jw1739

http://www.stsavacollege.net/en/faq/faq_3.aspx Approximately 35,000 Serbs in '...the south-west of Sydney.' Whether or not this has been considered part of the catchment area for West Sydney Wanderers I don't know. Back to what we do if and when Milicic leaves...I'd still like to see Mike Mulvey come on board one way or another.

"Wanderers" in this particular case has great historical significance. See http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/worldcup/timeline.shtml

Sash, where have you picked that up? Anyway, I would have thought that the Board would have realised that Milicic would move after he had been passed over. So, if there isn't a 'Plan B', what a stuff-up! If Milicic does go we will have lost all three of our much-vaunted inaugural coaching team. Presumably if the NYL continues next year we will also be looking for a new youth coach.

Received, thanks. When I click on the link my security software issues me a warning that some of the links may be to fraudulent websites. Think I'll wait and see whether we get a similar invitation from Heart HQ.

Thanks for the article there, KA. Don't remember seeing or hearing any coverage of the extension of the agreement whatsoever. Would be nice if the Heart website was up-to-date and informative...

That just does not look genuine to me. If it was, it would have many more questions (e.g. about the club you support or are a member of, etc. etc.), would mention who is doing the survey, would have the HAL logo etc all over it, and numerous other bits and pieces. I thought the FFA did something like this, but far more comprehensive, during the season?

Looks like we're finding it hard to snare our targets so far.

When Redmayne was signed in January 2012: - in season 1 we had existed with the substitute keeper being the club's goalkeeping coach; - in season 2 the signing of Roganovic had misfired and we had as our substitute keeper a youth player on loan from Victory; - Bolton had had pre-season surgery and by the accounts I had read he was on a modified training regime and was a week-by-week proposition for the whole of season 2; - Bolton was on a two-year contract and was expected to retire at the end of season 2 and pursue a career in the media. So we picked up a quality 23-y-o keeper and it was not unreasonable for us to expect that he would be the no. 1 choice in season 3. No-one in the squad has a guaranteed place in the A-League side. I don't believe anyone is suggesting that Redmayne should be an exception. I'm just putting my view out that having got him on board it's not a positive step to re-sign our former keeper, who, by all acounts will not take kindly to being the second choice if and when it comes to that.

Neither Mehbratu nor Halloran seem that potent in front of the goal, Mehbratu particularly. I still think we need more fire-power up front. The Hun confirms 15 players on the books - that must mean Thompson included. Srhoj has clearly gone. I would prefer we don't re-sign Bolton - we already have Redmayne, and another young back-up keeper is all we need - we need to look to the future not backwards and IMO there's no point re-signing a bloke who's probably got no more than one more season in him. Like the idea of a squad of 21 - gives us room to move during the season if a really good opportunity arises. Probably was this sort of positive thinking that swung the Board in favour of Aloisi.

One question that I would like to ask...we took a number of non-Heart players to the Hawaiian International...do we have any interest in any of them now?

Yes. I'm really not sure why people still go on about Madaschi coming back to Heart. AFAIK he's signed a two-year contract in Korea, so it's pretty much out of the question. As for Colosimo, he has one year of his contract to run. I can't really see anyone else wanting him, so I think we are stuck with him. By my calculations we have 13 contracted players for next season, plus Thompson if he has another year to run. Leaving us 8-10 positions we can fill in the A-League squad. We did not exceed the cap last year, so it would appear that we have plenty of room to move if we really want to go after a particular player. I would have thought that another quallity experienced CB was essential for next season. We needed one last season - and for 10 games we had one and the results showed what a difference he made. I can't follow any argument that says we don't need one for next season.

In response to a tweet 'are we trying to get Halloran or Brockie?' John Didulica has replied 'we have a few irons in the fire but don't want to give too much away just yet!'

Just who are you referring to here?

Just picked this up: http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-16493.html Anyone able to confirm this?

http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/border-plan-for-aleague/2549391.aspx I just hope that this does not go ahead. Practice/pre-season matches maybe, but not A-League matches. One of the reasons we struggle to draw crowds is the way the fixtures are put together. We need regular home matches to keep the public's interest, not playing away matches or in the boondocks for weeks on end as we had to last season.

Most likely Newcastle lost interest as soon as they realised we were not going to give him away. These Euro clubs are all the same - think we're still all cattle drovers wearing hats with corks around the brim. Great news for Heart.

Completely agree with you. Of the three potemtial re-signs, Bolton, Srhoj and Thompson, none of them are that good that we should be bargaining with them to retain them. If they want to stay, it should be on our terms and not theirs. In the case of Bolton we already have Redmayne. Srhoj works hard, but hasn't scored a goal in two seasons, and we can do just as well elsewhere. And in Thompson's case he had a terrible second half of the season and I reckon he's lucky if we're still talking to him.

But your analogy isn't quite appropriate. JA has been in Sidwell's organization for two years, and has many years of top-level playing experience to back that up. IMO JA has been appointed for a number of reasons, not least of which being a perception that he's going to be able to attract the sort of player we want to the club, the sort of sponsor we want, and the sort of media attention we want.

Has there been any confirmation of this?

I'm interested to hear Aloisi saying we have 15 players signed for next season. Now that Zahra has been released, AFAIK the number is 13: Marrone, Hamill, Behich, Babalj, Hoffman, Colosimo, Germano, Fred, Williams, Kalmar, Dugandzic, Good and Redmayne. So, assuming Good is included in the number, who are the other two?

Aged 32. Only eight goals in 100+ matches. No point in signing him.

From http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/aleague-title-new-heart-boss-aloisis-aim-20120508-1y9wb.html ...Even Aloisi admitted his rise had surprised him. "When I retired here just over a year ago, I didn't really expect to be the head coach within a year," he told reporters at Tuesday's announcement. He will aim high. "The squad we've got, we're going to be very ambitious. Our goal will be to win the league," Aloisi said. "I'm going to be under pressure no matter what, so I might as well be under pressure knowing that I'm going to try to win it. "If you don't have a goal that you're going to try to win the league, then what's the use of being in the competition." That's more like it! Can't wait for some signings and the pre-season.

I haven't seen a transcript of what JA said in full, but there are some interesting reported comments here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/john-aloisi-takes-lessons-to-heart/story-e6frg7mf-1226349657064 I think we will see JA make a few changes to the way Heart goes about its business. He's not just going to be a clone of JvS.

Aloisi confirmed on a three-year deal. http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/john-aloisi-named-coach-of-melbourne-heart/47234 IMO huge gamble. But it's done. Time to close ranks and get in the rest of a good squad. Top four must always be a minimum achievement level for Heart. Anything less is failure.

AFAIK we offered him a contract for the next two years, he was offered more by Newcastle, and took the higher offer. I get the feeling that he did not want to stay at Heart, for whatever reason. We have to leave it to the club's judgement. We can't just keep throwing money at players because they look like signing with someone else.