Jason Pine: Once famous across the A-league, Wellington Phoenix has lost its soul

Wellington Phoenix's head coach Darije Kalezic. Photo / photosport

With every passing week, Wellington Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic looks increasingly like an unsuspecting homebuyer who has purchased a property and is continually finding things wrong with it.

It's clear the squad he inherited isn't able to implement the style he wants to play. He's moved away from his early season tactic of playing out from the back and passing quickly through the thirds to create openings. Now there's very little in the way of an attacking plan at all.

The departures of Gui Finkler and Dario Vidosic and an injury to Roy Krishna have left the Phoenix almost completely devoid of creativity. Several times during their most recent game against Sydney FC, a Phoenix player had possession on halfway, but was simply unable to find an attacking outlet or start a dangerous move. It was a flat, lacklustre and ineffective display, particularly in the first half.

Frustratingly, maddeningly, this team can actually play. They've proved that many times this season, matching their opposition for large parts of several matches.

But that verve and confidence seems to have disappeared in recent weeks, especially at home, where they've conceded 11 goals in their last three matches and thrown open the gates to what was previously a fortress, allowing themselves to be ruthlessly exploited.

Kalezic was both brief and brutally frank when asked if the Phoenix could compete with the likes of Sydney FC. He simply replied that no, they couldn't. It now looks inevitable a major clean-out is coming.

No fewer than 13 players come off contract at the end of the season and if things continue in this vein, it's unlikely any more than half-a-dozen will be offered extensions. Even those with the relative security of a deal beyond this year aren't safe; some of them have barely featured this season, so it's hard to see them being retained.

Kalezic himself has made errors, too. Playing a teenaged goalkeeper for the first six games of the season may have seemed forward-thinking, but was actually naive. He had a perfectly good A-League goalkeeper on the roster, who he not only snubbed, but snubbed in favour of a youngster who, while promising, clearly wasn't ready.

In the Phoenix's formative years, they were famous across the A-League for their culture and unbreakable team bond. Every player who came to the club was invited to buy into that ethos which was built by the likes of Andrew Durante, Vince Lia, Tim Brown, Ben Sigmund, Paul Ifill and Manny Muscat.

A resolve and mateship developed which saw the side win games they shouldn't have and achieve success which appeared beyond the strength of their squad. The Phoenix had an undefinable and indestructible culture, which now appears to have greatly waned if not completely evaporated.

Those were halcyon days when no-one got an easy game against Wellington, fans came to matches with expectation rather than hope and the club stood for something.

Now though, it's hard to escape a rather sad, yet obvious conclusion.

Wellington Phoenix FC has lost its soul.