jw1739
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Posts posted by jw1739
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According to Didulica some concerns on Hamill (knock), Good (soreness) and Germano (hamstring) for Wellington.
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The other way of looking at this is to list the players who we know are contracted for next season, and then decide what type of player, and maybe who, we would like to see added. According to my information the 12 players already contracted are:
Goalkeeper:
Andrew Redmayne.
Defenders:
Brendan Hamill, Curtis Good, Aziz Behich
Midfielders:
Jason Hoffman, Nick Kalmar, Jonaton Germano, Fred.
Forwards:
Adrian Zahra, Mate Dugandzic, Eli Babalj, David Williams.
I agree with Huzie on wingers and getting someone to play off Babalj in the centre. Sort of a 4-2-4. More of a return to last season's emphasis on width. Couldn't help noticing Brisbane's width this weekend - both in the seniors and their NYL team. Their NYL team ran us into the ground on Sunday and at the end it was just a question of 'How many?'
We can re-sign existing players, get in new blood, and promote from the NYL squad. What would your choice(s) be?
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Uzbekistan vs Australia February 5th
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UAE vs Australia February 22nd
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Australia vs Iraq March 14th
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I'm guessing they stay in camp between the Uzbekistan and UAE games.
I reckon this is ridiculous. Players will be absent from their clubs for way too long. By my reckoning any Heart players in the Olyroos squad will miss six games - 4th Feb, 11th Feb, 17th Feb, 26th Feb, 2nd Mar and 10th Mar - leaving only two matches of the A-League season to play after they are released from the squad.
I can see no valid reason why the squad should not return home straightaway after the away matches and the players made available to their clubs.
Otherwise the final standings in the A-League could well hinge on which players are selcted from which clubs.
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I'd prefer Terra to Worm. He's been injury prone, but now that he's fit and playing 90 minutes, you can see the difference he makes.
I would guess that the situation wrt Rutger Worm is about 50:50 as well. Problem with releasing players at the end of their contracts is that you have to sign replacements to make the squad minimum. If you don't get the process right you can end up with a few duds just because you have to make up the numbers.
Nevertheless, I do think we will release several on the current list. Perhaps this time around we could leave 1-2 spots unfilled to give us some further flexibility later on.
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It seems (23 January) he has signed, or is about to sign, with MV.
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There are better players, if they re lazy, if they are not capable of competing for christ sake show them the door. Thats what they do any where else in the world.
A contract is a contract mate. Plus we have a squad minimum and maximum. We can't just '...show people the door...' even if we want to. And we can't just sign who we want, when we want, and pay them what we want. The practices overseas have led to many clubs being in appalling financial positions. Big names such as Manchester United and Chelsea included. Please have a look at the facts before you post this sort of stuff.
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Anyone but the token Brazillian Maycon!!
Maycon played, well, sort of, for the youth team against Brisbane today. How can I put it...no, I don't think I can put it. Not and remain printable, anyway. He was completely out of touch. He missed two sitters, which would have brought us back to 1-1 and 2-2 respectively, hurt himself in the latter attempt, and was taken off by John Aloisi. Aloisi's words are unprintable too. I last saw Maycon limping forlornly from the arena with an icebag on his knee.
Not recommended for a contract extension.
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Paul Reid played for the first half of today's NYL match against Brisbane, which Brisbane won 5-1. The score was 1-0 to Brisbane at half-time. Heart's overage players in this game were Reid, Colosimo and Maycon. Mattei and Ibrahim also played (they both qualify under the age rules).
Reid seemed to me to be playing in a defensive midfield role. Pretty hard to tell who's doing what against a Brisbane side who played pass-and-move as well as or better than their senior team. Reid obviously has not played for a while. He took time to get going, gave away the ball on a couple of occasions, and was caught in possession as well. Understandable in his first game after arriving only a few days ago. Seemed to do better as the half progressed. Didn't look to me as though he will burst into the seniors immediately, but I may be wrong.
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was looking for someone to confirm it. Someone told me that Mark Rudan said in the post match show the club told terra he won't be offered another contract?? I forgot to record the post match last night so if anyone saw, did he say that?
Ah, that makes more sense. TBH I've always thought it was going to be 50:50 as to whether he would be retained. Tends to go missing for periods during a match, takes a number of touches to bring the ball under control, seems to always want to tee the ball up for a volley...and so on and so forth. Pity, because from all reports he's a great bloke, fun with kids etc. Agree his last two have been his best for the club. Agree, too, that we can do better for an overseas player.
IMO if JvS stays on we will tend to let older players go and replace them with younger ones, retaining a small number of 'wise heads' in key positions to give the side more grit.
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so apparently the club has told Terra he is not required for next season?
May I ask where you get this information/rumour from?
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Thanks Buddy.
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Good game. The first half was teriffic. A bit disappointed in the second half where I felt we lacked some urgency until after Brisbane equalised. I really enjoy watching Brisbane and the way they always play out of defence and hold posession. You never see them hoof the ball. They always try to play high quality of football, and I was pleased we were able to match them, and even worry them at different times tonight. 1-1 probably a fair result, but thought we should've got a penalty if the referee was consistent.
Great game. Brisbane really came to play and all credit to them. Best team I've seen in the A-League. Quick movement, superb first touch, won almost every 50:50 ball. I thought they deliberately slowed it down a little in the second half to invite us to open up just a little more, and they were rewarded with the goal. Fair result for once. Loved the way they played the ball out instantly from Theoklitos to the fullbacks and then they were on the attack once again.
Thought our defence and midfield were great defensively despite being run ragged, but agree with the comment from Spiranovic about going forward. Several players guilty of holding the ball too long and not making the simple, quick pass. IMO this is something that's been creeping into our game recently - running with the ball rather than passing. We were also guilty of quite a number of sloppy passes that gave the ball straight back to Brisbane. Another thing creeping into our game is complaining to the referee - not necessary and never gets you anything except the occasional yellow card - cut it out!
Thought Mate Dugandzic looked very much out of sorts, and wondered whether he has a viral infection or something? Not his usual self.
Biggest disappointment was David Williams. Don't know what's wrong there, but whatever it is it's not working for him.
As always, Marrone, Hamill, Good and Behich absolutely outstanding. No-one could ask for more from these four.
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How does this fit in with our NYL side playing at John Cain at 4.00 p.m.? I'd like to know more about this so-called 'development squad.' Is it also related to the Hawaii competition?
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Some sort of Supporters Forum this is. 'Sack JvS', 'Sack David Williams', now 'Get rid of Eli Babalj.'
Suggest moderators delete this ridiculous thread.
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Has been tried before and failed miserably. Anyone wishing to head to the north end and make a change will find it nigh on impossible. You aren't allowed to stand for the whole 90 minutes because the area is sitting only. You can't have flags bigger than 1m x 1m. Moreso than that, a lot of the people down the north end are families who aren't keen on chanting songs or getting involved with making sound for a full 90 minutes.
To give people perspective, I was one of the people involved with RWU trying to get the north end making sound and it failed miserably. A whole bunch of people wanted to go down but no-one could agree on where to stand and there was no real decision on what to chant. So in the end there was a disorganised bunch of people spread across one bay doing very little.
Despite the good intentions of people wanting to get the entire stadium chanting, I think it's more pertinent that we focus on getting the Yarra end as loud and active as possible first. These things come with time, and trying to force a small section of the crowd who by all accounts aren't that keen on making sound to begin with to join in is only going to end in one way.
As for an anthem to start the match, it has been tried and failed. Before anyone mentions it, we're never going to use YNWA, so don't ask. The song we previously had was filled with good intentions and was something that the entire crowd could have sung, but it never took off and despite a lot of good intentions in its production, didn't deliver the desired sound either.
So to summarise: Let's all work together, make shit awesome down the Yarra end for now and grow the sound, noise and atmosphere whilst respecting each other. We're not mongs, remember.
I am surprised by this response. Just because something didn't catch on during the first few months of our existence doesn't mean it won't catch on now. Do we give up for ever because something didn't work in 2011? I recall various discussions on the RWU forum - the song, motto, logo, chants etc. - and IMO they all finished the same way, which basically was 'Don't force it, it will happen organically.'
Seems to me that the CCM game was indeed one of those organic moments. I've been to all but three home games at AAMI, and the CCM game was the first where I've seen and heard the North End and the Western Wing trying to catch on to the Yarraside chants. All that's being suggested is that we all use one simple chant at certain points in the game where the whole stadium can join in if they want to. Such as when we win a corner, a free-kick etc. When we're pouring on the pressure. When we score. No-one's suggesting anything else but that. No one's suggesting flags at the North End or anywhere else but the YS active area. You don't have to stand to chant. You don't have to stand to clap to a rhythm. No-one's suggesting that anyone be forced to do anything. What I saw and heard at the CCM game was a whole lot of people around the ground - families and people of all ages - actually wanting to get involved.
Seems to me you don't want that to happen, which makes your appeal 'Let's all work together' somewhat hollow.
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I believe the families etc would love to have just one simple chant they could belt out at a game.
Cinnamon, you're dead right. I've been making this point for a year and a half now. The KISS principle. You missed the CCM game, but there was a lot more involvement all around the ground. Behind the bench we actually got the clapping going at corners etc., but, as you've seen, we're dealing with people who don't readily feel able to let themselves go a bit.
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Yes. Centre Dandenong Road, Cheltenham. Melway 87 F2.
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I have no answer to this question but why is our home form so bad? We've lost 3 straight home games when we should have been in a position to win any or all of them, and if they'd been away games we arguably would have won them. This is a problem that started last season but has never gone away, it's like there are 2 different Melbourne Hearts.
This not only makes it harder to finish much higher than mid-table over at the end of the season, but also makes it hard to grow our club - who will pay for a season ticket to come and see us lose most home games?
Bela, I don't have the answer either. But I see it as part of a wider question - 'Why is our form as bad as it is?' It's true that we're still third on the table, but if you actually go back over last season, pre-season, and this season so far, our performances have seen long periods where we have not won a game anywhere. We went seven games without a win in November/December 2010 (six defeats and one draw), and our last six games of 2010/11 resulted in one defeat and five draws. We couldn't win either of our pre-season games this year, started with two defeats and three draws, and as we painfully know, our last four games have produced one measly point. The purple patch earlier this season was an aberration, not the norm. We have consistently failed to hang on for three points or a point, whichever applies, conceding far too many goals in the last few minutes of either a half or the match (Buddy has the statistics on this I think).
The only teams we have beaten at home are North Queensland (2), Melbourne Victory (2), Wellington and Newcastle. Which means we have never beaten at home Brisbane, Central Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney or Gold Coast.
I don't subscribe to the theory that if we had better facilities we would win more matches. That's like saying examination results will improve simply by providing better classrooms.
My wife says that the reason we are beaten by teams such as Adelaide and Perth is that they are stronger physically and more determined to win the ball and play the match right out to the final whistle. I think she has a point.
I think we have a shrewd coach, who is excellent for player development, but he had no previous documented success with a senior team. I think we have some very talented footballers in the squad. I also think we have some dead wood, players who for what ever reason don't actually deliver. Little things count. Until recently our dead-ball plays have been wasted - and things like that shouldn't take a season and a half to work out. The fitness level of some players is questionable. We should go up a notch when a sub comes on, not down. Players not in the team should be match fit by working hard on the track. Yoga might be good for the soul, but I'm not sure it helps you make that extra metre of run with a minute to go. Watch the warm-up shooting practice and see how many of our players can actually get the ball on target...all this sort of thing counts when the crunch comes.
IMO we need to garner a minimum 12 points from our remaining 10 games to make the finals. We have a tough run home. We can do it, but it's going to need the whole squad to lift again.
Overall the Melbourne public and Heart members have been very tolerant of just six victories at AAMI Park. But you are right, we will not grow our support with that sort of form. Players coming out of contract at the end of this season need to be critically examined, not only for their potential but what they have actually delivered. I'm sure that JvS can deliver the goods, but perhaps there are some things he needs to re-examine. It's not sufficient to outplay a side tactically but not put the bloody ball in the back of the net. I also think that the Board may need to loosen the purse strings a little and bring in, for example, a name guest player, to spark a little more interest in the team.
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TBH with ten minutes to go I think we probably should of start thinking about grabbing the point as a late goal from CCM was looking all the more likely.
Once again to concede in the last couple of minutes - naive. What a soft goal too - Bolton caught out on his near post - should not happen. Contrast Ryan at the other end.
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Only ourselves to blame. JvS' formation had Arnold beaten. One goal and they would have collapsed. We played some great football tonight. Trouble was we just didn't score - lack of composure in front of goal and some wonderful positional play by their GK whoever he was - that's the sort of performance we need from our future GKs.
In the end we were once again tactically naive. We should have settled for a point and just kept possession. Never mind. Tonight we showed that we can play with the best of them. But we do need more firepower and composure in front of goal.
Disappointing crowd, but for those wanting participation from all around the ground tonight you got it. People all around on their feet willing the boys on, but we just couldn't get them over the line.
Gutted, but very proud to be a Heart man tonight.
Keep the faith.
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Put the ball at Babalj's feet and something will happen. Both free kicks that we almost scored from were from him not to mention the penalty. As for him trying to dribble too much and not passing at least it showed he was taking the game on when most of the other boys were content with passing the ball around and pretty much taking too long to get it foward. This worked out beautifully for Glory's defenders as it gave them time to organise themselves.
What did my head in was the amount of time we got the ball into the final third without getting a ball into the penalty area - instead we went back even as far as Bolton (I think he got more kicks than some players). On half the occasions all he could do is bomb it foward and we ended up giving away possession. It would have been better to make that final pass or cross even if the odds of something comming out of it were less than 50/50.
So Sharpy I don't agree with you getting pissed off at Babalj for dribbling too much when really he only got caught out a couple of times and that was at the end of the game when we were getting desperate and nothing else was working.
Better to get pissed off with some unimaginative midfield work.
Couldn't agree more. Eli coming into the team is one of the reasons we've actually won a few games this season. So, he dribbled a bit too much on a couple of occasions - I'd rather that than the endless back-passing we saw from a number of other players. Contrast Perth - every time they got the ball forward they put the ball into the box. All they needed to do was wait for the defensive mistake - we made two and that was the game. We lost that game rather than Perth won it.
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I'm reading that Colosimo is out of the match squad tonight.
Our injury situation is ridiculous. By my reckoning we have Kalmar, Taseski, Srhoj, Colosimo and Fred all out. Babalj out for one game because of soreness, and Germano probably coming back a bit too soon. Zahra not ready to return yet. Add to that Sarkies, Williams, Ibrahim all underdone wrt to match fitness.
As well as Reid - that's if we really have signed him - we probably need a few more as well.
If we can make the top six after this we'll have done bloody well.
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Appears to be a done deal. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/coach-john-vant-schip-takes-heart/story-e6frfg8x-1226246721496
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Paul Reid appears to be a done deal. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/coach-john-vant-schip-takes-heart/story-e6frfg8x-1226246721496 If approved by the FFA he will start on Saturday against Brisbane.
Sarkies has elected to stay in Melbourne.
A-league Kits
in Australian Football
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Think we should change our present home kit when we play away only if there is a genuine clash with our opponent's kit.