30 November 2019
Newcastle, Australia

A run of average performances see us overtaken at the top of the table. A win, a loss and two draws is not a great return for the month however we have not been destroyed at any stage which is a good result.

Blow by Blow

Rory Adams out

Annoying injury which will keep the young NZ center-back out for this month. We have good depth so it’s not the end of the world.

Player conversation

Brentyn Dobson knows that he is low down the pecking order and wishes to leave under his own terms. I am happy to accommodate him.

Hyundai A-League – Match 5/27

The Phoenix have been struggling this season and are currently sitting bottom with no points. While they are my hometown team, today it is up to me to put them to the sword.

Nick Wells scores his first goal of the season with an absolute screamer from outside the area. They come back and level it up just on half time. Dobson lashes home our second from the penalty spot. We had to work for the result but got there in the end.

Five games unbeaten

We have been putting up a series of good results with four wins and a draw in the last five games.

Injury Update

Sean Brook has only played 34 minutes this season for us. It will be good to get him back playing as he has the potential to be one of the best players in my squad.

Hyundai A-League – Match 6/27

Well it may be a difficult challenge, seeing as I have six players including goal keeper Hughes out for this match on international duty.

We battled with diligence however it took us until the 70th minute to get ahead. We thought we had the three points sown up only to concede a late 86th minute equalizer.

Jets Debuts

Young Paul Thurtell and Nicolas Orlando made their debuts due to international commitments in the squad.

Hyundai A-League – Match 7/27

 

We have a stronger side back for this game. It won’t be easy as Western Sydney have been playing well this season.

They play counter attacking direct football, and for the most part looked the better side. We couldn’t buy a shot on target today, which was disappointing. In the end we were not clinical enough and didn’t deserve the result.

Injury Report

Nick was just starting to find his feet and is now out for 2 months. We have cover, but Nick is my best front man and will be missed.

Cosmos fall short again

Still can’t win this sodding competition! It was the one title that eluded me when managing Cosmos.

Sydney sack Hughes

After giving me crap when I took the job at Newcastle, Hughes gets the boot as Sydney FC are in last place. Sad? Not overly.

Injury Update

Adams is back after his injury which is good.

King Suspended

Defensive midfielders tend to pick up their share of cards so it is not surprising that King gets a week off.

Hyundai A-League – Match 8/27

While we are still undefeated, we need a win to get our campaign back on track. With Pearth Glory snapping on our heals taking all three points from this match is crucial. Clayton King is suspended for yellow cards, but Sean Brook and Rory Adams are back for us.

They score from a corner when we failed to pick up a runner from deep. Michael Dobson missed a penalty, but on the whole we didn’t deserve to win the game. The only bonus is Melbourne Victory beat Perth Glory so its still tight at the top.

Beltran Suspended

I remember him having the odd game off for yellow cards when in Korea so it is good to see he is consistent!

Match Summary

Not the best month for us. The loss in the ast game was particularily annoying as it meant we squandered a chance to put some distance on the rest of the pack.

League Table

Top five within two points with one game remaining in the first rotation. It is up to us to kick on and make the top spot our own.

Next Episode

Central Coast mariners complete the first rotation and marks the completion of the first third of the season.