Mariners' Tale

[ozzywizard]

I come into this new and completely different FM save (for me) with fresh impetus and excitement. I have been struggling lately to get into saves and that’s no surprise when I was slogging it out in the same leagues, with the same players and barely making it to the January transfer window. I’m starting as the new manager of Central Coast Mariners from the A-League to give me a completely different footballing world (in fact I haven’t loaded a single European league) and also one of the shortest regular seasons. Preseason is long but also features the FFA Cup which is straight knockout with 32 teams. Then, we commence the regular league season which is contested by 10 teams playing each other 3 times before a Grand Final play-off featuring the 6 best teams playing 2 or 3 games depending on final league position (I think). I should be flying through these seasons, especially considering as cup success or play-offs should be a fair while away.

So why The Mariners? First of all… Tom Rogic – The Wizard of Oz. The Canberra native of Serbian descent turned out for teams such as Woden Weston and Tuggeranong United before finding his magic feet at the Nike Football Academy and then moving to CCM. He has also represented Australia at futsal. He is currently a fan-favourite for Celtic and a key component of the Australian National Team, but this is the type of recruitment and style that I want CCM to return to… They have the much renowned Mariners Centre of Excellence and I intend to tap into this facility to produce technically gifted players, to grace the Central Coast Stadium and propel the Mariners back to the heights of the 2013 Championship winning team under Graham Arnold.

I touched upon getting ‘back to the heights’ which alluded to the fact that we are predicted to not do very well, but the media think we will finish last in the Hyundai A-League this season… last. I need to combine defensive grit with enough panache to pick up points and steer clear of the bottom spot. This allows me to create my favoured style of defensive football – defending with the ball. If you have the ball then the other team can’t score – simple? Couple that with the facilities to create Rogic two point oh and we should be able to bring a brand and a philosophy to the central coast. I don’t intend for this to happen overnight and will begin with more traditional counter-attacking football to try to eek out more points than our rivals.

First season aims are very simple – don’t come last by whatever means necessary. I’ll also enjoy as much of a cup run as I can safe in the knowledge that it won’t affect league form. The second season is where it will become much more difficult. The first reason for this is that I don’t intend to buy any players – be that for money, for free or even on loan. I will be relying solely on the youth academy. We have a basic squad with not much talent (well we are predicted last!), surprisingly little youth prospects and worryingly of all a squad full of players on expiring contracts. Thankfully I can renew contracts! That being said I don’t think I’m due a youth intake while early season 2, so my first task will be to do what I can to tie down this motley crew at Mariners for a couple of years. That should give me time to actually have an intake and start to promote from within. It will be tough but that’s what I want.

I’m very much looking forward to this save and already it has been a breath of fresh air… the minor Australian teams have some superb names! It’s also a learning curve as I am not very familiar at all with the rules and regulations of Australian football. I’ll be back with a preseason and cup update and probably a full squad review highlighting the players that should be around for a while before we start the season proper. Until the next time!

[ozzywizard]

Central Coast Mariners Unveil Daniel McBreen As New Manager

Today, the Mariners have appointed ex-striker Daniel McBreen as the new man in charge to replace the outgoing Mike Mulvey. Burnley born McBreen represented Central Coast Mariners 95 times, scoring 28 goals. He scored in the A-League Grand Final when The Mariners beat Western Sydney Warriors 2-0, which the fans will not have forgotten.

Since hanging up his professional boots, he has been part of Newcastle Jet’s youth coaching team and will relish cutting his teeth as the new boss tasked with turning around the fortunes of the struggling A-League side.

McBreen spoke for the first time to the assembled media at the club’s training ground this morning:
“I’m delighted to be back in Gosford and looking forward to the immediate challenge this season and to bring The Mariners back to the top of Australian football. I enjoyed many great times here as a player and I fully intend to bring them back as manager.”
McBreen clearly has more than one eye on the future and a big part of him taking the reigns is to utilise the well renowned Mariners Centre of Excellence, which has had an influence in stars such as Matthew Ryan, Tom Rogic and Trent Sainsbury.
“The academy here is fantastic and a huge factor in taking this position. Many players who have played for Central Coast have gone on to pull on the Socceroos jersey. This is a tradition that I want to continue and to develop the stars of tomorrow. As I say, the facilities here are first class and I will surround myself with quality coaches to really bring an identity to the club. Obviously, this will not happen overnight, with the situation that the club finds itself in. but we can begin the foundations. As a striker, I favour technical, attacking football and goals are football’s most cherished currency. However, for the time being we will look to keep things tight and develop from there."

The youthful McBreen is an interesting appointment from The Mariners and all eyes will be watching how he goes about bringing his philosophy to the Central Coast Stadium.

[chaodck]

Always great to see a non conventional save in here, best of luck mate I'll be following!

[hungryhungryhibbos]

As a long suffering Mariners fan currently running a save with them of my own, seeing this pop up brought a smile to my face, especially once I saw the name of the manager. Best of luck with this, here's hoping you can bring the glory days (arguably of massive overachievement) back to Gosford.

[ozzywizard]

Thanks chaodck! Currently making my way through yours too!

Haha thanks for the support HHH, it's certainly a challenge!

Update coming in the next few days chaps!

[ozzywizard]

Preseason Down Under

As the season nears, the spotlight is on Daniel McBreen as he prepares his Mariners side for what will undoubtedly be a tough season ahead. The Mariners’ new arrival Michael McGlinchey took time out of his busy schedule to discuss his first few weeks after joining from Wellington Phoenix.

Mike, glad you could join us, how are you settling under Daniel McBreen?

Well obviously, I was signed by Mike (Mulvey). It’s always difficult when you know you haven’t been signed by the current boss, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. To be honest I shouldn’t have worried because the new gaffer has brought enthusiasm and energy into the group. I didn’t have time to worry, it’s a long preseason but McBreen has come in with fresh ideas and put us to work!

Is this the philosophy change that McBreen hinted at in his unveiling? How is that progressing?

Yeah absolutely, he has taken a good, hard look at us in training and got us training double sessions to be ready for the cup games and the start of the new season away at Brisbane Roar. They’ve been very tactics heavy, and team shape, he’s made it clear that we are one team, all in this together and we win and lose as a team.

Aside from the Southern and Ettalong Utd game, which was perhaps an anomaly, the side has looked solid. How do you feel preseason has gone?

I didn’t actually play in that game but I would have liked to as we banged in nine goals but we did concede three. Aside from that game we played five more friendlies and only conceded once against Lambton Jaffas who we face in the cup next week. That’s a remarkable turnaround in confidence and belief that these training sessions are working. Yes ok, we only faced provincial teams and the A-League will provide tougher tests but the gaffer has been confident that the basics are transferrable. Personally, the gaffer has shown great faith in me and I’ve played in three full games against Jaffas, our feeder club from North Shore and Broadmeadow Magic so it’s nice to get some minutes in my old legs! We were disappointed to not win all three but it’s early days and the squad is getting fitter and smarter every day.

What are the squad’s expectations for the season ahead?

Well you folks in the media have predicted that we will finish last in the A-League this season and we are determined to prove you guys wrong! We’ll follow the philosophy, take it one game at a time and do as well as we can. Before that we have a nice distraction in the FFA Cup and if we can have a little run in that we can be very hopeful of a good year.

[ozzywizard]

The FFA Cup

The first round of the FFA Cup kicked off on the first of August and all ties were played over the course of a week. 32 teams as varied as Melbourne City FC and Bulleen Lions faced up with all A-League teams facing lower league opposition. Speaking to Fox Sports, McBreen was upbeat about his team’s fortunes: “It’s a great little competition and a chance to set down a marker for the season ahead. Competitive games in preseason are extremely valuable to see just how close we are to the levels required for a positive season. We kick off with a home tie against Lambton Jaffas, who we saw in a friendly game a few weeks ago, and the winner is into the last 16… anything can happen and we are very excited about our chances”.

As the Mariners welcomed the Jaffas to Central Coast Stadium it was a first look at the shape and style that we will be seeing under McBreen. The Mariners lined up in a deep 4-2-3-1 with two players, Melling and Karacan, screening the defence. McBreen surprised many by being so defensive against such a lowly opponent but you get the idea that these early cup games are glorified friendlies, with the real aim being match fitness and tactical cohesion. As expected, Jaffas struggled to break down the back line of The Mariners but did see more of the ball. As they went in at the break tied at 0-0 the crowd began to feel anxious, a better half was needed. As the game progressed the fitness of the A-League outfit began to show as they carved out a few opportunities. McGlinchey opened the scoring on 65 minutes and Jordan Murray added a second exactly 10 minutes later. With the game already won Karacan added a late penalty to make the scoreline an emphatic CCM 3-0 Jaffas.

The first round saw the majority of A-League teams safely into the last 16 but the shock of the round was Melbourne Victory losing on penalties to semi-pro outfit Sunshine Coast. That left seven semi-pro teams still in the competition offering a great chance to most A-League teams to have a decent draw and begin to smell some silverware. Central Coast Mariners would play Hakoah Sydney, again at home where a win would meet expectations and put them in the Quarter-Final.

The only change was Aspropotamitis returning from injury to take his place as first choice CB. Here were McBreen’s pre-match comments to the assembled media before the game: “We’ve got a great chance to progress but we must be professional. We’ll just take it one game at a time as we prepare for the season ahead.”

Hakoah shocked the crowd by taking the lead on 5 minutes, which seemed to wake up the home side. Murray levelled the score before McGlinchey put his team ahead before half time after missing a penalty. Second half goals from Murray, Hiariej and Oar put some gloss onto a good performance from The Mariners. Final score: CCM 5-1 Hakoah.

The quarters were the playground of the A-League, which would see the Mariners at home once again versus Western Sydney Wanderers. This was a stern test against a good side with players such as young Aussie prodigy Lachlan Scott up front. The Mariners sat back and frustrated Wanderers and it was a game that was lacking in quality. WSW were perhaps edging the game and took the lead through Oriol Riera on 68 minutes. The Mariners couldn’t find an equaliser and crashed out CCM 0-1 WSW.

Mariners captain Karacan was frustrated by the display: “We were a bit leggy out there. The boys worked their socks off but we didn’t really lay a glove on Wanderers. They’re a good side and we were certainly not overawed but it is disappointing to be so close to the Semi-Finals without getting there.”

As the Mariners turn their attention to the league, WSW progressed to the Final by knocking out Melbourne City but were beaten by eventual winners Brisbane Roar.

[ozzywizard]

I'm flying through the games and loving every second of this save so far. It's exactly what I needed.I just need my writing to catch up to game time now! Thanks for the views so far!

[ozzywizard]

A Season Down Under with Rushton, Bosnich and Arnold

Tara Rushton: As the curtain falls on Daniel McBreen’s first season in charge of Central Coast Mariners, we are joined by Mark Bosnich, club icon Graham Arnold and myself, Tara Rushton. Together over the course of the feature here on Fox Sports we will be analysing how The Mariners have fared this season. So let’s begin with the opening two months, Mark?

Mark Bosnich: Thanks Tara, so if we look at their opening five games after the FFA Cup, one thing immediately stands out and that’s the one win at home to Adelaide. Three losses too, that added pressure to McBreen’s shoulders, big pressure. We were thinking wow, it’s going to be a long old season.

Rushton: A tough start though, Graham?

Graham Arnold: Very Tara. Yes, it looked bad but away to Roar, both Melbourne teams who are very strong and a long trip to Perth Glory. Remember this is the team that was predicted to really, really struggle and finish bottom of the A-League this season.

Rushton: So, was four points from five games a good start or a bad start?

Arnold: For me, a steady start. Mark?

Bosnich: I have to agree, it could have been worse. What’s also very interesting is the tactical switch that we saw after the Melbourne City game for the win against Adelaide. All through preseason Daniel played with two holding midfielders and they sat back in their shape. In the FFA Cup quarter-final against WSW we saw they didn’t offer much, Jem said ‘they didn’t lay a glove’ on them all game and conceded. In the next two games they conceded twice in each… but then Daniel said this isn’t working… and dropped a DM.

Arnold: A very bold change, he could have gone even more defensive and that would have made for painful viewing. This is a team who were champions not that long ago, which Daniel would remember well of course. I for one am glad that they went more attacking.

Rushton: How did they do that exactly?

Bosnich: Aside from having one more player higher up in Karacan trying to link attack and defence, they said hang on a minute, we want the ball too. Look, we’ve tried to sit back and say you have it but that didn’t work. So they started to lay out from the back and play keep ball. If the opposition don’t have the ball then they cannot score.

Arnold: Precisely, against Adelaide they had 64% possession; away at Victory 67% and in Perth they had 64% and picked up their first clean sheet. That’s a remarkable shift which comes from the training ground. Four points from 3 games, a much better return.

Rushton: And speaking of clean sheets, what a remarkable run they then went on?

Bosnich: Amazing Tara and completely unexpected! Well from me anyway! Seven clean sheets in a row is extraordinary and they’re quickly becoming the best defence in the league. It all stems from the training pitch, doesn’t it Graham?

Arnold: Of course it does and I was so lucky to have a sneaky peak at their centre of excellence and I certainly wasn’t underwhelmed. The level of detail that Daniel is bringing to the sessions ties in with the reputation that this young coach has. No stone is left overturned and everything is geared towards the match day, a great display of tactical periodisation, which you can see in action here:

Rushton: Great stuff, so no surprises but those 7 games unbeaten really propelled The Mariners up the table and flirting with a play-off spot?

Bosnich: Exactly, for a long time they were competing with the likes of their rivals Newcastle Jets and Victory to get into the play-offs for the championship which, well quite frankly, not even the most ardent Mariners fan would have expected at the start of the season!

Rushton: Thanks guys, well we’ll take a short break there and pick this up again after the break, bye for now.

[ozzywizard]

A Season Down Under with Rushton, Bosnich and Arnold (Part 2)

Rushton: Welcome back to ‘A Season Down Under’ with myself, Mark Bosnich and Graham Arnold. We’ll pick up where we left off heading into the second stage of the season, Mark?

Bosnich: Yeah so we’d just seen The Mariners pick up a hefty streak of back to back clean sheets and they are one of the inform teams going into January, where they opened with that seventh clean sheet and win against local rivals Sydney, another great result for Daniel and his team.

Rushton: Could they carry on this amazing run of form?

Arnold: Well that win against Sydney suggested yes, didn’t it? Away from home against a very strong side and this possession job that McBreen is doing is really stifling teams… another 68%! You’d have to think though that teams would begin to figure them out, maybe put on a high press and stop some of their possession?

Bosnich: Also, their clean sheet run had to end somewhere and it did away in Christchurch. A very disappointing result considering how poor Phoenix have been this year and how good CCM have been. From there they’d lose their defensive invincibility and go on a little run of dropping points and picking the ball out of the onion bag!

Rushton: Six games this month guys: Won two, Drawn 3 and Lost one; six scored 5 conceded.

Arnold: Still not shabby is it. Again, we wouldn’t have predicted this at the start of the season. Obviously, no recruitment this window where other teams have strengthened, but it doesn’t seem to have done them much harm. That win away at Jets in the F3 derby will be talked about for some time, I know I celebrated it well!

Bosnich: I don’t doubt that Graham! You’d have thought that would have kicked them on again but it just didn’t, did it? A very quiet February followed with more dull draws.

Arnold: They were never in any danger from this point on to be as bad as some of the other teams in the league, but they didn’t really show it. However, where Jets and Phoenix were losing games, Mariners just doggedly went about their business with a point here and a point there, just ticking along.

Rushton: Yes the Jets and Phoenix were looking very poor and McBreen’s side really hammered that home in their first two games of March.

Bosnich: Two fantastic wins that wrapped up their season pretty much. The Play-offs would be nice but the real task was to not finish last and those two wins made the gap too big to the foot of the table, great wins. Ok, they wouldn’t go on to win any more games this season but it was job done.

Rushton: Exactly, and that concluded the season with an 8th place finish, four points from the play-offs. Thoughts on the season as a whole Graham?

Arnold: I don’t think any Mariners’ fan can be disappointed this season? Back in August nobody was looking forward to this season but McBreen has done a very good job.

Bosnich: Well, I’m glad you spoke as a fan first. Weren’t there just too many dour draws though Graham?

Arnold: You can’t expect a team predicted bottom to go out and take games by the scruff of the neck?

Bosnich: No, but you have to think they were playing for draws more than they were playing to win and that isn’t healthy? 12/27 draws? Keeping the ball for the sake of keeping the ball won’t be tolerated for too long? You know yourself that Mariners’ fans dream of challenging for the title again soon. They won’t with so many draws?

Arnold: True, but with the resources Daniel has you have to still be happy. All they have to do next season is turn maybe 3 draws into wins, one from each stage, and they’re comfortably in the play-offs. I for one am now looking forward to next season where I wasn’t last season. That’s a huge positive.

Rushton: Thanks guys we’ll have to leave it there. We just have time for parting comments. Out of ten, how have McBreen’s Mariners done this season? Graham, you first.

Arnold: I’d say 7/10. He’s over achieved.

Bosnich: I’m going to be harsh and say 6/10. I’d just like to see more cutting edge. Teams will know to press high and stop the sideways passes next season and I’m not sure I saw anything to suggest they won’t struggle again.

Rushton: Well thanks we really must leave it there. That’s a wrap for this season’s A-League. Congratulations to Western Sydney Warriors and good luck to McBreen’s boys next season. Don’t miss it, I’m sure it’s going to be a hell of a ride. Bye for now.