mattyh001

Club plays for first time in home town and won't be able to make it Don't think the buses run much beyond 8.30 during the week but it's been a while since I've taken one in Ballarat Globe hotel and Atlantic hotel are probably your best options in terms of proximity. Can't really speak for the grub at either but both should be decent My old haunt is the Golf House up on Doveton St Nth. Great bars meals and are pretty inexpensive. On the other side of town but.

Some people like them of course. But I have a lot of trouble motivating MrsJW to go to Sunday matches as she looks at Sunday as a time when we should be doing "other things." Also it's the day the Met chooses for public transport interruptions. But surely on any basis, 7 is far too many. Like I said, the club is going to have to work really hard to get memberships and attendances up. gives me the shits that there are so many Sunday, particularly with 6 of the 7 starting at 5pm (finish at 7pm). long story short it makes it hard on those in the country. living in Mildura means no suitable public transport or flights for the 550km each way trip. so thats a lovely 6 hour trip home, assuming no breaks. just what you want on Sunday night - long drive home to arrive no earlier than 1 am before work the next day

as an off thought with the two marquee spots, it is my understanding that both spots can actually be filed by Aussies if the second Aussie is deemed a player that "represents Australia Internationally" thereby an international player. now this would certainly not be my preference at all but maybe one option for the club would be to sign Scotty Mac as the Aussie Marquee with whatever loan deal / guest stint for Lampard (Xavi, etc) as the the International Marquee for the first half of the season. this then allows for that loan deal / guest stint to be replaced by Josh Kennedy as the International Marquee when Kennedy finishes in Japan again, not my preference - mostly just pissing in the wind. the reason i bring it up tho is that Scotty Mac would be a great signing as a second striker for Villa (during the 10 game spell) and then Kennedy. given the pace in wide positions at the club, Scotty Mac could do a little as a false 10. far from perfect but perhaps something that could be outside the norm yet still quite effective.

was really hoping that Lampard was coming here, but then again at least it shows the new owners are willing to spend the money to bring in the talent. Spend the money at NYCFC true, but why would they buy Heart to not spend anything on marquee spots when they have elsewhere

was really hoping that Lampard was coming here, but then again at least it shows the new owners are willing to spend the money to bring in the talent.

maybe i'm reading way too much into it, i'd say Bresc would look on us pretty favouredly once his deal finishes mid next year (given that he has said he has a year left i am assuming the league he is in runs July-Jun). given the circumstances that he has been through the last 12 months, who can blame him for seeing the contract out - after his club seems to be supporting him well. mind you, i'd say that the fact we were very supportive too and with all that we did to Grella (the two have always come across as best buds) then it surely goes down well. all things being equal, surely that means the minute Bresc finishes in the Middle East then Heart have first option.

what a sale out !! agreed and for me that is the greatest shame; Heart took the risk and the guy didnt look to show the club some love.

Spiranovic was thoroughly injury prone tho before he came back - no-one ever doubted the talent just seen by many as too risky. why else do you think he tried his luck in the Middle East. same could be said of Richard Garcia before he came back. certainly had the talent given his ability to get an EPL contract with Hull. Neither Oar or Kruse are the injury prone type.

would like to see him here, but we have just added Mooy and Melling. add to that Murdocca, Germano and Kalmar in terms of central midfielders and we already have a lot of depth. by all means Valeri would have to be a starter, but then one of those five would have to become deadwood. that said, we could use a bit more steel in that mid. frankly i dont trust Kalmar or Germano to be consistent enough on the tackle / defensive duties required to be a solid defensive mid.

this. one of the big problems we have short term is knowing where and when some cities can enter the comp is the biggest challenge. but let me digress. i live in Mildura. before that Ballarat. people dont get how isolated we actually are in this country, let alone this state. it is actually easier for me to drive to Adelaide than Melbourne, but what can i say ... i'm all Heart. the point is; Victoria itself is unable to create a spot locally (at least currently) that is bigger than the area of the CCM (outside of Melbourne of course). in fact, if we go by by population, Geelong is roughly half the size of Gosford - the 'home' of the CCM. now i dont mean to say Geelong should never get a team. only that Australia can't reallly support more than more than 10 teams. after all Geelong is actually one of Australia's top 12 cities / towns (FWI bigger than Townsville). getting back to the point, i dont see the A League expanding easily outside its current cities. in the short term, this provides two problems; (a) where do you go since the CCM already struggle - that is why should Geelong, Townsville, etc., get one when CCM already struggle ? (b.) who would support since the two cities with more than one team already have one club with identity / attendance issues? as such the salary cap does do its job. this does open another can of worms, but back on topic why would the A League raise minimum wages? it only makes it harder to enter the market. and with 10 teams playing each other three times each, surely the game here is not yet developed to really push tv rights / advertising. ****************************** completely back on topic, i more than anything just want to go to games next season and watch some good footy

as Parrot originally alluded to, the cap was always put in place so that clubs didnt go broke in the start and so that owners could manage. Nth Queensland aside, you'd have to say it has mostly worked. some clubs may have changed hands, but clubs are still there. the big problem people see in a salary cap system within the realm of football is that there will always be clubs in other competitions that don't have one. subsequently, players that do well here always open themselves up for a big money move overseas whenever they have a stellar season(s) here. that being said, for me the cap is great for the a league for both the short and medium term. as frustrating as it is that good players will be lost to bigger offers overseas, i never ever want to see a club with the financial problems of a Rangers or Portsmouth here. creates way too much instability. as it stands, the salary cap here actually has a 85-90% min cap attached. that way clubs like CCM can spend less without being dramatically worse off in terms of squad depth or general talent. i agree with Red or Deads premise but to have 2.5mil gap is way too much. the difference needs to be more proportionate. with the way it is, the wealthier clubs can still benefit in four ways; through the Aussie marquee, International marquee, Junior Marquee and the coaching staff (manager included and most particularly). you only have to look at Sydney to see a team that is inefficient at it. same goes for the visitors. for all their spend, neither have push the limits of the a league with who they have had. after all, you can't say that Sydney spent much on coaching despite the spend on ADP. for a club willing to spend 2 mil on ADP, you'd think they would back it up with the coaching and other marquees. get your world class players, a top up coming youth and a manager that is at the top of the game and you will see wonders.

agree with most of what you say, the big thing for me is the if you point out and his injuries. my reservations revolve around the fact i had always thought that Brown was noticeable largely because of his pace. was never that convinced otherwise. that being said, there always seemed to be a lot of positive raps around the way he went about the way he played, etc., so in some ways you do have to show a bit of trust for those making the decision to sign Brown.

link for those inclined. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/melbourne-heart-poach-newcastle-jets-talented-duo-connor-chapman-and-james-brown/story-fnk6rlg0-1226914874845 frankly i never rated the guy. seemed all pace. only thing i can hope for is that JVS's track record with spotting and training young talent pulls through.

would love it if he signs. always looked a decent young centreback. for me at least, to sign Chapman and another decent young developing centre back allows the club to get more out of VISA spots. last season i thought it was a fair waste to dedicate two VISAs as defenders. big thing for me tho is that all young players need game time to develop - the club cant afford to fuck it up like with Vrankovic. admittedly past youth development problems can be traced back to JA, but still would think the club has to be willing to give game time.

You're a few months late. Berba left Fulham in January. thought he was only loaned out for the last 6 months of his contract but if thats the case then thats the end of it then

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1188151/Berbatov-set-for-King-testimonial with Berbatov all but done with Fulham and the EPL, he might be an interesting option as international marquee. always look an intelligent player with an ability to score / assist critical goals and always seemed to be a player who could play a part anywhere across the forward line well

Inverting the Pyramid - Jonathan Wilson => a look into the evolution of tactics from the start of the game until the mid 2000s. Best of its type by far. the Beautiful Game - Chris Taylor => looks into the South American game country by country, from the start of the game in each country until the French World Cup (1998). A little like Calcio but a lot less bulky and incorporates how the lesser South American teams fit in and why Central American football has never taken off (aka why a guy like Carlos Hernandez has never made it to the EPL). Japanese Rules (also know as Nippon Rules) - Sebastian Moffatt => looks at Japan for the first decade of the J League. troubles with identity for clubs, shit foreign signings - something that seems to fit here with the first 10 years of the a league. as a little bit of a disclaimer, my enjoyment of this book came when i bought it a good few years ago when the a league was in its infancy as opposed to being THE book about football. even now, it is interesting to see some of the parallels. if only we could sign the next Arsene Wenger before he becomes big

Will be there till Sunday.. Going I the brad strut gig on Saturday night if anyone's keen depends on who i have with me in terms of the drive back. the Adel v Syd game sounds enticing but Foreast is 22 and sunny. Havent been to Adelaide Oval before so should be a good day. should be a good experience too since they have just finished the Adelaide Oval remodelling

does anyone else get shitty about the lack of coverage, both domestically and abroad? by all means, i'm glad Fox do what they do for the A League and that pay tv allows you to see the likes of the British, Spanish and US games. throw Setanta into the mix and you get Italian, Dutch and German amongst a couple others. free to air wise its great that we get at least something with a Friday night A League, a good 30 Champions League and some El Classicos. but......... i get shitty that the likes of SBS dont do more to push other leagues. i find it bemusing that for a channel that claims to be the home of football, they do not (a.) pick up the W League (at least the ABC does) (b.) the Youth League (c.) some decent European leagues via Setanta, etc. (d.) some decent South American leagues via Setanta, etc., or (e.) some Japanese / Korean / Chinese games (of which the live coverage would actually suit give time zones - aka a 7 pm late game kickoff for Japanese / Korean / Chinese games is a 9 pm / 10 pm kick off here) i would think that if the game is to grow here, greater coverage is required. people need to see it. if the EPL is too expensive, then why not look at other comps? if we actually play some of the better Japanese / Korean / Chinese teams as part of the ACL, surely then wouldnt the coverage of their comps would push the borders a bit and help get greater acceptance of the ACL? i would just think that this might be a better option free to air wise to get some of the "lesser, more inexpensive" leagues for growing the game here without degrading the ability of the A League to develop strong broadcasting rights

admittedly the guy is a legend of the game in a global sense and only came for four games as a gimmick more than anything else, but how about Romario? the guy was shite for those four Adelaide games.

Will be there till Sunday.. Going I the brad strut gig on Saturday night if anyone's keen depends on who i have with me in terms of the drive back. the Adel v Syd game sounds enticing but

as per past post i am driving back (to ballarat at least) if it helps. you'd need to find a way there and be prepared to train it from ballarat to where ever tho.

fucking disgrace. particularly when you add up the number of appearance from our centre pairing and the RB. how the hell does noone go with?!?!?!?!?

From inside our half too!!!!!

By God well done Engelaar!!!!!!!! Pure brilliance