Adelaide United returned to the winners list on Wednesday night following back-to-back losses with coach Rini Coolen admitting it was a perfect way to start the ownership of the Robert Gerard-led consortium who took over the club on Monday.
Coolen acknowledged the Reds’ 2-0 victory over Perth Glory was less than convincing after lacklustre first half.
The Dutchman admitted he had a bit to say at the break but was delighted with United’s response after half-time to overcome a fierce and stubborn Glory whose horror run has been extended to no wins and nine losses from 10 games.
“Yeah I think so, to start with the three points, the win is what we need,” he said.
“It was two different halves of course. I was not happy with the first half. We made a few mistakes in the first couple of minutes and then we have some problems trying to get back into the game.”
“We showed in the second half we can play football, that’s what we have to do, play like a man. We talked about it at half-time, there were some hard words, not only about not trying to play football but also about a few players not doing their jobs.”
“Everybody can make mistakes, that’s not a problem but not doing your job and not playing football that’s what happened in the first half. To be honest I’m real happy with how they picked it up in the second half.”
Coolen disagreed Perth targeted the Reds with ‘anti-football’ tactics despite the Glory collecting seven yellow cards, including two for Naum Sekulovski who was given his marching orders just after the hour.
The Dutchman stepped in to defend referee Ryan Sheppard, who dished out a total of nine yellow cards for the match, saying his players should be ‘stronger’ if decisions do not go their way.
“It’s football, it’s a contact sport so you have to be strong,” he said.
“A referee can make mistakes. If you think it’s a free kick and he doesn’t well you have to be stronger next time. There are a lot of free kicks and also a few moments that we could have had a free kick and we didn’t so that’s sometimes positive, sometimes negative.”
“There were not a lot of good decisions from the referee but we can’t blame him for that. We have to play our game and be stronger and play football like we did in the second half.”
Reds captain Travis Dodd returned to post-match media commitments for the first time this campaign and admitted he was satisfied with United claiming maximum points.
Dodd joked about missing an open goal from the edge of the area, admitting he is getting a ‘reputation’ for squandering chances after last season blasting wide from inside the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.
The winger was introduced at the start of the second half and again swung the tide in United’s favour but conceded he is still ‘well under done’ in terms of being match fit and ready to start.
“I’m getting a bad reputation for missing those easy ones,” he said.
“I’m happy that we won. It was a very good performance in the second half, that’s what it’s about, the team effort and the team got the three points.”
“That was a pretty solid hit out for me tonight. I guess match fitness wise I’m still well under done, that’s the most I’ve played all year. I think it’s just a case of sitting down with the coach and working out a program to try and play more and more minutes each week.”
