Football: McGlinchey cool about Central Coast match

Michael McGlinchey. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The crowd will tell you when Wellington Phoenix forward Michael McGlinchey touches the ball tonight.

The boos and jeers will probably ring out across Central Coast Stadium in Gosford as the former Mariners player makes a return to his old homeground for the first time.

McGlinchey's eventual arrival at the Phoenix was one of the more bizarre stories of the A-League's off-season and the bitter tug of war left a sour taste at both clubs.

The Phoenix eventually got their man but it has probably created a mini-rivalry between the Mariners and Wellington in the process.

"I'm not sure how it's going to play out," McGlinchey said of the potential reception from Mariners fans. "If it is [negative] then so be it. But I had a fantastic time at the Mariners; it's a great club. I was there five years and they were very successful so I'll always look back on my time there with happy memories."

Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante had a different stance though and welcomed an irate Mariners crowd.

"It'll be great," he said with a grin. "It's great for the league when stuff like this happens, there's controversy, the players leave other clubs and then they're the most-hated players. Michael served the Mariners really well.

"It's going to add spice to the game and we're all looking forward to going out there."

Durante's thoughts were different from those of Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick. "His focus will be just on playing football," Merrick said of McGlinchey. "I would hope the fans don't boo him but that's their prerogative. He's just a good lad who always performs well for his team. There's certainly no animosity on his part."

Crowd antics aside, Wellington need to make a sharp improvement from their season-opening 2-1 loss to Perth last Sunday.

Central Coast, often the quiet achievers of the A-League, opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets last weekend and are traditionally a tough side to break down.

Wellington's greatest concern will be around gaining control in the midfield where they were overwhelmed at times by Perth. "I don't think we got the structure of our defensive roles in the midfield right, and that's partly my fault," Merrick said.

The Phoenix conceded a league-worst 51 goals last summer but Merrick didn't want to make comparisons to last season.

"It's always a concern when you give away goals cheaply but this is a different team from last year and it's a team that's going to continue to improve."

Changes are unlikely within the starting XI, although Kenny Cunningham has returned from suspension and may make an appearance on the bench, which could help the Phoenix late in the game as they search for an attacking point of difference.

Phoenix v Mariners
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford, 7 tonight

Wellington Phoenix: (from) Glen Moss (gk), Manny Muscat, Roly Bonevacia, Michael Boxall, Kenny Cunningham, Alex Rodriguez, Nathan Burns, Michael McGlinchey, Jeremy Brockie, Albert Riera, Louis Fenton, Vince Lia, Ben Sigmund, Tom Doyle, Lewis Italiano (gk), Roy Krishna, Andrew Durante (c), Matthew Ridenton
Central Coast Mariners: (from) Matt Nash (gk), Storm Roux, Josh Rose, Jacob Poscoliero, Zac Anderson, John Hutchinson (c), Nick Montgomery, Mitchell Duke, Anthony Caceres, Nick Fitzgerald, Liam Reddy (gk), Malick Mane, Matt Sim, Glen Trifiro, Michael Neill, Isaka Cernak, Eddy Bosnar, Kim Seung-Yong