jw1739 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 I like the graphics that are coming out of the club. All class. Just another area where there's been a paradigm shift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ando Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Hoffman for captain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jovan Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Hoffman for captain. Plus elevated to both Australian and International marquee. There is only one Hoff ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyboozeadams Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Hoffman for captain. Plus elevated to both Australian and International marquee. There is only one Hoff ! FFA president too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwSb6uOV3Tk#t=11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmelbcity Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Good video such professionalism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falastur Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? I would if I could but unfortunately I live as far from Manchester as you guys do from Sydney. It would cost me upwards of £100 to make each game, with around 4 hours' travel either side. That's not a time/money commitment I can really afford, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braveheart Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n i k o Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 I can't wait to see what merchandise they will come out with. Liking the black training tops though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KautoStar1 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? Will Deffo be at the Oldham game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD. Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? Will Deffo be at the Oldham game Awesome! Sent you a DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silva10 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 (edited) Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? I am hoping to get along to the game. My neice's husband is an Oldham fan so am hoping to go with him and get my first look at Melbourne in person. Edited July 2, 2014 by silva10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KautoStar1 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 None of you Aussies going? Bloody part-timers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Reminds me of the friendlies after our takeover.. Suddenly they where anywhere but in Europe it felt like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shahanga Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? Will Deffo be at the Oldham game Awesome! Sent you a DM Mass Murdocca? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 Going off his twitter account, it seems that Scott Munn has recently been in Abu Dhabi. Sorting out some important club business perhaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexxandro Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? I would if I could but unfortunately I live as far from Manchester as you guys do from Sydney. It would cost me upwards of £100 to make each game, with around 4 hours' travel either side. That's not a time/money commitment I can really afford, unfortunately. You just pretty much described going to any away game in Australia besides Victory. So imagine if the only away game within a 12 hours drive of Man City was Man Utd. And also imagine if instead of the World Cup games being at 5pm and 9pm they started at 2am and finished at 8am. Being English has its perks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falastur Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 (edited) Will any of you UK City lads on here be catching any of the games? I would if I could but unfortunately I live as far from Manchester as you guys do from Sydney. It would cost me upwards of £100 to make each game, with around 4 hours' travel either side. That's not a time/money commitment I can really afford, unfortunately. You just pretty much described going to any away game in Australia besides Victory. So imagine if the only away game within a 12 hours drive of Man City was Man Utd. And also imagine if instead of the World Cup games being at 5pm and 9pm they started at 2am and finished at 8am. Being English has its perks. Oh, I described going to any away game in England, too. There are some people in the UK who drive 700 mile round trips to get to away games, because unlike with Australia our country is angular and the road system is based around the London hub, so sometimes you have to zigzag across the country rather than being able to drive in a straight line - and they are generally the fans of lower-league teams, too, as the Premier League sides are much more centrally located in the country. For the record, I do travel to Manchester for games - I try to aim for half a dozen games a season. My point is just that it's one thing doing that for a league game, and it's entirely another doing it for a pre-season warm-up game. That said, the more you guys talk about it, the more I will be tempted to do it anyway. I'm weak-willed like that. Edited July 3, 2014 by Falastur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Melbourne City set to make an announcement on Monday morning at 10:30. The playing squad depart for Manchester on Monday night. #aleague https://twitter.com/ALeagueShow/status/484920999465336833 BTW, the A-League Show is a podcast that's been around for a while, and seem to have a fairly decent reputation. Hmm, I wonder what it could be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeming Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Melbourne City set to make an announcement on Monday morning at 10:30. The playing squad depart for Manchester on Monday night. #aleague https://twitter.com/ALeagueShow/status/484920999465336833 BTW, the A-League Show is a podcast that's been around for a while, and seem to have a fairly decent reputation. Hmm, I wonder what it could be... 'Melburnians' is the supporter group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmelbcity Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Melbourne City set to make an announcement on Monday morning at 10:30. The playing squad depart for Manchester on Monday night. #aleague https://twitter.com/ALeagueShow/status/484920999465336833 BTW, the A-League Show is a podcast that's been around for a while, and seem to have a fairly decent reputation. Hmm, I wonder what it could be... 'Melburnians' is the supporter group Spot on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mus-28 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Kerem Bulut released by his club. Would hope JVS has the feelers out. If he can get his off the field problems sorted the guy could be an absolute star in the A-League. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heart_fan Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Kerem Bulut released by his club. Would hope JVS has the feelers out. If he can get his off the field problems sorted the guy could be an absolute star in the A-League. There were rumours that Perth Glory were looking to sign him. Would be a good signing though if we can get him. No idea if the other issues would resurface if he was back here, but may well be worth the risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 (edited) This is the squad ATM (the numbers are not squad numbers) : 1 Andrew Redmayne 2 Rob Wielaert 3 Connor Chapman 4 Aaron Mooy 5 Iain Ramsay 6 Massimo Murdocca 7 Damien Duff 8 Jonatan Germano 9 James Brown 10 David Williams 11 Jason Hoffman 12 Ben Garuccio 13 Tando Velaphi 14 Stefan Mauk 15 Nick Kalmar 16 Mate Dugandzic 17 Patrick Kisnorbo 18? Jacob Melling (although the club explicitedly stated Melling is outside of the 23, the club keeps saying that we have 18 players) 19? Paulo Retre (keep training with the senior squad wearing a squad number, whereas Archibald, Kuzmanovski, Marino etc. don't have one) So about 17 or 18 players out of 23 (including Melling), and possibly 19 if Retre is counted. These young players are training with the senior team, and have been for the whole pre-season (so 4 weeks now): - Ross Archibald - Central Defender - Marko Stevanja - Goalkeeper - Steve Kuzmanovski - Winger - Marc Marino - Striker It's interesting which other young players from the NYL were training with the senior team earlier this year, but now no longer seem to be. Those players are: - Philip Petreski - Fullback - Alex Dao - (defensive?) Midfielder - Marcus Schroen - Attacking Midifelder - Luke O'Dea - Attack Midfielder Alex Dao won the coaches award last NYL season, and has barely got a look in the senior team. Also, the other 3 are seem to be pretty highly rated. And I'm not even sure that they are all still with the club anymore (I think a few NYL players have been loaned out to NPLV teams, but it seems that a number of our NYL players have departed). I guess the step up to senior football is just tough for young players everywhere (from the AIS, to every A-League NYL team, even to EPL youth academies), and there is an unfortunately high number of young players who don't progress. And these were the young players that trialled with the team against Ballarat: - Thomas (Tom) Lakic - Central Defender - Nick Symeoy - Central Defender - Ross Archibald - Central Defender - Anthony Rizk - Wide Midfielder/Left Winger - Ersin Kaya - Wide Midfielder/Winger - Matthew Millar - was a Fullback, is now a Midfielder - Billy Konstantinidis - Striker So what spots are there left to fill? I think our midfield is pretty much complete, and if we sign another midfielder it'll be a class creative/attacking midfielder, who might well be our international marquee (there's also a possibility that the club might make a third attempt to sign Erik Paartalu, and will swoop to sign him when he's out of contract in December). And it looks like the club is keen to get more firepower, so goal-scoring forwards (including classic strikers) seem to be a high priority. Also I reckon the club trialled so many central defenders to maybe give 1 or 2 an NYL contract, to give us cover for Chapman, Wielaert and Kisnorbo (who had surgery a few weeks ago). I have a growing sense that Garuccio will be our left-back next season. He seems to have been playing as a LB over the 4 weeks of pre-season, and I think they might groom him over the remainder of our pre-season to be our leftback. Not quite sure what I think about that, but I rate Garuccio very highly, so in one sense it's just good that he'll be able to play often next season. All up I'm thinking the remaining squad spots might go to signing: a very good creative/attacking midfielder (our international marquee), a striker (our Australian marquee, probably Kennedy), perhaps Frank Lampard on loan, perhaps a leftback (although I increasingly doubt it) and maybe a spot will be left free (in case a very good possible signing emerges, like Paartalu in December). And hopefully the club signs as many good young players as it can, the likes of Marino and Kuzmanovski, on whatever contracts can be used (such as those youth-senior contracts that Melling is allegedly on, and NYL contracts). Altogether it looks like we're building an awesome team for next season. Edited July 4, 2014 by Murfy1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Marc Marino is in the Young Socceroos squad to tour the USA 9-21 July (along with Mauk and Garuccio). He's listed as playing for Campbelltown City in the SA NPL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Marc Marino is in the Young Socceroos squad to tour the USA 9-21 July (along with Mauk and Garuccio). He's listed as playing for Campbelltown City in the SA NPL. Yeah, out of all the players the status of Marino is the one I'm least sure about. And given that we're pretty short on strikers, it's a bit surprising that the club haven't been quick to sign up him or some other striker/s. It looks like he might have played for the Campbelltown team a week or two ago (despite training with our team for about 2 weeks since preseason began 4 weeks ago). So I'm not sure what that means. Marino is only 17 or maybe 18, so there's a real possibility that he might end up on a NYL contract, and given that the NYL starts playing at an even later date than the A-League, there's no rush to sign him. And in the meantime it's probably good for his development (and for any club that might sign him, i.e. us) for him to continue to play for his NPL team and play in Australian youth teams like the Young Socceroos. I'm just pleased to see that the club's youth scouting has seemingly gone up a few notches, and that the club seems to be scouting, trialling and signing some of the most promising and acclaimed young Australian players. The club might even be overlooking a significant number of pretty talented young players, because the club is now so demanding and seems to be only looking to sign the very best young players. So already the club is looking pretty impressive with it's approach to youth promotion, which is something I'm pretty happy to see, and I'm sure it'll pay very big dividends in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulhollanddrive Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Nice research. Not sure Bulut's headcase status would be worth the effort, and might even affect the new brand, though Man City did recruit Balotelli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Does anyone know whether some or all of these young players were taken to Man City for training? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heart_fan10 Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 we would make a real statement by signing Lampard and a big international marquee, and then topping up the squad with someone like Paartalu in december 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 we would make a real statement by signing Lampard and a big international marquee, and then topping up the squad with someone like Paartalu in december Oooh Paartalu, now there's someone I wouldn't mind having as a midfield enforcer! Don't really have anyone who fits that role at the moment, maybe aside from Germano. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falastur Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Does anyone know whether some or all of these young players were taken to Man City for training? They don't leave Melbourne for another 24 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Seems like The Hoff and Mooy are leaving tonight judging by twitter. You'd think the sheikh would have organised a more charitable time for the flight for the lads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) KISNORBO WELCOMES THE PRESSURE ON MELBOURNE CITY 7 July 2014 David Lewis Defender Patrick Kisnorbo believes Melbourne City faces a different type of pressure this season as it prepares to unleash the strike power of David Villa and Damien Duff on the A-League. Expectations are running hot ahead of the October kick-off to the 2014-2015 A-League season as the club owned by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed heads to England on Monday for a 17-day camp at parent club Manchester City’s Carrington training base. Melbourne City will play League Two Bury and League One Oldham Athletic, as well as a Bolton Wanderers selection. Irish international and former Blackburn, Chelsea and Fulham star Duff will link up with his new club this week while 2010 FIFA World Cup winner Villa will be in Australia for a 10-game stint between October and December before jetting to the United States to join fledgling MLS club New York City. Former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard has also been heavily linked with a loan to Melbourne City before he too joins New York City early next year. While the formerly named Melbourne Heart struggled to make an impression, collecting the wooden spoon in 2013-2014 and finishing second last the previous year, the city's new incarnation is being hyped as a title contender. "Suddenly we are the team everybody expects to thrive and that brings a different type of pressure – but we welcome that," said former Leicester and Leeds defender Kisnorbo, who signed a one-year extension towards the end of last season. "There is huge expectation around this club now and rightly so. It's up to us to deal with that and show it's not misplaced by our performances on the pitch. On paper, we look pretty good and people will expect us to flourish. "There are no guarantees but we have to ready for anything and everything that's thrown at us. "Players like Damien Duff and David Villa bring class, experience and a winning mentality. "Duff has shown his class in the Premier league for years and what more can you say about David Villa - he's won just about every trophy going except the Ballon d’Or and with those two on board it is bound to raise the level people are going to expect from this club. "He’s only here for a short time but he will leave his mark. The word is out that Australia is a great country to play football in and we are benefiting from that." City has been in pre-season training for almost a month and the UK trip will further ramp up the preparations of John van’t Schip's men. "I am not saying we are going to win this or that, but the aim is certainly to do a lot better than the last few years. We have to delivere on that," Kisnorbo said. "We have a good blend of youth and experience and in addition to the likes of Damien Duff and David Villa, players like Aaron Mooy from Western Sydney Wanderers, James Brown and Connor Chapman from Newcastle Jets all bring other qualities that will hopefully improve us.” Kisnorbo, who spent the bulk of his 10 years in the UK playing in the Championship, knows only too well the sort of opposition van’t Schip’s side will face this month, explaining: "England is a home away from home for me and we are going there to work hard. "Bury, Oldham and Bolton will all have a point to prove and it will be a different style of football to what we are used to. "We should not take any of these sides for granted at all – England is such a competitive environment, even in pre-season games. They might be thinking, 'here comes this team from Australia - what do they know'?" Hoping to catch the eye of Australia coach Ange Postecoglou with a flying start to the season with City as the AFC Asian Cup on home soil looms, Kisnorbo said: "I have still train as hard as ever. In fact, I sometimes over train because I don’t know when enough is enough. "Of course I would like to get involved again with the national team and if we are doing well as a club then who knows what Ange will do and who he will look at." http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2014/07/06/kisnorbo-welcomes-pressure-melbourne-city Edited July 7, 2014 by Murfy1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heart_fan Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) Seems like The Hoff and Mooy are leaving tonight judging by twitter. You'd think the sheikh would have organised a more charitable time for the flight for the lads Considering thats the time EY (Etihad) fly out, I don't think they had a choice Edited July 7, 2014 by Heart_fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) David Williams relishing the transformation at Melbourne City By Jesse Hogan July 7, 2014 Three years after he emerged from the ruins of North Queensland Fury, and since then playing for a team that has only matched its Melbourne rival in some derbies, David Williams is ecstatic at the transformation under way at Melbourne City. Williams was among the players who on Monday boarded a flight to England courtesy of a blue-chip new sponsor, Etihad Airways, for a training camp masterminded and bankrolled by Manchester City, the owner of the team formerly known as Melbourne Heart. ''It's totally different,'' said Williams, the club's reigning golden boot and player of the season. ''Coming from a smaller club, and then the way we've gone the past couple of years, it's definitely a breath of fresh air.'' Hopes that City would confirm the signing of Chelsea champion Frank Lampard before its departure did not come to fruition, with the consolation prize being the disclosure of its new uniforms, most notably a white-dominated kit for its home matches, and the five-year deal with Etihad. While City said Irishman Damian Duff would join the team in England on Tuesday, in preparation for its three-match tour against Bury, Oldham and Bolton, its chief executive Scott Munn and coach John van 't Schip did not verify Lampard was poised for a stint in Melbourne. It has been speculated he would be part of a deal for him to sign for its sister club, the newly formed New York City FC. "We've been linked with a lot of other players as well,'' van 't Schip said. "Of course, everybody knows who Frank Lampard is - a great player - but I can't say anything about it because it's all rumours. ''As long as it's not made official by the CF [City Football] Group, there's nothing to be talked about.'' Van 't Schip agreed the takeover of the club and the significant investment, with recruits such as Duff and short-term signing David Villa, would increase performance expectations, but he cautioned that success was far from guaranteed. "We still have the [A-League] salary cap, we still have all the restrictions ... there's still a lot of hard work to be done. There are no miracles," he said. Williams said the players, especially those pre-dating the Manchester City takeover, were determined to pay back supporters who had little success in Heart's first four years. "It is looking up for the fans and the supporters who've come over the past couple of years,'' he said. "Of course, we've probably lost supporters because of results, but the way things are [with the takeover], we've gained supporters. "You want the coach to have a headache about who he's going to pick ... and everyone is pushing each other. Last year as a team we were quite quiet as a group, but [this year] we're all making sure everyone is communicating properly ... constructive criticism is sometimes the best form of communication we can get as players. "We will be ready, our mindset's right. We just need to focus and put the history behind us." After a month of pre-season training, Williams said this campaign was already the favourite of his career. "Very different ... definitely out of this world for an Australian team flying overseas and be put up for a couple of weeks playing the games we are and doing the things we're doing. It's another level," he said. "This is by far the best mindset that I've come back to from having holidays to the start of pre-season." Williams praised the recruitment of assistant coach Luciano Trani from A-League champion Brisbane, and did not attempt to downplay the lofty expectations on City this season. "It's nice to be a part of ... but until I win something it's not going to be mission accomplished. "It's definitely looking up, and I'm excited. I'm sure that if people aren't excited yet, I'm telling you to be excited, because there's going to be big things happening at this football club." http://www.bunburymail.com.au/story/2401556/david-williams-relishing-the-transformation-at-melbourne-city/?cs=12 Edited July 7, 2014 by Murfy1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malloy Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 David Williams relishing the transformation at Melbourne CityBy Jesse HoganJuly 7, 2014Three years after he emerged from the ruins of North Queensland Fury, and since then playing for a team that has only matched its Melbourne rival in some derbies, David Williams is ecstatic at the transformation under way at Melbourne City.Williams was among the players who on Monday boarded a flight to England courtesy of a blue-chip new sponsor, Etihad Airways, for a training camp masterminded and bankrolled by Manchester City, the owner of the team formerly known as Melbourne Heart.''It's totally different,'' said Williams, the club's reigning golden boot and player of the season. ''Coming from a smaller club, and then the way we've gone the past couple of years, it's definitely a breath of fresh air.''Hopes that City would confirm the signing of Chelsea champion Frank Lampard before its departure did not come to fruition, with the consolation prize being the disclosure of its new uniforms, most notably a white-dominated kit for its home matches, and the five-year deal with Etihad.While City said Irishman Damian Duff would join the team in England on Tuesday, in preparation for its three-match tour against Bury, Oldham and Bolton, its chief executive Scott Munn and coach John van 't Schip did not verify Lampard was poised for a stint in Melbourne.It has been speculated he would be part of a deal for him to sign for its sister club, the newly formed New York City FC."We've been linked with a lot of other players as well,'' van 't Schip said. "Of course, everybody knows who Frank Lampard is - a great player - but I can't say anything about it because it's all rumours.''As long as it's not made official by the CF [City Football] Group, there's nothing to be talked about.''Van 't Schip agreed the takeover of the club and the significant investment, with recruits such as Duff and short-term signing David Villa, would increase performance expectations, but he cautioned that success was far from guaranteed."We still have the [A-League] salary cap, we still have all the restrictions ... there's still a lot of hard work to be done. There are no miracles," he said.Williams said the players, especially those pre-dating the Manchester City takeover, were determined to pay back supporters who had little success in Heart's first four years."It is looking up for the fans and the supporters who've come over the past couple of years,'' he said. "Of course, we've probably lost supporters because of results, but the way things are [with the takeover], we've gained supporters."You want the coach to have a headache about who he's going to pick ... and everyone is pushing each other. Last year as a team we were quite quiet as a group, but [this year] we're all making sure everyone is communicating properly ... constructive criticism is sometimes the best form of communication we can get as players."We will be ready, our mindset's right. We just need to focus and put the history behind us."After a month of pre-season training, Williams said this campaign was already the favourite of his career."Very different ... definitely out of this world for an Australian team flying overseas and be put up for a couple of weeks playing the games we are and doing the things we're doing. It's another level," he said."This is by far the best mindset that I've come back to from having holidays to the start of pre-season."Williams praised the recruitment of assistant coach Luciano Trani from A-League champion Brisbane, and did not attempt to downplay the lofty expectations on City this season."It's nice to be a part of ... but until I win something it's not going to be mission accomplished."It's definitely looking up, and I'm excited. I'm sure that if people aren't excited yet, I'm telling you to be excited, because there's going to be big things happening at this football club." http://www.bunburymail.com.au/story/2401556/david-williams-relishing-the-transformation-at-melbourne-city/?cs=12 Where do they pull this shit from "only matched their rivals in some derbies".... It was 4 a piece with 4 draws also. we also had scored more goals than them and won by the biggest margin and the first derby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-aram92 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 David Williams relishing the transformation at Melbourne CityBy Jesse HoganJuly 7, 2014Three years after he emerged from the ruins of North Queensland Fury, and since then playing for a team that has only matched its Melbourne rival in some derbies, David Williams is ecstatic at the transformation under way at Melbourne City.Williams was among the players who on Monday boarded a flight to England courtesy of a blue-chip new sponsor, Etihad Airways, for a training camp masterminded and bankrolled by Manchester City, the owner of the team formerly known as Melbourne Heart.''It's totally different,'' said Williams, the club's reigning golden boot and player of the season. ''Coming from a smaller club, and then the way we've gone the past couple of years, it's definitely a breath of fresh air.''Hopes that City would confirm the signing of Chelsea champion Frank Lampard before its departure did not come to fruition, with the consolation prize being the disclosure of its new uniforms, most notably a white-dominated kit for its home matches, and the five-year deal with Etihad.While City said Irishman Damian Duff would join the team in England on Tuesday, in preparation for its three-match tour against Bury, Oldham and Bolton, its chief executive Scott Munn and coach John van 't Schip did not verify Lampard was poised for a stint in Melbourne.It has been speculated he would be part of a deal for him to sign for its sister club, the newly formed New York City FC."We've been linked with a lot of other players as well,'' van 't Schip said. "Of course, everybody knows who Frank Lampard is - a great player - but I can't say anything about it because it's all rumours.''As long as it's not made official by the CF [City Football] Group, there's nothing to be talked about.''Van 't Schip agreed the takeover of the club and the significant investment, with recruits such as Duff and short-term signing David Villa, would increase performance expectations, but he cautioned that success was far from guaranteed."We still have the [A-League] salary cap, we still have all the restrictions ... there's still a lot of hard work to be done. There are no miracles," he said.Williams said the players, especially those pre-dating the Manchester City takeover, were determined to pay back supporters who had little success in Heart's first four years."It is looking up for the fans and the supporters who've come over the past couple of years,'' he said. "Of course, we've probably lost supporters because of results, but the way things are [with the takeover], we've gained supporters."You want the coach to have a headache about who he's going to pick ... and everyone is pushing each other. Last year as a team we were quite quiet as a group, but [this year] we're all making sure everyone is communicating properly ... constructive criticism is sometimes the best form of communication we can get as players."We will be ready, our mindset's right. We just need to focus and put the history behind us."After a month of pre-season training, Williams said this campaign was already the favourite of his career."Very different ... definitely out of this world for an Australian team flying overseas and be put up for a couple of weeks playing the games we are and doing the things we're doing. It's another level," he said."This is by far the best mindset that I've come back to from having holidays to the start of pre-season."Williams praised the recruitment of assistant coach Luciano Trani from A-League champion Brisbane, and did not attempt to downplay the lofty expectations on City this season."It's nice to be a part of ... but until I win something it's not going to be mission accomplished."It's definitely looking up, and I'm excited. I'm sure that if people aren't excited yet, I'm telling you to be excited, because there's going to be big things happening at this football club." http://www.bunburymail.com.au/story/2401556/david-williams-relishing-the-transformation-at-melbourne-city/?cs=12 Where do they pull this shit from "only matched their rivals in some derbies".... It was 4 a piece with 4 draws also. we also had scored more goals than them and won by the biggest margin and the first derby. We also did finish higher than them in our second season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexDaGroza Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Clubs fb just posted this....looks like paul retre is part of the senior squad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Mass shoulda been in the front row (standing) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmelbcity Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Clubs fb just posted this....looks like paul retre is part of the senior squad Am I missing mooy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.