Whatever Ernie said here or at half-time didn't work ... and has rarely worked this season

After an impressive display last week against Western Sydney and on the back of great news, with the Football Federation of Australia securing the Wellington Phoenix's A-League future along with Kosta Barbarouses' signing, the Nix slipped back into a low. The high of last week's victory and Blake Powell's hat-trick didn't last long as it only made sporadic appearances in their loss to Newcastle, the same Jets outfit who have now beaten the Nix in all three of their games this season, beating the Nix 3-2 in Newcastle.

There were signs that perhaps the Nix could take their efforts from last week and ride that wave to another win, more confidence and perhaps a shot at some finals football. This was evident in the work of Hamish Watson who scored twice and put in another impressive shift highlighted by his ability to be in the right place at the right time and his desire to either win the ball or to work hard without the ball.

Tom Doyle also showed what he can do on attack from left-back, bursting forward and whipping in dangerous crosses along with an enticing corner that led to Watson's first goal.
Doyle's ability to dip crosses in behind Newcastle's relatively high defensive line, along with greater intent shown by the midfielders to deliver slicing through-balls provided reason for hope. The Nix not only held on to possession as they love to do, probing for a weakness but they added that through-ball threat to their play which gave them far more penetration and variety in attack.

Unfortunately, the Nix were also rather poor.

This could be summed up by Watson for example. Watson was lively, bustling with energy and always threatening, however two silly yellow cards saw him given a red and the Jets then pounced to score the winner. Watson's first yellow had him chasing hard through midfield only to get a bit too eager-beaver and commit a foul, while his second yellow was simply dumb. Watson conceded a foul and then stuck a foot out at the ball, standing a few metres in front of the ball to slow down a Jets attack.

Watson looked good, but was also dumb. Such is Wellington Phoenix life.

I could say the same about Doyle, who looks great on attack but was found wanting defensively far too often. The issue here is that it would be rude to single out Doyle's defensive mishaps as veterans like skipper Andrew Durante, Manny Muscat and Glen Moss weren't too hot either.

At their worst, Durante and Muscat look slow and cumbersome. The standard of attacking players in the A-League is such nowadays that if Durante and Muscat aren't quite at their best, they either become turnstiles or are found out of position far too often. I'm not sure what Durante was up to for his own goal, somehow between he and Moss (who were within a few metres of each other) they fluffed what should have been a fairly easy clearance/take. Muscat then stood and watched as Morten Nordstrand skipped past him to score the winner.

Defence wins championships apparently and the Nix certainly won't be winning any championship this season.

Newcastle weren't amazing, they do however that Leonardo chap who bordered on wizardry with that ball at his feet (when he wasn't inexplicably passing it to Caspar). Many times this season I have found myself pondering my envy, envy at the quality the opposing team has or in this case the quality play-maker Newcastle had in Leonardo. Newcastle weren't overly good themselves - as seen in Leonardo's barking and his two great passes/one shocking pass nature - however they did have a bloke who could make things happen with relative ease.

Michael McGlinchey and Roly Bonevacia are meant to be these players (not Hamish Watson) but far too often this season McGlinchey and Roly have been put in the shade by an opposing play-maker. Sure, Roly's been hacked down every game but the lack of impact or influence he and McGlinchey have had this season reflects the Nix's poor form.

With that win, Newcastle sit 8th on the ladder with 23 points while the Nix are in 9th on 19 points. Wellington host Melbourne City on Friday night and we're going to learn a lot about the Nix in this game. There's still an outside chance of finals football, especially with a few home games in the bag so a win over an impressive City side could set the wheels in motion but that's a stretch right now and simply seeing a cohesive attacking display along with some gritty defence would wash down well.