jw1739

Someone explain to me how that could work? A mentor for the Head Coach? Who would call the shots? Not the usual way mentoring works.

I can't find anything in the club's stated values that endorses a particular playing formation or even style...http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/aboutus I endorse Cadete's views (you're not alone mate)...there's nothing wrong with our stated vision and values etc. (in fact they are very worthy ones and are what attracted many of us to Heart in the first place), but the whole point of playing in the A-League is to win the bloody thing rather than wallow in the bottom half of the table whilst being some sort of 'nursery' for other clubs here and overseas...and so far we haven't won enough games and if we want to do that we have to change something...because more of the same is likely to produce, well, just more of the same...

I'm not going to go mad at either of these posts. I tend to agree with them. Matty Thompson has had a bad trot at Heart. He spent most of Season 1 as a centre-back and made some awful mistakes there. This season his move into midfield was welcome, and he was one of the sparks in our great run up to the end of 2011 (the others IMO being Madaschi and Babalj). Since his injury Thommo's form has been rock bottom - he turns his back in the tackle, frequently caught trying to run with the ball, and repeatedly turns over the ball with his passing. A lot of faith has been placed in Fred, but I'm not convinced that he's our saviour at all. His hamstrings and groin are very suspect. I agree that we need reinforcements at the back, and a charismatic striker whose going to score goals and increase attendances. But IMO that won't fix our problems. Our problem has been that we are too ponderous and predictable in our build-up with far too much sideways and backwards passes. That's because there is no movement in midfield. We started off as 4-3-3 and more recently have been playing 4-4-2, and still can't dominate in midfield. Srhoj is a hard worker, but can't shoot for toffee, and Fred is hardly a crackerjack in front of goal. So I think we also need to add two creative midfielders to the squad who can also score goals. I would happily release Matty Thompson because I don't think he's going to improve from where he is now. Likewise we need two wingers who can actually beat a man with skill rather than speed and then cross the ball accurately into the box. Much of the width that we started off with in season 1 has disappeared and we need to get it back as we are too easy to defend against. Finally, agree wholeheartedly on the comments about our dead-ball skills. Our free-kicks and corners have been woeful since day one, and it irks me that the coaching staff appeared to do nothing about it. Sarkies is not the answer there either - his free-kicks are monotonously predictable.

Time to close this thread please. Not doing anyone any good whatsoever.

It's ridiculous to call for everyone to be sacked. Can't and won't happen anyway. Nor is it sensible to pin the 'blame' on one particular player, or a small group of them. What is needed is a review of the season, not only the playing squad and coaching staff but also the back-room staff as well. At the end of 2011 we were second in the table on 24 points. After that we won only two more games and collected a measly 13 points. We were in the play-offs only because other sides lost vital games - had they won those we could easily have finished in 8th place. Even a superficial examination shows that something went awry early in January. At about the same time as performances on the field fell away (both for the seniors and the NYL team) I sensed that off-field issues were not going well. For example, there never was any announcement of the winner of the much-trumpeted Hawaii competition. AFAIK our temporary Fan Engagement Manager left, his position was advertised, but I never saw anything further. I contacted the club on a couple of occasions but received no reply - one instance sticks in my mind when I found a membership card outside AAMI and sought the club's assistance to return it - and received no cooperation whatsoever. While these things may seem trivial in themselves, overall they give me an impression that somehow the club lost its way half-way through the season. We started with some inexplicable signings - of which poor old Maycon is the classic example - and the failure to sign a second experienced centre-back. A number of others in the squad fell out of favour and were never serious contenders for a first-team gig. There were obvious tensions between Colosimo and JvS. IMO it was January when JvS made up his mind to leave. He became afraid of losing, and that's why our performances became so negative for the second half of the season. In addition, a number of our senior players consistently failed to play up to both their capabilities and their wages. Mistakes have been made. Learn from them and move forward from here.

Think I read somewhere that Aloisi does not yet have the full qualifications required by the FFA to be a senior A-League coach? In any case, IMO it's far too early for him to take on the role. It's very difficult position to be the coach of players you've actually been playing with only a short time ago. I also think he needs more experience under another senior coach before becoming a senior coach himself.

Thank goodness for that. I was worried there for a moment or two. Finishing sixth in a ten-team league...it's beyond me how that was ever a reasonable objective. Surely winning the thing is always the target for every team? Anyway, enough said. Just hope that the Board has the sense to make and endorse some tough decisions in the next few weeks.

Not sure if your serious there Warrior! The JvS era is over. We were deluding ourselves if we thought we could go anywhere in the finals series. 13 points only in the second half of the season - we had no momentum at all. Time to move on. Learn from the mistakes made this year. Next season begins now. It's going to be a long six months. But at least I'll have some respite from the word 'stellar'...

Really, having a top six so-called finals series is a waste of time IMO. As was the case last year, 5th and 6th went out in the first match they played. If we must have this crappy finals thing, instead of a fair dinkum A-League Cup with a draw such that every team gets a chance of a home match, then make it the top four teams only. Anyway, time to move on. Get the new manager on board asap, release the dead wood from the squad, make some astute signings, get a stiff pre-season lined up, and make next season an improvement on this one. Next season starts now.

Look, I largely agree with you. I'd probably let Thompson go as well, as IMO his form since Christmas has been terrible. Otherwise I think you've got it about right. And couldn't agree more on David Williams. It's not good enough to have him lumbering around in the NYL. In fact, the whole squad needs to be pushed hard in the pre-season - last year we played some really poor scratch sides and tried a number of triallists, and some senior players hardly played at all. The season is so short and you really have to hit the ground running and start picking up points early.

Colosimo is free to seek a release from his contract any time he wants - as did Heffernan and Beauchamp. If he asks, and we agree, then we do not have to pay out anything. If he's unhappy at Heart - and he certainly looks it judging by a couple of petulant actions in the last two home games of the season - then let him go. The sooner the better IMO. Reading his history he's never been happy with any club. Agree with you Warrior - clear them out.

Doesn't suprise me at all. JvS has repeatedly shown his preference for certain players over others, irrespective of their form. Once you're out of favour with him you're out of favour, full stop. Well, here we go. Cup-tie football. Has JvS got the tactical nous to get the boys over the line in a completely different type of competition? IMO it's a question of whether the boys are prepared to die for the red-and-white. We know players such as Aziz, Good, Srhoj and Germano will run until they drop - it's just a matter of how much the others are prepared to give. Bolton is going to have to throw himself around at the back as never before, and Fred's got to demonstrate that he can boss the team and keep the focus there. We have to be the underdogs - but if we can score first IMO we're a chance. Perth must be favourites at home, and if they score first I think they will out-muscle us. All the best boys.

No way thank you. One of the worst in the league.

Does anyone have the stats on Colosimo this season - games played, results, penalties conceded, etc. etc? As I recall he missed virtually all the pre-season - just wondering for the season proper.

AFAIK it's just the members of the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) voting on themselves. Has no real significance other than that.

So, once more, our failure to sign a second experienced CB before this season comes back to haunt us. Let's just hope Hamill and Good can rise to the occasion.

Goodwin is named in the extended squad for the Perth game.

You really haven't got the 45 seconds it takes...?

If SBS has faithfully reported JvS' comments then IMO those comments are rather unfortunate. It's not smart to infer that you're too good for where you've been for the past two years and that to stay would harm your prospects elsewhere and your future career, especially when your previous stint as a senior coach was a failure and the present one has not delivered results on the board. I think Heart and the fans have treated JvS pretty well; many clubs would have stood him aside once he indicated he wasn't staying, and many sets of fans turn on the manager when the team isn't doing too well. A bit sad, really.

FFA flicked it into their 'too hard at the moment' basket.

Nice work LR.

Well said. I've never understood why it is necessary to have a cap both on salary and number of players. Provided you don't exceed the salary cap, why not allow a club to sign as many players as it wants? The base salary plus the salary cap puts a cap on the number anyway. Doing away with the cap on numbers avoids all this 'injury replacement' and 'guest player' stuff.

We joined the ACF. The ACF has the 3+1 rule. Whether it's next season or some season in the future the FFA will mandate that we conform. We will have no choice, so we might as well get used to it now.

You are correct. I didn't read that far.

Actually, looking at the FFA website here: http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/site/_content/document/00000182-source.pdf it looks as though the winner of the Perth/Heart match does indeed host the Minor Semi Final...