Torn Asunder

FWIW, at the FRG meeting, Simon Pearce adamantly stated that City do not do business through the media, when it comes to responding to rumours and innuendo.

Hey guys Im not going to get much of a chance to be online today but i will try and answer some of the questions if I can, remembering the answers will be based on my interpretation of the meeting. Firstly, my reading of being able to make the hard business decisions generally relates back to staff / players / coaches, etc. If they dont perform, see you later. City is an entity that will provide everything needed, so the goals will be high, and there will be no where to hide if targets are not achieved. In terms of the Cardiff scenario, it was said that this is exactly what they are trying to avoid. With the colours, they "get it" that the club is red and white. The trick will be how to appropriately integrate the City element into the fabric of our being, and from what was said, I do believe they are genuine with regards to trying to achieve this in a respectful way. They want to keep existing fans and we are important to the owners. We probably havent always realised it, but they are watching what we do, how we behave and how we bring what we bring (passion, noise, colour) to the club, and they like what has been built up. Finally, with regards to timeframes, this point was pushed at the meeting, but other than what I've already stated, no firm commitments were given.

Yesterday afternoon the Fan Rep Group met with the club, which was represented by Scott Munn, David Lyon and Simon Pearce (Board member of Manchester City). The meeting was led by Simon and everyone was given a chance to put forward items for discussion. In my words, the key points from the meeting (in no particular order) are summarised below: Manchester City has been (and still are) working closely with Heart behind the scenes since the purchase to get an intimate appreciation on how the club currently runs. In terms of the existing philosophies around community engagement, grass-roots programs, being a family friendly club, being affordable, wanting to play attractive winning football and giving back to football in Australia (with a focus on youth development and strengthening the A-League), they believe strongly that Heart's current ideals & approaches align nicely with the vision of the Manchester City brand. It was acknowledged that the Heart has been hamstrung almost from the start by lack of finance. Also, it was said that the people currently at Heart are good operators, with a connection to the club that has been there since its inception (which they believe is invaluable) and who have a real passion and desire for the club to achieve its goals and be successful. Creating clear global connectivity between City's clubs is essential with regards to business setups and sharing intellect (this is already happening - some of Heart's community programs will be considered by City for implementation in the UK), sharing football resources, and players. Manchester City understands the passion the supporters have for the colours, and that the red and white are the colours of Melbourne. This understanding exists at the highest executive level. City have been impressed with the way that Melbourne Heart supporters have conducted themselves with regards to presenting the message about the colours (particularly the placard and the text contained on the back), and they think the respectful approach adopted by fans gels with the way City like to engage and operate - hats off to all involved, you have been heard! It is imperative for City to build a global brand. For them to achieve this, they believe there must be easily identifiable synergies with Manchester and New York. They indicated an acceptance that Heart is Red & White. Acknowledging this, they intend to introduce sky blue into the club (as well). They committed to achieve an outcome whereby the majority of supporters are in acceptance AND that will be respectful to the (albeit short) history of the club. They were no commitments given with regard to a change in name, however, again they indicated that all processes undertaken in building the desired global brand will be respectful to Heart, the existing fans and club history. On players, City want to make sure when a player within their system is given the opportunity to go to Melbourne / New York, they will know that they are still part of City, a global brand with a shared vision and resources, rather than thinking they are just being sent off to a feeder club. In terms of the playing squad (including marquees & loan players), it was indicated that appropriate investments will be made and that the utilisation of the full resource at City's disposal will be considered to achieve KPI driven success that includes finals and Asian Champions League. With regards to facilities, money will be spent as required and at present Latrobe is the front runner due to existing relationships / partnerships and the fact that Latrobe WANT to partner with Heart. City has already had civil infrastructure & pitch experts out to Australia to look at improvement options. It was said that City must continue building on what Melbourne Heart already has - there is no desire to create a mini Manchester City, because it won’t work. What is sought is the achievement of an outcome where our team plays outstanding winning football (in the same style as Manchester City), along with a culture of outstanding community & fan engagement. It was reiterated that City do not like to blow their own trumpet with regards to their successes - they just get on and do things the best. It was also reiterated that when tough business decisions need to be made, they have the setups to make the decisions, but they will do it in the right (respectful) way. It was also pointed out that the purchase of Heart is not a 'flash in the pan', but a long term strategy with a 10 year plan. Going forward, the Fan Rep Group will continue to exist and will meet with the club again in the lead up to next season. Out of respect to other A-League clubs in the finals, and also with consideration to the World Cup, announcements and further developments will be timed accordingly, but we can all expect an exciting off-season.

The qualities he displays can't really be taught. What I like is: *his positioning before he takes possession of the ball *his ability to move past players with clever skilful movement and good ball control in tight spaces *his developing ability to play the killer pass *that if he takes the ball with time and space, he can act as a fulcrum and exchange passes with others whilst moving the ball forward dangerously *his growing potential to ghost into goal scoring positions Let's hope he is able to have a big preseason under the guidance of City's wealth of development resources and that he becomes a key player for us next season MAUK = Masterful Ability Under Konstruction

When he scored, I screamed with delight, looked to the heavens and saw the moon shining brightly. We conceded, and the moon had vanished behind an eerie purplish grey cloud. The Hoff must possess lycanthrope powers, which provide him with the ability to score only when the moon is in effect. That being said, deflection aside, nice goal

Hey all The Rep Group will be meeting with the club late Monday afternoon. I have been informed that Scott Munn and a Board member will be in attendance at the meeting. We have not been told what the meeting is about, so there is nothing more I can offer up at this stage. If given the chance I will try to accurately represent the views expressed on this forum, particularly regarding the club's colours. I will report back if any additional relevant information comes to hand and also following the meeting. Finally, I will be offline for the majority of today due to family commitments.

Thanks for the memories big man - no substitute for class, skill, culture and ability. Some of his moves, and particularly his goals, will never be forgotten!

As has already been stated, great effort by all involved. The placards definitely had the desired affect amongst the crowd - there was plenty of discussion and heaps of people wanted to get one, and also keep it after the game. Disappointedly, the Herald Sun made no mention of the fan's message in today's paper. It was all about HK. Half of one of the placards could be seen in one of the photos ... but that was about it.

Ok fellas, keep it civil ... Season for us is over, let's wait and see what happens over the next few months with regards to our club

On a guest stint ... Xavi ... Just imagine

I would like to know our goal keeping stats in comparison with other clubs

Just pick one up at the ground mate. We will be handing them out on the concourse and in the park. Not being on the TV side won't stop us giving you a placard by any means! We simply encourage those who ARE TV side to get involved. If I print out my own (and a few extra) that will be more for you guys to hand out to others

Please post the graphic only for the placard ... I'm on the non TV side but I will print some out for my area

JVS seemed a little indifferent with an undercurrent of being pissed off in the post match ... I think he is hanging for next season as much as us because ultimately he knows the talent just ain't there at the moment ......... but it will be soon, and then we'll be winning these games 4 zip

In, but will fight for the colours always ... Will Only wear red and white to games, etc

Stay positive (for now anyway) people. Still no official word from the club so things are only hypothetical. Let's bring the colour to our last game of the season and show the passion for the red and white

#keepTheRedAndWhite Good blog and twitter campaign on Red White Unite http://www.redwhiteunite.com/keep-the-red-and-white/

If it ain't broke don't fix it ... but we are well and truly in line for a fix up. Still think the changes will be good and I think City are smart enough to know they need to keep the current supporters / members onside. It seems the biggest possible issue and the one thing supporters are NOT prepared to give up on, is the Red & White. I can't actually recall any official line or comment from City or the current management suggesting that this is going to happen. In the fan survey changing from Red and White was not a question. If this is something that just happens then the relationship b/w owners and supporters will not be amicable.

He was serviceable. I recall one errant throw out that could have resulted in a goal, and a few poorly placed kickouts, but by no means was he a disaster, and certainly no worse that Redders.

Hamill is a gun. Love to have him back

If we kept the bulk of our current squad and added just 3-4 quality players and a new reliable & commanding GK, we would have a team that could challenge for the title.

Should have won it, but in the end just plain horrible. Would love to see a gun goalie commanding the defence ... Redders not good enough again today and could have saved both goals if he was up to it

People, this is the A-League we are talking about, not the EPL. At his current level, Willo is a good signing and a good option in going forward. He is a crowd favourite, especially amognst the kids and he brings an x-factor. Plus, he still has potential which will hopefully flourish during an off season spent at Manchester City. I have said it before, the club needs to tinker around the edges with the playing list and only release players who are not capable of playing in the first team. There is no reason why (with the new owners and the scouting options at the club's disposal), we cant have a list that is strong enough to field two competitive A-League teams. This will give us an edge in the comps such as the FFA cup and ultimately the Asian cup, where player rotation should be practiced.

The level of information provided in the video, and the way it was put together and structured, shows already a large step forward in the level of professionalism that we can expect going forward. Very nice.

So when we have nothing to lose we are able to win and look like world beaters, but as soon as we really need a win, we fall over badly. Hopefully our new owners bring in a world class sports psychologist.