mattyh001

There normally is 2 games on sunday and the other one is in perth so id say time differences etc Yes, they couldn't do it last week during the Grand Prix For me, it comes down to two things; (1) last week there was a lead into an ACL week so all ACL relative teams (the retards, WSW and CCM) played the Saturday. since the FFA are actually powerless to predict the location of home and away games come the ACL, the best the FFA can do is make sure that they play any relative A League team is on the Saturday so that those that get given an away game have the best chance to fly out on a Sunday. (2) Fox Sports have their broadcast contract dictate that they have a 5 pm AEST / AEDT kickoff time slot so they can run their program (can't remember the name) at 7 pm AEST / AEDT as a wrap up to the weekend. As was pointed out, normally there are two Sunday games (after all, ACL will impact a max of 6 out of 27 rounds a season). Hence, Fox can advertise a program to a very select and already engaged audience through an afternoon of footy. bitch and moan all you want, they put $40 million into the game each year. they are entitled to there say. That said; (1) It doesn't take 13 monkeys around the clock to figure what the fuck is happening on the Australian sporting scene (and more to Bela's point). sadly, the muppets at the FFA are Sydney centric. by all means, footy in this country has to treat itself as if it is the biggest mofo out there - if we don't then who will? that said, there are some things you just don't mess with (ie AFL Grand Final, NRL Grand Final, F1 GP, ANZAC day games in other codes). some are just an uphill battle (no pun intended). you'd think some would show some forward planning, particularly since we are talking about a fucking season draw

IN for only my second live game since the 3-1 win over Newcastle. the sad thing is that Adelaide is actually a shorter drive from Mildura than Melbourne tho for those interested / not yet booked a return flight and to cut the story short, anyone who would like a lift (Adelaide to Ballarat) is welcome to it free of charge. will have two or three seats available in a four door sedan on a first in first served basis (dependant if my brother joins me). obviously those who continue on to Melbourne will need to find a way to either Adelaide or Mildura pregame (since you could join me for the drive down) and will need a Ballarat-Melbourne train ticket (can go via myki; around $10-15 IIRC and takes about 1hr 20 min to get to Southern Cross). i'll be driving from Adelaide to Ballarat on the Saturday after the game (largely due to the fact I'll have my car with me since i'm doing the Mildura - Adelaide leg for the game before returning to Ballarat to see the folks). PM me if keen.

By having the anchor and two neutral mids the two non inner centre backs can actually play a little wider. Should a defender get dragged (ie long ball down the wing) the dragged player just jockeys until the DM drops into the back line and the two neutral mids cover as appropriate. A winger dropping back is more last resort in that instance. Mind u, the risk u mention is always there if one of the mids don't do their job

Swap Mauk with Kalmar and put Mauk in the DM spot with Germano / Engelaar in the hole (the other at LM) and I totally agree Kewell's better off coming on for last 30 given his recent injury (as soft as it seems) and that the visitors are without Leijer or Contreras - their backlines better pace will have been wilted down after 60 so that Kewells ageing legs won't be an issue

Only half this season I've missed watching live in person / on fox and I sit down to see we're up 2-0 don't know what to think other than wtf!?!?! Love that JVS was willing to use 3 at the back from the get go

All we can do is ask for consistency in decisions, we all know that it wouldn't have been a red if ADP made the same tackle, even a double handed block of a shot in the box was ignored by the ref. We do have to judge each incident on its own merits though, I think that t was a clear yellow but a very harsh red. to those watching the HAL for the first time, you'll never complain about EPL refs again after you've watched these guys for a few games. It's the one aspect of the HAL that hasn't improved from season 1 because the FFA refuses to fund professional refs. This. One of the problems I have is that u generally get two or three tackles like Engelaar's every week yet most go without a red. Not saying they shouldn't just would love consistency. What gets me more about last night was that the ref gave so many decisions for the more trivial / not always punished (ie Janjetovics yellow for kicking the ball away) yet neither penalty shout was given. Comes across to me me as a power trip.

I hear you mate. Given the result am gutted I missed it too Mind you, those first 88 minutes weren't easy to watch thanks to so many questionable decisions

Disgusted with refereeing would be losing my shit if I was at the game

Same. As long as their quality I don't care where they're from. Although, to be honest, if they're quality players then I hope we DO pinch them from Victory, makes it all the more funny. TBH the only reason i'd give Traore a look in is that he would hold Australian citizenship. Traore is better than most local players, but not by as much as the media would have you believe. i've never been a big fan, Traore gets away with his flaws because of his athleticism. admittedly he has a few more skills than most other "big bodies" in the a league (ie Topor Stanley). however, i'd question what else Traore brings. that goal he scored earlier this season was one of four in the league, including all his time at GCU - not the most prolific (ie not the sort to score from a corner). Traore struggles with getting forward into decent positions that are meaningful, and tends to be very hit and miss with both crossing and dribbling past opponents. Behich has largely had a season to forget, but at least he offers something going forward. when Traore's athleticism goes or starts to wane, he will be even less use going forward and will struggle defensively. that said, he currently is better than most locals so Traore with citizenship is worth a look in.

Didn't realise you were a comanchero mate? Haha not quite

Will be there in spirit if nothing else. Start a new job in Mildura this week and whilst there are surprising regular flights from Mildura to Melbourne, leaving early to get one pre game might not be an option. Which only leaves a 6 hour + drive In any case, it's been awesome to see to see improvements recently since Heart have collected more points this season in 4 games under Vant Schip than in 12 under Aloisi. I know that sounds a little weird at first but at least it shows we're moving forward. And with Sydney being soooooo inconsistent we should be in with a good shout.

TBH i dont see how Berisha fits into their current system. so for me that leaves the visitors with two options; (1) go back to their old 'kick n rush' style since they dont really have the midfielders who know how to play the ball through to Berisha properly, or (2) the visitors remain their big headed selves and try to make Berisha fit. either way I think win-win for us unless they manage to recruit a shite load of decent ball playing mids. Milligan, for all his problems at international level, can play the part locally. Broxham and the rest tho are shit. and with that Mutt still in charge I think any changes towards playing an actual centre forward will reflect the way he played - lots of aimless long balls. so as i said, win win for us. they will either play like shite with their current formation and their fans will crack it (much to our pleasure after all the taunts this season), or they will actually play shit football and lose fans.

had trouble for most of the week accessing the site so thought i'd post now. just a little something to tell all opposing fans every week whenever they get a little too loud.

Maybe. GC's reaction certainly didn't give the impression either that it was a couple of mates engaging in a bit of tongue-in-cheek banter, or that it was a more reasonable square up for something that GC had said about SM/MH previously. I too had never heard of George Calombaris. But I don't think it matters who he is, or whether the two of them are mates or sworn enemies or anywhere in between. IMO it shows a marked lack of judgement for a CEO to make this kind of public comment. where i get a bit funny on all this is that it is twitter FFS. 140 characters, nothing else - no context, nothing. we can guess all we like, we are just guessing without context. perhaps Calombaris might have done nothing and / or Munn coulda found a better outlet for a cheap jib. or he could look back on all the cheap camera / tv tricks for his shitty "reality" show and grow up. sometimes its nothing but gamesmanship. we all have to wear it when we look shite. Calombaris needs to be remembered its called 19 times with a guy whose there for being a face for doing something unique (at least at the time) on national TV. oh wait ...

honestly this is no more than two fellas ribbing one another. derby factor and all, surely you have to expect one another to get stuck in. the day we can't take the piss .... and to think that the visitors havent loved our last 19 games. send the muppet some fucking kleenex mind you would be half tempted to tweet old Georgey boy the following for nothing other than a laugh. its as if he thinks Munn doesnt get it was gonna put it up during the week but for trouble accessing the website / forums. thought it would be a pissa for our next game that we lose.

he'll pull up sore and be out for the rest of the season. Just scored a peach of a diving looping header

Engelaar off 30 minutes mostly as a precaution I'm guessing nothing looked wrong

Engelaar playing mostly as the anchor in midfield redirecting passes in and out of the backline. For a guy coming back from injury looks rather handy (even if only a youth game)

TBH i'd rather see Ramsey used in his more natural position as a proper winger. even last week Ramsey was tucking centrally too much and as a result looked like a dog chasing his tail. Ramsey seems to be the sort of player that should be up and down that left wing all day. just another player that Aloisi couldn't get the best out of.

http://www.sportal.com.au/football/a-league/preview-perth-glory-v-melbourne-heart/1qtgquagrmzbu1ry7rcmu2jfud oh how that sums up Williams perfectly. always thought that if Williams had a shred of consistently good play to him then he'd be in Europe. hoping that JvS has been able to keep revitalising the team confidence upwards but every time i remember the Heart playing in Perth (even with JvS) we've been shit so ...

Murfy, that is absolutely spot on. after reading a number of pages in this thread it seems that people are just looking for the negatives. frankly, that is the best we've played in a long time. i'm not saying its the best we ever have - honestly we know there is a fair bit left to grow given how shit we've been this season. but Murfy hit the nail on the head; the interview with Murdocca post game said what was evident with most players - they actually had fun for once. something that was ingrained into my mind at the end of the game was that some players (most notably Kewell) actually looked shitty that we didnt win!! at what stage under Aloisi was that possible - particularly since this was on the road? JvS looks to have the players feeling more positive. at this stage, at least in my mind, it is all about small steps. getting the players to play with confidence, actually having a feasible game plan, etc. as a side discussion, the lack of fitness towards the end looked to come from the steady pressing the boys employed first half. TBH i'm not surprised at any lack of fitness; with the amount of bullshit that went on with Aloisi i'd imagine he didnt know how to develop and maintain decent fitness levels in a squad.

thoroughly agree; the guy is an out and out left winger, and sadly that was never gonna work under Aloisi.

just put a cheeky $10 on Heart for the double chance (win or draw) at $2.25 at local TAB. Given the outs for CCM and the fact they have struggled under Moss, those odds look decent.

to puts things a little bluntly (and something that is probably rather obvious) this season is screwed. teams that make finals in the 5th / 6th positions need roughly 34-36 points. thats 10 wins away (from only 15 games too) from a team that couldnt get 1 in 12. not gonna happen without a shit load of rabbits out of a hat with the new gaffer. from that stand point, i think we need a coach that we can build around for next season - someone with an ability to structure the way the club goes forward. yes it would be good to see the team strive for results but TBH i just wanna see progression towards a team ethos and strategy that will be winning football next season. i'm starting to get quite shitty about all the talk with local coaches (Rudan, Bleiburg, etc.) excluding Edwards. we have just gone through the worst spell with an inexperienced coach. on what planet would you want another - that should rule out Rudan!!! he might be up and coming but he has no real runs on the board. as for Bleiburg, he did shite at Brisbane, average at Gold Coast with a big money marquee. dont see him doing much here. Edwards is the only one i see doing something decent and even he doesnt have that many runs on the board. the only reason i see him doing something decent is that he got Glory into shape and performing alright despite a number of senior players being out injured. that for me leaves only foreign based coaches. i've said it before and will say it again, i could see Di Canio working. yes he has had his problems for political views. but people forget how well he did at Swindon on a budget and the fact he wasnt a complete prick on the field (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPxRtKTM2AU) i'd also like the the to consider an Italian or German style. just for something a bit different in terms of footballing approach.

On manly beach til tonight but would be happy to catch up for a drink. Will PM you my number.