No new coach bounce for Cahn as Gomes, Sky Blues hand Roar fourth straight loss

Tony Harper- the one factor that everyone seems to be ignoring is how our game is being presented to the paying public .I refer of course to the tactic "possession football" which AP used so successfully all those years ago. Personally I am sick of watching back four players inter-passing the ball,sometime back to the Goalkeeper. That is just what the paying public want to see/ I think not. jb

Agree 100% jbinnie. Added to the time it can take to get match fit, as well as get used to the style of play and the climate, the settling of family where applicable, is another reason why Roar should keep their powder dry. Whilst I am more than impressed by young Waddingham and Brownlie, I don't dispute that an experienced quality striker is on the wish list. However, the likelihood of finding a match fit quality striker is extremely low during the January window. Not to mention the additional challenges visa players face. As the window opens today, we will no doubt hear soon what Roar are able to achieve in the window. I just hope Roar stand firm to what Kaz and Zac have said regarding recruiting the "right" players. If the club is going to change, then they need to do thinks differently to the past. BTW. If I want to be picky, my understanding of why Berisha left was that the salary cap rules at the time did not permit Roar paying what Berisha could earn at Victory. The rules got changed soon after. It was actually Ange who left saying his wife wanted to return to Melbourne. I think Broich left at the end of his playing career. But your point is 100% valid nonetheless. Speaking from my own personal experience of migrating to Brisbane 40 years ago, you are spot on.

Leon -one of the vagaries in signing overseas players is that there is a personal side to every signing that has to be carefully assessed. I refer of course to married couples where the husband, the player. is always looked after, mixing every day with fellow players ,club workers and even fans. The same cannot be said for players partners , and children, who are still young enough to miss their families many miles away. So you see. the question has to be put, why did Austin, Gillesphy. Broich. and Berisha choose to leave Roar, while in the case of Gillesphy and Austin both are still playing in a reasonable standard of football, England's Division 2 and Berisha who had a good career post Roar, with Victory. As I say, picking up, and. more importantly, settling a player and his family down to a new hope. is not always apparent to the untrained eye. jb

You missed a key point of my post - this is a Roar “set play” meaning they practice this in training and do that so everyone knows what’s expected (we’ve seen this play several times this season already). With a press there’s several options: play through it, play around it, or play over it. This is the third option - play over it - with Freke executing a perfect chip to Lofthouse. Unfortunately Lofthouse is caught ball watching and waiting for the ball to come, if he checks his shoulder (he doesn’t, another example of why he’s playing a grade too high) he would see the danger from Grant and all he’d need to do is step forwards to protect the flight of the ball and it is his …. and better still Roar are out of the press and in a great position to counter attack. But Lofthouse doesn’t do what he’s expected to do, and what would have been rehearsed in training. Thats why it’s his fault. (I won’t argue the defending that then follows is sub-par but that is a separate point).

Sydney are not dissimilar to Roar in terms of the pedigree of its home grown players; the side is elevated by their five quality imports. They have a gem with Fabio as we saw in the Cup Final. His first finish on Saturday was regulation. His second sublime. The injury depleted Roar were awful for much of the first half. But very competitive in the second. Whatever it was that Ben Cahn did or said, the team visibly lifted, playing with heart and vigour. Sadly Roar lacked the quality up front to go on with it. Had Brownlie been there to come off the bench and nick something for Brisbane is academic, but I could not help feeling that Sydney were fortunate he wasn’t. I agree additional quality and depth is needed. But, in all honesty, the likelihood of Roar recruiting a match fit quality player in the January window is somewhere between zero and not much at all. I am really hoping the club does not go down the false positive route again. I don’t want to see another Austin, Scepovic. Lescano, Steinmann or Canadi. The club would be better served by persuading young players like Eddie Ince to stick around. If not too late.

Waz- the best defensive records were set in the seasons following Fowler's arrival .He brought 2 CB's with him and with the dependable, Neville already there, it was not long before Roar were playing the popular 3-5-2 formation which allowed for added strength in mid-field and a helper up front. With Fowler's ,and Gilesphy's departures .once again replacement was apparently nor considered and Roar drifted back to playing 4-3-3 with the latest formation using 2 wide playing wingers and a totally isolated central striker. This formation does not suit the available talent on Roar's books. jb

Cool - why stop there. In the 18 years of A-League football, Roar have employed 15 head coaches. Not what one would say is a long term gig. jb

Devastating news re Sam Kerr..done her ACL :crying:

The answer is new owners Lionheart. Not a likely prospect I know, but that’s the answer.

The keeper should loft it to a free player on the side generally to beat a press as the last resort. With this pass even if Lofthouse sprinted full speed and beat Grant to it , then he is only going to get to it at header height anyway. The fault I see is Aldred delays a fraction on looking around when Trewin wins the tackle, he should have been on red alert , a ball is going across the penalty area , have a look straight away, he could have moved to block off the cross or rush the delivery of it.

coach's assessment was probably accurate - leftover from previous match

you may have missed my point on former management Waz. Not something to discuss here but $$ were walking out (under) the door, literally, quicker than the exec. This is not new execs blaming predecessors, it’s a fact stated by the previous chair/ceo well before the current guys were appointed. Injuries have long been an issue for Roar, even before Bakries, and a few other clubs I might add. I don’t think we can blame the new execs or if increased investment will help. We’ve recruited many crocks in the past (Burke Gilroy is just another). They did apologise to Corey Brown (another) and a line of debtors who have had their bills paid, and they’ve worked hard on building relationships, especially with FQ, government and fans. Match day experience is far more positive, crowds are up and they’ve shown several times that they listen to fans. Neither of the former coaches were appointed by them, maybe there were working relationship issues, we don’t know (all we know is RA left for more money, Garrath was moved on as the team was going nowhere). Both coaches now are their appointments. You and several others have frequently said that many people do not realise the size of the hole Roar is in. I don’t think the new execs realised it initially, but do now (from day one I think). I don’t know about the owners, they don’t say much but the only (relayed) reports we have are that they acknowledge there’s a problem and they want it fixed. There won’t be any increased investment in the club until the owners are satisfied that the club is being run properly, that was the message (between the lines) relayed at their first fan forum.

He’s got a lot of fans in our older-age ladies members area - perfect son in law material lol. I think they once voted him third in an away game but he hadn’t played.

Not that any of the defending that followed was flash but it all starts with Lofthouse… Under pressure the keeper plays the ball out with a little chip to the center circle, this is a set play move and gets the ball over the press and - if recovered - puts you in a great counter attacking position - Lofthouse was the target of the pass. Lofthouse is the target and is guilty of watching and waiting for the ball to arrive, then when he realises he’s in a 50/50 he doesn’t compete (this literally is a point where you “take one for the team” and take the player down if you must)

I have heard various Bakrie reps say something similar - “it’s the management of the club that’s at fault, not the finances available”. I’ve also heard management say the reverse. And one thing that’s consistent is every manager blames his predecessor, it’s like that “three envelopes” joke. But two things are for sure: 1/ Current management are no better than previous - arguably worse as we’ve lost both First team coaches prior to Christmas, both teams are struggling, and both teams have injury crisis going on. 2/ Appointing management is the owners responsibility - if management are wrong, that’s on the owners. Hopefully the Bakries can realise whatever it is they want from this club, and the sooner the better imo.

I think they did some gym work at YMCA/perry park in preseason as well.

You ideally want three CB’s with one of them able to cover 6 and/or a Full Back position. Especially as both current CB’s have proven themselves injury prone which is why you need three senior CB’s.

Agree with you on the physical side - SFC much stronger pretty much across the full range of outfield players. Another concern with Roar is their access to facilities - SFC have Sky Park with full amenities including Strength & Conditioning facilities meanwhile Roar did part of the preseason at a Private School and the other part at Ballymore. I think QSAC has gym facilities so I’ve often thought that’s the place to go and say partner with Athletics Queensland to improve that.

I found it hard to believe that he was second on the fans vote for player of the match on the Roar gameday app. The guys decision making is almost non-existent. He dribbles well, like our former singer winger (Champness), but never results in anything.

one of those guys, but two really, was not so good as he had us believe, imo The idea that Roar is broke is false. What we mean is we spend to the minimum of the salary cap. Badly mismanaged over many years, to the point that the current executive had difficulty identifying anything that resembled a budget when they reviewed the books, is probably a better description. There's nothing wrong with minimum spend, if you're smart about it, like Mariners have been (and let's not forget who helped start their revolution).