Peter

Whilst you obviously can't make a profit with a continual loss, continuity on a solid foundation is important for a club like ours which is still building from a basic base both from a coaching/playing perspective and that of supporters. At the moment we look like we have no idea (or perhaps it is me). The Milicic-Aloisi option seems to have been the best but those in power decided on JA and???. They need to get it right or we will have a lot of catch up to do.

Is he the Frenchman?

If you mean you have given it up or quit, whilst I agree $10 postage is steep, you can arrange to pick up your membership at the open day or from the membership tent at the start of the season for no cost. Like a number of people our membership should have been at the open day and wasn't and the club ended up sending it out for free. If you have re-signed - good on you. If you have resigned - look forward to seeing you at home games once you have re-considered.

Slow down. There's still time. The transfer window hasn't opened yet.

I don't think anyone doubted Maycon's effort (once he stopped falling over) or smile he broght to the game. Maybe we played the wrong formation for him to play to his best. He never looked like doing what he did in that video for us though.

Just another "thankyou" from the club for your ongoing support. Maybe i've been influenced by the "breaking even" posts in these forums, but is the club all about number crunching or do they value members, supporters and staff? Ehhhhhh. I think I've woken up tired and grumpy today.

As I said in the thread re:Milicic. We look like an amateur league club. If this is the clubs idea of succession planning, it is very poor indeed. Perhaps we could rename ourselves MHBC - Melbourne Heart Beggers Club. I would have expected that the club would have decided before breaking the news to Ante who they had in mind. As it is we may well get good people in, but are they the people we wanted or the people we need? Do they fit the mould of the stylish football, internal development/promotion model the club has been shouting about as it's point of difference? V*****y throw money at everyone elses success to bring them to Melbourne (Rojas, Ange etc.). Whilst I don't like this approach, I don't think we should be leaving ourselves open to pick up stragglers. Rather we should target those who we want to do the job we need them to do and be sensible as to who we upset and let go. If we don't look after coaches/players, our club will be nothing but a stepping stone for the self interests of those who work for and are a part of our club. After all, if we don't show loyality to players and coaches (and also members) why would we expect loyalty to be shown towards our club?

I hear Kristian Sarkies and Alex Terra are free agents. Perhaps we could sign them up?

Simple solution: 1. Have quality striker(s) who can capitalise on created chances. 2. Beat them. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

My wife asked over dinner who we have signed. Trust me (I know what they say about trusting people who say "trust me"), if she is interested in who we have signed, then we should have signed somebody by now. While we will keep our membership going, the club had better sign players that will attract members or there will only be one team left in Melbourne. Who will sign up to the budget team?

Foxtel of course. The same reason we have/had the midweek game. Hopefully free to air coverage in the next TV rights deal will see better fixturing (regular spacing between home and away games, kick offs that favour supporters rather than TV viewers etc.).

I'd like to play them every round. It's great to have a full away bay and the atmosphere when we play them at home is electric. Why not in the first round? Bring it on!

As the incomming transfer news seems light on, apart from Maycon who seems to have settled well, does anyone know how the others who left have gone in getting other clubs?

No disagreement. Apart from the "faux Euro" culture, our football culture seems to be more along the lines of AFL (which I suppose is Victorian if not Australian). The first Heart game I attended I made a comment to my friend that it appeared that there was a South American influence with the drums etc. blending with the European feel as opposed to the days of the NSL which was solely on the European model based on the cultures of the clubs involved. Again, hopefully with the expanded active area, supporters will get more involved this season. It would be great to see the whole Yarra Side with red and white on display, making noise for the Heart. Then the northen end as well until we have the whole stadium errupting. It works for Bayern Munich so why not us? Back to the culture thing.

My family normally sits in bay 18. Having been on terraces both here and overseas for the last twenty years or so I like the atmosphere and like to join in chants etc. Hopefully with things opening up, a wider culture will be able to evolve "organically" (ahhh, the beauty of catch words) with more people joining in than at the moment where you seem to have "active" and "inactive" areas. You notice on the edge of the active area people half trying to join in without feeling comfortable to do so fully. An option is to do away with "active" memberships and maintain the "active" areas and just let things sort themselves out with GA memberships. People will work out where they like to congregate. Having children and a wife who doesn't want to be covered in beer, water and whatever else you have thrown up in the air, being able to find a spot in the broader active area where we can join in vocally and colourfully without worrying about the physical issues (pushing, projectiles etc.) is apealing.

I hope we already have signings in the bag and the club is just waiting to make announcements to generate excitement going into the new season.

Maybe I'm "old school" but I find it strange that the club doesn't sell DVD's of matches (especially victories over the other lot), season highlights etc. Is there a market for them or can games be downloaded nowadays? Anybody?

Made the A-League ref's look great!

Looking forward to hearing something.

So, should I bring the children?

I'm not a sports doctor but if Jason Culina should play at A-league level again, then why not with us? He appeared confident in his interview that he would be back playing. If his physical condition is not up to it, then he shouldn't be signed as a player. If he is suss. then the contract he signs would/should reflect this. He might not even want to come to us, but if he does then the club should consider it's imediate, medium and long term goals.

I rate Kwasnik as a goal scorer. He always seems to be a threat. Apart from him, who else should we be signing to lead the front line? Looking at the new membership brochure it looks like JA might in fact be our player/manager.

Assumining he stays fit Culina could give us four or five years of great service as a player. He is one of the best players to come out of Australia. If he is wanting to get into coaching (we have vacancies you know?) Melbourne Heart would provide a good base for him. Even if his first season is one of gradual introduction, we have the likes of Germano, Thompson and Marone who can play in defensive midfield. Once he is nursed back to full fitness the long term reward will hopefully be realised.

We need to play them twice home and away. Then we get to beat them at least four times a season.

Please, we are playing to a budget here.