BRIAN Clough once said, “Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes”. Sorry mate, but I have to disagree with you there.

There are certain things in football that seem to evade explanation. No, I am not talking about Adrian Trinidad’s haircut.

I have seen a dominating side lose countless times, however, when it happens to the same team every second week, it’s time for an explanation.

This seems to be the case with the Mariners’ youth team. Every single time I have seen them play they have been good. They have quality players in every area of the pitch and a great depth of options, should their starting line-up fail to produce.

It’s for this reason that I often find watching them very confusing.

Their players don’t lose them games and as far as my tactically inept brain can see, it’s not the tactics either.

Admittedly, there are several problems with player discipline in the team. Is it just me or have they accumulated a bizarrely large yellow card tally? Also, they haven’t scored as many goals as they possibly should have but I can let both these things slide.

The real problem lies in their back line. The solution? Dean Heffernan. At least for the time being.

I’m going to completely contradict my anti-overage player view here but I honestly think that the Mariners would be better off slotting Heffernan back into the youth team.

The past two games he’s played for the first team haven’t been his best but the few he’s played for the youth team he’s been on fire. This would give the youth players a chance to benefit from his skill and leadership on the park and also give Heff a chance to get more match practice.

If he is slotted back into the youth team, it may also be a chance to get Pedj Bojic out of central defence, a position he isn’t naturally good at.

If the Heff change isn’t possible, they need to find a young striker capable of scoring truckloads of goals to counteract their leaky defence.

Sure, my view is weird and warped but I have an inkling that it just might work. Thoughts, anyone?

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Has anyone else noticed the printing errors on A-League trading cards? On James Holland’s card, instead of a picture of him, there is a picture of Jason Hoffman. Strange but true.

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THIS WEEK…

The Australian Youth Olympic Festival is being held in Sydney from January 14-18. Catch Australia’s best U-18 players as they battle it out against world-class opponents. Look out for the National Youth League stars in the team as well as some of the best up and coming state league players.