Patience is a virtue, but it's one Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick is struggling to practice at the moment.
A 92nd-minute Milos Ninkovic goal consigned Wellington to a 1-0 defeat to Sydney FC on Sunday - a third successive loss which extends their goal-less A-League run to over 270 minutes.
Merrick is struggling on two levels. Firstly, it's hard to believe his team haven't been able to score in three matches, given the quality of his new signings and the attack-minded style of football they're playing.
And secondly, more specific to Sunday's game at Westpac Stadium. Merrick is struggling to understand some of the calls made against his team after two goals were disallowed for offside play.
The first offside call came after 13 minutes, Michael McGlinchey slotting Kosta Barbarouses's low cross home before assistant referee Sarah Jones raised the flag.
The second came three minutes before halftime, when Roy Krishna was ruled offside after finding the back of the net off a well-weighted Barbarouses through ball.
And Merrick also disputed a third call, late in the second half when the offside flag again halted Barbarouses when he was through one-on-one with Sydney keeper Danny Vukovic.
However, he has no plans to take his concerns to Football Federation Australia or referees' boss Ben Wilson.
"There's no point. I did speak to the officials afterwards, and said 'when you review that, I'd appreciate an apology if it was onside'. But they're not too good at that sort of thing." Merrick said.
"The silly thing is that if the defender and the striker are in line or if there's any doubt, it's supposed to go in favour of the striker but no, it doesn't - they keep giving it to defenders."
In the meantime, Merrick says his players will be working hard to lift themselves for their round four clash away to Melbourne Victory.
"The boys are very flat... they can't believe we're bottom of the league, and neither can I."
Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold is another who is confident the Phoenix can overcome their horror start to the season.
"They're not a bottom-placed team. Ernie's a fantastic coach, and he's got them playing wonderful football," he said.
"When you've got players like Barbarouses, Finkler, McGlinchey and Krishna, it's only a matter of time."
