Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson will be looking to break two records when his side face Central Coast in Gosford on Saturday evening.
Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson will be looking to break two records when his side face Central Coast in Gosford on Saturday evening.
Perth are gunning for a club record fourth consecutive Hyundai A-League victory, while they’re are also looking to break the Bluetongue Stadium hoodoo, having never won at the venue since the competition started back in 2005.
In fact in nine previous clashes with Central Coast in Gosford, the Mariners have won eight of those matches, with the Glory having won just two of the 18 games played between these sides.
Although the Mariners, last season’s beaten grand finalists, haven’t set the world on fire so far, having recorded a draw and two losses, Ferguson certainly isn’t taking them lightly.
Indeed, when these teams line up against each other on Saturday night it will almost be a year to the day since the Mariners destroyed the Glory 5-0 on October 30 last year, as the Halloween horror show came a day early for the West Australian side.
“We did go there last year and we did get beat ridiculously,” said Ferguson, grimly recalling what was his third game in charge of Perth, after former coach Dave Mitchell stepped down early in the season.
“We’ll try to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“I don’t like dwelling too much on the past. But we’ve got to keep our feet grounded and we’ve got to bring these things up.”
“If we don’t learn anything from last year, then we shouldn’t be here. These are painful reminders.”
This season, though, Ferguson heads to New South Wales for the first of two away clashes with the Mariners and the Jets, boasting a perfect record of three wins from three matches with his rebuilt squad.
But while the coach was delighted with the side’s first-up win over Adelaide, he hasn’t been completely satisfied with the attacking flow over the last two games against Melbourne Heart and Wellington, even if his side has taken maximum points.
“Everybody’s played really well and they’ve worked very hard,” Ferguson said.
“They’re a team that won’t give up, which is great, they work very hard for each other and close people down.”
“The system is good at the moment when we’re defending, but going forward, we’re not doing it with the fluency we did against Adelaide, so that’s what we’re trying to get to.”
And as for Central Coast, Ferguson, a former assistant at the Mariners, believes his old side may be struggling to cope with being marked men so far this campaign.
“I don’t like commenting on other teams, but they’ve just come from the Grand Final and it’s like a cup final for every other team that plays against them,” he said.
“And that’s what they’ve got to realise, they’re the benchmark as well and it’s tough for them.”
“When I was there as well, it was the same thing that happened after the first season we were in the Grand Final, I think we ended up finishing seventh or eighth the next season.”
“Because you have to realise there’s expectations now and it’s tough, and the teams playing against you make it their cup final,” he said.
