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Season Preparation


heart_fan10
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From the australian football facebook page:

Newcastle Jets have announced they’ll play trials against high profile teams in Asia, in a bid to be prepared for the next A-League season.

I like this idea a lot and think it would help the team perform at a higher level. Would anything like this be an option for us in the coming seasons?

It would obviously mean the squad would have to be almost complete by the start of pre season apart from maybe 2-3 visa players. Not only would it help the players perform better and help them to bond/gel together, it could potentially be a scouting trip for the coaches to see what talent there is around.

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FFS, i have to give a big pat on the back to Newcastle for all their good work in pre-season.

not only have they made some really good signings, (Goodwin, Abbas, etc) but have some pretty smart people behind the scene with some good ideas.

FFS, Melbourne FC board members have seemingly tied their own hands together, if that makes any sense. :blink:

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From the australian football facebook page:

I like this idea a lot and think it would help the team perform at a higher level. Would anything like this be an option for us in the coming seasons?

It would obviously mean the squad would have to be almost complete by the start of pre season apart from maybe 2-3 visa players. Not only would it help the players perform better and help them to bond/gel together, it could potentially be a scouting trip for the coaches to see what talent there is around.

J-League season doesn't finish till December, as does the CSL and the K-League. So I don't know where these high profile asian clubs are going to come from. Possibly with Shanghai, J. Griffiths link, Bring Anelka down under etc... But apart from that it's garbage.

FFS, i have to give a big pat on the back to Newcastle for all their good work in pre-season.

not only have they made some really good signings, (Goodwin, Abbas, etc) but have some pretty smart people behind the scene with some good ideas.

FFS, Melbourne FC board members have seemingly tied their own hands together, if that makes any sense. :blink:

Not really, the advisory board was sacked. Baartzy is the only one left. Youth Team has been a fucking merry go round. Also, the jests let Abbas go to Hakoah.

Edited by Hendo
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Signed Scott Neville (23), James Brown (22), Mark Birighitti (21), Craig Goodwin (20), Adam Taggart (18), Mitch Cooper (17) and re-signed Michael Bridges.

Building a powerhouse or what?

Edited by LR9
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None of those names really scare me, Behich and Marrone are better than Neville and Goodwin and Mitch cooper if he is going to be a star will be long gone from the jets by the time he reaches his peak

Edited by Luke
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None of those names really scare me, Behich and Marrone are better than Neville and Goodwin and Mitch cooper if he is going to be a star will be long gone from the jets by the time he reaches his peak

Lol, the best young goalkeeper in the country, (yes I rate Birra above Ryan), one of the best young strikers in the league, the emerging star that is Goodwin and the super consistent Neville?

Newy are building a very strong team, and they are doing it the right way - stealing other teams young guns who are starved game time. We could have had all the aforementioned players, and they would all work for us - but we were too slow.

Edited by marteaux
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Lol, the best young goalkeeper in the country, (yes I rate Birra above Ryan), one of the best young strikers in the league, the emerging star that is Goodwin and the super consistent Neville?

Newy are building a very strong team, and they are doing it the right way - stealing other teams young guns who are starved game time. We could have had all the aforementioned players, and they would all work for us - but we where too slow.

Their decent standard A-league players no doubt but they're not world beaters

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Let's hope we get a sense that the club is under control soon. At the moment, although there is still time before the next season starts, it appears that the club has been caught with it's pants down on both coaches and players.

It will only take some appointments for supporters to perk up but it is all quiet at the moment with nothing announced.

In this day of constant communication, it would be good for the club to issue "steady as she goes, everything's alright" press releases to: 1. Stop the gossip and 2. Assure supporters that the club is in safe hands.

If the club is not issuing statements on it's business, you can be sure someone else (right or wrong) will.

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Lol, the best young goalkeeper in the country, (yes I rate Birra above Ryan), one of the best young strikers in the league, the emerging star that is Goodwin and the super consistent Neville?

Newy are building a very strong team, and they are doing it the right way - stealing other teams young guns who are starved game time. We could have had all the aforementioned players, and they would all work for us - but we were too slow.

In this league, another team signing good young players doesnt bother me, as they wont really reap the full benefits of it. What mattes is the quality you have now.

Once the salary cap is gone and transfer fees between A-League clubs are allowed it will be a different story.

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In this league, another team signing good young players doesnt bother me, as they wont really reap the full benefits of it. What mattes is the quality you have now.

Once the salary cap is gone and transfer fees between A-League clubs are allowed it will be a different story.

Exactly.

To many ppl on this forum are Youth obsessed, unlike certain other leagues and sports (AFL being the obv one) there is nothing really IMO to prove that a concentration on Youth is the winning formula for this League...

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there is nothing really IMO to prove that a concentration on Youth is the winning formula for this League...

couldn't agree more. in fact look at how well our defense played when some experience was injected in there.

to say a club has a youth focus at the same time as a focus on winning titles is a bit much. and saying we're not a feeder club is merely twisting words. the only reason investors want a youth focus is to sell players. and the only reason we're not a feeder club is because we have a "youth focus". it's just spin.

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To many ppl on this forum are Youth obsessed, unlike certain other leagues and sports (AFL being the obv one) there is nothing really IMO to prove that a concentration on Youth is the winning formula for this League...

Naive, obviously you can't win a professional championship in any sport with a predominatly young, inexperienced squad.

It has to be balanced and the Jets under GVE had it nailed to perfection. Newcastle have a rather vicious appetite for youth, always have and always will. Kantarovski was handed his first start at 16 ffs. GVE is obviously responsible for the aforementioned signings (LR9) and more notably won the championship with a focus on youth back in 07/08 whilst also playing an excellent brand of football. Song Jin Hyung, Tazza, D'Apuzzo, Bridge, Jobe, Stuey Musialik, James Holland all played a role in winning the championship. GVE is again building something similiar to the 07/08 squad and with a full pre season under his belt, Newcastle should go relatively close this season.

We've got the youth, all we need to add the pot is experience.

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obviously the ideal situation would be to have a squad full of quality players between 26-30 years old as that is generally when players are in their 'prime'

however, it's almost impossible in the a-league given the fact that quality players between 26-30 years old usually command wages above 150k and many around the 200k mark (therefore the salary cap won't allow it). Where as young players generally around 18-22 years old, are quite easy to get on basic wages up to around 80k.

I think in order to get a very strong team with quality players, the main positions (assuming a 4-3-3 formation) that need to be filled by quality experienced players are the Goalkeeper, both centre back spots, TWO of the midfield positions (1 DM and 1 AM), and the striker. The other positions on the fringe of the team (LB, RB, LW, RW and CM) to be filled by quality young players such as a Behich/Dugandzic/Marrone/Rogic/Halloran etc...

That way there's a good balance of youth and experience and it allows to have a very strong team without necessarily breaking the bank

Edited by heart_fan10
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From club web-site:

'Melbourne Heart FC’s Hyundai A-League squad reported back to club headquarters today for the opening day of the 2012/13 pre-season.

Following a six-week break, the team reconvened for a series of physical assessments designed to measure their well-being ahead of what promises to be a gruelling four month preparation.

New signing Andrew Redmayne joined the squad for his first day as a Heart player, taking part in the comprehensive review, encompassing cardiac screenings, blood, cognitive and skin fold testing as well as a physiotherapist assessment.

While Head Coach John Aloisi has already developed his training regime for the next two months, the results of the screening process will play a crucial role in tailoring programs to account for a player’s individual needs, such as in the case of captain Fred.

The midfield maestro will undertake a modified training program during the early part of the off-season to ensure he makes a rapid and lasting recovery from off-season surgery, with his loading to increase incrementally over a period of months.

Other players may be faced with additional sessions to return to pre-break fitness levels, while any niggling injury hassles or concerns will be addressed and treated as the group faces the longest off-season in competition history.

Tuesday afternoon, the team will take part in a beep test to assess their cardio vascular fitness.'

So, Fred had off-season surgery...first time I've heard about that, or did I miss something? I'm really beginning to doubt that he is going to be able to go a full 27 games for us, making our midfield a big question mark.

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You do realise that more than most professional athletes have some form of surgery in their Off Season?

It is a part of modern day sport.

Most? You mean >50%? No, I didn't.

Just thought I'd pass the information on, as Fred appears to be the wonder-boy upon whom all our hopes depend.

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Yes, 50% is a good enough figure.

I would be surprised if any less than half of the Heart squad had not had minor surgery in the Off Season.

If anything I think the fact JA has designed a structured plan to deal with Fred’s unique fitness base could be a sign of finally having a coach who is not inept at handling his senior players like JVS so clearly was...

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A provisional season draw for 2012-13 was distributed to the A-League clubs late on Monday night, and reveals that the competittion will open with a Melbourne derby on Friday October 5 - a guaranteed crowd puller to maximise focus on the opening round.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/soccer/october-date-set-for-sydneys-first-a-league-derby/story-e6frey4r-1226385318935

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Might be clutching at straws, but it looks like we might have two home Derbies again...

Please note the Melbourne Victory matches are not included in this package and will need to be purchased separately

Free access to 5 Melbourne Heart home matches in general admission areas for 2 adults and 2 children (Does not include matches against Melbourne Victory)

Both of these state 'Matches' when speaking about home games.

FREE ACCESS TO 2 MELBOURNE HEART HOME MATCHES

FREE ACCESS TO 1 MELBOURNE HEART MATCH IN ANY STATE OF AUSTRALIA (EXCLUDES MELBOURNE VICTORY MATCH)

Whilst this one just says 'Match' when speaking about away games.

Edited by LR9
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Would pretty much expect us to get the two home derbies again. It helps the FFA by keeping us somewhat stable and making our crowd numbers look better, and they would have plenty of excuses to tell Victory and the media (preference for a proper football stadium, they already have other high drawing rivalry games etc)

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Victory get plenty of fixture concessions - 2 home games against Adelaide and Sydney most years. In fact the start of last year's fixture was designed to maximise their crowds - round 1 Kewell and Emerton's first games at Etihad, then us and Brisbane at Etihad, and then later they had the Australia Day game against Sydney at home.

Which is fine. The FFA want blockbusters and big crowds, and Victory usually have the biggest crowds. But I couldn't care less about their whinging if we get 2 home derbies again. After a 5 year head start, and plenty of fixturing favours, they can put up with this small concession.

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Might be clutching at straws, but it looks like we might have two home Derbies again...

Both of these state 'Matches' when speaking about home games.

Whilst this one just says 'Match' when speaking about away games.

lol wouldnt read into it too much with the amount of fuck ups coming out of heart HQ lately, its probably just the wording from last years brochure and they forgot to update it

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lol wouldnt read into it too much with the amount of fuck ups coming out of heart HQ lately, its probably just the wording from last years brochure and they forgot to update it

that or they don't have the money to hire someone to change it.

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I was already under the assumption that we had 2 home derbies. They get the one in the 1st round which should draw a massive crowd (chance of breaking A-League record?), and then we get the other 2. That was my understanding from the leaked fixture.

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apparently the Adelaide fixtures have been leaked, so added with the derby n the 1st round, this is what we know so far...

Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne Heart @ Etihad

Round 1 - Friday Oct 5

Adelaide United vs Melbourne Heart @ Hindmarsh Stadium

Round 8 - Friday 23rd November

Melbourne Heart vs Adelaide United @ AAMI Park

Round 18 - Friday 25th January

Melbourne Heart vs Adelaide United @ AAMI Park

Round 25 - Friday 15th March

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