jw1739

Some bloody good ideas there. Particularly the gold coin day, the two free tickets per member, and the scarf with years membership. All worth putting to Scott Munn.

For all the changes mooted at Victory they emphatically spanked a side that we could only draw with a week earlier. Three superb goals, and there were plenty more there for the taking. I don't particularly want Hernandez, or any other MV player for that matter, but we are crying out for the sort of pace and firepower on show last night. And we signed Maycon and Williams?

In all this we'd be foolish to ignore what is going on 'across the road' in the Victory camp. Whatever people might say, we are competing with them for at least casual support if not members. The pace and firepower that they unleashed against the Phoenix last night was 'shock and awe' compared with what we showed last week. I hold no brief for them whatever, but if you were non-aligned and had to choose between us and them there's little doubt which performance you would prefer. So, if for no other reason, we simply must improve our strikepower. Also MV are very good at getting maximum media exposure. There's far more on the 'Will they? Won't they?' about Magilton than 'Who will it be?' on JvS' successor. When asked on Ange, Scott Munn should have fuelled the rumour by a simple statement such as 'No decision yet, but I can assure you we're looking at everyone.' Similarly, on potential players. Instead of hosing the speculation down with 'No decisions will be made until the new coach is on board', start the rumour mill with something like 'We're talking to a number of players at the moment, including several strikers from Europe who like the idea of Melbourne Heart.' Doesn't matter whether it's true or not, just get the headline. And most things are partially true if you use the right words.

The club is not in debt. To be in debt means that you owe money. The syndicate has lost money in its first two years of operation, that's all. It's a risk you take with any investment. As I recall it the syndicate was planning on breaking even in the third year.

Forget Lakeside. Moving there would be the end of Melbourne Heart. It's purpose built for athletics, not football. Zero atmosphere. Crowd too far from the action.

I'd say that this is closer to the truth, and more in line with the procedure outlined by Scott Munn immediately after JvS pulled the pin. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-heart-coaching-post-in-demand/story-e6frfg8x-1226300848051

Well, whoever it is, I hope that it's finalised sooner rather than later. If the articles are quoting Scott Munn accurately, the new man is going to come from Australia, and we know that Aloisi and Milicic have applied. Can't help wondering whether we got the process timetable right - seems that the club has been in limbo ever since JvS pulled the pin on us, and that's impacting on who we release/re-sign and our willingness/ability to sign new players that are available to us for next season.

As always, lots of good points. A few harsh words here and there, but I share the sentiments. I really do think it's time people took off the rose-coloured spectacles about JvS, and indeed certain players. In the end football is about winning games, and we haven't won enough. I admire JvS for his attributes, I'm sorry he's decided to leave, but the facts are he did not deliver enough and he has quit before what he's allegedly done has had time to come to fruition (or not as the case will be). Would have thought Ange would be ideal for us at this particular moment in our history. We play in the A-League, and a glance at the table suggests that even with his 'inflexibility' he's done pretty well.

Didn't express myself very well. What I meant was that if we're going to play 4-3-3 then we're supposed to be creating those triangles but the players aren't doing that. They're trying to run with the ball instead of passing it. So many times the obvious pass is delayed just that bit too long. That's why we break down so often. Notwithstanding that I still think the 4-3-3 formation does not have enough up front.

Good points. Your first point is part of what Warrior was saying earlier - that the potential support base for Heart is 4m Melbournians, not just a few thousand so-called 'football people.' And so we need a much wider marketing strategy than just addressing the same old people with the same old themes. The FFA continues to make this mistake. We should avoid it. If you get to know the people around you in a football ground you'll find they are of all ages and from all walks of life, not just some pre-ordained socio-economic group. Second point - great idea, and not just for VPL members. More flexible memberships required all round. So, for example, you can nominate how many games you'll want to attend during the season, any number from, say 5, to the full 13 or whatever it is going to be. Not quite sure how that would work but surely the software can handle it? If not then Heart HQ needs to fix it so it can work.

I am just going on what Scott Munn said in his long interview on HeartCast, that all clubs had been advised not to contract more than 4 visa players for next season under the proposed 3+1 rule. It was at about the 11-minute mark of the HeartCast. Can't remember which particular edition, but Lachlan was the host and interviewer. I've listened twice to make sure of what Scott Munn said.

From the article: “As you grow and play at the higher levels you need to have the all-round football ability and Zac’s learning that. “We play a particular brand of football and that means that just being a goal poacher is not enough. “And Zac’s learning that. Which is why he did not play A-League this season. (Well, so far at least.)

Fixation with 4-3-3 and the wrong players to deliver results with it. This formation just does not have enough up front to score goals, as proven by this campaign. I watched the last 40 minutes last night, and I would say that we did not create one single 100% scoring opportunity - a couple of half-chances at best. Too many back passes, not a single player able to take on a man and beat him with guile rather than pace, and too many players taking an extra touch and 3-4 more strides before releasing the ball somewhere towards a team-mate. Just run, kick and hope. Result is no crisp passing movements, and turnover of possession. TBH, if that was the first game you ever watched you would never come back again. Sterile, bland and outright boring.

Completely disagree on Terra. Has had minimal impact this season, and lives off the memory of a couple of good games in Season 1 and one bicycle kick. Should be one of the first to be released as we can do a lot better elsewhere, and, unless he goes along with Maycon and Worm we cannot sign another visa player for next season. That's the reality of the restrictions that apply in the A-League.

Other than cash, what do we actually get from our sponsorships? Our major sponsor is Westpac. When I go into my local Westpac branch, do I see anything about Melbourne Heart? No. Should at least be an advertisement for the club, fixture list, and a flyer about membership that Westpac customers can take if they wish to do so. Don't know about the other club sponsors - they all seem a bit obscure to me.

Why?

Such a huge subject. Includes: - The advertising, marketing and publicity around football and the FFA/A-League in general. - Advertising, marketing and publicity about Melbourne Heart in the Melbourne market. - How to encourage more people to attend games on a casual basis. - How to make a season-ticket a more attractive proposition. On local marketing, I'm always surprised that we don't use the local newspaper (Leader Newspapers) for advertising. It goes to most homes in Melbourne. We'll definitely attract more casuals if we win more games and have a crown-pulling 'name' playing for us. But people will only come if they know the game is on. Many people now use the web to see what's going on. The Heart web-site is awful - just looks sterile and unresponsive. For a long time it has shown events for Adelaide United, and only in the last week has had a tile advertising the 'next home game.' So this is something the club needs to get a grip on. And provide a feed-back page so people can comment on matters Heart. Site needs to be chatty and informative. Season-tickets? They just need to be made more worthwhile. - A season-ticket is just what it says it is – a ticket for the season. Special offers, such as dirt cheap 5-game tickets half-way through the season are a slap in the face for those who coughed up the full amount at the start. Likewise half-price tickets. Cut them out. Reinstate the home derbies into ‘Country Season Tickets.’ - Offer part-concession season-tickets to registered players and their families. - Offer part-concession season-tickets to seniors. - Expand the ‘no-alcohol area’ and move it away from the corner of the stadium. - When family-ticket holders can’t bring the children, provide upgrades to the children’s tickets so adults can come. (This facility is not available at the moment.) - Extend the members-only pre-sale period for home derbies, and let people purchase the tickets they actually want, not have to take the so-called ‘best-available.’ - Have, say, a 10% discount on any additional ticket bought by a season-ticket holder for a friend coming along to a match. - Give each season-ticket holder a 'season scarf.' Plenty more I'm sure. Most of all, though, Heart has to be more than just the 'club that isn't Melbourne Victory.' We should be different in as many ways as we reasonably can. Always better, always more responsive to anything anyone ever enquires about. When you pick up the phone or email or tweet the club it should make you feel wanted. All the time, every time.

Sash, very good point and IMO this applies throughout the squad, not only to Babalj. We really need to have a back-up for each 'position', so to speak, and we select the team based on injuries and fitness, the opposition and their strenghts and weknesses, physicality etc., and how we want to play that particular game. If we had another central striker, for example, sometimes we might play both, other times one of them, all depending on circumstances. IMO we've overworked Babalj, Dugandzic and Good this season. We brought back Fred and Germano too early simply because we didn't have adequate stand-ins. On Eli Babalj - I think many people look at him and forget that he's only just turned 20 late in February. I know he has his detractors, but IMO he's really stood up for us.

Neither Thompson nor Srhoj have been signed. I'd say they're possibly still in the mix, along with Taseski. IMO Thompson has been a disappointment this year, particularly in recent weeks. So many times caught on the ball or passing direct to the opposition. Sure we'll offer Goodwin a contract, but not sure about Zac Walker. It will all depend on our new manager plus any offers from other clubs. I think we'll know next 4-6 weeks.

SURF Coast players can hold their head up high, despite being well beaten by A-League side Melbourne Heart yesterday, coach Lindsay Falzon said. The region's newest club hosted Heart on its new ground in front of 500 people, eventually going down 5-1. While Heart kept all of its senior players back in Melbourne, Falzon said it was a good learning experience for his players. "It was a really good effort, overall. We had a young team in there," Falzon said. "I think out of the 22 we played, only three over the age of 25. "And 80 per cent of them were under 20." Heart's youth team had a purple patch netting four goals in a short time, but Surf Coast remained competitive for the majority of the match. “We started off very well, the first 20 minutes was 0-0 and then they scored four in quick succession, so we went into half time 4-0 down," he said. "In the second half we changed formation and it worked a treat. It was a lot more even." Former Surf Coast player, now Heart youth team goalkeeper Tom Dunn was sensational between the posts. The above from http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2012/03/12/312521_local_sports.html

Er, to quote Warwick Capper, "just run that past me again, will you?"

Next season we're allowed just four visa players under the 3+1 rule (Scott Munn, HeartCast). We already have two contracted - Fred and Germano. So we have to release at least two of Worm, Terra and Maycon, and will, I'm sure now, release all three. We can then recruit one from anywhere, and one more if he is from an Asian FC country. However, that doesn't take away from your main point. There are far too many blokes in the senior squad who are just not pushing for places, meaning that we're really playing with a squad of 14-15 bolstered by Goodwin and Mattei. Of those coming out of contract, I would possibly keep Srhoj and Taseski. The others are just not playing to either their wage or their potential. Unfortunately, that will still leave a couple who are not pushing for a place, the most notable being David Williams. A-League clubs just cannot afford to carry players in the hope that they come out of a form slump.

The key thing is to make sure the transfer deal includes a percentage of the fee when the player is on-sold.

If that's true - and I have no reason to doubt you, because it seems logical - then that's a good thing. Because I don't think it is right for JvS to be a part of the decision-making.

Quite so. Only worth signing someone over 29 if they are a real crowd-puller who is going to add 3,000 to the number of full season-ticket holders and another 2,000 casuals. If the club's football department can't see it after the results in 2012 then they never will. Nine goals in twelve games, and never more than one goal in any game. We need two more guys up front who can actually score goals. If we're going to play wide with traditional wingers then get two who can actually beat a man and cross the ball. We need two midfielders who can actually control the ball with one touch, actually pass it to another Heart player along the ground, move to receive the return pass, and when opportunity presents actually shoot for goal. And a tall strong centre-back who actually clears the bloody ball out of the danger zone. We have far too many players on the present list who are just not playing anywhere near their potential. It says plenty that we had young Craig Goodwin from the NYL in the squad for the Phoenix game while other highly-paid senior squad members were not. IMO all those coming out of contract at the end of this season should be released unless they are seen as absolutely essential by the incoming coach. Otherwise, as I've said ad nauseam, we will be grubbing around in the bottom half of the table again next season.