Patrick Kisnorbo - most swol manager in the league

[bt50]

6 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Very important point that has been missed up to now. The "City Way" is all very well when you can simply buy the  the talent - and keep buying it - but it's got no chance when you are on a budget that is a fraction of that of Manchester City. We're in the "cut your coat according to the cloth" category.

This is where i think Erick was quite good ; he wasn't afraid to divert away slightly so as to keep us unpredictable and the other teams thinking about it. Still had a key style that underpinned the team, but recognised that if you played exactly the same way every single time then you become easy to coach against.

IMO Paddy, and by the same token Joyce, albeit a more negative style, seemed way to rusted on to their football ideologies than simply doing what it takes to win in any given game.

[jw1739]

I think what happens is after the traumatic pain of a defeat or other shitty performance recedes the discussion moderates a bit and we come back to a more objective discussion.

I don't think PK will be sacked during this season - IIRC CFG don't sack a coach until it becomes blindingly certain that he has not got what is required - and I also can't see us augmenting the squad unless it's an injury replacement for Aiden O'Neill. Unless it's a player already in Australia, he has to get here and quarantine adds another two weeks before he's available. A player currently overseas has to get here first.

IMO we're stuck with what we've got for the season. It's not too late to get it to work. IIRC Adelaide came from bottom after 8 matches to win both the Premiership and the Championship in 2015-16(?).

[Torn Asunder]

Our squad is weaker in key defensive positions,  the other squads seem to have improved on last year, we have no genuine no 10 playmaker,  and our rookie manager is, and IMO, will never be up to the challenge ... I said it before,  we need to head hunt the best Aussie manager, not try and fabricate one from scratch.  We should also be aggressively targeting to sign some of these new kids comming through at lessor clubs who have great potential.  With CFG as our owner,  we should never languish in this league. 

[CityBoyz]

11 minutes ago, Torn Asunder said:

Our squad is weaker in key defensive positions,  the other squads seem to have improved on last year, we have no genuine no 10 playmaker,  and our rookie manager is, and IMO, will never be up to the challenge ... I said it before,  we need to head hunt the best Aussie manager, not try and fabricate one from scratch.  We should also be aggressively targeting to sign some of these new kids comming through at lessor clubs who have great potential.  With CFG as our owner,  we should never languish in this league. 

Scott Miller would be a good addition imo. Maybe Pappas or even Poppa as he could be gone soon 

[jw1739]

10 minutes ago, CityBoyz said:

Scott Miller would be a good addition imo. Maybe Pappas or even Poppa as he could be gone soon 

Popovic is damaged goods while he keeps playing his sons. That's a fundamental no-no.

[HughJass]

25 minutes ago, CityBoyz said:

Maybe Pappas

No thanks 

[CityBoyz]

6 minutes ago, HughJass said:

No thanks 

Think Scott Miller would be the best seen some of his NPL games and listened to his podcasts and when he was with Foxsports philosophy of football is aligned with CFG with attacking football. Think he deserves a chance at a well resourced club 

[HughJass]

50 minutes ago, CityBoyz said:

Think Scott Miller would be the best seen some of his NPL games and listened to his podcasts and when he was with Foxsports philosophy of football is aligned with CFG with attacking football. Think he deserves a chance at a well resourced club 

No issue with Miller has the CV for it

[NewConvert]

It was in 2012 when Ian Crook walked away from coaching Sydney FC. What is the likelyhood that Kisnorbo could do the same? He is definitely out of his depth.

[jw1739]

37 minutes ago, NewConvert said:

It was in 2012 when Ian Crook walked away from coaching Sydney FC. What is the likelyhood that Kisnorbo could do the same? He is definitely out of his depth.

Didn't Crook walk away not so much because he doubted his technical ability but because he thought the job would damage his health?

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/ian-crook-resigns-as-coach-of-sydney-fc-20121111-295zi.html

[NewConvert]

8 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Didn't Crook walk away not so much because he doubted his technical ability but because he thought the job would damage his health?

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/ian-crook-resigns-as-coach-of-sydney-fc-20121111-295zi.html

Well he knew he wasn't the man for the job and that had an impact on his health. PK is spared the vitriol from the stands due to COVID but at least Crook was self aware enough to know he was not up to the job.

[jw1739]

Well I don't really se that what Ian Crook did in 2012 has any bearing on what PK might do. Crook may have just decided that "it wasn't worth it" - I've known a few people in my life who have declined opportunities because they made a judgement that the additional stress just wasn't worth it. I retired early because I was burned out - took a part-time outside job and literally "a breath of fresh air." 

I don't know anything about PK and I can't comment on what he might or might not do. I don't think he'll be sacked though.

[Mr MO]

59 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Well I don't really se that what Ian Crook did in 2012 has any bearing on what PK might do. Crook may have just decided that "it wasn't worth it" - I've known a few people in my life who have declined opportunities because they made a judgement that the additional stress just wasn't worth it. I retired early because I was burned out - took a part-time outside job and literally "a breath of fresh air." 

I don't know anything about PK and I can't comment on what he might or might not do. I don't think he'll be sacked though.

He’s a club man, he won’t resign himself. What would be an option is to put a more senior coach next to him “as assistant” let Paddy be the face but the let the assistant coach. He can only learn from it.

[Harrison]

I’ve been sitting on this for a while, but I need to get this off my chest, as my positive attitude is starting to wear thin.

Who knows what will happen...Kisnorbo might turn this around and start getting results. It’s amazing what can happen when a team gets into the groove and achieves consistency. Once Reis and Griffiths and Nabbout come back in and Maclaren starts finding the back of the net, we could be looking at a completely different side.

The alternative is that we fall to pieces, lose confidence in our ability, our system and the manager and we bottom out. That might’ve started.

As much as I fancy our squad to be near the top, the frustrating thing here is that CFG seem to be reluctant to pull the trigger and be ruthless when they need to be. If the next month doesn’t bring results then he should be sacked and CFG need to go after the best available as caretaker.

They also need to properly invest in a foreign contingent of players that can put us comfortably in the top two, regardless of the manager. We have resources and a scouting system that is quite literally the envy of the league and we still can’t nail our signings. They’re solid signings to be sure, but they should be better, there’s no denying that. I also can’t quite work out why CFG haven’t installed a better football boss than Petrillo, and why they couldn’t get a better tactical manager than Kisnorbo, particularly when Mombaerts showed what a terrific manager can achieve. They went the easy option and they know it. It’s perplexing. 

The youth side of things is even more strange. We had Alou Kuol playing out of Goulburn Valley and apparently we didn’t show any real interest. Nick Montgomery took a punt and look what’s happened. We’ve seen some of our youth leave and rack up minutes for our opponents (including my favourite in Najjarine). Meanwhile we bring in Gomulka and relegate him to the bench after two starts and Tilio after one. 

I know there are pragmatic answers to all these questions. I’ve looked at posts similar to this one and answered them in my head. ‘Genreau didn’t show enough and Metcalfe was better’, ‘Dukuly who?’, ‘Najjarine doesn’t really fit our system.’ But fucking hell, I’m kind of sick of rationalising these odd decisions, which in the aggregate are starting to just look like plain old bad management. This football club just baffles me, or maybe I’m baffled by my insistence on following a team that just won’t ever win shit and won’t get its shit together. I get that’s football, but I just thought that CFG would build a Frankenstein squad and win us some trophies and I could laugh at the whining by opposition supporters.

[Torn Asunder]

Throw a Castro, or Dimanti into our midfield, and put one of Alen Stajcic, Rudan or Ufuk in charge and I reckon we'd be killing it.

I hate to say it, I just dont think PK has what it takes  ... to me he lacks managerial intelligence and sophistication (even worse than JA)

[jw1739]

33 minutes ago, Harrison said:

I know there are pragmatic answers to all these questions. I’ve looked at posts similar to this one and answered them in my head. ‘Genreau didn’t show enough and Metcalfe was better’, ‘Dukuly who?’, ‘Najjarine doesn’t really fit our system.’ But fucking hell, I’m kind of sick of rationalising these odd decisions, which in the aggregate are starting to just look like plain old bad management. This football club just baffles me, or maybe I’m baffled by my insistence on following a team that just won’t ever win shit and won’t get its shit together. I get that’s football, but I just thought that CFG would build a Frankenstein squad and win us some trophies and I could laugh at the whining by opposition supporters.

Another contender for "Post of the Year." You are IMO quite correct - in aggregate the decisions are just poor. I don't think that Petrillo could see what I call a "good footballer" if he fell over one. For me, Denis Genreau is the perfect example - just looks like a footballer with every body movement he makes, loves the game and can play.

Petrillo is the cancer.

[Dylan]

PK cant even better Richard Garcia

[n i k o]

17 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Another contender for "Post of the Year." You are IMO quite correct - in aggregate the decisions are just poor. I don't think that Petrillo could see what I call a "good footballer" if he fell over one. For me, Denis Genreau is the perfect example - just looks like a footballer with every body movement he makes, loves the game and can play.

Petrillo is the cancer.

I imagine the rationalisation of not  keeping Genreau would be that he doesn't fit within the city system and we already have Metcalfe who will be given priority. But essentially what we're doing is not prioritising a talent who imo has shown more on the professional stage than Metcalfe. Then when he's given an opportunity at another team in a position that suits him it's no surprise he shows the ability everyone knows he has. Meanwhile our up and comer is playing in a position that does him and his career no credit going forward because we need a hole plugged due to continuing concern with injuries amongst the team and question marks over how they are occurring. 

[jw1739]

Well, perhaps it's the "City System" that is the cancer, because the list of players produced by our Academy that are doing well at other clubs is impressive while we've got just Metcalfe and Atkinson who are starters, and but for COVID-19 the latter would be at Perth (as would Nabbout).

As @Harrison says, the more you have to rationalise the decisions on players then on aggregate the the more likely it is that the decisions are bad management.

Even the diehard optimists are shifting ground now.

[Jovan]

8 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Even the diehard optimists are shifting ground now.

Until a win.

Most opinions I believe are based on our last result, 3 bad losses and its pretty bleak. 

 

[NewConvert]

9 hours ago, Jovan said:

Until a win.

Most opinions I believe are based on our last result, 3 bad losses and its pretty bleak. 

 

Soon to be four.

[fensaddler]

10 hours ago, Jovan said:

Until a win.

Most opinions I believe are based on our last result, 3 bad losses and its pretty bleak. 

 

For me based on all six. We've had one good 20 minute spell in all that. 

[bt50]

16 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

For me based on all six. We've had one good 20 minute spell in all that. 

For me, the 15 min at the end of the WU game and the first half v Perth were very good, even though we were pretty unlucky v Perth to be behind. The rest, particularly the last 5 halves, have been total dribble.

[wombegongal]

On 11/02/2021 at 1:07 PM, jw1739 said:

Well, perhaps it's the "City System" that is the cancer, because the list of players produced by our Academy that are doing well at other clubs is impressive while we've got just Metcalfe and Atkinson who are starters, and but for COVID-19 the latter would be at Perth (as would Nabbout).

As @Harrison says, the more you have to rationalise the decisions on players then on aggregate the the more likely it is that the decisions are bad management.

Even the diehard optimists are shifting ground now.

I'm normally one of those optimists. Coaches need time but they need to display what will come with time and how they will get there. Based on SWOL's recent games and the women's team I believe he is not capable of bringing together a coherent football team. Sack him now and get someone competent. Alan Stajic (spelling) has shown with decent coaching even donkeys can win games.

[Jovan]

31 minutes ago, wombegongal said:

I'm normally one of those optimists. Coaches need time but they need to display what will come with time and how they will get there. Based on SWOL's recent games and the women's team I believe he is not capable of bringing together a coherent football team. Sack him now and get someone competent. Alan Stajic (spelling) has shown with decent coaching even donkeys can win games.

So after 6 games it time to pull the rip cord? Genuine question. 

I'm generally in the 10 to 12 game number before I definitively decide wether a bloke is up to it. But having said that being a first time senior coach changes the equation. 

For me the jury is still out, PK has shown signs of potential. Playing youngsters, chasing games for wins rather than playing out for draws. Dragging visas and not selecting visas. These are all signs of potential, but his downfall has also been exactly what I've just mentioned. But my greatest concern has been his lack of adaptation, he seems so far to change things around via personal as opposed to system or shape. I understand he has been working on what he sees as the best system but not mixing it up especially when it's obviously failing is a huge alarm bell for me.

My question is at what point (games and points) is it clear for a change.

Remember Aloisi 39 matches 8 wins 7draws 24 losses and a terrible run of 17 games without a win for reference. 

 

[jw1739]

IMO you have to give a coach half a season, surely - especially in this disjointed season? I just don't think we've got the cattle to win the league anyway, so I'm prepared to give PK until the half-way mark. He's not responsible for assembling the squad, and I know others differ but I don't think it's good enough in the visa/marquee department(s).

 

[The Aardvark]

I'm both unimpressed but happy to continue. Our squad is not outrageously good, it's maybe a little better than average, and in a season where everybody is competitive (excluding Victory obviously) that means we shouldn't just expect to be winning games. 

For all his "experience" Kisnorbo really has had none actually managing a team proper. His W League experience was coaching a team that was head and shoulders above the rest, and I don't really count NYL titles for the same reason Durakovic isn't thought of as a great manager, it's not the same. I do worry he is less of a tactical coach than he needs to be, possibly partly because he has always had players with the ability to just "play better", so hopefully we see some progress by mid season on this front. 

The club isn't gong to act swiftly anyway, but I'm happy to at least give him a chance to grow into the role. We have been grooming him for this exact position for about 3-4 seasons now and if we legit thought he was the best/a good option then I'm happy to not write him off immediately. I don't want to bring the AFL into it but there are numerous examples there of coaches growing into the role (Hardwick being the obvious one), why not the same here? 

[mattyh001]

9 hours ago, Jovan said:

So after 6 games it time to pull the rip cord? Genuine question. 

I'm generally in the 10 to 12 game number before I definitively decide wether a bloke is up to it. But having said that being a first time senior coach changes the equation. 

For me the jury is still out, PK has shown signs of potential. Playing youngsters, chasing games for wins rather than playing out for draws. Dragging visas and not selecting visas. These are all signs of potential, but his downfall has also been exactly what I've just mentioned. But my greatest concern has been his lack of adaptation, he seems so far to change things around via personal as opposed to system or shape. I understand he has been working on what he sees as the best system but not mixing it up especially when it's obviously failing is a huge alarm bell for me.

My question is at what point (games and points) is it clear for a change.

Remember Aloisi 39 matches 8 wins 7draws 24 losses and a terrible run of 17 games without a win for reference. 

 

 

9 hours ago, jw1739 said:

IMO you have to give a coach half a season, surely - especially in this disjointed season? I just don't think we've got the cattle to win the league anyway, so I'm prepared to give PK until the half-way mark. He's not responsible for assembling the squad, and I know others differ but I don't think it's good enough in the visa/marquee department(s).

 

IIRC, Aloisi's 17 game stretch was over two different seasons; 5 games at the end of the 2012-13 season and 12 into the following season (by which time it was close to the CFG take over).  he probably would have gone earlier if the club wasn't being sold - so yes Jovan you are probably right with half a season.  PK will probably get the full season since he is club developed (for which I have always questioned the value for sacking a first season / young coach mid season when you can't get relegated).  

PK hasn't had a couple things go his way (including an injury at the start of the season to a big name player - unlucky anyone 🤔🤔) but hasn't managed a team with depth as well as he could have either.  he's also responsible for how we set up for set pieces - it is something you can lay out plainly on the training paddock.

i also remember a story with Alex Ferguson where Man United's disciplinary record was turning to shite so he gave a few of the players a bollocking (including Cantona i think) to pull them into line.  discipline starts at the top.

[Dylan]

I dont think we have a choice other than wait out this season and next. No way they sack him before hand. They didnt even sack Joyce, his contract just ran out and they didnt renew

Edited February 16, 2021 by Dylan

[wombegongal]

19 hours ago, The Aardvark said:

I'm both unimpressed but happy to continue. Our squad is not outrageously good, it's maybe a little better than average, and in a season where everybody is competitive (excluding Victory obviously) that means we shouldn't just expect to be winning games. 

For all his "experience" Kisnorbo really has had none actually managing a team proper. His W League experience was coaching a team that was head and shoulders above the rest, and I don't really count NYL titles for the same reason Durakovic isn't thought of as a great manager, it's not the same. I do worry he is less of a tactical coach than he needs to be, possibly partly because he has always had players with the ability to just "play better", so hopefully we see some progress by mid season on this front. 

The club isn't gong to act swiftly anyway, but I'm happy to at least give him a chance to grow into the role. We have been grooming him for this exact position for about 3-4 seasons now and if we legit thought he was the best/a good option then I'm happy to not write him off immediately. I don't want to bring the AFL into it but there are numerous examples there of coaches growing into the role (Hardwick being the obvious one), why not the same here? 

The main difference in the AFL is its a draft system without true free agency. So developing a list is probably the most important skill. This takes time and I think suggesting that the coach wasn't a decent coach to start with isn't always fair. Given list sizes and recruitment, it takes longer to setup a championship window. In the a league you can turn over half your list and sign who you want (within the cap). I think out list is pretty competitive (based on last season) but I'm seeing the Lampard Chelsea developing at the moment. We look naïve and rudderless and getting the hairdryer out at halftime won't change that. A tactically competent manager will. Again I would point at Stajic currently but also Joe Montemurro who we let go (granted it was for an amazing role) but it seems to me we have missed the boat on picking competent managers.

 

In reply to Jovan too. I'm not sure when you pull the pin I guess it isn't a science. But like many others I see a guy out of his depth and it concerns me.

[jw1739]

26 minutes ago, wombegongal said:

The main difference in the AFL is its a draft system without true free agency. So developing a list is probably the most important skill. This takes time and I think suggesting that the coach wasn't a decent coach to start with isn't always fair. Given list sizes and recruitment, it takes longer to setup a championship window. In the a league you can turn over half your list and sign who you want (within the cap). I think out list is pretty competitive (based on last season) but I'm seeing the Lampard Chelsea developing at the moment. We look naïve and rudderless and getting the hairdryer out at halftime won't change that. A tactically competent manager will. Again I would point at Stajic currently but also Joe Montemurro who we let go (granted it was for an amazing role) but it seems to me we have missed the boat on picking competent managers.

In reply to Jovan too. I'm not sure when you pull the pin I guess it isn't a science. But like many others I see a guy out of his depth and it concerns me.

Interesting points. It's true about the draft etc., but we do have a natural catchment area by virtue of having few clubs in a big country. There are only three A-League clubs in Victoria, and effectively all three in Melbourne. Between us we ought to be able to find the cream of the young football talent in Victoria and develop them accordingly without the need to continually raid Adelaide. Likewise the other states with A-League clubs.

We might not really like to be owned by CFG but it is in the area of marquee and visa players that IMO we ought to be streets ahead of the other clubs. CFG has an international scouting network and IMO we ought to consistently have the best or close to the best marquee and visa players playing for City, even recognising the limitations of the cap. In the past we have had some really good players in those categories but we don't have that this year.

Likewise IMO we should also be able to always have a good coaching team via our worldwide links, but instead we have a continual churn, particularly of assistants.

Overall IMO Melbourne City just doesn't deliver on its potential.

[Le Hack]

I think it's a bit early to be looking to replace him, after all he's got a few mitigating circumstances:

- Injuries to O'Neill, Nabbout, Griffiths, all who would be considered starting players, at the time in Griffiths case

- Red cards to Luna, Jamieson, and Stokes

- team composition in having only one recognised Centre Half and a fill in plus youth, whereas having four full backs

However I agree he looks out of his depth. What concerns me is how disjointed we look and especially through the centre of the park. It's like we are not really following the Mombaerts game plan of playing one fullback through the middle to overload the midfield, just a get the ball back as quick as you can resulting in needless and risky tackles which cop successive yellow cards resulting in reds.

The other concern is his substitutions which make little sense. Prime example for me was Stokes red card, when he got his first yellow I said to my son, should take him off as head didn't look in the game. We know what happened. Tsubaki also before half time was a wrong call, and also a game where he bought on was it Atkinson for one of the wingers when we were chasing the game.

His demeanour on the side also reminds me of Joyce micromanaging the game. That approach may be good for youth but professionals should be able to work out what to do on their own following good coaching during training.

I also agree that his record previously isn't flash. Seem to remember he was doing a poor job with the women's until Fishlock stepped on to help out.

I wonder if he is getting advice from Mombaerts. My reading of the man is he's too proud to do that.

Anyway maybe it will all change this next game. With Nabbout and Griffiths back it adds some needed experience out there and with Nabbout another avenue for goal, so that might overcome PKs weaknesses

[The Aardvark]

1 hour ago, wombegongal said:

The main difference in the AFL is its a draft system without true free agency. So developing a list is probably the most important skill. This takes time and I think suggesting that the coach wasn't a decent coach to start with isn't always fair. Given list sizes and recruitment, it takes longer to setup a championship window. In the a league you can turn over half your list and sign who you want (within the cap). I think out list is pretty competitive (based on last season) but I'm seeing the Lampard Chelsea developing at the moment. We look naïve and rudderless and getting the hairdryer out at halftime won't change that. A tactically competent manager will. Again I would point at Stajic currently but also Joe Montemurro who we let go (granted it was for an amazing role) but it seems to me we have missed the boat on picking competent managers.

 

Is the A-League actually so different from the AFL in a list management sense? I'd argue there are more similarities between the two than there is between the A-League and the EPL.

There are certainly numerous examples of coaches that took time to find their feet, regardless of their list composition, and again there is no way Hardwick year one is anywhere near the coach he was in 2017. I agree some coaches are duds from the start to the end, and others are guns the whole way through, but those aren't the only two options. 

[wombegongal]

1 minute ago, The Aardvark said:

Is the A-League actually so different from the AFL in a list management sense? I'd argue there are more similarities between the two than there is between the A-League and the EPL.

There are certainly numerous examples of coaches that took time to find their feet, regardless of their list composition, and again there is no way Hardwick year one is anywhere near the coach he was in 2017. I agree some coaches are duds from the start to the end, and others are guns the whole way through, but those aren't the only two options. 

I agree the salary cap jigsaw is certainly similar but a sport that has 50 odd players on a list with 25 in a match day squad (with very little means for seasonal turnover) compared to a league with squads of 25 and 16 in matchday with the ability to turn over substantial amounts of players in the offseason (if required) certainly have some differences. We were left in a pretty decent spot from last year and the biggest change is in the box. Granted injuries and all that but I just don't have faith (based on his past performance) that this guy can cut the mustard. 

[The Aardvark]

43 minutes ago, wombegongal said:

I agree the salary cap jigsaw is certainly similar but a sport that has 50 odd players on a list with 25 in a match day squad (with very little means for seasonal turnover) compared to a league with squads of 25 and 16 in matchday with the ability to turn over substantial amounts of players in the offseason (if required) certainly have some differences. We were left in a pretty decent spot from last year and the biggest change is in the box. Granted injuries and all that but I just don't have faith (based on his past performance) that this guy can cut the mustard. 

I don't disagree but I think more in terms of you don't see the same disparity in list quality that you typically see in soccer globally. Sure like the AFL some teams seems to manage their lists better, but realistically it is rare for a squad to be top or bottom four for sustained period of time unless their off field department is exceptionally (Sydney FC) or terribly (Gold Coast) run. 

[jw1739]

56 minutes ago, wombegongal said:

I agree the salary cap jigsaw is certainly similar but a sport that has 50 odd players on a list with 25 in a match day squad (with very little means for seasonal turnover) compared to a league with squads of 25 and 16 in matchday with the ability to turn over substantial amounts of players in the offseason (if required) certainly have some differences. We were left in a pretty decent spot from last year and the biggest change is in the box. Granted injuries and all that but I just don't have faith (based on his past performance) that this guy can cut the mustard. 

It's not true to say that we didn't lose important players. The starting line-up may be similar, but a number of up-and-coming young players went and are now getting opportunities with other A-League clubs while we have younger crop. Jmac is out-of-touch, Berenguer is a dead weight, Nooney has lost confidence, Nabbout is injured, and all Tsubaki does is keep Colakovski out of a starting place.

Genreau, Ianucci, Brillante, Delbridge, Dukuly, possibly Windbichler, are all losses IMO and Najjar and Najjarine are out on loan.

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by jw1739

[Harrison]

2 hours ago, Le Hack said:

However I agree he looks out of his depth. What concerns me is how disjointed we look and especially through the centre of the park. It's like we are not really following the Mombaerts game plan of playing one fullback through the middle to overload the midfield, just a get the ball back as quick as you can resulting in needless and risky tackles which cop successive yellow cards resulting in reds.

Well my take is that Kisnorbo is trying to replicate the Mombaerts game plan without really knowing how or why it works. We still have the same shape in offensive and defensive transition and the same players fulfilling most of the roles within the system. But, and I’m speaking generally here, anybody can come in and say ‘continue to do the things you’ve been doing’. That’s not coaching though, not really anyway. The art of coaching is pinpointing where and why something is not working, figuring out a way to fix it and then executing it. That’s where they earn their money and that’s why coaching is a very difficult thing to do well.

Mombaerts was a philosophically-minded coach in that he had a clear conception of how he wanted his team to play football. But he also understood that adaptation was just as important and he was able to get results because he could identify problems and come up with solutions. Some were probably very small and unnoticeable to us (for example an instruction to a player to do more of x and less of y) and some were more obvious (like a change of shape or personnel). 

The early evidence shows that Kisnorbo doesn’t quite have that thing that good managers have but it’s still early and there are plausible reasons for our ordinary results. At some point it doesn’t matter though. It’s a results-driven business. That point for me is still at least a month away (or roughly half the season in terms of games played).

[Dylan]

5 hours ago, jw1739 said:

It's not true to say that we didn't lose important players. The starting line-up may be similar, but a number of up-and-coming young players went and are now getting opportunities with other A-League clubs while we have younger crop. Jmac is out-of-touch, Berenguer is a dead weight, Nooney has lost confidence, Nabbout is injured, and all Tsubaki does is keep Colakovski out of a starting place.

Genreau, Ianucci, Brillante, Delbridge, Dukuly, possibly Windbichler, are all losses IMO and Najjar and Najjarine are out on loan.

 

I reckon Windbitch was huge. When he came back into the 11 last season we looked so different defensively. losing Him and Brilliante has killed us imo

[haz]

13 hours ago, Dylan said:

I reckon Windbitch was huge. When he came back into the 11 last season we looked so different defensively. losing Him and Brilliante has killed us imo

Fingers crossed Reis can have as big of an impact.

[CityBoyz]

On 17/02/2021 at 9:50 AM, Le Hack said:

I wonder if he is getting advice from Mombaerts. My reading of the man is he's too proud to do that.

 

He has stated in his media conferences he talks to Erick 2-3 times a week on the phone and still in direct contact with him.