So last week started with a low, the Mariners kind of limped into a draw with Glory. On the balance of play and chances the Mariners should consider this a good result for them. Despite the incredible stat at the 65 minute mark with the Mariners having 99% of possession between the 60th and 65th minutes, the Mariners were on the back foot for the majority of the contest and Glory had the better of the scoring chances. Matt Simon should make numerous apologies this week as he committed the cardinal sin for strikers, not making the keeper work in a one-on-one opportunity. I hope Graham Arnold has him running laps for a few hours this week after that miss.
So it was looking like a dismal week which was going to drag until the news came that should make the hearts of all Mariners supporters lift. The retention of players has commenced with the player who has quite possibly been the most solid performer this season to date. Pedj Bojic. Sure he has not scored so far this year, but week after week Pedj has put in and outperformed players who were much more fancied at the start of the season.
It seems that Pedj has been the Mariners Mr Fix-it ever since he arrived. He has filled in across all of the back four positions, he stepped in when the Mariners needed a stabilising presence in the holding midfield role left vacant by a departing Jedinak and he has been used as a wide running midfielder as well. Pedj has almost been a victim of his own skill and versatility as he became a player that the gaffer can always rely on to hold a position together when the regular occupant is unavailable. Due to the fact that no matter where he has been asked to play he always made a fist of it, yet as he was not able to stay in a single position for an extended period of time he was not able to establish any position on the field his own. This put Pedj in a very precarious position at the start of the 2010/2011 season.
At the start of this season nearly all commentators thought that Pedj was going to be playing second fiddle to the new signings and Porter who seemed to have the manager's support (although I often wondered why). I think most supporters of the Mariners always preferred Bojic over Porter in the wide back role, funnily enough Porter himself seems to prefer a midfield position yet he always seemed to end up in the wide back spot. Pedj started out the season as a fill in role against Heart on the left with the late release of Rose and yet again acquitted himself well in a position that he was thrown into.
Pedj did earn the not so envious title as the first player to enter the referee's notebook this season (this took less than a minute). Despite a solid game from Bojic he found his spot in the first home game against the Adelaide United team was on the bench. Pedj got given a chance when Porter was substituted in the 60th minute and Pedj played strongly for the next 30 minutes. The spark that Bojic added off the bench helped the Mariners save this match. Pedj was returned to the starting line up for the poor performance in Wellington however even in this game where the team struggled he was able to show his worth for the squad.
Graham Arnold decided to return Pedj to his seemingly favoured position of right back for that fateful game against Sydney FC. That night when arguably the most skilled player the Mariners have ever signed was wrongly suspended for two weeks. This made the flashes of brilliance and general solid play Pedj had shown so far all that more important. We all know that Amini has stepped up to the mark so much so that Arnie now has the luxury of bringing Perez back slowly from the bench.
However if it were not for the marauding runs of Bojic and Rose down both sides of the Mariners attack I think defenders would have been able to pay much greater attention to Amini in the centre of the midfield. We will never know for sure but in the few games Bojic missed the effectiveness of Amini seemed to be reduced. With the defence now only needing to concentrate on one player out wide on the right (with all due respect to Wilkinson he is not going to offer a huge amount up front) they were able to use both central defenders to focus on Amini.
Pedj's play during these first half of this season has really cemented his place as the Mariners right back. Josh Rose may have scored a couple of great goals and made some really incisive breaks into the eighteen yard box, but it has been Bojic that has been the more consistent and potent of the two wide backs. Pedj (and Rose as well for that matter) is one of those rare players who can combine defensive instincts with footwork and skills to be both an attacking weapon and a defensive asset. The other thing that Pedj has in his benefit is a great motor that means he can run for 90 minutes, he covers more ground than most players and seems to enjoy the effort and pure running.
I think the announcement of the retention of Bojic for another season is a great way to end a week that the Mariners started out a little poorly.
