Despite naysayers damning Melbourne Heart things have never looked better, writes Fox Sports' Simon Hill

[Murfy1]

Despite naysayers damning Melbourne Heart things have never looked better, writes Fox Sports' Simon Hill

By Simon Hill FOX SPORTS December 17, 2012 4:27PM

What a magnificent spectacle the Sydney derby provided on Saturday night.

Aside from a few idiots who couldn't behave themselves, the scene was one that only football can provide - a backdrop of noise and colour so vivid and fervent, that even the game's greatest detractors have seen no other option but to offer praise.

This weekend, it's the turn of Melbourne, and the home game with Victory should give Heart a timely boost in the wake of some rather unflattering recent articles, specifically regarding their attendances and future prospects.

But are Heart deserving of such derision? Not in my opinion.

If you believe some of the press in the last few weeks, then Heart are doomed. The 4,505 crowd against Perth is apparently the tell-tale sign of imminent collapse for the two-year old franchise. Seriously, Nostradamus has nothing on these guys.

But hang on. What's that? A new club? In a market where the main rivals are the biggest club in the country? In an AFL-mad town?

Far from sounding the death knell for Heart, we should be celebrating the fact that their current average of almost 7,000 has been built from nothing in the face of huge competition in just two years. It's not "poor" or even "below par" - in many ways, it's a bloody miracle.

Now, we'd all like Heart to get bigger crowds, and there's no doubt the Perth Glory gate was smaller than usual - but why are we so hasty in wanting to rip a club asunder and start again? I haven't heard a single quote from the Heart owners saying they're keen to hand the licence back, or that they are in financial trouble - have you?

Heart apparently "lack identity".  They don't "stand" for anything. Huh? Are they a football club or a political party?  This is not 1930s revolutionary Europe, where regions are fighting for autonomy - it's 21st century Australia.

A stable democracy with affluent, relatively harmonious cities. Heart need no manifesto, other than that which can be built on the park through their history.

So what if they play in the same part of town as their rivals? So do Liverpool and Everton.

In other words - what Heart really need, is time.

Football clubs develop identities primarily on the back of their playing history, and their roles in the changing times of the countries they play in. Now, in that regard, Australia has - it's true - a rather unique problem, in that a lot of the old NSL clubs which DID have history, are no longer part of the elite competition.

But that restructure was done for sound reasons well documented elsewhere - and, by and large, the A-League has worked. Brilliantly.

Heart are a good example of it. Their average of 9,082 last season was bigger than any other Melbourne club ever achieved in the near 30-year history of the NSL. Sure, the derbies boost those figures, but the NSL had derbies too.

However, the nervousness - perhaps borne out of the problems of that era - remains. How quick the game is to jump back to its default position of negativity and pessimism. How quickly it resorts to attacking itself.

It's something the anti-football brigade is not slow to pick up on, and run with.

Already in the past few weeks, some of their sneering reportage has come drifting back into the mainstream media, replete with the putrid stench of bigotry that so often accompanies it. "Sheila's, Wogs and Poofters" is not dead in Australia - it just lies dormant for a while, until we give it enough oxygen for it to be resurrected.

The A-League has had a good season eight so far - the competition remains on target to hit its 12,000 average crowd target, the football is of a decent standard, and the media coverage is the best in recent memory.

Next year, a new television deal will commence which should ensure the medium-term future of the ten clubs, so the Newcastle Jets will not die, despite the current issues surrounding Nathan Tinkler. And nor should Melbourne Heart.

There is nothing wrong with discussing the issues surrounding the A-League, good and bad. The clubs will make mistakes from time to time, and there is always plenty of room for improvement. We should all be free to voice opinions.

But please, can we move away from lining up execution squads every time a club has a poor few weeks, or encounters some short-term financial difficulty?

It's worth remembering that Heart's pre-derby average of 6,872 is 100 more than Western Sydney Wanderers drew last weekend for their home game with Brisbane. After what we saw on Saturday, is anyone seriously suggesting we get rid of the Wanderers too?

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/despite-naysayers-damning-melbourne-heart-things-have-never-looked-better-writes-fox-sports-simon-hill/story-e6frf4gl-1226538514595#.UM7bTfFhiSM

[Melburnian]

Articles like this maintain the laziness and excuses from the employees of our club.

[Joel21]

FFS as fans lets make our say heard stop this outside shit

[Murfy1]

FFS as fans lets make our say heard stop this outside shit

This article was required to balance Les Murray's article and other overly gloomy garbage that has been posted on this forum.

[Sash]

I agree with it. Our football might be rubbish at the moment, but I think we've generally been a well run club. It makes much more sense to me than Les Murray's article. For a start, it includes facts and evidence instead of some vague crap about identity.

[Caddy]

Articles like this maintain the laziness and excuses from the employees of our club.

Fark off. Finally a positive, and accurate, article about us.

[theresonlyonebzamora]

I think that was his point caddy, pointing the finger at the admin for not doing more so we can see these kind of articles regularly.

Before this post there were 5 replies, where have all the gloomy boring cunts gone? A positive article about your club and you're nowhere to be seen.

[Joel21]

It's a great article but should we be defined by reporters? I understand it's important to have someone backing us

but if every time we need someone else to make us feel like we are a good club then our future doesn't look good.

[Sash]

A winning formula

Tuesday, 18 December 2012 9:20 AM

The contrast couldn’t have been starker. For starters, the sun was out for the Round 11 Melbourne Victory-Brisbane Roar clash, bathing the pristine turf of AAMI Park as opposed to the pelting rain that greeted Rado Vidosic’s men the last time they ventured onto the ground for their date with Melbourne Heart back in Round 6.

On that dismal November night, barely 5,500 fans braved the conditions to watch Heart send four goals past Michael Theo. On the sunny Saturday afternoon just past, 17,128 witnessed a different shade of Theo as the Roar custodian repelled attack after attack to salvage a point against his former side.

The divide between the two Melbourne clubs is wide at the best of times; heading into derby week, however, those differences (or lack of, as some might argue) are magnified that little extra as comparisons head into overdrive, whether it’s a scoreline, style of play, the number of bums on seats or even weather conditions.

Since Heart entered the competition two-and-a-half seasons ago, the focus has been on its ability to achieve a real foothold in the Melbourne sporting landscape; a task made even tougher by the presence of the best-supported club in the A-League.

An attendance of 4,505 for the Heart-Glory match in Round 10 — the first game this season to draw under 5,000 — launched a fresh wave of comparisons with Victory, with some questioning the club’s appeal, identity and even if it has a future in the A-League.

There’s no disputing that lackluster crowd figures aren’t great for the red and white side of Melbourne. But are the comparisons with Australian football’s biggest club fair? The fact is, there isn’t a club in the A-League that can, in the short-term, go head-to-head with Victory in terms of supporter base and come out on top.

Heart CEO Scott Munn, Football Operations General Manager John Didulica and the board cannot be faulted for the way the club is managed as a business. The club is run flawlessly, with community and media engagement second to none. As one source close to Heart revealed, there’s not much more they can do to improve the running of the organisation.

Compared with one-city teams in the A-League, Heart stack up pretty well with regards to crowd average attendances this season. Their average home gate after five home games sits at 6,872, compared with Wellington’s average of 8,117, Perth Glory (9,156 from six games), Central Coast Mariners (9,554) and Adelaide United (9,708 also from six games).

Those figures include attendances from either a derby or rivalry clash (i.e., Adelaide-Victory or Perth-Brisbane) or a visit from Sydney FC’s marquee man, Alessandro Del Piero. Heart’s average attendance figure does not. And should this weekend’s derby attract over 26,000 as it did for the same round last season, Heart’s season average would jump to 10,060.

But stats can be misleading, and what they don’t account for is the allowance for Melbourne Victory. After all, how many fans would those clubs expect to attract if they shared the same patch as the two-time champions?

Perhaps the single-most important ingredient required to yield a five-digit attendance average for Heart is winning consistently, just as Victory did in season two (there you go, another comparison). Munn admitted as much recently when he told The Age, “We also realise the best way to attract supporters is to have a winning team”.

After the derby win in October, Heart lost a golden chance to gain any sort of meaningful traction in converting the fence sitters, drawing against the Phoenix a week later in front of a season-best turnout of 10,907 and effectively losing its positive momentum. Those at the club must surely have been frustrated at the missed opportunity, but it might get a second chance to set things straight should Heart defy the form guide and beat its cross-town rival for the second time this season.

Beating Victory is priceless marketing for the club, but despite claiming the honours on three previous occasions, Heart has failed to capitalise on its derby successes by backing up with a string of wins - particularly in front of a home crowd. Hence why it’s imperative that Heart wins on the road in Wellington five days later, and then at AAMI Park against Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar respectively.

Winning consistently did wonders for Victory during those formative years. It might just do the same for Heart.

http://www.footballa...g-formula/55916

Edited December 18, 2012 by Sash

[Peter]

Sash, how is it you always seem to have your finger on the pulse?

Well said yet again.

[Sash]

Sash, how is it you always seem to have your finger on the pulse?

Well said yet again.

Well thanks, I'd love to take the credit. But I didn't write a word of it!

But I agree, it's a good article.

[Melburnian]

Articles like this maintain the laziness and excuses from the employees of our club.

Fark off. Finally a positive, and accurate, article about us.

When the article is deserved I will say so. My opinion.

I think we have elements of a well run club but not enough is being done and I believe our club lacks ambition to be the best club. I think the club always looks for excuses why they can't do things instead of doing things.

Tell me, how much do you hear of us out and about? What is the interest levels in the streets?

I admire the community work they do but think its not working to make us achieve greatness. Club needs plan b and plan c.

I also think the club have gone away from what made them different. What made them special and respected. Youth promotion, passing football. Develop youngsters to play in the a league. Now we are one of the oldest, slowest, least mobile units out there. This was a non negotiable.

So I would rate the clubs administrators a 4/10. Is that good enough? Not for me!

Time for this club to want to be the best and biggest. Change of attitude vitally needed.

[wombegongal]

Some good articles. My only negative for the club is Simon Colosimo and he seemed to do well last week. Things take time and I'm on board for the long hall like most around here.