Stay ‘ruthless’: Coach’s call to players as they hunt crucial wins

Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson has been impressed with his players this year - but has urged them to turn consistent dominance into more Central League wins. Photo / Neil Reid

As football’s Central League nears its midway stage, Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson is urging his players to be consistently “ruthless” in a bid to turn dominance into competition points.

The Bluewater Stadium-based team sit in fifth spot on the points table after seven rounds, with a record of three wins, one draw and three losses.

The Jim Hoyle-captained team has played some outstanding football so far this season, including dominating their opposition in every match.

But the thing holding them back on the points table has been the at-times failure to close matches out; either by not converting golden goal-scoring chances or gifting soft goals at the other end of the pitch.

Ahead of this weekend’s bye – due to preliminary Chatham Cup action – Robertson spoke of how impressed he was by the style of play his team was showing, but also the frustration of missing out on precious competition points.

“Arguably, we should have won every game we have played in so far,” Robertson said.

“I don’t think there is anyone that has dominated us. It is positive that we have been dominant in every single game, but you have to turn that into results. We are all aware of that.

“Being ruthless in the final third [of the pitch] is really important. And in the games that we have done that we have ended up winning comfortably.”

The impressive style of the Napier City Rovers' 2023 Central League squad has been drawing bigger crowds to Bluewater Stadium. Photo / Neil Reid

Sunday’s round seven 3-2 loss to Wellington Phoenix Reserves was another example of points left on the pitch by Napier City Rovers this season.

The side dominated their rivals for the majority of the game and were locked 2-2 late in the match. But a 90th minute strike from Kaelin Nguyen denied them at least a point from the match.

Robertson said results like that had left him “frustrated”.

“We dominated another game of football and ended up on the losing end . . . you sit down and analyse it and I am not too sure how we did that,” he said.

“We had three times as many shots as the opposition, 25 shots on goal to their eight. Those stats are pretty consistent [this season]; we are creating a lot of chances and have been scoring a lot of goals.

“Ultimately we have to turn those performances into results.”

The frustration from within the Napier City Rovers’ playing squad post-match after missing out on points against Wellington Phoenix Reserves was clear to see for the impressive-sized crowd who watched the game at Bluewater Stadium on Sunday.

As fans packed up for the day, gutted Rovers players stayed on the ground trying to comprehend how the match they played so well in had failed to net them a result.

Robertson said the team was clearly “disappointed”, but also upbeat about what lay ahead as the halfway point in the Central League season nears.

“We were so dominant in the game and to end up with nothing was disappointing.

“I think they are a wee bit disappointed with the table and where we stand with the points as well. But they know what is important and know we just need to keep pushing, training hard and hopefully the results will come.

“The positives are we are playing well, performing well and creating chances. The message to the players is to continue to do that and hopefully in turn the results will come.”

Robertson highlighted the 5-0 win over Waterside Karori in fifth round action as the match he thought was the best his team had played so far.

Early dominance was turned into quickfire goals in the opening quarter of the match, with the team leading 4-0 at halftime. It was a complete team performance, with Napier City Rovers not easing up in any area.

“We took our chances early. If you score goals, it changes the complexion of the game,” he said.

“It gives you good confidence moving forward into the rest of the game.”

That early dominance had been shown in the early stages of other games, but hadn’t always been successfully turned into goals.

The most frustrating match for Robertson had been the 4-2 round two loss to Petone away.

“It was a game we were leading in and looked comfortable and should have been able to see out the game,” he said.

“Then we conceded sloppy goals. That was a performance where we went, ‘We could probably have done a bit more there’.”

After this weekend’s bye, Napier City Rovers crack back into Central League action away against league leaders Wellington Olympic next Saturday.

Former Manchester City youth team player Deri Corfe has been an impressive signing for Napier City Rovers this season. Photo / Neil Reid

Wellington Olympic won last year’s league but was on the end of an upset 3-2 loss to Stop Out last weekend.

Robertson said it was a challenge he believed his squad would rise to and they would travel to Wellington upbeat about their chances.

“They [Wellington Olympic] have a fantastic squad of players and a lot of depth,” he said. “It is not going to be easy going away to play there; probably no one is expecting us to go there to get a result so we can go into that one as underdogs.

“But we will go there and we are confident that on our day we have got the players and the set-up and ability to beat anyone. We are confident we can get a result.”

The game will be the first away trip for new Napier City Rovers recruit Stefan Karajovanovic.

The 24-year-old Canadian was impressive in his debut against Wellington Phoenix Reserves. That included providing a goal assist, created another couple of cracking chances for his team-mates, as well as several attempts on goal himself.

He has experience in the Canadian Premier League, as well as the MLS Next Pro League; the third tier of American pro football.

“He was looking for an opportunity overseas to kickstart his career and get him back into professional football,” Robertson said.

“He’s come in and done well since he arrived. I thought his performance on the weekend was good.

“I think he will add another option for us in the attacking third and add some value over the course of the season.”