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I've seen some jaw dropping Heart / City moments in my time. Engelaar's goal in our own half, Terra's bicycle kick, but the double substitution at 55 minutes just had me gobsmacked. It was obvious to a few of us watching that Mauk had run out of legs at 50 minutes, and Melling was starting to struggle but still gut-running as he does. At 55 minutes it was clear the midfield shape was gone - Melling sitting too deep and Mauk too far forward to the strikers, and with Carney dropping sporadically into the middle we were struggling - or should I say overrun. It just begged to be addressed. And the solution - take off the forward line that had pressed and created (and for all the Williams haters out there - he worked hard both ways) for two youngsters including one out of position (and watch the lack of defensive tracking three minutes after they came on for their first goal). Fuck knows what's going on with Paartalu, but to pick a bench with no backup midfielders when you have two youngsters in the middle and one coming back from injury was just suicide - and it turned out to be. And to chase the game - well you couldn't with that bench. So we bomb the ball long over a dysfunctional non-existent midfield to a 1.75m CF with no change in a clearly failing shape. Fuck, put Kisnorbo up there if that's all you got! You can talk about ticker in the players, you can talk about fitness, you can talk about youth failing, but what happened tonight has to be blamed on the coaching staff and only the coaching staff. After the FFA Cup debacle managerially, surely this has to stop. I'm done - JVS has to go to circuit break this cultural rot. 180 km round trip and three disappointed kids in the car and one severely pissed off adult. Fuck this is getting harder each year.

Love that triple M midfield.

Quite possibly the most disappointing loss I can recall. 2 goals up and then to lose convincingly to a rabble. We were beaten by a team with the Hoff and Watson !? And we couldn't even crack an 8k crowd. We were mentally weak. Substitutions and tactics in the second half were rubbish. No midfield cover on the bench ... I reckon Paartalu off the bench may have saved the game for us. The club wanted consistency this season, and we are seeing it ... consistently playing only in patches. To have gone on with the win tonight after the super start and the 2 nil was what the club desperately needed ... Instead, based on the manner of our loss, it's a massive step backwards. I am gutted.

Simply disgusting. Made all the worse by the team showing it can play good football in the first half as well (I don't think the Jets had 1 good chance in the first half, and we had more than enough chances [i.e. Bruno's header] to go +3 up). Such ridiculous capitulation, together with a roll-over-when-times-get-tough mentality. Incredibly disappointing, and it does feel like deja vu all over again for long suffering Heart supporters. There were signs towards the end of the first half that the team was starting to sit on their lead, and sadly the team was even more flat after the half time break. That simply can't happen. During the first 10 minutes of the second half the team was flat; they weren't keeping the ball and didn't create any chances. And after the double substitution things were even worse--exactly the opposite outcome substitutions are meant to produce--and the team unraveled over the 21 minutes from the Jets first goal on the 58th minute to their last goal on the 79th minute. IMO we sent boys out to do a men's job. 3 of our back four are 22 years old or younger, our midfield of 'veteran' Aaron Mooy (25), Stefan Mauk (20) and Jacob Melling (20), and 18 year old Kuzmanovski as one of our front 3. And then there's the substitutions! We threw 2 more kids on (Dekker, 21, Millar, 18) to try and settle the team. Hardly the players that can help an A-League team settle and fightback in a difficult situation. It all reflects very badly on JVS. Expecting too much from kids, and quite possibly not leading the team enough himself. The inability to get the team fired up at half time going into the second half reflects poorly on him. Important and/or experienced players also went missing in the second half and didn't show enough leadership, but the coach can't escape plenty of heat after that poor second half capitulation. There's a lot of other issues in this match too--the team's profligacy (Bruno and Gameiro had golden chances to score), the inability of the team to play for 90 minutes (an issue that feels like it's been around forever), refereeing madness (soft calls all night for the Jets, they should have had more yellow cards, and a questionable pen) and a poor crowd of 7,200 (how on Earth do we have that number following a thumping 3-1 win in front of 8,400 last Sunday, with ample advertising this week?). Really tired of these matches and just want to see a more confident team play football with self-belief for most of a football match.

happy we play away next week

I was surprised to find the forum still operating as I thought it would have actually melted down before I got home. You're probably all numbed by what we've seen tonight rather than angry. IMO we didn't lose control of the midfield, we gave it away. Round about the 35-minute mark I'd say. From then on it was a question of how many Newcastle were going to score, not whether they would. Once we gave away the initiative I thought most of our players were well below par, even those who should have stood up and tried to pull the side back together. The defence is leaking goals, and every team is attacking us down the flanks and we don't have the ability to clear the ball effectively. Retre tries hard but doesn't have the pace, and Garuccio is just not a defender. TBH I thought Sorensen was woeful tonight - too easily beaten to his left, and poor distribution. The midfield was disorganised, and just too many passes going astray. Glamour boy Mooy was too slow and too selfish on a number of occasions. Up front our wingers were completely ineffective. Tuna tried hard, but as I suggested elsewhere, he and Mooy are not going to be able to win us silverware by themselves. I don't know how many more times we're going to endure this before CFG takes the axe to JvS. I can't see how team selections, substitutions, tactics, mental brittleness and ultimately performances like this enhance the "brand." The worst case of capitulation I've seen in 5+ seasons.

I find the whole CFG pale blue corporate thing boring as anything. Home games are like getting a mortgage statement from the ANZ! The red and white was Melbourne all over, sparked passion and gave us a completely different identity from all other clubs in the league. The advertisement for the last derby showed little difference in image between Victory and City. CFG is like Starbucks, an international corporation with a sickly product. I long for our own identity back. And if penetration into Asia is what CFG are looking for, then red is obviously the way to go. Plus the red and white strip is the smartest looking in the A-League by far.

That was seriously shit. Glad I didn't waste my time attending. Took a lot of effort not to throw something at the tv after that second half capitulation. My kids went to bed at half time and have to tell them the bad news in the morning - making them support both City and Carlton is almost child abuse...

Would like to see us attempt to sign Sebastian Giovinco.

We hate victoree say we hate victoree x1000

No game sums up Melbourne Heart/City more than what I just witnessed. Play brilliantly, get everyone’s hopes up #believe and then implode, play terribly make bad coaching decisions and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Well that was a result that we almost deserved, we were lucky it wasn't 2-4 or even 2-5. Positives: First half - confident proactive football with good ball movement, good player movement off the ball. Negatives: I don't know what our coaching genius did at half time, perhaps he hypnotised the players, maybe someone in the dressing room sucked the life force out of the players but the whole team from Sorensen forward with the exception of Fornaroli were flat, anxious, stiff, static, second to every ball, unable to complete a pass. It was vintage Heart/City anxiety and from about 55 minutes the result was predictable. Perhaps 3 games in relatively quick succession had some influence but the whole team was virtually paralysed. This is not a personnel problem, its a mentality problem. We haven't played 2 halves of football since the Wellington FFA Cup game. Its the same mentality we've had the whole time barring the Aloisi era when we didn't play any good halves of football. It won't change until we have a coach that can motivate the team. I predict a loss away to Adelaide next week as the fundamental problem with this team has not been addressed.

see i envy you. i am wildly attractive and very muscular and handsome with designer stubble. sometimes when i talk to girls i swear uncontrollably and shake

You should write for Neighbours.

well i cant see myself making any effort to go to games any time soon

LOL @ the club, upping the PR and media spend this week promoting memberships for THAT! JVS - where do you start? Cant remember a game where ALL of the changes made were just disastrous, yes the players need to shoulder blame but I am not sure what roles JVS was going for for the first 2 - and why make those 2 changes together? it was clear a midfield change was needed. Poor Millar - brought on during our collapse and was an utter deer caught in the headlights. I think he missed his first half a dozen passes by meters, literally. Dekker/Corey - was there a mandate not to provide width or something? It was clear in the first half Newcastle wanted to stay solid in the middle, but Williams/Kuzi were able to draw the out without playing specatularly, opening up the midfield. That 2nd half was a tactical abomination. Basically brought 2 fresh players on who offered nothing and destroyed our structure. Sorensen - umm, how can a person have played so many games at such a level, yet has no idea how to distribute the ball? Mind numbingly scary how bad he was in that area. However, this is the game I thought the Perth FFA cup disaster would catch up with us, and it did. Perhaps we had our hands tied, but we had nothing to mitigate it and basically played the same team yet again. That stupid trip to Perth could not have come at a worse time, which created long travel before a short game, which backed into another short week with Newcastle having 48 hours on us. I really wonder how much planning and thought went into those 3 games, yes I know we have an injury list.

Go back not too long ago and I would have been so pissed off with what happened tonight. But with the effects of inconsistency in our club at the start of yet another season I felt so desensitised to the three goals we copped and the loss that it doesn't bother me too much. I felt the first half our performance was a combination of us playing well and linking up but also Newcastle not performing well. Without doubt the subs made by both teams in the second half was the game changer. Newcastle made some changes in midfield which changed the dynamics of the game. We really could have done with a change in the midfield, unfortunately it came in the form of Miller who was very poor in that position. Perhaps Paartalu off the bench could have been useful? I'm not sure why Dekker is being brought on to play as a winger. He's not that type of player to be providing defensive support for Retre and to be trying to create attacking opportunities. With Gameiro I think his energy is great and he will be a good player for us eventually but he definietly doesn't look settled yet. I think JVS is certainly at fault for the loss due to the subs and players chosen during the game. But I also think he's not stupid and can see what's going on regarding how the teams is performing inconsistently. He's basically pointed it out numerous times this season already. But with every time he mentions it shows that he simply doesn't have the ability (qualities) to change this because it keeps happening. Simply not good enough.

Teflon john

We lost control off the midfield in the second half so JVS brought on 2 forwards. Perhaps he was thinking that we would cop a few goals but maybe could just outscore them, maybe he regretted starting Williams who had butchered just about every ball, perhaps he realised that he has no midfielders or experienced players on the bench? Most likely he was afflicted with the same panic as the team on the pitch and just didn't think.

Negatives .... Too many to mention and CBF positives .... 3 guys spinning dizzy around a pole then trying to kick a goal. It was funny to watch, best entertainment of the night.

We're basically the equivalent of being the Richmond of the A-League as far as hope and disappointment goes. Looked dreadful the moment the second half kicked off. Not sure why you would try to get 'If you love City stand up' going the third time when the Jets scored both times this chant started up. And for those who say we have no history - we manage to pull out performances like Melbourne Heart did, thank you very much.

Actually, penalty saves are pretty much ALL about premeditating. Sometimes you guess right, sometimes you don't. Happy to have the Velaphi argument but blaming Sorensen is stupid.

Despite thinking Sorensen is a good keeper, I do think it is a valid argument that Velaphi perhaps wouldn't have done any worse and the visa spot could have been used for an outfield gun. Unfortunately our history of picking outfield guns is not great. Koren out!!

Yes, it's always the keeper's fault when the opposition score a penalty. Apparently. "Fancy saves"??... If you don't know anything about goalkeeping, don't embarass yourself. To blame the keeper for tonight's insipid second half from the midfield and back four is just silly.

What worries me most is his assessment of players. Who would ever think Ramsay is anywhere near A League level? And then try to turn him into a full back? And then play him so often? Dekker is the new Ramsay, only he is invisible. Gameiro is a fuckin pretender also. God, what I would give for a couple of decent wingers. Williams plays 10 minutes a game, Gameiro and Dekker are virtually useless, Kuzmanovski as dumb as they come. And we have gotten rid of Dugandzic and Ramsay, two who are even worse. Who picks these duds????? and more importantly, why does the Dutch wanker keep playing them? Structure and tactics did us over second half. Just ridiculous.

And you wonder why we can never crack the 10k

Why the fuck did he bring on Dekker in a wide position? Everyone can see the lad doesn't have the pace to play there A big fuck up by JVS!

I'm not of the opinion that our kit clashes with Victory's, I just think it would be nice to see the team play in red & white in our own city. As it stands I'd have to fly to Sydney or Wellington to see them play in the away kit, IMO it's a real kick in the guts to Heart fans who've supported this team since day 1 and who still make up the majority of the supporter base. A little nod to our history here & there would be nice...

Any chance of some chants with words in them?

As long as our red & white kit is marketed as an 'away' kit I'd like us to wear it for ALL AWAY GAMES v non red wearing teams, NOT SIMPLY AS A CLASH KIT. That includes away derbies at Etihad you cheeky history re-writing cfg fuckers.

Its going to be the spectators first and then they will sack him unfortunatly. Anyway, its pretty certain he will go this season. I just hope they spend the money to bring in a great manager next time

Let myself settle down a bit...What a familiar feeling supporting this football club! had a complete sense of inevitably about it. Just a numb feeling leaving the ground and now.. That Newcastle team is beyond average but from '30 onwards we made them look like champions Bossed through the midfield and they did as they pleased.. Williams ineffectual for his 50 mins but so was his replacement.. Dekker was just as crap as Gameiro. Bruno tried hard as always but there's only so much he can do unfortunately we're the first game the next three weeks so I better get used to kicking the weekend off on a sour note.

The players came out like they're on speed. The tactic is to kill the game off at home in the first hour. 30 minutes later and their boots feel like thy're weighed down by concrete. JVS did this last season. Wait till its January and we have a day game...

Jeez...following this club really is akin to torture. Can envisage a support group bobbing up in a few years. "Hello everyone, my name is Dave and I'm a Melbourne City supporter". Support group: "Hello Dave".

im going to get a bunch of mates together and complain to BP that ULP isn't 69¢ anymore. I'm sure they'll give a fuck

fold the club, fuck off JVS what the fuck was with that double substitution?! And then bringing in an 18 year old defender when we're chasing the game, holy fuck he's an incompetent cunt. I almost hope we miss the 6, we don't deserve it.

it's also about personalities. JVS is a bit soft so more comfortable dealing with introverts. Introverts go missing when things get tough. No extroverts in the squad demanding effort and making others walk taller. Kisnorbo is a warrior but more of a "leader by action" rather than putting verbal rockets up people. Fornaroli seems to lift a notch when things get tough, but he is reliant on supply. Which leaves us with either wimps or young kids in midfield other than perhaps Melling who is underdone and was dragged when we needed him most, for another invisible introvert. Precious few fighters which is why these kind of performances are a regular occurrence.

Only we could do that

sure mate

Everyone’s playing well. Best team work I've seen

Cappo is doing top job!! well done

Mauk, unbelievable. Goodbye Koren

I didn't get it so I messaged them and they gave me a free $50 bonus bet without having to deposit anything which I turned into $170 on some Horsham donkeys.

seriously why does melling always have this "im gonna beat the shit out of you and you won't tell mum" look about him

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Devils

lol ffa will need to introduce a mercy rule

I'd love nothing more than the awkward position the FFA would find themselves in if the Phoenix won hosting rights of the Grand Final in the season they intended to cut them. Imagine watching Gallop squirm handing the Toilet seat over in Wellington. Would be brilliant.

Some general questions about the kits would be good. ie. Do they see us using the current design long term? How they'd feel about the navy stripe being red or is there any chance of ever getting some red on the home kit? Are they going to jump to all sky blue as soon as the FFA will allow it? Is this stuff all dictated by the higher levels of the CFG or does the club have some say? Yes, I know we pretty much know the answers to these questions already but I'd still like to see it actually addressed by the club. Also, please raise the issue of us often being left guessing on the injury status of players and the need for better communication.

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