belaguttman

It's enough time for me to recover from my whining injury, incurred when we made our third consecutive Grand Final

We've well and truly passed from being the underdog, in our early string of finals appearances, to be the top dog that everyone loves to see beaten by the little guy. We've arrived

By that logic, the only teams that will ever earn the right to a home final are Smurfs, WSW and the visit0rs, perhaps Adelaide

Suck it Corica

A. Very. Satisfying. Win.😍 Positives: Crushing the Smurfs 4-0 A clean sheet Leckie had a different role tonight, but it was good to see us dominate without Leckie or JMac dominating. We were proactive and aggressive, and good movement off the ball to draw Sydney out of shape, and counter-pressed very well Impressed with Nabbout's improvement throughout this season, he was unlucky not to score tonight Aiden O'Neill provides balance and attacking options for us that we missed last week. Negatives: We didn't win by 5

I wouldn't go that far. He has a clear vision for the team and, in the right environment, can successfully implement it and get results. It does require the players to all buy into that vision, something he needs at Troyes. He also needs the right coaching team that supports him in areas where he isn't strong, like tactical flexibility. My only concern will be the language issue and how that might affect his ability to get the players onside; I'm also alarmed by his waistline! Ligue 2 will give him some time to implement this; the club recognises that staying in Ligue 1 is a different problem to solve from getting promoted to Ligue 1.

This picture should come with a coulrophobia warning!

they are only bench-warmers, not good for their careers or for us next season. We really need to avoid the trap the Smurfs fell into of retaining an ageing squad, with all their good young players leaving (for us).

A frustrating game: we controlled the first half but failed to adapt during the second half. A draw was fair. Positives: A good first half from us, although we missed Lam in defence and O'Neill in midfield; Nuno needs to make fewer defensive errors. It was telling that Glover was our best player; we have him to thank for the tie still being alive. Negatives: Too many players MIA: JMac, Florin, vdV The Smurfs closed down the passing lanes and controlled space better in the second half; we failed to adapt. Very few younger players get minutes; why even select them? We have a good Academy and a great young-player production line, but the transition to the senior team seems to have stopped with Bos.

I'm expecting a win tonight; we'll be fielding a full-strength team; unless we have a really bad night, we are just about unbearable by any other team in the league, apart from Adelaide/

It looks like things weren't going well before he arrived, isn't he the third coaching appointment of the season? It suggests poor recruiting or other off-field issues are likely

I remember when O'Neill started as a replacement for Brillante; he was clearly a good player, but ineffective and cost the team cohesion and transition. It took him about a season to be able to seamlessly link defence and attack in attacking transition whilst being well positioned as a DM in defensive transition. IMHO he became the most important player in implementing our style of play. This season, he suddenly became an attacking presence when Rado gave him more attacking license, PK had him sticking rigidly to a defensive role. I imagine that Ugarkovic will go through a similar process.

I was watching a video of Troyes latest defeat, there's a brief shot of Paddy; he looks like he's added 'several kilos', the food is obviously good in Troyes!

We stitched up the Premiers Plate a few games ago. Now, we need to team build for next season; I want us to win 4 Plates in a row!

Last night was a very satisfying end to the season, the game was won in a fairly typical City fashion Positives: Premiers Plate, the third season in a row WSW defended well, and we found a way through their organised low block...3 times. Tilio, at his best; what a career he can have if he finds a way to be consistent. Three team goals, all created through the use of space and movement Negatives: What will it take for us to keep a clean sheet? Tilio's inconsistency, will we see this Marco in the finals? I feel for Nabbout, it wasn't his night. I'm not sure I'd keep him next season We really should have been giving more game time to the young players that we will be relying on for next season's team. We are sure to lose 4 or 5 starting players next season