost them a few games, he was rightly dumped and now plays for no one

the MSL is one of the worst leagues in the world and one of the most painful to watch.

The reason they've taken Nelsen (learn to spell all of you) is this may be his only opportunity to represent NZ in a major tournament. I don't classify the Confederations Cup as a major tournament. I don't agree with the 3 over 23s rule either as it seems downright bizarre, if it's under 23 it should be solely under 23.

Oh and wtf Zenny, you're judging a defensive midfielder on number of goals scored?

Haha, justice!

At the start of every year Zenith tells us all about the great new signings for the Kingz/Knights/Phoenix. Every year, they suck.

Haha, yea. But this year should really be different! even the Aussies are saying so the Phoenix looking much better with much better signings that a lot of the other clubs have signed.

Still is a very tight league. Pre season game in a couple of weeks against the Mariners so should be interesting

Haha yea Lochead is awesome! Id say the best Left Back in the A-League. never really seen Elliot play thou

i dont like the term defensive midfielder, and i dont believe in it jono

That's why you suck at FIFA.

yeah even I beat him in FIFA, and I'm not that great, but then Zenny did get his revenge in the Pro Evo series

I don't know much about the others (barring Bertos of course), but I think Durante is possibly the best signing the Phoenix have ever made. I know it's a redundant comment given the club has only been around one season but he fills a huge weakness and is a proven performer. Would have liked to see them pick up Jeremy Brockie but not sure what his availability was, but surely he doesn't want another season on Sydney's bench, especially when they Juninho playing in his position. From memory Felipe has gone, which is a shame for Yellow Fever because he has one of those names which is awesome to sing. Felipe! Felipe! Felipe! Hopefully they're be plenty more of 'We love you Smeltzy, we do!" this season. I dislike Leilei Gao but that is purely because he got Elrich sent off last season, who may be gone this season but I had a few beers with him at Jet after one of the Perth games and he was great fun.

leilei gao didnt play a-league last season.

My apologies, I appear to have got him completely mixed up with whoever went down like a bitch after Elrich's elbow came within a foot of his face last season... Mark this day in history, the first time I have ever been wrong relating to football.

Yea that was the right back from the Roar, cant remember his name but he always goes down like that and gets booed every time he touches the ball at the ring of fire!

Also Jeremy Brockie is not at Sydney, wasn't there last season anyway I think he is playing for Hawkes Bay at the moment

Andrew Durante to captain.

Mariners this sunday 4pm

is it on Sky?

0-0 at halftime.

the nix looking great on the counter, leo has had a few chances and should of knocked at least one in.

Vince Lia went down on the stroke of halftime, not looking good for him, he was having a solid game thus far.

leilei also proving his worth, him and daniel are working well together.

finish u wankers!!

well that worked

Daniel scores!

1-0

victory!

full results

Group A:
Perth 1 - 1 New Castle
Melbourne 1 - 2 Adelaide

Group B:
Phoenix 1 - 0 Central Coast
Sydney 2 - 1 Queensland

Queensland next week away, i 100% guarantee a result against Queensland next week.

The boys will be high after tonights win, their first against CC in any matches (4)
Sure the cobwebs are still there, really should of been 2/3-0 but at the end of the day, wins matter and it doesnt matter how you get them

Lia is out for the season, the injury he suffered in the win over the mariners has left him needing surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

in good news,

Mulligan has signed a 2 year deal with the Nix, can cover left/right back as well as a solid midfeild player

Yeah Mulligan is a quality right back, Christie was basically stuck at right back due to lack of options, and really is a midfielder.

Will be intersting to see whether they line up in a 3-5-2 or a 4-5-1, perhaps even 4-4-2. I hope they can do away with the 3-5-2 which was basically just a stop gap measure to get stack the centre of defense to cover the fact their was no quality there.

Well quality by NZ standards... He's played for Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers, Scunthorpe United, Grmisby Town, and Port Vale who are all Championship/League 1/League 2 sides but it's a much more impressive CV than most NZ players.

Dirty Liverpool Supporter thou

we used to be neighbors, awesome cricketer aswell

Nix Lead group B

1-1 result against Queensland with new signing Kwasnik knocking in his first goal for the nix.

the mariners crushed Sydney 3-0 in the other group b match.

melbourne got an 1-0 away win over perth, while adelaide and new castle had to settle for a 0-0 result.

next week sees the nix away to a very ordinary looking sydney team, a team we have had some good results against.

Just got my Sky Watch magazine.

17th August:

Phoenix v Roar 5pm (SS1) including HD broadcast

24th August:

Phoenix v Victory 5pm (SS1) including HD broadcast

30th August:

Adelaide v Phoenix 9pm (SS3) excluding HD broadcast

C'Mon you Nix!

Tony Lochhead been released for 10 days to go train with Borough in the EPL.

Nix will release him if the transfer fee is fair, and Brough end up wanting him.

Id say he has a pretty good chance. sad to see him go, but you cant say no to Prem League football.

The boys have come from behind to beat Sydney 3-2 and book a place in the pre season cup final!!!

This Wednesday, 7.30pm at Westpac Stadium

game of the season thus far.

Troy Hearfield, Shane Smeltz and Lei Lei Gao scoring for the nix

Durante got sent off in the 90th so will miss the final and maybe the opening game of the season.

and to the networks (both 1 and 3)

not one mention of ANY results of any games thus far.

SMELTZ YOU STUPID TWAT!!!

STFU Harvey.

Michael Theoklitos had a total blinder in goal, he would of been hard to beat in any match against any team.

he was the kingz keeper in 2000/01 he had alot of talent then, thou alot off people used to bagg him. since then he has showen what everyone knew what he had in him.

he will be very difficult to beat this season.

so what was the score?

0-0 after 90min

1-1 after penalty's

Melbourne won on sudden death penalty's.

Well, it's going to be hard to beat him when you sky a penalty kick miles over the goal.

Good on Sky Tv for showing this last minute.

Nice work from the nix. Top 4 finish this year!

what channel was it on?

guteed I missed it

A-league starts next Sunday, might give up indoor and watch it live, c'mon nix!

smeltz find the goal to earn the nix a 1-1 draw in the opening game of the season.

didnt catch the match, but have heard we came very close to scoring a few others.

just over 10k at the game, good work :>

sky sport 1 - channel 30 on sky

Roar came close on two occasions where it should've been 2-1 or 3-1 even. well held out.

I only saw the second half too, just as well was busy and first stanza was a stalemate

fair result I think, but Nix gotta start winning their home matches

after last weeks result (4-2 loss), im a little more upbeat about it.

melbourne just spanked New Castle at home 5-0.

the Nix play Adelaide tonight a team we have never beaten, and one that has not dropped a game in their last 12 matches.

its going to be extremly tough for the boys tonight, (lost 4-1 there last year) but if they can refind their pre seson form there is no reason why they cant come away with a share of the points.

smeltz is in good scoring form 3 from 2. that will need to continue.

team for tonight.

1. Mark PASTON (gk), 2. Jeremy CHRISTIE, 3. Tony LOCHHEAD, 4. Jon McKAIN, 5. Karl DODD, 7. Leo BERTOS, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 10. Michael FERRANTE, 11. DANIEL, 12. Richard JOHNSON, 13. Troy HEARFIELD, 15. Adam KWASNIK, 16. David MULLIGAN, 20. Glen MOSS (gk), 21. Leilei GAO, 22. Andrew DURANTE (captain).

5-0, I'm definitely gonna watch the highlights

game tonight at 9pm live KO

Sweet

Paston? Where the fuck is Mossy? We love you Mossy, we do! We love you Mossy, we do! We love you Mossy, we do! Oh Mossy we love you!

Pastons always been the #1

no Moss is, and Moss has always been a fan's choice, Moss is my fantasy league's team captain

well that was a walk over for Adelaide, Nix are dearly missing top scorer Shane Smeltz, and that is their weakest link, never rely on one player to do all the work for you, that Chinese import Gao looks pretty good but lacked a bit of experience, Kwasnik had a nothing game he was substituted, Nix had a few long range efforts and that was about it, Adelaide much more organised and good finishing killed us off, Nix desperately needed the 2 week break now to re-focus.

Only saw the first goal but from what I saw the game was uggers our side, didn't see the entirety. Rough scoreline...

not such a rough scoreline, it could easily be 4, 5 or 6 or even more.

they just played with no intensity, backing off players and not enough pressure on players and ball.

they deserved to lose, lucky to lose only 3 honestly

by the third goal it just looked like training tbh very disappointing IMO

They need to bounce back straight away otherwise season over.

why is it that nz players never seem to look comfortable on the ball? Is it that hard a skill to master as a professional?

I'm guessing at this stage everyone has given up on bothering to watch them? ...I know I have.

thanks for coming, see you later then harvey.

there u go 2-1 win over Sydney FC.

Go Phoenix you good thing, the Tim Brown goal was very well taken, as did Smeltz doing what he does best (scoring again)

Sydney lies 2nd on the table before this game, so this is a huge win for us

Good to see some of that pre season form again

2-2 in a thriller last night with new castle (away)

the nix awarded a penalty in the 89th after a blatent rugby tackle on leilei gao.

pretty even match and in the end a fair result. keeps the nix 1 point behind new castle and 4 points from the 4th spot mariners.

a week of for the boys now, before facing a make or break match against the mariners away

I missed the game, forgot it was a 5pm KO, a point on the road is good.

1-0 up against the mariners with a few mins to go

Hooooooooooooold

after beating Sydney again the other week, the nix beat an il-disciplined jets 2-0 in Wellington last night

Smeltz and hearfeild netting for the nix.

paston also saved a penalty in extra time to deny the jets a goal.

so after 12 rounds, the nix are sitting 6th. 2 points behind Central Coast who sit in 4th place. and 4 points clear of the 2 bottom placed teams



next week we play the top of the table Melbourne

What a stunner from smeltz!

nix beat top of the table melbourne 2-1 to lift the nix to 4th on the table

where the haters now

Fucking brilliant finish!

Yeah great stuff from the buys, 3 in a row don't get to see it over here so rely on stuff for results. I guess showing Aussie football in the UK is like showing English Aussie Rules in Australia.

here you go jono

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhDpSgionww

Smeltz is leading the goal scorers aswell with 9 the same he scored last season, and theres still atleast 8 games left in the season


soooooooo gutted he signed for Gold Coast next season, we will miss him alot, currently looking for a striker overseas

Daniel is now a NZ Citizen, and is awaiting fifa clearance to play for the All Whites

yay! love him to bits

Yeh thats fuckin awesome.

Great win on Sunday, makes it two from two for games I have managed to be in the capital to watch. The other was the 2-1 win over the Victory, so that's also two Shane Smeltz wonder goals.

Speaking of with, Smeltz needs one more goal from the three remaining games to set the record for most goals in an A League season.

We need to keep winning and wait for the Mariners to drop points.

Come on you Phoenix!

the loss last night was hard to take