The Aardvark

McGree signed with Celtic

Again with the no subs thing. WSW have looked vulnerable all game, we've had a lot of attacking play after two weeks of presumably minimal training, and understandably have been sloppy and were only continuing this late game. We have also been vulnerable in the closing minutes of virtually every game this season. How are we still not making subs? Colakovski would be perfect to run at tired legs in the last 10, Pucciarelli looks to be a good runner and would allow Tilio to push out wide again (would also mean we get Pucciarelli some gametime to find his feet). Our only move seems to be taking Berenguer off, I get that was one of Leckies better halves but he was looking tired and still did not have the potency we needed. Positively at least Glover had a good game again (although conceded 3 so I dunno).

Thoughts on this deal so far? Initial reaction and impressions were optimistic, mainly from both a "they're actually interested" side and the fact that Simon Hill is involved. Half a season in though and I'm not very impressed. Hate how the only options are live or minimum 3 hours delayed. I do shift work and watch almost zero games live so to have to wait till midnight to watch a night game is very annoying, especially when I only just miss the start and could have watched it slightly delayed and fast forwarded the breaks to catch up on Kayo. Also dislike how the replay version is literally just the game. Watched the derby on replay and had nfi what happened in the last minute where we had that scramble in the box and Maclaren got sent off, and basically as soon as the whistle went the recording stopped and i had no extra info to go off. Also was really looking forward to watching this weeks FFA cup game, but literally no sign of it until they posted the 5 minute highlight package at midday yesterday (a cool 14-15 hours after the game finished). I waited till this morning hoping that the full game would be put up at some point, but finally decided enough was enough and watched the highlights this morning (sure not posting the replay saved me 120 minutes I would never get back but fuck me it's a pretty piss poor effort).

Good move hopefully. A league and team where he should be pushing for a starting place and regular gametime and gives him a good starting point for Europe. Much better than Arzanis pathway.

I thought it was for a delayed offside. In the initial ball forward before the scramble happened I thought JMac was offside, then they let it play out before eventually calling it was my interpretation. Watching it the first time on Paramount I had nfi what happened (and their replay broadcast cut out on the final whistle so no second look) but I went back and watched the 10 version and I'm pretty sure thats what happened. It was pretty hectic so I don't really know though.

Infuriating result, but otherwise good game as a spectator and fantastic one to have on free to air on a Saturday night. Crowd looked great and was very loud on the broadcast, game was attacking, physical and always felt like it mattered, goals were good to watch and the niggle added to the spectacle. We should be very disappointed with the result, both goals conceded were poor lapses and we really should have made more of our dominance. Particularly in the first half we just couldn't land that important pass in the attacking third. Maclaren is having a shithouse season, he scored but otherwise was hardly a threat. In interviews he typically talks lot about how he tries to be predictable and constantly attacks the near post, but almost every time we put a ball there he is caught flat on his heels in congestion in the middle of the box. He seems to not be gambling on making those moves that he is so good at finishing, and as a result is largely invisible in our attacking moves. Atkinson was fantastic and showed why many here have been calling for his inclusion despite Galloways form. He adds an extra dimension to our attack and for mine has the highest ceiling out of any of the young guys. Commentators kept talking about how it was a great battle between he and Folami but I don't see it, Folami offered very little and Atkinson was awesome. Glover is having a nightmare season, that save was shithouse, we had managed to push DÁgostino wide and onto his opposite and while his shot was on target it didn't have a lot of venom behind it, Glover should've done much better. Really happy with Tilio, think he holds his spot ahead of Leckie on that performance, Good was fantastic, pleased with Nabbout, Berenguer was good with some not great moments, Metcalfe played pretty well. Kisnorbo continues to frustrate. He is clearly a good manager and has us playing well but whats the point of having a deep squad when you don't even use it? Colakovski hasn't played at all this season, Pucciarelli same, Atkinson has been frozen out till now, Griffiths only gets a game because Reis can't play 2 full ones in a row, we have no interest in bringing on fresh legs ever, and every change is always like for like. We continue to struggle to finish games, and frequently have key players gassed while finishing games with unused subs. It's such an easy thing to fix, why are we not doing it?

I think it's basically just that Maclaren is not in form atm. Our wingers are still producing the goods, our midfield still drives us forward and Metcalfe is a bigger threat than ever, and our defenders still move the ball well. Maclaren typically scores something like 2 goals for every 3 games, and him being largely a non factor so far has been the biggest issue we have faced imo.

Pleased Tilio and Bos both had pretty solid second halves after not great first ones. Tilio has looked horribly out of form so not looking for him to light it up atm but thougt his work in the second half was a good step in the right direction. Stokes also the most comfortable he has looked, and Oresti moves like Luna darting all over the place.

Very flat second half, just prior to their goal we were providing nothing and just going through the motions. Can understand starting that front three but they still look pretty rusty, and as good as Nabbout can be good he is a frustrating player. Like last season I expect we will take a few weeks to hit our groove, so pretty happy to bank the 3 points. I thought watching the freeze frame he was off. Screenshot attached. They look level at best, and thats with the camera angle favouring the attacker. It's tight but there is certainly no evidence to say the linesman was wrong. If you look at their leading knees which appear to be the furthest forward part Galloways looks level with the line in the grass while Dewitts looks marginally over.

Away kit looks promising, i love Green so there is that. Home kit looks terrible. White sleeves make it look really clunky.

Hasn't that ship already sailed? Both Tilio and Colakovski have already been pushed to the bench with the acquisition of Leckie to combo with Maclaren and Nabbout.

I agree with your thinking that it could be good to have a challenger and mentor for Glover, but I don't like the idea of relegating him to our number 2 nor using a VISA spot on a backup keeper. If we wanted to go down the experienced keeper road we'd be better off grabbing an older Australian keeper imo, kind of like the Galekovic signing all those years ago except we don't let him become the undisputed number one.

What an odd thing to be upset by.

Looking at our side there are few spots to even use a VISA spot on. Attack is sorted, Nabbout, Maclaren, Leckie, TIlio and Colakovski are more than enough quality senior players to cover that. Atkinson is also someone who can perform there. So the only spot I'd use a VISA on there is to maybe get a solid depth guy, but I'd rather we just give Raphael or Caputo or someone like that that chance, which does seem more in keeping with the club philosophy. Defence is pretty sorted. Jamieson is a lock as our LB, and Garuccio is very good cover. Atkinson surely slots back into RB seeing as we need to put our Socceroos on the wings, and Galloway is quality as well. Even CB we need a 3rd or 4th choice guy, so not a VISA star. Good is a lock, Reis is more than adequate and Griffiths is also really good. They are a fragile group so maybe we use the VISA spot on a depth player there but they would only be for depth. So defence isn't much of an issue. In goals we are clearly pretty happy with Glover and while a mentor keeper would be cool i think thats a bit of a waste of a squad spot/VISA spot. If we wanted one I'm sure there is some Australian keeper we could get in to fill the role. So we are left with the midfield 3. O'Neill has really grown into his role and I'd be surprised if we looked to push him out. He is one of the players that is most upgradeable though. So maybe we could use a VISA spot there. Alternatively we look to move Griffiths into that spot competing with Aiden and grab another CB to replace his spot in the rotation. Of the higher two Metcalfe is obviously a lock. So we have one vulnerable spot in basically the lineup, and atm have two more than adequate players for the role in Luna and Berenguer. I'd argue that could also be a role we look to try Atkinson in. He plays central midfield for the Olyroos, and it could be a way to fit as many of the Socceroos into the squad as possible and keep playing Galloway. Honestly we could probably upgrade that central pairing so it's Metcalfe and someone better than Luna or Florin, so lets use a VISA spot on that. We can then just keep one of the incumbents as a backup VISA player in that role. So I guess I see our VISA spots being used on the following: Nuno Reis. A starting CM to pair with Metcalfe. One of Luna, Florin or like type as backup in midfield. 2 more spots still and no obvious spots that will even get opportunity. Maybe a DM or CB type, basically a less injury prone Griffiths would be great. ???? I understand we will undoubtedly lose a few to probably overseas interest which will open up a few holes to fill, but at this point we are hearing no rumours, the group seems pretty tight knit and committed and virtually everyone of note is contracted now (Florin and Luna are the only players even in senior contention that are out of contract). What an unprecedented time when a teams starting squad is made up almost entirely of Australians that would all comfortably get a game everywhere else in the league.

Do you start Nabbout and Noone knowing that way you can guarantee managed minutes? If you bring them on as subs at say the hour mark then you might be commiting them to the rest of normal times and all of extra time, are you better off keeping Tilio and Colakovski back for that role knowing that you will have real pace and energy in the second half?

The way the young footballer award works is that every month or so (not sure of the exact time period) a player is nominated as the best young player that month. At the end of the season that leaves you with about 5 young blokes to choose the winner from. A bit like how the AFL can only have a rising star from the players that were nominated each round. Atkinson was our only young guy to get nominated. The system generally rewards players who have one really good month over a prolonged very good season like Connor. If it was every player under 23 you'd imagine Tilio would be another to feature highly.

Has there been any indication thus far as to when a call will be made and when tickets might go on sale? All we've heard is that there will be discussions with the Vic Government but nothing as to when the deadline is or anything like that.

He was never really in a position here we could offer him guaranteed starts. He had shown glimpses but like say Tilio this season Genreau would've had to earn his way into the starting lineup on merit. When another club rocked up on the scene with literally no one ahead of him in the pecking order then it becomes very difficult for us to match that. Losing Denis is not our fault, just circumstances changing.

Need to win. We haven't looked like we've clicked since before we won the plate (the CCM game was not to the same level as most of our season). A 3-1 wi or something like that where we look to get some synergy in attack back would be great. Yes that will mean Victory don't finish last, but that's our own fault. We had our chance to finish the job last week and fluffed it, it's our one blemish on the season thus far. Anything other than a win this week would be a huge disappointment.

I think Tsubaki is a failure, but it's not a failed strategy. VISA's are almost always 5050 shots, even established and proven VISA players can suck when they come over here. You have 5 VISA spots, you are aiming for all of them to be good enough to be in your starting 11 and good, but realistically you would expect 1 or 2 to flop. One VISA failing is probably the best we can realistically hope for, so in terms of VISA strategy we are fine, it's only Tsubaki himself that is the failure. What I am trying to say is that Tsubaki failing doesn't mean we stuffed up our VISAs. One was always going to struggle.

That shouldn't mean he can't have a life outside of that job. This is like if some office worker played footy on the weekend and got a concussion and had to take Monday off. Or a construction worker went to the movies and happened to be in the same cinema as a Covid positive person and had to quarantine for two weeks. Or an anonymous A-League manager had dinner in Sydney and copped food poisoning and had to miss a match. He is super unlucky to cop an injury that doesn't allow him to manage (something I too find bizarre but so be it) especially in a season where he has already missed a game through weird reasons, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be allowed to do those things. Sucks for us of course, but so be it, it's not his fault.

I know a pro sportsman isn't a normal career but I don't think it's reasonable for clubs to ban their employees from partaking in outside activities that don't directly affect their ability to perform their role. Players can't play competitive or high risk (like snowboarding) sports, thats fair. But surely an employee who has no requirement to be fit in a physical sense can do pretty much anything on the side assuming the normal conduct of it doesn't affect his ability to do his job and it isn't a reckless activity. Kisnorbo could be an amateur wrestler on the side and it'd be fine, a charity match ranks pretty low on the chart of things he shouldn't be doing.

At the risk of making it more work for you there are only the 6 votes to be handed out a game (321) but they go to the top cumulative vote getters. Eg. 3 people vote: 3. Maclaren, 2. Good, 1. Glover, 3. Maclaren 2. Luna 1. Colakovski, 3. Good, 2. Maclaren, 1. Glover Maclaren with the 8 votes total is the highest vote getter and gets the 3. Good with 5 gets the 2. And Glover and Luna draw with 2 each so split the 1. Colakovski only gets 1 and thus misses out on an actual vote, but still receives recognition from that poster and gets his name in the mix. 3. Maclaren 2. Good 1/2 Each. Glover and Luna. This is the system an AFL forum I frequent uses and it generally works really well with a lot of names in the mix.

I think the one vote system is a bit flawed. It means if you want to vote for someone different as a reward to them playing well then you have to do it at the expense of the mom player. For example against Victory Maclaren got 23 votes, Tilio 4, Nabbout 2 and Luna 1. Maclaren should probably have been a universal mom, so if you could assign 2 and then 1 vote it would mean Maclaren could be a universal mom, and then people could recognize the other high performers with their additional vote. I realise it is also somewhat flawed (why stop at 2 players, why not 3, no 4, no rank all 11, etc.) but it would be a better way to reward a universal mom while still allowing a bit of variety and other recognition.

It was their Grand Final on Saturday. I'd be disappointed if they didn't lead with that.