Every time the Nix have the chance to make a statement win, as was the case on Friday night when a win over Central Coast would have taken them off the bottom of the table for the first time since November, they seem to bugger it right up. Like, almost habitually. Daniel De Silva’s goal on the brink of half-time was the difference against CCM. A 1-0 defeat marking their twelfth loss in 21 games this A-League campaign.

At the start of the season they weren’t even that bad, they were losing and drawing games that they deserved to win – remember when they were 3-0 up at home against Brisbane Roar and went on to draw? – and Darije Kalezic was bemoaning a lack of killer instinct. Then they started adding the odd hiding to the mix and it took until their fourteenth game to earn their second win. The rot had set in.

There are heaps more issues that can be picked at. The record with and without Roy Krishna, for example. And it was Krishna who came closest to salvaging something for the Nix on the Coast as he skipped inside from the left side-line and smashed one into the side-netting. The forced rotation across the backline hasn’t helped. The mid-season axing of the assistant coach, some of the players who’ve left mid-term as well. The regular off-field issues that the club is forced to deal with. The team that Kalezic inherited, the team that Kalezic has tried to mould. Lots of stuff.

The end result is that we’re likely to be watching the worst season the Phoenix have ever had. It’s a long time since Paul Ifill inspired three straight finals appearances and with only a mathematical stretch of logic still to cling to in 2017-18 it’ll soon be five seasons out of six that they’ve missed the top six. Only one wooden spoon in that time, though they’re a decent shot at making that two in a month and a half. Either way they’re still eight points off the club’s worst points tally in a 27-game season (a ninth-place finish in 2015-16 under Old Mate Ernie).

The odd thing is that it doesn’t really feel like they’re any worse than they have been the last few years. There’s clearly a negative aura that’s settled upon the Nix which is only natural after several years of grinding mediocrity but the team’s no less talented. This is just what happens when you chop and change managers, when you swing and miss on marquee signings and when you stumble and fall a few too many times on the park. It’s like a psychic energy of failure, how else can you explain how dry and confused the team looked on Friday night? They were like the ghost of a football team, particularly in the first half.

Which leaves you wondering: what is there left to play for this season? It’s something that Kalezic himself spoke about in his post-match presser and he suggested three things…

1. "Do every game our best” out of “professional duty”.
2. Give extended minutes to fringe players so we can evaluate their place at the club and for the future of the club.
3. Get off the bottom of the bloody table.

Probably add that worst ever points total to the list of things to surpass as well and there you go.

One thing that doesn’t make much sense is sacking Darije Kalezic. There’s very little left to achieve this season, even those four things above are only consolation prizes. So what do you gain by firing the coach, other than a cathartic expression of mob mentality? More confusion is the answer to that. Unnecessary confusion. This season is already gone so anyone calling for Kalezic’s job should be thinking only of next season’s prospects and, honestly, is bringing in another gaffer to deal with a half-finished job from the last boss gonna be primed for immediate success? Nah, not really. The bed’s been made now we’ve gotta try get some sleep before we’re too cranky in the morning.

And anyway, the reasons for firing Kalezic are eerily similar to the reasons certain types suggest for kicking the Nix out of the league. Granted that Kalezic can actually be judged on results whereas the on-field results of the Wellington Phoenix should always be irrelevant to the club’s licence. That’s only ever a commercial decision and, seriously here, it’s pretty goddamn irresponsible for the Aussie football talking heads to suggest anything otherwise. Just saying, if commentators started chatting about the future of the Cleveland Browns on ESPN then the NFL would come down on them with the wrath of Zeus. The A-League’s gotta stop copping that from their commercial partners. Hey but at least we haven’t had one of those stupid comments for a couple weeks.

So instead we’ve also gotta pay attention to which of these fringers are stepping up to contribute regularly next season and which current regulars are not. It’s been a theme of these articles the last couple weeks. Those decisions aren’t going to be made in the short term, Roy Krishna had to really force his extension through ahead of time, but certain clues are there to be seen. Lewis Italiano, Michael McGlinchey and Marco Rossi do not seem to be in great positions to negotiate new deals. Goran Paracki’s been in and out lately while Andrija Kaludjerovic probably deserves to be.

Like, with Roy Krishna logged in for the 18-19 campaign, can we have a look at him through the middle maybe? Kalu is a proven goal scorer but he’s been playing pretty badly recently. The goals have dried up, he hasn’t hit the back of the net since December 23. That’s 831 minutes of football without a goal and the only reason nobody’s talking about that is because there’s so much else going on. Nathan Burns hasn’t scored yet either in nine games. Tell you what, wouldn’t mind more of a look at James McGarry, Logan Rogerson and Alex Rufer if Sarpreet Singh’s getting a go. Not all at once, obviously. Also with the state of these games it’s been hard to make a judgement on Monty Patterson other than that he’s fast. Ah well, see how it goes.

The Nix don’t play this weekend. There’s a split gameweek so they’re not in action again until Saturday 10 March when they clash weapons with Western Sydney Wanderers over the ditch. Hey, win that and they’ll only be six points off sixth place and in a prime position to suffer another demoralising defeat the following week just as they looked like they were about to salvage something, as they tend to do.

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