mattyh001
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Posts posted by mattyh001
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loved being at the game yesterday; pure bliss to watch the final 60 with a feeling that even we couldn't fuck up a 3-0 lead. Thought the game was pretty cruisey thereafter the first 30
Watching the replay this morning, Andy Harper sounds like a massive cockhead with a grudge against City. Not for the first time Harper has sounded really negative and against us. Has anyone else noticed this about Harper?
They had every right to.Yeah numerous times I heard the Jets fans yelling out in the stands ''Go forward' we all know how they feel with that one.We had a couple of Squadron members join us second half after their drummer apparently cracked the shits by halftime and decided to fuck off home.Also very surprised at the crowd number. Quiet as Church Mice except for when they booed their own players.
By all reports it's not just the general Jets fan that's feeling up the duff about things, the squadron is going downhill fast apparently.
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3-0 after 30 odd minutes
Fucking beautiful. Best away game I've gone to yet!!
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does anyone know if Sunnyside Tavern in Newcastle is any good or is there a better pub?
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The whole budget wasn't spent on the tifo, a new mega will happen, we acknowledge that the match day leadership was probably over the top and all feedback is taken on board. We're always listening.
does this mean sherry becomes the new drink of choice as we "critique" ourselves each week?
given how much french some of us use when the team plays shite we probably fit right in with the honourable doctor
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Its only a short term contract so Poppa better work quickly.Watch now when he becomes a good player at A-League level. Finally a chance to prove the "it's not the manager" people wrong
Kalmar has until end of AFC Champions League group stage in May so should be enough time.
Wish the guy well. Thought he showed plenty of talent, all be it just way too inconsistently and infrequently.
Funnily enough I found an old iphone video I'd taken of Kalmar scoring a peach of a free kick (against Perth from two years ago).
Amusing that he always seemed to do ok against them and happens to leave the day before we are to play them for the first time this season
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What are the chances of Newcastle having another dip at Kalmar since Jonny Steele has left them?
Could be an interesting development; we piss off a no longer used player from our over supplied midfield, Newcastle get a replacement with decent A League experience.
If they wanna take Redmayne in exchange for Birighetti that'd be pretty sweet too
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With Jonny Steele leaving Newcastle I wonder if they might have another crack at Nicky Kalmar.
Frees up cap space (even better it's from our midfield too) and might lessen interest in Cassio
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To the tune of Barry Manilow's 'Mandy' (gonna be a fair work in progress tho)
Ohhh Tando,
you came and you saved our bacon
and you make it so easy
ohh Tando,
the Victards took you for granted
but we'll always love you
ohh Tando
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Always been a fan has been a very good player but no unless he is very very cheap. Injury concerns and ageing however would be an improvement if fit
Would sound like us tho to sign and he then retires from long term injuries
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So what happened in round 10? You know WSW vs City at Pirtek after WSW returned from Morocco...
will take place in 2015 on March 11 (a Wednesday evening).
sucks if you intended to travel given the previous incarnation was on a Saturday
Thanks for that. I thought that City might be a chance for a draw with WSW returning from Morocco, injuries and player dissent.
the bigger frustration for me is that given how much focus WSW have lost with all their commitments, "discussions" over pay, etc., is that we wont have played them until after the Asian Cup - when and where you'd expect them to get back on track with the month off (aka to take it as a mid season "pre-season" revamp).
i'd imagine that given how well Popavic has both built and kept it together at WSW, they will come back very very strongly. to play them 3 times in that period ( and to have had no subsequent chance to put them to the sword early on while WSW have been struggling ) will probably be a real pain for a late season charge by City
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So what happened in round 10? You know WSW vs City at Pirtek after WSW returned from Morocco...
will take place in 2015 on March 11 (a Wednesday evening).
sucks if you intended to travel given the previous incarnation was on a Saturday
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Our crowds are dropping each week. 7700 is like the old heart games. Lucky we are playing the scum next home game.
It has to be a concern given we've got over 10,000 members. On those figures ~1/3 of the paid members didn't even show-up.
cant speak for everyone, but i'm sure there are a range of reasons for this.
the country membership only allows for 5 games attendance to allow people who travel a fair distance to support without having to commit to each and every game; i'm sure a number of people with that sort of membership have to be very selective and (given how we have been going) i cant blame them for being cautious about this game.
for me (and i'm sure there are others) 5 pm games on a sunday just dont work. including the time it takes to get through the city, breaks every 2 hours, etc., after the game it is a 7 hour drive back to Mildura - hence i wouldnt even get home until 2 am (at best). taking public transport means i have to leave the game at half time - not really an option and even then it still gets back at 2 am. in any case and long story short, it makes it hard to both go to games and balance with work commitments. would love to rock into work late every monday but will never go down well unless i actually cut down my hours.
as for other / newer members, it is a reflection on how shit things have been at the start of the season and how poorly the club has managed different issues. bringing Villa out was great from a marketing perspective was great, but the club has well and truly fallen short in terms of ongoing quality in the way we play. there just hasnt been any real substance.
imagine if, on the other hand, our results were more reflective of the visitors? all those new members, bandwagoners, etc., would have seen something successful. however (and regardless of their reason(s) for jumping on board), these new members have paid good money for shite. they have little to no attachment to the club, so what do expect them to do other than bail? the club has to do more than just getting its proverbial foot through the door with new members. it has to create an attachment, some sort of lingering enjoyment so people think their money has been well spent.
until then, there is little incentive for new members to remain when and where performances turn to shit.
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This was the first time I have seen this kid play and I was impressed by his defending. Seems to have a cool head and a bit of pace. Of course he needs to improve his distribution. However, a defender's first job is to defend and he did that very well today.
remember watching him play at Newcastle a couple of times and he always seemed handy so i'm not too surprised.
will be interesting to see how he goes against the visitors since they actually have a potent forward line
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having to listen to the radio - cant find a decent tv feed on internet.
how's Tando going - sounds on the radio he is doing ok but it is the radio so .....
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Matty hypothetically I agree with you. But one thing this club has taught me is hypotheticals have never applied. It is more the reality of the situation that applies. That game we beat brisbane the team will take very little confidence because since then we have been beaten convincingly. Brisbane has a new manager which can have an immediate positive impact on the playing group. The derby, as you say just can't see us getting out of it alive. Perth is on top while were struggling. Us to get out of that with a point would be miraculous, especially with the player they have up front. We've already played both Newcastle and the mariners, what solid evidence is there that shows we can actually beat them? At least before our confidence was higher than it is now. I dare say after the loss this week and the arse raping victory give us the following week plus playing perth, the top team, we will be in a terrible state leading into those games.
The road is very bleak in front of us.
i just hope we don't totally screw up the next 5 games.
as it sits, we have 3 games at home on the trot (Brisbane, Visitors, Perth) followed by two away on the NSW Central Coast (Newcastle and the Mariners).
the way i see it, 4 of those games are quite winnable - sadly its just the derby against the visitors that i can't see us winning.
if anything, we should be going into this week's game thinking that anything less than three points isn't good enough. of course, given how shit we've been then i don't think that will be the case. but then again, the team has to take confidence in beating Brisbane earlier this season.
and the fact we have easily out played both Newcastle and the Mariners (literally should have won all but for the last kick of the game against the Mariners) means we stand a decent chance.
as for Perth, i think that they haven't really been tested this season. of the 8 games they have played, they have only played another top 4 side once (adelaide) and they lost that game.
the remaining 7 games have seen them largely play the lesser sides. granted, they did win away to Wellington round 1, but for the most part they have either had easy home games (ie Wellington almost always travel like shit when going to Perth) or against teams just not with it / other focal points (ie Brisbane with their early season in fighting, WSW with the ACL final).
not staying Perth are an easy win, more so that a win / draw is quite possible.
This team is a week-to-week proposition, unfortunately. I'm sure there were many (myself included) that probably looked at the block following the win against Brisbane and figured that the goal should have been 5-7 points from those three games. That would have seen City probably in fifth and possibly hot on the heels of Sydney, depending on whether we went closer to seven points and what the result was when we played against them. Instead, we've got one point from those three games and although (incredibly) there's three teams below us on the table, this is rock bottom, right alongside Aloisi's losing streak. We've thrown away points at home against both the Jets and Mariners and I see no reason to believe that we'll do better when we play away against them.
As someone who's played that 'If they get a few results in the next month and build some momentum...' game for about three years now, my advice would be don't look beyond week-to-week. Central Coast at home a fortnight ago could have set up the season to at least give them the inside track on a finals spot. It was an absolutely critical game, even before the kick off. So what do these idiots do? Put the cue in the rack after 80 minutes and figure they've done enough, despite pissing away God knows how many games from that position in recent years.
Melbourne Heart/City will get results when the games no longer matter. Always have. As soon as there's something on the line, as soon as it's a truly important game, they'll fold like an ironing board. It's in the DNA of this club.
Edited the last bit
agree thoroughly, particularly about the hypothetical; by saying winnable in the first place I was simply looking at what could (more so hopefully will) happen.
more so, it worries me significantly if (again towards the hypothetical) we fail to pick up more than two points - frankly, i think that any chance for some sort of success this season will be pretty foregone if we only get 0-2 points here. after all, we will have played both Newcastle and Central Coast twice each in the first half of the season (we will have played 14 games by the time the league breaks for Asian Cup).
not trying to push the idea a team should always get three points against the league's whipping boys (if nothing else it completely derides logic in a salary cap competition where all teams are at least somewhat competitive), more that i find it concerning that we will have a number of games in the second half of the season that should be harder.
add to that Brisbane are struggling now and have 4 weeks during the Asian Cup to find their feet again, it actually seems an ideal time to play them.
as for Perth, i never said we would absolutely win.
frankly, i dont think that they have really been tested yet. that doesnt mean will win by any stretch. i am simply not looking at them being on top of the ladder and saying 'on crap they are going to bend us over, etc'
each of the games they have won (6 wins total), it has only been by 1 goal margins. none of them are against the other teams in the top 4, and only two wins have been on the road.
two of those (Brisbane round 2, Newcastle round 4) have been where they have come from behind. those two games plus the win round 1 (against Wellington) required goals in the last 15 - the two come from behind games both actually saw them get two goals in the last 15 to win.
also 75% of their goals have come in the second half - surely this means they have trouble getting started.
historically (which yes, is only a reflection on the past) we have had 6 games against them at home for a record of 3-1-2. of which (as a fun little fact) the three wins are also our last three home games against them.
on that basis, i would imagine we do have a chance.
if we get our shit together of course .............
which we all know is another point in question.
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i just hope we don't totally screw up the next 5 games.
as it sits, we have 3 games at home on the trot (Brisbane, Visitors, Perth) followed by two away on the NSW Central Coast (Newcastle and the Mariners).
the way i see it, 4 of those games are quite winnable - sadly its just the derby against the visitors that i can't see us winning.
if anything, we should be going into this week's game thinking that anything less than three points isn't good enough. of course, given how shit we've been then i don't think that will be the case. but then again, the team has to take confidence in beating Brisbane earlier this season.
and the fact we have easily out played both Newcastle and the Mariners (literally should have won all but for the last kick of the game against the Mariners) means we stand a decent chance.
as for Perth, i think that they haven't really been tested this season. of the 8 games they have played, they have only played another top 4 side once (adelaide) and they lost that game.
the remaining 7 games have seen them largely play the lesser sides. granted, they did win away to Wellington round 1, but for the most part they have either had easy home games (ie Wellington almost always travel like shit when going to Perth) or against teams just not with it / other focal points (ie Brisbane with their early season in fighting, WSW with the ACL final).
not staying Perth are an easy win, more so that a win / draw is quite possible.
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Would laugh if we miss the penalty....
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Feel sorry for Redmayne for having to deal with some absolute shit in front of him
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Only players whose contracts finish at the conclusion of the 2014/15 season can be replaced unless a mutual release can be arranged.
Out of the current list (excluding injury replacement and guest players) the following come out of contract at the end of 2014/15:
Redmayne,
Velaphi,
Kisnorbo,
Wielaert (v),
Ramsay,
Murdocca,
Kalmar,
Retre,
Germano (v),
Dugandzic,
Duff (v).
So that's the starting point for this discussion.
from the players remaining then, I see that Kennedy will be our starting centre forward (pending injuries), Koren (pending return from injuries) Mooy and Paartalu all in the midfield, and Hoffman being Hoffman will be at right back.
that for me leaves a new keeper, three spots at the back, and two players either as wide forwards or as some sort of combo between midfield and attack.
then we have need for three to five extra youth players a means of depth. can get an older player (or two) for depth, just seems a waste unless the guy brings something extra that is a bit from left field (ie someone who can actually play anywhere across a front three).
all in all that's roughly 10 new players.
what I see as critical in that context is:
1) a central defensive pairing that actually works and can cover the issues of having full backs who push up (or is a fullback that is Ramsey / Hoffman-esque). in particular, there is a need for pace or a perception of good speed. Kisnorbo and Wielaart have just been caught out far too much this season.
in everything I have seen and done in this game, it is the central pairing that is the cornerstone of a good defence. quality keepers and solid fullbacks help too by all means, but just so much depends on the two in the middle in terms of reading the game so that the rest of the defence can be redirected / set, distribution when the ball is turned over and providing cover when a midfielder or fullback gets caught up too far.
2) a quality Australian keeper who will give us at least two years (waste of visa and allows us time to recruit / develop a decent understudy). of the ones available, would love to see Bigirghetti from Newcastle come over, but he does have a starting spot already and isn't from Melbourne so cant really pull on any heart strings there.
3) a fullback to take up a visa spot. I cant see enough talent coming through that we can get two good fullbacks from within Australia and the A League (assuming of course the club tries to get coverage). look at Cassio, Georgievski and even Traore. all have come in through being foreign talent (after all who here had ever really heard of Georgievski as an overseas based Australian before this season?) should be able to get someone at a good price.
the remaining spots then come down to what the club wants to do in the way of building around the key players in the squad. what sort of style do we want to play, what are the different transition and depth components to our play, etc?
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cant say i'm overly confident for this one.
of the three games Wellington has played at home, they've won 2 and lost 1 (the first game of the season at home to Perth). the fact they really put Newcastle to the sword, and have beaten CCM away says to me that Wellington aren't too bad a side.
my thoughts for line up:
Redmayne
Kisnorbo Wielaart
Hoffman Ramsey
Paartalu
Miller Mooy
Dugandzic Marino Duff
Bench:
Velaphi - Chapman - Melling - Mauk - Williams
however, I get the feeling that Brown will feature somewhere (don't get why since he has been so shit), Williams will start over Marino, Mauk or Melling will be dropped for Murdocca (shame since both need game time) and Archibald in for Chapman if Chapman still isn't right.
would like to see Marino start with Williams coming on late. the forward line just hasn't been working and Marino seems like he might be able to hold up the ball well / lay it off ok as part of a counter attack. Williams can then inject pace late on.
would suspect Wielaart will still start (have been away at a conference so might have missed something if he is a confirmed out - other team lists on here don't seem to have him in). Chapman is still coming back from injury and JVS hasn't yet shown much faith in Archibald in starting him so cant see it happening now.
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Why was he there to play 5 minutes. What did Postecoglou learn from that?
the only thing that i can think of is that the Socceroos were in camp for a week first. at least it gave Ange 7 days (not heaps but something) to work with Mooy.
far from ideal with my City cap on / from a City perspective, but in terms of the Socceroos it gives Ange a better idea of who he thinks will / can work best with for the Asian Cup
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rather surprised to hear the club is out of cap space. discounting Miller out of the squad for replacement purposes, Marino and Melling for youth contracts and we only have 21.
surely the likes of Germano, Hoffman, Chapman, Velaphi and Brown, can't be on that much. Archibald, Mauk, Garruccio, Retre (last two might even be considered youth players contract wise) are all younger players so wouldn't be commanding heaps. overall they each might not be so cheap as the minimum wage, but surely wouldnt be that much across at least 9 players.
fair screw up otherwise though if true
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from the two games so far, Mauk has started both. cant find how much time he has gotten or how well he has played yet, but good signs that he is considered a starter.
particularly since he is the youngest midfielder (by about 15 months) of the 8 or so taken away
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Interesting to say the least.
From those who have ventured out to the wild west, how was the experience as an away supporter?
Did not feel in danger once...
So on a level on from 1 - 10?
1 - light, friendly banter, safe family environment.
3 - the odd expletive thrown your direction,
7 - memorising nearest exits and location of security staff at all times. going to the bar is becoming somewhat of a mission as unruly home fans are eying you off and promising to harm you and family members.
10 - full thickness burn from flares, physically assaulted and require police escort out of Stabramatta.
would say in the 4-5 range. felt safe enough, although it was quick funny when the people in the Heart bay went to leave. there were about 10 coppers safe guarding around 6 fans. thought it was all quick amusing.
mind you, i should probably qualify it that it was the game last year when we scored early from a cross (Williams i think) only to go on to draw it 1-1. we were giving the non active end of the WSW fans (since the away bay is located at a corner at the opposite end to the RBB) for most of the game. most WSW fans were ok with it all (they actually seemed to find it funny) but there were a few WSW fans a bit shitty. hence, the coppers were quick obliging to help us out since they thought it could get a bit messy (the coppers in WSW games have probably seen a bit in the past so ...)
in any case it certainly wasnt the most hostile away game i've been to.
as sheepdog rightly points out tho, treat it as a 7 or so; only takes one dimwit to screw up your trip.
Round 14: CCM vs City 4th Jan KO: 5:00pm
in Melbourne City
Posted
Hehe same about the smiling, although most Newcastle fans I went past looked well and truly over it to the point they didn't care