Leaderboard

Thought he played fairly well tonight whilst still showing exactly why he is not a fit in our current midfield. Really hope he does well at the Wanderers, that scissor kick goal would've been something special. Would like to see him treated with respect when he comes visiting AAMI Park in Feb. Polite applause during team announcement pre-game, maybe a quick Nicky Kalmar chant, and then business as usual. I understand he is hardly a club legend, but he did his bit for the club over 5 seasons. If I see anyone booing him during the game (ala Garcia the cunt) then I will definitely give them a massive serve. Forced out of the club and still did them a favour by mutually terminating his contract to free up cap space.

This. I don't see cardiff's fans bending over to be fucked by tan, nor should we. It's bad enough we're using the red & white as a clash kit, as opposed to an away kit as its been promoted. I feel ill every time the "c'mon you boys in white" chant is sung.

I'm not convinced that we will see the sky blue/white/red/white supporters' scarf again after the current batch sells out. IMO it's a one-off to placate the "keep-the-red-and-white" fans. If anything, IMO we're going to see more of that dreaded dark blue, which I can't stand. That's why I bought two of the scarves. Those plus my treasured r&w Heart scarves on the top shelf of the wardrobe will last me out! I don't see red being used again much at all, despite the willingness of supporters to embrace the Manchester City blue. As has been mentioned on this forum CFG have no regard for existing supporters. All the red on advertising, the red on the membership sign up page along with the "Heart of the City" slogan appear to just have been bait to keep the current supporter base happy whilst everything was changed. Typical corporate behaviour, but not really that of a club. We will see next season, but as Cadete has pointed out, CFG are only interested in blue, blue and more blue. Perhaps the red and white away strip will stay as Man City have used the red and black. Apart from that, hats, scarves, polo's etc. will all be blue. I would like to see supporters build their own arsenal of apparel based on the badge. Despite the "Keep the red and white" campaign, a lot of supporters appear to have jumped into the CFG stream and floated along. If there is any chance of retaining even the red, white and blue, it will have to be supporter led. Otherwise it will be pale blue and white, and "Melbourne's pale, baby blue and white" doesn't provoke a lot of passion in me.

Who cares whether it's to promote Man City or not. Let's just win some silverware and I'm happy for them to promote Man City via Melbourne City. They don't have a gun to your head to support Man City.

Well if they have any more long term injuries, I'd expect them to continue him on as an injury replacement. I have a feeling they plan to get rid of a player from their list though and then register Kalmar. Anyway, he had a decent game, nothing spectacular. WSW can't really complain, not like the rest of the team is playing better plus it was only hs first game. So looks like it's worked out well for everyone, we free up some space in the roster/cap, Kalmar gets playing time, WSW get a player they will probably use a fair bit.

Tbh i was happy when he wasn't allowed to play with us for 10 games, just seeing what Villa did to the team was enough to put me off this whole guest stint idea. Yes i know hes one of the biggest players in the world but i don't really give a shit about getting a photo or whatever with him, i'm interested in whats best for the team, and after seeing what happened with villa, i'd rather just go with the players we have signed for the whole season. At the end of the day coffy with hoffy> Guest stints.

fuck city, fuck new york

Close thread you reckon?

We have to realise that if a decision comes down to the interests of Manchester versus New York or Melbourne then of course the decision will go Manchester's way. That's where the money will be made for CFG, that's where the returns on investment will be made, that's where the overwhelming majority of public interest is. Once Lampard made an impact in Manchester then this decision was always likely to go against New York - Pellegrini has been telegraphing it for weeks. It was different, however, with Villa. Yes we are the smaller club, but we are are already playing in our league whereas NYC won't kick a ball for another three months or so. I don't believe NYC needed Villa back there at all. So we were shafted, and it has put the media and the public offside with us for no valid reason.

I am in the same boat. The fact that we didn't sign any proper fullbacks before the beginning of the season still baffles me.

Heart era: "The salary cap is a great idea!" City era: "The salary cap is shit farken"

I'm not convinced that we will see the sky blue/white/red/white supporters' scarf again after the current batch sells out. IMO it's a one-off to placate the "keep-the-red-and-white" fans. If anything, IMO we're going to see more of that dreaded dark blue, which I can't stand. That's why I bought two of the scarves. Those plus my treasured r&w Heart scarves on the top shelf of the wardrobe will last me out!

Once most talented players are too old for the Youth squad due to FFA mandated small senior squad sizes A League clubs have to release the players. So stuffed up because of FFA restrictions.

Fuck finals. I want the Premier's Plate.

Where would they be? Wellington looks like a good football city with fantastic supporters. Can't really think of another Australian city that is currently screaming out to be represented in the A-League.

I'd trade Ramsay for a pack of twisties

With their reputation, surely they could have worded that better or gave it some context beforehand.

This. Why do some people look back on the past with such rose coloured glasses? Makes me sick thinking how long JA was allowed to stay on as manager, not to mention one million other things that were fucked with the club. But hey, at least we got to wear red shirts!It baffles me also. I can understand how some are annoyed with the villa situation. But as I see it our club is starting to hit some good form, our young players are playing well. Our marquee scored a hat trick for his debut as a starter. Paartalu is starting to regain fitness and a league form. Mooy is playing out of his skin. If all goes well we will have a big man target soon in the form of Jesus. The whole guest/ loan player seems to be one big mess but the new players we have gained over the off season are starting to look real good. Yes, agreed about the guest situation, but at least Villa playing merely four games was better than Beckham, Ronaldinho, Holt etc etc playing for us in Scott Munn's media circus fantasy land. Quite right, When villa left after four games I was annoyed then. Now I don't think twice about it. I'm not saying our team is perfect at the moment and there are still some quite large holes to fill but in most part our team looks promising.

This. Why do some people look back on the past with such rose coloured glasses? Makes me sick thinking how long JA was allowed to stay on as manager, not to mention one million other things that were fucked with the club. But hey, at least we got to wear red shirts! Sorry but your username is RedAndWhitePride........

Let's take one game at aa time. Win the next game and we go into the break on a high and maybe are able to sign a couple of players. Then we can see what we look like afterwards.

Is it the cattle or is it the coaching? Stubbins and Moss are relatively new at this level and maybe its them (without forgetting the off-field woes of both those clubs). Arnold started well but injury has shown that their depth isn't great plus some of the players that are expected to step (eg Ibini) are not. WSW heavy duty has left them flat plus the loss of players to international duties. And at City we have all experienced all of these woes. We're playing with a couple players up front that can't even lead the scoring for the club and three youth players debuting their first season yet we managed to win. Arnold's depth is ridiculous especially up front, no excuses for them not scoring. We're finding out if Arnold can actually manage a team where he doesn't have the level of players he wants.

I hope this football social experiment doesn't take too long before it is over. COYBIR.

Going through this thread has peaked some interest in me, some really awesome creations, not really interested in playing the game but the idea and creation of stadiums and fans appeals to me. Any tips on starting out, getting terraces/fans/teams.

Honestly what did he expect NYCFC to be? Its not like it was an old club rebranded. The only way Melbourne City is different from NYCFC is that we are further down the pecking order. At this point in time yes, though alot of people chose to follow Heart for various reasons. The club changed when it was bought out and rebranded. The ongoing arguments on here show that the club has changed. With NYCFC I cannot see how this guy has jumped on board and not expected it to be what it is.

Not gonna lie. Felt good reading that

The beat leagues in the world also have the richest clubs in thw world And are from countries where football is the undisputed number 1 sport.

The beat leagues in the world also have the richest clubs in thw world

The very low salary cap and all the other FFA impediments on clubs are preventing the A League from growing and preventing any A League clubs from seriously being a big club in Asia. It's impossible for any A League club to be a big club in Asia, no matter how financial it is, if nearly all of its squad, bar maybe 2 Marquee players are paid bargain basement wages and the best/most promising players are open slather to be picked off by Asian clubs and others that don't operate in a low salary capped football world. It seems some folks are scared of a much higher salary cap - or the removal of a salary cap. Why? No club should be forced to pay a higher salary cap. But allow transfer fees between A League clubs and a club like Central Coast would have been able to sell some of its promising talent to other A League clubs instead of getting nothing for some of them them or losing them all overseas. No transfer fees between A League clubs is in fact disadvantaging the less financial clubs. The exact opposite of what the nannying FFA intended. In addition, what incentive is there for clubs to build a strong youth squad when most players are lost for nothing? Because there are only about 22 spots available in the senior squad most of the young talent is cast adrift when they are too old for the Youth squad, including players that A League clubs would like to have on their senior list as they are expected to further develop. Only a few of these players are lucky if another A League club picks them up. So much for a career path. The answer is to have increased squad sizes, of course it is NOT to reduce the number of visa places and further lower the quality of the A League, FFA in its nannying, equalising manner has now made it very difficult for clubs to bring in loan players from overseas, making us even more insular but also highlighting how pathetically low our salary cap is. Because the quality of the A League has increased to a much more acceptable level for overseas clubs, having access to decent loan players is in fact a way that our less financial clubs can get quality and NOT have to pay. It can make them more competitive! But FFA, showing it has little understanding, and in a panic move because we looked like getting Frank Lampard damaged the A League by preventing us from bringing in Lampard. Thousands of less folks have attended our games, home and away, except for the Derbies, TV ratings are less than with Lampard playing and FFA cost itself hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, in lost free media publicity. My suggestions for next season: 1. Increase the salary cap to $3.5 million. But no club is obliged to pay any more than this season. 2. Allow clubs to have senior squad sizes of their choosing, thus improving the chances of more youth players being added to senior squads. 3. Next season allow clubs to employ 3 players - from anywhere - outside the salary cap. This is increased to 4, then 5, then 6 in the following years. 4. Number of visa players must NOT be reduced from 5, lowering the quality of the A League and making our competition even more insular. 5. Allow transfer fees between A League clubs. This will help the less financial clubs. 6. No restrictions on loan players. As the salary is being paid by the parent club none of this should count in the A League cub's salary cap. Again, this can help less financial clubs.

Fhackett.

This reminds me of that scene in Gladiator when Marcus Aurelius is speaking with Maximus...."There was once a dream that was Finals. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile. And I fear it that it will not survive the summer.

I'd imagine Mooy would already be in the upper pay bracket within the salary cap he's not going to make a sideways move to another A-league club. His next move will probably be to Europe

Hopefully some nice hoodies for winter like the man city ones

I can see where your nickname comes from now

West Sydney are too far behind to make it Newcastle are rubbish and need a massive overhaul to make it CCM aren't much better than Newcastle and need an overhaul / things to really go their way That for me leaves us in with a good shout, particularly with how Sydney are sliding down the ladder. They need some bloody good replacements for their injured players to stay in it. That said the club has been so inconsistent and frustrating in the past I think it's a bit early yet

Yes, you're right. His time was up at Chelsea. FFA by being so insular and trying to equalise everything are now badly holding back the A League. By changing the rules to effectively stop Lampard playing with Melbourne City they cost the A League thousands in increased attendances and TV viewing audiences and free media publicity.

At this stage of the season I think the importance of this game for us rests in creating a greater distance between those teams below us. We are now ahead of Brisbane by 4 points and Mariners by 8 points and the upcoming games see Brisbane play Wellington away and us play Mariners so we could quite possibly be 7 points ahead of Brisbane and 11 ahead of Mariners. Not only that but it will keep us within touching distance of the teams above us particularly with Sydney having a more than likely win as they face Newcastle at home.

Now New York City have been short changed because Lampard is starring in the EPL for Manchester City. If Lampard was going to play another season in the EPL, then what the hell is he doing moving from Chelsea to Manchester City for that season when he was a Chelsea legend and still wanted by Chelsea? Chelsea supporters applauded him when Manchester City played Chelsea. I wonder if they are going to be so generous next time this season.

Poor performance all round by CFG over these two players. Very poor. Quite a few people have been unnecessarily alienated towards the sister-club concept by what has happened. Not impressed.

I spoke to the lady at the merchandise stand after the Perth game. No more away shirts . Supporter's scarves are almost out as well. Apparently next home game will be their end. Plenty of sky blue stuff though... I passed.

Still in favour of no walk out song - except that from the supporters.

That is poor by fairfax. Maybe Gina Rinehart ate it?

From the pits of hell, where they originally came from. It's also where kappas head office is

Crackheads like that give crackheads like me a bad name

par-ta-luu, hey

There's only two keepers in the league worse than Redders and that's Jamie Young and Ben Kennedy. I will cry if we get Kennedy

A nice contract payout would make a good birthday present

And the solution is? Remove all restrictions, now that our club has the richest owners? And if so, would you have said the same when Heart was selling its most promising young players simply in order to break even most years? The majority of A-League clubs are operating at a loss and removing the salary cap would bury them. Not much good winning the title in a league of only four teams, I'm afraid. We all want this club to be successful, but to be successful by bringing in players that no other club could dream of getting via pretty blatant circumventing of the salary cap? I'll pass, thanks. City now has more than enough competitive advantages as it is and there is really no excuse for the club to not become very successful very soon.

Everyone comes to Melbourne to see the Hoff. He travels for no one.

Agree, but I do like to see Popa being offered (it shows signs of recognition to an Aussie) and he accepted it. It will be huge for Australian football in general to see an Aussie managing an EPL club. Opp like this seldom arrives, as normally EPL clubs would look in other parts of Europe or even South America. Imagine if he did managed to turn things around, the legacy and the perception on Aussie managers will change.

Close thread