Semper Cor

Klose's still going great, but hey we can dream. Point is there is a long time between now and end of Brasil 2014, and there will be a few players like Klose who will be in their mid-30's. Who knows they may be looking for something different, a new challenge perhaps. Wouldn't hurt to start exploring these options now.

Huge fan of Klose, I think he has one more year left at Lazio however. Not sure he will be leaving them and the Serie A next season, particularly with Brasil 2014 around the corner. I think maybe a few big name players like Klose will try and stay in the more recognised football leagues in the world next season, so they can give themselves the best chance of playing in Brasil 2014, even if it is at squad level. World Cup Brasil, not going to get bigger than that for quite a while. I am tipping however, after their Brasil 2014 swan song players like Klose, Pirlo and other big name international retirees will be more open to the idea of coming to play in the A-League. Maybe we should get in there now before other A-League, Chinese or MLS clubs come snooping around.

Just goes to show that unlike some other football leagues around the world where money can influence success, this is not so much for the A-League where there are salary cap and player restrictions. IMO, the CCM are consistently the best performing side over the last three seasons and whilst there was some doubt on whether players would get paid late last season, they still performed well on the domestic front and achieved silverware. Team unity, harmony and strong club culture are vital to an A-League club's success, because we can't spend the money like in other leagues. To me, these are just as important as Heart's signings when the club undertakes Season 2013/14.

And for those who couldn't get tix or can't make it... A-League friendlies involving Manchester United and Liverpool to be shown by Channel 7

For all you Balotelli and Twitter fans out there... should be interesting. Don't be a Twit, Mario! After a number of fake accounts Milan striker Balotelli finally joins Twitter

You're right about the third article. I suppose that's why I tried to balance it out with the first two articles as these seemed to demonstrate more of an influence at the local level. Also, I imagine with increasing followers from overseas (should it happen, it would be challenging as football is a global game), it would appeal to potential sponsors with respect to getting their product out there globally, particularly Asia, via social media. This could very well be another revenue stream for the club which they could re-invest in other areas. This is also why trying to consistently qualify for the Asian Champions League should be a major goal for the club!

You're right about the third article. I suppose that's why I tried to balance it out with the first two articles as these seemed to demonstrate more of an influence at the local level.

After finding the below articles regarding social media helping to increase fan engagement, crowd attendances and income, I imagine the long-term vision of Heart employing social media would be to achieve similar outcomes. If you’re time poor, the third article is probably the best place to go, I also rather liked the last line here. College athletic departments use social media to increase fan engagement Southern announces football attendance increase Football clubs go global with social media In the case of the second article, an increase in on-field performance along with social media presence was just as important with respect to increasing crowd attendances – take note Heart! As Heart are in a particularly congested sporting marketplace and where the visitors have had a five year head start, and there is relatively little media presence for the sport, thinking outside the square needs to be the club’s business mantra. It looks like they’ve built up the social media followers which is great, but by the sounds of it, Heart HQ needs to continue to build followers whilst working on relevancy, quality and timing of information via its’ Facebook and Twitter feeds, and possibly other online sites to further capitalise on these opportunities.

Some positive news in relation to Heart's attempt to reach fans across social media: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/heart-rebels-lead-twitter-revolution-in-australian-sport/story-e6frfg8x-1226643321729

Yes, I like Football therefore I must like Craig Foster and agree with all he says as he is pro-football... What a load of tripe. Irrespective of his love for a game that I also love, the man is a simpleton who aptly demonstrates the superficial level of Journalistic/Commentary talent available in the Football pool in this country. One’s opinion of Craig Foster aside, the real issue is, and always has been, an institutionalised attitude held by some of Kevin Sheedy’s ilk towards the game of football. The fact that such views perpetuate the stereotype that football is a foreign sport exclusively for migrants and all things un-Australian, serves no other purpose than to marginalise the game and stifle its’ growth. Also, the fact that Sheedy can sit in front of cameras and microphones and utter such dribble, with the belief that his words won’t be challenged, further demonstrates his and others like him, contempt for the sport we love. Furthermore, when such views are conveyed like the way it has, it reaffirms this negative stereotype which unfortunately passes onto the next generation, particularly those who are incapable of independent thought. Meaning that football fans like us, will more than likely have to deal with this rubbish once again. I don’t agree with Foz all the time, but his article, and to some extent Andrew Durante’s response, reflects a lot of the views and frustrations held by a lot of football fans. Because we’ve been there before, and the sad truth is that we’ll probably be there again when someone tries to disrespect football. And the reality is I don’t see many people out there in the mainstream media taking issue with Sheedy’s words and I think it’s time football should be able to stand on its’ feet in response to these types of remarks. The truth is, what was said about WSW, could very well have been said about Melbourne Heart. I wonder if we would be as dismissive if Sheedy labelled Melbourne Heart as the club for “boat people?” I would like to think not.

lol you're argument, however well thought out it may well be, immediately loses ground when you start citing the most Sydney-centric, anti-victorian voice in Australian football: Crag 'The world is against us' Foster. The man is an idiot. Yeah, Foz does have his pro-Sydney, anti-Melboune agenda going on, which is nauseating to say the least, (his over-appraisal of all things Barca not excluded). However don't let this detract from the overall message of Sheedy's comments that football is only followed and played by migrants and Australians only follow and play Australian Rules Football. The truth is, both follow and play both.

You know just for fun, RBB to turn up to a GWS game, make a lot of noise and add colour, you know give the AFL a show. Half way through the final quarter, throw falafel's onto the ground, much like Gillingham fans did with celery. But then again, you know the media will find a way to turn it into an anti-football story.

Sheedy's comments are eerily similar to Eddie McGuire's "land of the falafel" comment made just over two years ago. Both show not only a degree of disrespect to Western Sydney and its’ demographic make-up, but in Sheedy’s case, disrespect to the sport of football. Disrespect because he paints the picture that football is only popular in Western Sydney because of its’ high immigration numbers. Whilst having a strong diverse society like that in Western Sydney has contributed to the growth of football in this area, Sheedy’s comments completely ignores the well over 100 years of contribution to football made by all people during this time. Heaven forbid that a “non-migrant”, whatever that means, contributes to and follows the sport of football. It’s that “us and them” mentality that slowly seeps through his words, and according to Craig Foster’s article (link below), this is not the first time. This is not surprising however, at least IMO, as there is a mentality held amongst the Kevin Sheedy generation, i.e. your elder Australian Rules Football stalwarts, that if you want to be truly Australian, you need to follow Australian Rules Football because this is our game – not football. This way you will be accepted as one of us… maybe. This mentality should be changed because people should be free to follow football (or not), and not have their “Australianness” questioned. This, in my view, is a key factor in growing the sport of football. Craig Foster’s response to this story pretty much sums up my view on this issue. http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/craig-foster/blog/1151394/Sheedy,-you're-a-disgrace

Just saw the highlights… Now this is why I follow football! I particularly enjoyed the second video. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/is-this-the-craziest-end-to-a-football-match-ever/story-e6frfg8x-1226640993949

As you do… Real life Mario Kart! Milan have banned Balotelli from mini karting... so he takes his £200k Ferrari onto Italian circuit instead!

According to this article, which appeared two days after the rejected bid, the offer was in excess of $3.5M. How much more, we're not too sure. http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/australia/news/1150052/South-Melbourne-clarifies-Heart-situation All null and void now, we're still Melbourne Heart and long may that continue.

IMO, I think the FFA has been let off a little too lightly on this issue of increasing supporter and membership numbers amongst clubs. Sure it is part of every club’s agenda to increase supporter and membership base, as well it should, but it’s also in the interest of the FFA this happens as well. The FFA is in charge of administering football at all levels in this country. However, I believe the A-League is now the main source of promotion for the sport of football in Australia. It used to be the Socceroos and their success in qualifying and performing in World Cups. Now, it is the A-League because it is an annual event as opposed to something that happens every four years. I agree with another poster that the current market for tapping into and attracting football fans is more than likely maxxed-out. This market is more than likely made up of football fans and semi-interested football fans that existed prior to A-League formation. The visitors have around 15,000 members, the Heart around 7,000 (please correct me if I’m too inaccurate). This number appears to be consistent over the years, reinforcing the notion that with respect to attracting new supporters and members, we have reached maximum market threshold. Despite club marketing, positioning or branding, or even how well a team performs on the pitch, it appears that we’re more than likely not going to see any significantly more members signing up anytime soon, (key term being significantly). Hence the FFA’s failure. It is the responsibility of the FFA, not necessarily the clubs, to grow the sport in this country. They have had eight plus years to plan and implement the A-League, and whilst they’ve done some things well, they have yet to fully promote and capitalise on this sport from my point of view. Outrageously high junior membership fees at grassroots level, little to no presence in all forms of media and the only place to watch A-League matches is on Pay TV, of which only of relatively small percentage of households have. And with the new Pay TV deal with Foxtel moving forward, it looks like the trend of hiding the best sporting competition in Australia from the wider public will continue. Sure there will be a single live game shown per week on SBS, but remember the reason why the NSL was disbanded in the first place – because NSL clubs were too ethnically aligned to some communities, which stifled and prevented growth. Showing games on SBS will not remedy this, because, you guessed it, the majority of mainstream sporting or otherwise Australians still perceive SBS to be an ethnically driven station. Therefore this move will only be attracting current football fans, not enticing new and potential football fans. FFA, grow the game! Capitalise on the sport which has the highest participation rate amongst boys and girls across the country, and more than healthy numbers amongst men and women. Capitalise on the sport which is consistently played at healthy levels across all States and not just some like other sports. Capitalise on the sport that is already international and that can link up with neighbours Asia with a potential footballing market of 1 billion plus people. But most of all grow the game, grow the market to tap into with the aim of attracting new fans to the sport, so clubs like Melbourne Heart will have the opportunity to do what they need to do, what they have to do, to increase supporter and membership numbers, and ultimately exist. This will not only help all A-League clubs, but in the long run, it will help the FFA and the sport of football in this country.

Credit where credit is due, Scott Munn came out within a few hours and made a strong positive statement that the current Heart board have no intention of merging or relinquishing control. This, to me at least, shows a sense of stability and belief in the club and its’ business model at the top level, which is good because I can't recall many successful sporting clubs with instability at board or C-level management. With respect to consortium bids from the ME and Europe, it’s interesting to note that Heart are attracting interest from around the globe. As mentioned in the article, this is more so due to their business model rather than on field performances, which is a bit surprising because I would’ve thought it to be the other way around. This just demonstrates that being successful off the pitch may be just as important as on the pitch, in relation to attracting further investments. The challenge of course is finding the right balance between a successful business model and a football team that can win matches/trophies and play attractive football. It looks like we have one, now let’s focus on getting the other.

Hopefully this article puts more water over this little fire... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/melbourne-heart-knock-back-takeover-bid-from-south-melbourne/story-fndmchp2-1226633331242

If this report is true, and according to Scott Munn's tweet it is, the fact that an offer has been made disturbs me. Strong communication needs to come from Heart HQ on what its' intentions are, because for the club and its' fans, I don't think we need an off-season of takeover bids and speculation. Especially, when we should be focussing our energy on re-developing the squad, and putting into place a system, where we don't have a season like the previous one.

Thought it timely to post the below link. Most of you guys may have read it before, as it is a few months old, but again thought it pertinent in light of Paul Williams' miserable excuse of an article. Cheers, http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/despite-naysayers-damning-melbourne-heart-things-have-never-looked-better-writes-fox-sports-simon-hill/story-e6frf4gl-1226538514595#.UXdQDCp-9jo