Excuses wearing thin for United

Gary Caffell
Excuses are wearing thin as Wairarapa United struggles for survival in their debut season in football's Central League competition.
Just the one win and two draws in eight matches has left them being hounded by the spectre of relegation and a major shift in attitude will be required if the "unthinkable" is to be avoided.
Sunday's 3-0 loss to fellow strugglers Palmerston North Marist was a classic case of the current malaise in the Wairarapa United camp.
PNM did play well but they were aided and abetted by a Wairarapa United side who all too often gave the impression of simply going through the motions.
Which is an absolute indictment of a squad which includes several players who have strutted their stuff successfully on the international and national stage.
Frustrating too was the lack of discipline shown by senior players who should know better.
Yes, for what must seem like the umpteenth time this season numerous refereeing decisions did seem to go against the home side but even players of schoolboy age understand that once a referee and that goes for any sport has made a ruling they are not going to change it.
So standing there voicing dissent is tantamount to asking the referee to go searching for his yellow card as he did on Sunday three times to the home team's detriment.
But it wasn't only the referee who was subjected to abuse, there were occasions too when Wairarapa United players gave their own team-mates a verbal blast. Loudly enough for spectators to get the drift as well.
How that is expected to enhance morale on the field of play is difficult to fathom, particularly when again it is coming from players who should be leading by example, rather than acting like spoiled brats.
No doubt the difference in standard between the Capital premier division and the Central League has played a minor part in Wairarapa United's form slump.
Central league certainly requires a greater degree of proficiency in both a mental and physical sense and it was always likely to take them a little while to come to terms with it.
But there is no way a Wairarapa United side which performed so consistently well to take out the premier division title last season and then earn promotion to the Central League should be experiencing the hassles they are now.
In the main they are self inflicted and attitude-based and therefore cannot be blamed for their present positioning on the points table which sees only Wellington United behind them, and that by just the one point.
Fortunately, however, the Central League season still has 10 series of matches to go, well and truly time enough for Wairarapa United to not only remove themselves from any threat of relegation but to actually finish in a mid-table position.
And that is sure to be the main thrust of some hard talking to be done by team management when the squad meets for their usual Tuesday night training session this evening.
Coach Phil Keinzley is the first to agree excuses are wearing thin for his side's constant failures to produce the goods and he also agrees the time has come for the issues mentioned above to be addressed in a forthright manner, both individually and collectively.
"We have to be honest with ourselves, that's the key to getting things back on the right track," he said. "We can't keep making the same mistakes and expecting things to get better. We have to confront the problems we have head on, and anybody who isn't prepared to do that might as well move on. That's how ruthless we have to be."
While disappointed by the results achieved by Wairarapa United thus far this season Keinzley considers the eight games played have proven one important thing and that is that by playing to their potential on a consistent basis Wairarapa United had the ability to beat any of the Central League sides.
"That's no bullshit, we have the talent, it's just a case of players going out there to give their all for their team-mates, and their supporters," he said. "If the attitude is right the results will come, I'm absolutely sure of that."