Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou remains adamant that there is nothing to worry about, despite his side falling to arch rivals Central Coast on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive loss.
The Mariners earned their breakthrough victory at Suncorp Stadium on the back of a clinical first half in which they taxed a sleepy Roar for two goals, one in the sixth minute from a keeper howler and a second in injury time coming through an enterprising counter-attack.
Brisbane, playing their fourth game in 14 days as an injury-depleted unit, came from the sheds with a second wind, dominating the possession and closing the margin to one by fulltime. And that second-half resurgence – both in spirit and execution – is where Postecoglou is directing his gaze.
“We’ve had 14 bad days and I’ve had head colds that have lasted longer than that,” said Postecoglou.
“It wouldn’t be the first time people have questioned what I’m doing so we’ll just get on with it. I’m hardly going to sit here and rip things apart that we’ve built for 18 months.”
“We had players out there tonight who shouldn’t have been playing but they keep putting their hands up. I thought the important thing was that we finished off strongly.”
“We’ve got quite a few injuries at the moment and there are guys who shouldn’t be out there. I couldn’t be prouder of the way they went about it in the second half. I’ve got no complaints at all.”
The Roar now has a chance to recharge the batteries with a welcome nine-day layoff before they take on Gold Coast in a Boxing Day M1 derby showdown.
Badly missed German playmaker Thomas Broich is expected to return from injury, along with defensive lynchpin and captain Matt Smith and attacking livewire Henrique.
The Mariners’ Pedj Bojic, who had the decisive second goal, admitted that Brisbane were an entirely different proposition with their big guns in the lineup.
“They’re missing that experience at the moment without the captain at the back and Broich, but they’ll get that back and be on their way again,” he said.
