mattyh001

for me it was the right time to let him go. for most of last season Thompson's passing radar was completely off. add to the fact you could say the same of his tackling ability and i question what value would he actually bring. don't get me wrong, Thompson was one of the nicest guys i've met. for me tho it has to be about the football and it was time to move on.

i'm kinda getting the feeling that this is a win win for Heart. on the strength of the All Stars team, it not exactly like Williams is the worst player in the squad. as such, there will always be the rebuttal that there is someone in the team just as bad. in any case, Williams will get the chance to lift his game which will (a) benefit Heart through a better player or the chance to offload for a bit of money, or (b ) his ineptitude allows for more chances to both Golgol and Mate when the season actually starts. Win Win.

Oh my! Any credibility this side and match had has now been lost. Celeski what a joke! ROFL. as much as the fact that I understand Postecoglou is the coach (thus more likely to view his own players more positively), surely he could find a better midfielder for that role.

tbh its something that i have thought about too, but I get the feeling Chamakh would want too bigger wage and that he just too poor a work ethic on the field to justify. after all, Chamakh was given a great second chance at the Hammers and didnt make the most of it.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1158596/Heart-in-hunt-for-Dutch-ace-Falkenberg never heard of the bloke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Falkenburg given my past concerns / comments about just looking at the CV, i take his CV with a grain of salt but he has played 40 odd games as part of AZ squads (2010-2012) that have finished top 4. Prior to that Sparta Rotterdam where in the Dutch top flight so he won't be that bad

yeah saw him training a bit at the very end by himself so whether or not he is carrying a niggle and has a separate training program ....

I asked JA about him and apparently he rolled his ankle when he played for the national team. Also asked DMac about where we're gonna train this year and we're at Epping for the next 9 or so weeks which is when the news about an upgrade to La Trobe will happen. If nothing happens to LaTrobe then we might stay at epping or go to trinity (presumably their sport campus in bulleen) likewise, I remember DMac saying the club will be training up there for at least 9 weeks and until either (a) Latrobe is upgraded or ( there is a better suiter. it actually looked a good surface. All good mate, i'll just send the bill

Tell me they were official Heart merch He probably did it cause it was cold. Although I would have Thought he would have just pulled his socks right up to the bottom of his shorts? Times a changin' at mhfc ah wanted to get a photo but he quickly headed inside before taking requests ere were probably around 60 fans there in the end

Looks to be around 40 people here to watch. And surprising Hayden Foxe is wearing tracksuit pants not shorts

IIRC Kewell has played upfront as the lone striker a number of times for the Socceroos (particularly recently too in terms of the last couple of times he played for the team). given his age (and the fact his time off will have taken a yard off his pace too) i wouldn't be too surprised to see him more central.

Yeah, We will attempt to make FB events for most games where there is a signficant presence of Heart Fans. too easy, just liked the page. as a side note, does anyone know where the first preseason game is?

booked and in but will be there for the whole week leading up since we play WSW the Saturday before.

in

Already booked for the two games in Sydney on December 7 and December 15. Like Cadete with Brisbane, Sydney is the last Australian state capital I have left on the list to visit so its as good a time as any to visit and go for a week. From the boards here it seems there are a few keen for both games in Sydney and a few more for one or the other. Is there someone who usually organises meet ups / lists of whose going / activities / etc. or do we usually do that ourselves closer to the games? I realise we are a few good months out but it would be good to know when and what to look for.

and where abouts is training this week for those incline to go and watch?

as a quick question, at what stage of the season / how many weeks out from a particular away game do people start planning for away trips. to give some perspective, I am pretty set on going to the two Sydney games in December (on the 7th we play WSW away and then Sydney FC away on the 15th) over the space of two rounds. part of it is that i've never been to Sydney before and so I can check off that trip along with going to a couple of away games. as such, I am wondering if anyone else is looking at going / if it would be a good idea to start planning shit on the forum ? EDIT: Although do I take that's what the Match Day Planning is for?

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league/news/1157522/Roar-adds-duo Diogo Ferreira and Dimitri Petratos signed with Brisbane.

Realistically though....what other quality australian keepers are available? Really hope this happens Dean Bouzanis for one, and the other released Aussie keeper at Oldham (Liam Jacob) might be worth a look.

being nearly a foot shorter, i'd imagine Misfud would offer the services of a player that is a lot better on the ball and a lot more versatile since very rarely do you see 5"5 players used as the target forward (but not guaranteed as a lot of this discussion is pure speculation and many wouldn't have seen Misfud play - being able to compare accurately is like apples and oranges). That being said Misfud captains his country and has amassed over 90 caps - predominantly against European teams and in WC / Euro qualifiers. given the ranking systems and that Malta are usually ranked down the bottom in terms of seedings then Misfud normally would be playing against a better class of opponent (ie Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal and even Hungary). He has a decent scoring record for his country, thus pointing to the fact he must be alright if he can score against much better opposition than the the team he plays for on a regular basis. Misfud has tasted success in a league that doesn't sit too far behind the Bosnian League in the UEFA coefficients - the same Bosnian league where Gerhardt had done well before joining Heart. Given how many hoops those leagues have to jump through to even make the group stage for either Champions or Europa league then frankly part of their ranking is pure luck of the draw and thus Malta is probably closer to the standard of the Bosnian league than the other way around. The fact Misfud is the national team captain and has a good scoring record then chances are he actually is one of the better players in the Maltese league - thus pointing to the fact he may be similar to Gerhardt in regards to being a quality player for that league. remember too that Berisha had a poor record in Europe before coming over. Macallister's record has nothing on him. the best goal scoring ratio Macallister has had was 1 to every 3 and that was at Wellington. That being said Misfud captains his country and has amassed over 90 caps - predominantly against European teams and in WC / Euro qualifiers. given the ranking systems and that Malta are usually ranked down the bottom in terms of seedings then Misfud normally would be playing against a better class of opponent (ie Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal and even Hungary). He has a decent scoring record for his country, thus pointing to the fact he must be alright if he can score against much better opposition than the the team he plays for on a regular basis. Shit teams he scored against: Iceland, Canada, Jordan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Austria, Georgia, Macedonia, Central African Republic, Luxembourg, San Marino, Armenia. Decent teams scored against: Slovenia, Israel, Finland, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Norway, Greece, Croatia. 25 of 37 goals were scored in Mickey Mouse games. 5 against Liechtenstein. Lets not get too excited. He's a legend in Malta. Malta. Not worth a visa spot. Nothing to see here. by the same token then (and purely looking at Gerhardt prior to his many memorable performances last season for Heart) couldn't you have said the same Gerhardt prior to the start of last season? or Berisha when he was signed by Brisbane - it wasn't like he came in with that good a record? Lets look at it; he was playing; he was playing in the Bosnian league (currently ranked 34th in Europe) and has only played twice for Libya (FIFA ranked 103, ELO ranked 122). While Libya are better than Malta (FIFA 156 and ELO 145), the difference is not that big when you consider they are separated by 100 ELO points (Libya are on 1347 so they have performed about 8% better). Even then, we are talking about the captain of Malta (and thus can be expected to be one of their better players) and one who has been largely off the radar. With that lack of difference in mind then, surely Misfud is worth a look in. Maybe there are better options on offer out their (I and others have never otherwise) but to simply cast a player aside because he is from a lowly team (be it club or nation) seems short sighted. EDIT: As a side note, both John Hutchison and Manny Muscat have played for Malta (11 and 8 caps respectfully). Granted neither are star players and both haven't turned out for / agreed to represent Malta until much after Mifsud so they havent had the time to get a lot of caps, but they have both certainly been good enough for the A League over the last couple of years. As such doesnt that go to further boost the view that Malta arent as bad as you say?

being nearly a foot shorter, i'd imagine Misfud would offer the services of a player that is a lot better on the ball and a lot more versatile since very rarely do you see 5"5 players used as the target forward (but not guaranteed as a lot of this discussion is pure speculation and many wouldn't have seen Misfud play - being able to compare accurately is like apples and oranges). That being said Misfud captains his country and has amassed over 90 caps - predominantly against European teams and in WC / Euro qualifiers. given the ranking systems and that Malta are usually ranked down the bottom in terms of seedings then Misfud normally would be playing against a better class of opponent (ie Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal and even Hungary). He has a decent scoring record for his country, thus pointing to the fact he must be alright if he can score against much better opposition than the the team he plays for on a regular basis. Misfud has tasted success in a league that doesn't sit too far behind the Bosnian League in the UEFA coefficients - the same Bosnian league where Gerhardt had done well before joining Heart. Given how many hoops those leagues have to jump through to even make the group stage for either Champions or Europa league then frankly part of their ranking is pure luck of the draw and thus Malta is probably closer to the standard of the Bosnian league than the other way around. The fact Misfud is the national team captain and has a good scoring record then chances are he actually is one of the better players in the Maltese league - thus pointing to the fact he may be similar to Gerhardt in regards to being a quality player for that league. remember too that Berisha had a poor record in Europe before coming over. Macallister's record has nothing on him. the best goal scoring ratio Macallister has had was 1 to every 3 and that was at Wellington. At 5' 5" he's not much shorter than Messi or Maradona agreed, was just making the point that players of that height generally play a deeper or wider role

being nearly a foot shorter, i'd imagine Misfud would offer the services of a player that is a lot better on the ball and a lot more versatile since very rarely do you see 5"5 players used as the target forward (but not guaranteed as a lot of this discussion is pure speculation and many wouldn't have seen Misfud play - being able to compare accurately is like apples and oranges). That being said Misfud captains his country and has amassed over 90 caps - predominantly against European teams and in WC / Euro qualifiers. given the ranking systems and that Malta are usually ranked down the bottom in terms of seedings then Misfud normally would be playing against a better class of opponent (ie Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal and even Hungary). He has a decent scoring record for his country, thus pointing to the fact he must be alright if he can score against much better opposition than the the team he plays for on a regular basis. Misfud has tasted success in a league that doesn't sit too far behind the Bosnian League in the UEFA coefficients - the same Bosnian league where Gerhardt had done well before joining Heart. Given how many hoops those leagues have to jump through to even make the group stage for either Champions or Europa league then frankly part of their ranking is pure luck of the draw and thus Malta is probably closer to the standard of the Bosnian league than the other way around. The fact Misfud is the national team captain and has a good scoring record then chances are he actually is one of the better players in the Maltese league - thus pointing to the fact he may be similar to Gerhardt in regards to being a quality player for that league. remember too that Berisha had a poor record in Europe before coming over. Macallister's record has nothing on him. the best goal scoring ratio Macallister has had was 1 to every 3 and that was at Wellington.

http://www.vallettafc.net/news/-valletta-fc-release-michael-mifsud Sign him up, Maltese footballing god. At 5"5 he's not the tallest chap but would certainly be a very interesting and solid signing - although it's all rather pie in the sky. would be genuinely quite interested in seeing him signed. As a foot note to it all, Valletta have won the league title both year's Mifsud was at the club, and as national team captain you would imagine he'd have had a massive influence. The only real concern i'd have is that with his height and lack of goal scoring outside of Malta he might not be the type of forward that is (as per Thierry Henry's description a couple years back) a fox in the box. Mind you, neither was Berisha when playing in Europe and he has turned out well so one can only hope ...

1288 as of 9.30 am AEST - another 43 over the weekend. outta curiousity, does anyone have the figures / count from early last season? been going through last season's members thread and haven't seen anything yet. Edit: the first number i've seen for last season was posted at the end of August 2012 (at 3650 on the facebook page).

judging by the other comments i'm not the only who doesnt rate Ward. too old to be a fringe player and with little to offer youngsters experience. started only 9 times (with 14 off the bench) in a Perth team that where shite.

as a quite reference point (and doesnt necessarily mean anything) both Sydney FC and WSW have contracts with both their keepers from last season. Dean Bouzanis is a Sydney boy and by all reports his brother is on the books at Sydney FC. thus, I take it that Bouzanis is training there while staying with his family as opposed to training with a new club.