Yeah alright then, who saw that coming? Doesn’t even matter how many international dudes are missing, every extra fella that skips off they score another goal. The Wellington Phoenix probably still won’t make the playoffs and they’re not even that much closer after this win but they’re still alive to fight another week. As Monsieur Buckingham said in the aftermath, there’s a pulse.

Plus a performance like that, well… when you can do that with seven international players missing then it really puts the place of those international players into some perspective. Glen Moss has been mostly superb this season but Lewis Italiano has looked comfortable each time he’s filled in for him. Andrew Durante should still be numero uno at the back though he’s not getting any younger and he’ll benefit from staying sharp on his toes. Tommy Doyle as well, the injuries get most of the blame but it’s not like he’s grabbed that left back role like he did last season.

Alex Rufer doesn’t count, he’s barely featured all season, but Mike McGlinchey, who was so good for the All Whites on the weekend, perhaps doesn’t quite fit in this team at the moment. Perhaps you can even say the same thing about Roy Krishna, whose second half of the season hasn’t been nearly as wonderful as the first half and lately he’s been that little bit off. Doesn’t take much to guess he might be one of the ones Mossy was alluding to that weren’t sticking firm to the script. As for Shane Smeltz, it could be that his silkier style of hold-up play ain’t doing the same as the less refined but more physical Hamish Watson.

Ah, that all feels like a huge overreaction, to be honest. It was one game. Sure, they pumped the Jets 5-0 and it was amazing but Newcastle aren’t about to start winning trophies any time soon. This pretty much ended their finals hopes so for them to collapse in the second half, let’s just say we’ve all seen the difference between a team with something to play for and a team without it before. That was it, the goal before half-time effectively killed it. The rest was sweet, sweet icing on the cake.

Still, what do ya do know after that when it comes to picking next week’s XI? Assuming there are no injuries to the All Whites lads then surely Moss and Durante come in for Italiano and Fox… but the rest of them you’d have to think hard about. Kosta Barbarouses was magnificent in this game. It was his best performance of the season by a long way and he scored a lovely goal to celebrate it – hey it’s almost like he had something to prove! Meanwhile Gui Finkler is suddenly popping up with goals all the time - that’s three in three games after only two in the entire season previously. Roly Bonevacia scored too, he’s a favourite in this column already.

Thing is, these are first team players already, guys who were starting under Ernie and Buck/Greenie both. There have been selection dramas from the start but they were down to poor performances. Now there’s competition because, for one week at least, guys have actually done stuff. But supposing Hamish Watson is expendable – and he might not be – the way they shaped up against the Jets only leaves room for one of Wee Mac, Krishna and Smeltzy. So… take your pick.

It was a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield, was what it looked like Sunday night. Flat back four, though with the fullbacks expected to push up when in possession, and Vinnie Lia playing deeper and Professor Fink at the peak of the midfield. Kosta played in behind striker Watto.

As it happens, that’s completely different to the 4-2-3-1 formation that lost to the Western Sydney Wanderers the week before. You could say that the change was down to limited personnel however this has been a trend of the entire Greenie & Buck Era. They started off by simplifying what they were trying to do and it got them a few hard fought draws and the odd win. Then the results stopped coming. Since then the desperation to save the season has led to endless switches in selections and formations. Some determined by injury and suspension, plenty not.

This was the Nix’s second win in nine games, since beating Melbourne Victory 3-0 at Westpac back on January 17. Including that Victory victory, the Nix have only once lined up with the same formation in two games in a row (losing 3-1 to Sydney with a 4-3-3 and repeating the dose for a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Melbourne City). The formations they submit on the official team sheets don’t always reflect what they play, with all the little tweaks, but that still shows you how the coaches have been playing mix and match for the perfect formula.

In the space of ten games we’ve seen them lose five, draw two and win three – they’ve been all over the place with their results. They’ve also been all over the place with three-man midfields, with midfield diamonds, with three up front, with one up front. Roly Bonevacia has played in the number ten behind the striker and he’s played as a pure central midfielder… and in between. Plus on the bench too, he’s been there a lot (starting only two of the last six).

Finkler as well, he’s been used as a central midfielder and as an inverted striker. Now he’s having success playing as an attacking midfielder where he’s surely best. Can’t argue his form has peaked since his kid was born too – he’s returned to the best streak of his season. Roy Krishna, who played outstanding as a centre forward early on, has been used on the right and on the left, as a winger and as a wide midfielder… but hardly through the middle unless he breaks structure. Kosta’s been similarly used out wide but just had his best game through the middle.

How about the fullbacks? Apart from 45 minutes from Ryan Lowry, it’s been a two man show on either side with Tom Doyle starting five at LB and Adam Parkhouse five at LB. Jacob Tratt’s started six on the right and Matt Ridenton has started three (and a half, given the weekend’s HT sub appearance). Ridenton’s also had a blinder in the win away to Brisbane… playing as an attacking midfielder! That’s probably where he’s best though as a young dude he’s having to fit in where he gets in. Had he not been ill during the week, he’d have started at right back against Newcastle. Central defence is clearly the Durante/Rossi Show… except for various reasons they’ve only started five of the last ten games together. Ryan Lowry and Dylan Fox the fill-ins when needed.

Shane Smeltz has started when available across this entire span of games but he did miss two through suspension and one with All Whites duty. Hamish Watson filled in twice and Gui Finkler got his inverted striker role, which was really an attacking mid with Krishna and Barba pushing past him. The first two games he missed were those 4-3-3 pumpings… the third was this 5-0 win. Quite the contrast.

The only untouchables have been Vince Lia and Alex Rodriguez, who have started all ten of these games. Sometimes as a midfield duo, sometimes in a trio with Lia playing deeper. But they’ve always been there… and maybe not always deservedly (though they were very good against Newcastle, Lia especially).

The crazy thing is that this is only ten games we’re talking about. Ten crucial games that envelop the five game run without a win that’s pretty much killed the season. And in that we’ve see variations on about five different formations and only one game with an unchanged starting XI. That was the match which followed the Victory win but they lost it late to Brisbane and switched up the shape for the next one (as well as Lowry filling in for a suspended Rossi). Then came three straight defeats and selections got weird, continuity was lost.

This is all a sign of a team that doesn’t know what it’s trying to do. There’s not a structure they’re confident in falling back on and the young coaches have been too quick (and sometimes against their will) to alter things. Now they’ve finally put together a ninety minutes worth persisting with (in a new shape) and they did it with a third of the first team squad missing.

They won’t be missing next time and there are no more second chances. Lose next week away to Melbourne Victory and it might be worth chucking in a few young guys for starts with an eye on next season, we’ll look at that in more focus if/when it comes to pass. For now we’ve got a very interesting game coming up against a team which just lost out on the Minor Premiership and Des Buckingham and Chris Greenacre have some interesting decisions to make.