Another Southern United season is over - and another unwanted wooden spoon is the result. Long-serving Otago Daily Times football writer Rab Smith looks back on the summer and ahead to the next campaign.
The statistics
Results: Played 16, won three, drew one, lost 12.
Goals: Scored 20, conceded 39.
Placing: Ninth (last), with 10 competition points, four points behind Canterbury.
Leading scorers: Tom Jackson was a mile in front with nine goals. Andrew Ridden, Jude Fitzpatrick and Nick Hindson got two goals each.
Best performances
After an opening loss, Southern beat Canterbury 1-0 (away) and had a superb 2-1 win over Waitakere.
Worst performances
Southern led the Phoenix reserve team 2-0 before collapsing to a 6-2 loss. It may be some sort of ASB Premiership record that Taylor Boyd scored his four goals in the 84th, 88th, 89th and 93rd minutes.
Star players
Tom Jackson showed immense potential and the ability to live on crumbs of ball possession as he scored nine goals, on top of harrying opposition defences, and hurling in his giant attacking throw-ins.
Not far behind the striker, Cam Attwood showed all the qualities of a future quality defender. Steady, consistent, dependable, and tough, he was unlucky not to achieve representative honours.
The gaffer
Mike Fridge's dream start evaporated as injuries and player availability shredded his squad, and the Scot was forced to continually adjust his starting XI. He achieved some good performances - but not enough wins. He has a two-year contract.
What went wrong
Injuries to key players such as centreback Matt Joy meant that youngsters Attwood and Andrew Ridden shouldered a heavy burden in central defence. Both of those players were young enough to be eligible for Southern's youth team.
Near-veteran Craig Ferguson was a steadying influence, and midfielders Eder Franchini Pasten and Victor da Costa gave team balance, before the Chilean was injured and Frenchman Da Costa left in a fit of pique.
At best, Southern played impressive attacking football, but at worst leaked goals like a sieve, and lacked consistency.
Next season
Will probably be a repeat of the last three seasons - few wins, and near bottom of the league each year - unless several new experienced players are imported.
All other regions recruit to strengthen their squads. Otago's best years were when affordable tradesmen with decent football experience were recruited. All White Steve Wooddin came to Dunedin as a boilermaker, Pat Berry was a printer, and others like Jimmy Wilson, Dave Munro, Doug Hemmings and George Morris were recruited. Tradesmen are again needed in New Zealand and a similar scheme could again be implemented.
Youth coaching has greatly improved, producing the likes of Cam Howieson, Joel Stevens and others, but the best solution is to have a blend of youngsters coming through the ranks alongside experienced players who have played at a higher level than is available in Otago.
The best youth development is to be playing and training alongside experienced players, and to have a qualified coach who can select a balanced squad.
Better results and better performances will lead to better numbers watching the game, reversing the recent trend of sparse crowds watching poor performances on the field.
