As we close 2010 Graham Arnold will face the next big challenge at the helm of the Mariners. All supporters are of course aware and dread the New Year hangover that the Mariners seem to suffer more than most clubs. So how will the manager try and not only avoid a slide down the A-League ladder but as desired by the club, the players and the supporters push up the ladder into the top two positions?

I can think of three Hangover Remedies.

Avoiding the Player Drain

So the first year that the New Year hangover truly brought the Mariners to their knees there was an obvious catalyst. The transfer of Mile Jedinak to Genclerbirligi on the 25th December 2008, most supporters saw this as a great thing for Mile personally and a loss of a great player for the team. However after a few weeks of play in 2009 the supporters realised that the Jedi's departure had a far greater impact on the squad than anyone had dreamed of in their worst nightmares. It was almost unimaginable that the role of holding midfielder had such a huge impact on the tempo of the play not just defensively but offensively as well. The role that was being performed by Mile was almost both Defensive midfielder and a classic number 10. This same shortfall and hole in the team existed right through 2009 and into 2010 up till the start of the 2010/11 season. Manager Arnold has not found a single replacement for the Jedi Knight, instead he has found 3 players to replace him.

Love him (as most of us do) or hate him Rostyn Griffiths has made the defensive midfield position his own in the Mariners setup. From memory it was only a matter of 3 or 4 games at the start of this season before Rostyn was showing that the space in between the back four and the attacking midfield was his to own and manage. Other players had tried to fill this role however the players were trying to fill Jedi's boots rather than just play as the defensive midfielder. The big difference this season is that the system employed by Arnold calls on Griffiths to be a defensive midfielder who's role is simply to assists the back four in defence and offer outlets to both the back four when playing out of the back third and for the attacking midfield if a forward path is unavailable. At no time has the added pressure of running the majority of the attack been included, this allows Rostyn to move forward when he sees an opportunity rather than pushing attacks whenever the team is in possession.

Now that the defensive mid role was being filled on a regular basis there still existed the attacking creativity and tempo issues for the team. This issue was resolved with not one player but two, admittedly one was a deliberate purchase to resolve the issue and the other was the use of an existing talent. I am of course referring to Perez and Amini respectively, these two players have resolved the teams creativity and tempo issues. These guys can hold the ball and provide an exceptional pivot for the team to revolve around. Both are comfortable with the ball at their feet and the team trusts the capability of both players. This trust and skilled play has allowed the other midfielders to have more creative outlets in wider positions. McGlinchey is the most notable display of this change, last season he was drowning under the need to be both a creative and stabilising influence in the team. This year with the stability of the central Midfielders both McGlinchey and Bozanic have had a free rein to be creative and beat players. This has more than made up for the attacking loss of Jedinak, the Mariners attack and midfield creativity is far superior this season to any other I have witnessed.

The fact that it took the Mariners the best part of two seasons to fill the last player lost mid-season should be evidence enough for management to avoid it this holiday season.

Possible Signings

There have been a steady stream of signings from clubs leading up to the January transfer window. As with any signing season some of them look like great signings while others look less so and time will tell as usual. I would love to see Arnie deliver the Mariners supporters a late Christmas present with a new signing or two. I don't even expect these signings to be of marquee quality, I would just like to see a little more depth and coverage for the squad in a few positions. With Brad Porter missing for an extended period the loss of Bojic earlier this season exposed the lack of depth in the wide defensive roles. A backup wide defender is a must for the first buy, we have plenty of guys who can fill the centre of defence but not many who have enough creativity and skill to run out wide and aid down the wings.

Our midfield stocks are probably our strongest asset with the quality of youth the Mariners have found and developed in the youth setup, so unless a midfielder who can also play well in defence (Porter-esque) was found I would not think a midfield signing would be a great investment. The stocks up front however do appear thin as well. The team normally plays three strikers in a match (two starters and one reserve), so given that there are only four strikers (and I am using the term quite loosely here) in the squad line-up another recognised goal scorer could be a great advantage.
To stop the New Year hangover take one backup defender and one backup striker shortly after the year starts.

MRP Avoidance

The Match Review Panel needs to stop charging and suspending our players, either that or the players need to stop doing stupid things to give them the chance.

I have looked at the footage from Sundays incident with Bojic several times and I do not believe that Pedj made a deliberate strike at the players head as repeatedly announced by the Fox commentators. However I do not believe Pedj is completely innocent either, he certainly did mean to land some kind of contact on the Adelaide United player. But seriously given that referee Sheppard spoke to Bojic as the incident happened and he ran into the retreating Bojic I think the charge laid against the player shows a lack of respect to the referee. The referee definitely saw the incident and was not running backwards as several people have mentioned in comments, the referee was coming from the direction of the halfway line toward the eighteen yard box where the ball was still in play. If he is running backwards at such a point there would be some very serious questions as to how sees through the back of his head.

All the Mariners players for the next three months must remember that big brother is watching every move. Not only is Big Brother watching but Big Brother has a taste for suspending Mariners players on what can be best described as shaky evidence. Just ask Patricio.