Scotland Out England Back In

Zephyr Rovers Manager Steve Hall said he was feeling for Chairman Nash after Scotland were eliminated from the European Championship. "I knew George was getting up early to watch the match so losing right at the end was obviously a tough one for him" said Hall "although reality suggests they were always going to be lucky to get a result". Hall said he was more than happy to wake up and find Israel had dealt to Russia to open up the opportunity for England to qualify if they could at least draw with Croatia in their final match. " I was always confident the Israelis could come up with something to beat the Russians" said Hall "I'm sure they probably spiked the pre-match vodka supply with something that removed the alcohol". Hall said it was pleasing after the Russians had gone on and on all week about what a great team they were that they got stuffed. "That will teach them" said Hall "although England could still construct a way to lose to Croatia and hand it all back".

Phoenix Choke For Draw

Zephyr Rovers Chairman George Nash and Manager Steve Hall watched the Phoenix match against Sydney from the luxury of the Corporate Lounge in order to get a closer look at Phoenix tactics. "We thought we should get up in the lounge and see if we could pick up any pointers from up there we could take back to Rovers" said Hall "and what I think we found was that it can be handy to be able to buy a Heineken whilst you're watching the match". Hall said Phoenix self destructed in the ninety-first minute giving away a penalty to a ten man Sydney. "It was horrible" said Hall "even worse than Nigel missing a sitter for the equaliser on full time for Rovers last week". Hall said he thought Wellington indoor should look at selling beer in the Shed 1 lounge. "I think it should be a top priority just after they put toilets and showers in there".

Shapeshifter In

A productive session at the Thistle Hotel this afternoon between Zephyr Manager and Chairman ensured that Rovers will be ready to go for their fixture on Monday against Ten Left Feet. "We'll have Matty Cantwell and Colin McIntosh out again but we'll have Eddie back" said Zephyr Rovers Manager Steve Hall "and we've decided to call in veteran player Rob Purcell from Shapeshifters because he drinks at the Thistle sometimes". Hall said that drinking at the Thistle was not a selection criteria it just happened Rob's name came up because we were drinking at the Thistle" said Hall "we think he has some of the qualities we're looking for in our squad and he can always learn to play football later". Nash (pictured) said he thought Purcell had a lethal left foot which could be useful playing against Ten Left Feet. "We need one on our side as well" said Nash "although he might be right footed I can't quite remember after all these ales".

Crisis Conference

Zephyr Rovers Manager Steve Hall and Chairman George Nash have called a crisis meeting tomorrow at the Thistle Inn in Wellington."Well I know the Chairman has every confidence in me so we'll probably use most of the meeting to discuss the merits if the establishments beer" said Hall "and we might mention selections for next week just to make sure we have enough players to select from". Hall said the whilst the Thistle was not officially the Zephyr Rovers bar because they didn't appear to be providing free beer yet for the Chairman and Manager. "It's no doubt something we should talk to the pub management about" said Hall "I can see the merits of having a regular haunt for free beer, it makes alot of commercial sense".

Robbed Blind

Zephyr Rovers Manager Steve Hal said today the All Blacks had seen nothing compared to the performance of the referee at Shed 6. "The guy gives us a penalty then lets the opposition stand in front of the kick, and then when we score anyway he demands it be retaken because he hadn't blown the whistle". Hall said thirty seconds later the exact same offence by Rovers was given a direct penalty. "I don't know how he sleeps but the final goal of the game was propelled forward by an opposition hand to the cry of "play on" from the referee. Rovers had been reduced to five by the late withdrawal of Matty Cantwell and Ben White started in the outfield. "We only had five and Ben pulled up after about a minute and went in goal" said Hall "but we played ok for a while and George was on fire early on". Hall said the game was close and Harp Shooters pipped Rovers right at the end with a latish goal. "It was a travesty, we didn't finish well but by then the referee had had an undue influence on the outcome" said Hall "the frustration levels were high both at him and ourselves". Hall said Rovers would put that one behind them and work towards a win next week.

Final: Rovers 5 Shooters 6

Away Game

Zephyr Rovers will be "playing away" in their match tomorrow as they move from the luxury of the Shed of Dreams to the less familiar surroundings of Shed 6. "I don't think we've always played as well in Shed 6" said Zephyr Rovers Manager Steve Hall "it is something to do with the pitch being a different shape I think". Hall said John Cao would be a key player on the day. "He's been in holiday mode with his trip to Fiji but we need him to dominate in this game and quickly snap into a high work rate". Rovers play Harp Shooters with an early kick of at 11 am. "I know the game is just after breakfast but we had a very close game with these guys last time" said Hall "so we need to be quick out of the blocks to put pressure on them".

Brainstorming Breakfast

Zephyr Rovers Manager Steve Hall admitted today he'd been disappointed with recent attendances at the Shed of Dreams and would be having a brainstorming breakfast tomorrow with Supporters Club President Liz Pollock (pictured) to see if he could get to the bottom of what was going on. "I'm going to have a think tank with Liz about what we could do to double our attendances as they seem to have slipped lately" said Hall "I'll be taking along Director of Football Nikki File and Marketing Manager Heather Fernandes to see if we can come up with some ideas on how to generate interest in the club". Hall said he thought the quality of the football was attractive but it was possible Rovers needed to introduce pre-match and half time entertainment. "I know the lads would be happy with a cheer leading squad prancing around on the pitch at half time" said Hall "but personally I think Eddie showing his chest off would work and would pull in more of the Generation Q folk - or whatever letter we're up to for Generations these day". Hall said he club profiling had found Rovers were most popular with the Irish and Italian communities but nurses as an occupational group had a healthy interest in the team. "I credit Eddie and John for most of that support" said Hall.