Coach axed after humiliation
Phoenix put eight past Central Coast
Wellington Phoenix coach Mark Rudan hailed his team for their ‘‘ruthless’’ performance in a record 8-2 win over Central Coast Mariners on Saturday night.
Roy Krishna and Sarpreet Singh both scored twice in the remarkable rout as the Phoenix easily secured the winning margin required to overtake Adelaide United and Melbourne City and move into fourth place on the A-league ladder.
The humiliating defeat ended up costing Mariners coach Mike Mulvey his job. He was sacked three hours later.
‘‘I don’t think any coach thinks they’re going to hit eight past any opponent, be it at home or away,’’ Rudan said.
‘‘But certainly if you looked at their reaction from two weeks ago, it’s a long time between drinks particularly after a loss. We worked extremely hard to make sure we weren’t going to be complacent.
‘‘It was all about attitude and making sure the gameplan was the right one, but we were ruthless tonight and I’m really proud of them.’’
The record win comes at a time when Rudan’s future as Phoenix coach remains up in the air and has threatened to overshadow the team’s charge towards the playoffs.
While players dismissed the notion that speculation surrounding Rudan’s future plans could be a distraction heading into the business end of the season, when they fronted the media earlier in the week, the man himself said Saturday’s performance was proof the players were focused on the task at hand.
‘‘It’s a very strong statement tonight, particularly after the kind of questions [we’ve] had over the last few weeks if it’s playing on their minds. I think tonight gave you the answer of what we’re about. There’s absolutely nothing that is going to stop us or get in our way.’’
It took just eight minutes for the deadlock to be broken, with Sam Graham conceding an own goal off a Krishna cross.
Krishna was the game’s most influential figure and he doubled the lead by lobbing goalkeeper Ben Kennedy before David Williams added a third after 21 minutes.
The Phoenix marksman then killed the game off right before halftime by netting his 14th goal of the A-league season to go level with Sydney FC’S Adam Le Fondre in the Golden Boot race.
The goal frenzy continued in the second half. Singh, Liberato Cacace and Louis Fenton all got in on the action as the Phoenix racing out to a 7-0 lead before the Mariners finally struck through Jack Clisby and Stephen Mallon.
But the Phoenix were not done there. Singh scored a recordbreaking eighth goal in the 88th minute to cap off one of the most remarkable results in the club’s history.
It surpassed the Phoenix’s 6-0 win over Gold Coast United in 2009 as their biggest win.
‘‘The big fat lady doesn’t come out all that often but she came out tonight,’’ Rudan said.
With Steven Taylor (injury) and Alex Rufer (suspension) unavailable, Rudan handed a first start to defender Antony Golec and a second start to midfielder Max Burgess.
Burgess was particularly impressive, assisting on Krishna’s second goal with a brilliant defence-splitting pass, and should retain a starting role for this Sunday’s match against Western Sydney Wanderers, particularly as Singh will miss the game through suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card.
Rudan also handed A-league debuts to Callan Elliot and Gianni Stensness once the score blew out in the second half. Although there involvement was limited, the coach said he was extremely proud of the fact the Phoenix were willing to put their faith in promising young New Zealand players.
‘‘Give them confidence, work with them daily and they’ll improve. We’ve seen that with Sarpreet Singh and Libby Cacace. We’ll keep rolling them out and we’ll keep giving them opportunities. I thought today was a perfect time for them to step in.’’