The philosphy, youth and Scott Munn.

[downbylaw]

Now before I get shot down in flames for perhaps coming across as negative, I would like to say these are all just questions from a concerned member about the state and future of our club.

After Friday nights game one must think its about time the club looks at other ways to get people thru the gates imo. Below 5k at the weekend and I remember hearing only 500 were used at the Adelaide game in January of all times. Diminishes the club and the a-league. To me it seems as if there is no clear plan of attack. What's going to happen next year when rent at AAMI park is market rate? Surely 5-7k can't be covering costs. Lost close to 3million last season and one would think it will be around that amount again this year.

The playing philosophy is not working. Apparently it's about an attractive style of play. We have looked good for 5 weeks in two seasons against teams in a form slump, hardly riveting stuff for the casual observer to get excited about and want to buy a membership. Most of the season I have seen nothing that sets us apart from any of the other clubs in that dept. Sneaking in against an under 20's gold coast club in complete disarray rings massive alarm bells. Yes I know we are missing a few players but c'mon lets get real for a minute.

Promoting youth....so we go sign Paul Reid? Who's bright idea was that, he hasn't played in close to a year ffs. Fred was only a few weeks away so lets go waste money on a guy that will not be up to speed or a sufficient level of fitness till well after Fred is back. Has the youth idea been giving the arse? Why did we sign so many geriatrics last year when with a youth philosophy we could have kids coming thru now with an extra year in the system. It's one of the ideas I do like and can only hope we survive till they can possibly demand transfer fees.

Munn.....head of the table so it come's back to him. Why was the departure of JVS announced mid season? If he was told to pack his bags that moment I would understand but it has achieved NOTHING. Becoming clearer by the day Ante will have the job and I'm sure we have kept JVS on so he can pick his brains for a few more weeks. In that case let Ante run the show on matchday and let us fans know what we are in for or keep it quiet till the season is over. All it's achieved is to fuel speculation on the next manager.

The Junket...lets all send the boys over to Hawaii for a holiday, brilliant idea for a club flush with cash.I just can't fathom what good is going to come out of it.

The theme song...less said the better about that. Was insipid, weak and embarrassing.

The Berisha incident...yes it was farcical but they were well within their legal rights to do as they did. Why whinge about it? I for one would hope we would do the same if we had a player of his caliber in that position. Are we here to win or be the morality police?

I think it's time to ask questions and I'm sorry if I've got people offside but when does the time come to pull our heads out of the sand?

[cadete]

I agree with basicly all that you have written mate...

And as a consumer of Melbourne Heart - You are allowed to be upset with the product that is being delivered up to you.

[downbylaw]

Apart from yourself cadete the silence is deafening, surely people can't be happy with this mediocrity or if they are please debate my opinions as to why I'm wrong.

I was genuinely excited when hearing about the new team after aborting following Victory or the A-league for that matter with the way the NSL was treated.

Softened up over the years and went along to 75% of home games last year. Bought the membership this year and all I see is a club going backwards.

Next year will be vital to the club and I believe we need to see massive changes or it will be much of the same.

[DutchPride]

I am with you on most too, people are blessing Scott Munn because he's a good bloke, to me he is a f*cking moron when it comes to Football, he constantly talks the talk for no reason.

Why the f*ck would you announce the manager is leaving mid-way thru the season, whilst in our worst form slump of the season & arguably our existance & to add to that 4 days before the BIGGEST match of the season, not because it was a derby, but because it was a match where both teams NEEDED to get at least a result. Why keep the manager if you announce it mid-season, waste of time, where we could've employed someone like Milicic as a caretaker who could prove himself before taking the risk of signing him which is inevitable with 10 or so games left in the season.

We will lose a lot of money once again, and I am going to re-iterate that i do not want to take the risk of singing Ante Milicic as our manager without proper analysis that he is the right man for the job,he could easily turn into a Mehmet Durakovic, which would obviously lead to him getting the sack, 3 managers in a year wouldn't look good, but more importantly I don't know if our club could survive the crisis, both financially & public relation wise. Financially obviously people won't be coming through the gate if we are losing week in, week out, so I would rather sign a manager who may cost a little more than Milicic will who has experience & is familiar with the A-League, this in turn will bring more people through the gates initially & if we are playing well, bringing ever more & more in.

The Paul Reid signing was pretty shocking, as Fred is now back & Reid started one game & came on in the other, whilst Fred was absent, but I believe our youth policy has been great before that, Dugandzic, Behich, Goodwin, Hamill, Good, Babalj, Marrone (fairly young anyway), have all been great individually for periods in our existence.

Just my two cents anyway, as I have cringed numerous times in the last few months with someone of the operations inside the club.

[KSK_47]

I could seriously write an encyclopedia on things that I see as issues (or potential issues) within the club. But I wont. Basically, I agree with pretty much everything in this thread plus several other problems that have yet to be bought up.

Edited February 21, 2012 by KSK_47

[Huzie]

Fuck why all the dooms day talk! We can't do ANYTHING as fans apart from turn up and support our boys! We just got our first win in a while, we just got back 2 of our best young players, we just got back our 2 other best players from injury and one of our players just got named a socceroo! Surly we have better things to talk about then this? Scott munn isn't out there kicking the ball don't worry about him!

[Ando]

I agree with a lot of the above sentiments, but as Huzie noted we should be focusing on what we can do as fans. At the moment, getting people through the gate and getting them involved will go a long way to ensuring this club is successful (off the pitch).

We can voice our disagreement with the way things are managed (as is our right), but for me I want to see more people at games, who are more involved and are fully behind the team.

[KSK_47]

Its not dooms day talk. Its discussing concerns about our long term future. Yes, there certainly are positives at Heart, but there have also been some baffling decisions made too which some of us find concerning.

[DutchPride]

In no way is this D-Day talk & I'm sick of everyone complaining when we raise an issue about the club, we have every right to be concerned with some of the operation that has happened previously.

It's not going to stop me or most people from coming, but I think we should be able to discuss it.

[cadete]

Fuck why all the dooms day talk! We can't do ANYTHING as fans apart from turn up and support our boys! We just got our first win in a while, we just got back 2 of our best young players, we just got back our 2 other best players from injury and one of our players just got named a socceroo! Surly we have better things to talk about then this? Scott munn isn't out there kicking the ball don't worry about him!

I strongly dispute the claim that we cant do "Anything"....

Fans can achieve at lot at their club if they are determined enough to do so, there are so many examples throughout all world, in many sports at every level.

A few years ago Wimbledon who had not long before had won a FA Cup looked dead for a West Coast Eagles of UK Football - and now the true fans of Wimbledon have a lot to cheer for as they progress up the ladder - This has been achieved by fans standing up.

Only a few years later from dominating the league Hawthorn almost became a side called the Melbourne Hawks wearing a Melbourne Jumper and now they have over 50,000 fans - This has been achieved by fans standing up.

Scott is not my boss - Its myself that pays his wages not the other way around!

Edited February 21, 2012 by cadete

[Huzie]

I'm not saying we shouldn't speak about these things but just a weird time to bring it up...with all the good stuff going on at the club n all. Scott can say what ever the hell he wants, if it's wrong he will be brought back into line. I don't see what peoples problems are with him, they announced JVS is leaving the same week as Sydney's manager and they have lost 1 and won 2, these are professionals, they should be able to handle this! I am happy with the way things are going at the club, we have a GOOD philosophy (as seen by Goodwin coming into the team from NYL) and we are hiring people to suit the CLUB, not just hiring some idiot from anywhere and changing the game plan (short sharp passing blah blah blah) we just have to work on getting people to games (brought 2 first timers last week and they loved yarraside more then the game) the more people the louder we are the better the team plays the more money we make the more championships we win.

[schrecky]

I guess we can complain about not being up there with CCM and all the things that may have attributed to it over our whole season and a half history.

If we turn the clock back 8 weeks and we had just won 7 out of 8 games, and we were invincible and sitting 2nd on the table mid season.

I reckon that was a pretty fair effort in our short history.

Rip out any teams 6 best players and see what happens - that is where we are at i be thinking.

So lets look at the positives - we are generating some of the best youth/young players in the league.

The club is approachable and listens and reacts to the fans wants (ie - have you heard that song you were complaining about in the initial comment)

Our average crowd is up 2000 this year. (we are growing) - it was never going to be easy moving in next to the leagues biggest club.

We are going to play finals this year despite our recent shitty form

Munn is not going to please everyone all of the time - its just not possible as the CEO, i think hes doing ok even if we dont like some of the things said and done.

If we all keep promoting the club amoungst friends and family it wont be long before our following and success is something we will brag about.

[perthheart]

I think it all comes down to playing successful football. When we were winning everything seemed rosey at the club. We had everyone fit and in form. Injuries and Olyroos commitments severely weakened our starting XI. I don't think any club in the league would have coped with having as many starters out of the team at once like we had. Especially in such key attacking positions. Mate and Fred being the obvious examples.

As i had said since well before the start of the season signing an experienced CB should have been paramount. Which was proven with Madaschi's run in the team coinciding with our best run of results as a club. The a-league is a league of such fine margins where slight improvement in one or two areas is the difference between being top or being bottom.

I still believe in the course we are on atm. Youth focus being the key. As if we can consistantly produce players of a higher caliber then the others around us who will then take up key positions in the squad we will be in a better position than most. We are too young as a club to see the fruits of these labours atm.

I think it's more of a matter of tweaking certain things and becoming smarter about the transfers we do make and identifying the positions we need strengthening that will help the club move forward. Still baffles me why we bought in so many attacking players and neglected to sign any defensive options.

Still quietly optimistic about the remainder of this season. Squad is back to full strength and one good run into the finals like we had earlier in the season could see us really shake things up. I think a lot of it could depend on Colosimo remaining fit tbh.

[Sash]

Scott Munn doesn't make football decisions. That's not to say that he's doing a good or bad job, but he's irrelevant to most of the points made. He's not a football person really, and his performance will be assessed by the board. I will say though that I do like his passion - I'm not sure that there's a more active CEO in the league.

Firstly, can we at least wait for the end of the season before writing it off? We're currently 6th with 5 games to play. If we make the finals and win a game or two, then that's absolutely progress from last year - especially with a young squad. And yes it's young. Many of our key senior players are young. Paul Reid is on a short term contract like Madaschi to fill in while we've got injuries/players overseas. A youth policy isn't meant to be just 100% youth.

And why do people have a problem with the junket? It will be a great experience for the youth kids. I don't know what it's costing the club and I don't know how our budget is looking this year. The club was expecting a loss this year, about half of last years. That wouldn't surprise me - memberhips are up, crowds are slightly better, and player payments are down.

JVS decision - the club wanted to know what his plans were for next season. It means we can plan for next year from now. Would you rather the club didn't know? Or would you prefer the club didn't tell us what's happening? It sounds like you would prefer one of those two options. In the meantime, he's completing his contract like he should. I'd think much less of the club if they sacked him - which is what seems to have been suggested.

Anyway, it's certainly fair enough to question things, but I'm just not in the negative camp yet. There's a lot of hard work ahead to get crowds and memberships to keep improving (by the way, if 5,000 is our low warter mark for this season, it's improvement.) I generally like the way we play. We're inconsistent, but I think we play more god games than bad, even though results don't always reflect that. And I love that we have some great young players, who have shown their faith in the club by re-signing. And let's see how the season finishes.

[jw1739]

Scott Munn doesn't make football decisions. That's not to say that he's doing a good or bad job, but he's irrelevant to most of the points made. He's not a football person really, and his performance will be assessed by the board. I will say though that I do like his passion - I'm not sure that there's a more active CEO in the league.

Firstly, can we at least wait for the end of the season before writing it off? We're currently 6th with 5 games to play. If we make the finals and win a game or two, then that's absolutely progress from last year - especially with a young squad. And yes it's young. Many of our key senior players are young. Paul Reid is on a short term contract like Madaschi to fill in while we've got injuries/players overseas. A youth policy isn't meant to be just 100% youth.

And why do people have a problem with the junket? It will be a great experience for the youth kids. I don't know what it's costing the club and I don't know how our budget is looking this year. The club was expecting a loss this year, about half of last years. That wouldn't surprise me - memberhips are up, crowds are slightly better, and player payments are down.

JVS decision - the club wanted to know what his plans were for next season. It means we can plan for next year from now. Would you rather the club didn't know? Or would you prefer the club didn't tell us what's happening? It sounds like you would prefer one of those two options. In the meantime, he's completing his contract like he should. I'd think much less of the club if they sacked him - which is what seems to have been suggested.

Anyway, it's certainly fair enough to question things, but I'm just not in the negative camp yet. There's a lot of hard work ahead to get crowds and memberships to keep improving (by the way, if 5,000 is our low warter mark for this season, it's improvement.) I generally like the way we play. We're inconsistent, but I think we play more god games than bad, even though results don't always reflect that. And I love that we have some great young players, who have shown their faith in the club by re-signing. And let's see how the season finishes.

Totally agree there Sash. Well said. Jeez, Season 2 not yet finished and all this doom and gloom about the future. Scott Munn was pretty candid in his Heartcast interview. Considering he's accountable to the Melbourne Heart Syndicate and no-one else, he answered questions openly. He openly said that the Syndicate was not satisfied with either membership numbers or attendances. He gave a perfectly satisfactory answer to the question of the announcement of JvS' departure. The Hawaii trip can be looked at as a junket - or it can be looked at as a sign of commitment to our youth players. Not only that, maybe the club can build some bridges with the other participants.

Happened to meet a friend of one of the syndicate recently - I can assure you that the syndicate is in it for the long haul. Sure, the Heart could have done some things better. So could we all. Only those who do nothing never make a mistake.

[Jake]

the crowds are the biggest concern at this stage of the season. We're losing, but more importantly not playing well. There were a couple of cracking games, the two games before the last two from memory that were just exciting to watch. Since then its been ordinary to watch. Sure, there might be reasons for that, but the consequence is we wont attract and hold new fans/members, which is ultimately where the club will live or die.

not sure it's scotts fault, he seems to have strengths in fan engagement etc. bottom line is that free tickets and other similar promotions won't do it for us, but goals, preferably wins, attractive and exciting football, and probably a high profile signing for next season (aside from a defender and solid striker that can finish; i.e. berisha) should go a long way to building a sustainable fan base.

Edited February 21, 2012 by Jake

[Dynamo_Melb_Warrior]

Agree with Sash, Perth Heart and Jw.

Think things are ok at the moment. At one stage boy, we were the talk of the league and things looked unreal. Key players get injured and go overseas, we struggle and fans are turning.

Fred, Thompson, Dugandzic and Behich are back, we are 6th and in a finals spot with a host of Home games to come. Finals and a win in the finals would be progress. With all our players back and a good end of season run, we could do some sort of damage.

As for Scott Munn, boy some are hard task managers. He is so accessible to fans and is always out there for us to get information. Crowds need improvements but it has improved and I am confident a good end to the season will see us gather some sort of momentum for next season.

Dont forget, 8,000 to a mid week game at one point when we were in that successful patch. It ain't that bad.

Also not buying the talk of not releasing the news of JVS. It would of come out anyway!!! Why have the black cloud over us when most would know anyway.....

Things aren't all that bad.

[Butty]

Some strong posts, especially the OP and Dutchy's.

We went through a patch where we were winning, but still, where has the myth of "attractive football" come from? Surely seeing Alex Terra skip past 1 or 2 players, or flinging an overhead kick at the net once every three weeks classified as that. We have played a bland style. Watch us move forward, without Dugandzic on song, we are boring and lack invention. We lack of a cutting edge.

I believe this is a firm undertone throughout the club.

I echo the sentiments that announcing the departure of JVS mid-season was the wrong move, and it definitely was. In what way does that benefit anyone at all? I'd be happier if he did it at the end of the season and the club would remain away from the typical news headlines that are being tossed about.

"Next Heart manager" "JVS replacement" etc.

It was a very ordinary move.

On a brighter note, you Youth focus has been largely deployed, I think the Reid signing, although it was a shocker, was seen as a short term replacement for what I can only assume is an injury crocked Fred, who we won't see at the peak of his powers again till next season.

Goodwin, Babalj, Good, Hammill, Behich, Hoffman are all players that are prominent First Team players who are all below 21. Surely that says enough in regards to Youth Involvement.

Although we're not flying at the moment, we're most definitely not in the shit. A few home games coming up gives us a chance to build some momentum to go into Finals and ruffle a few feathers. Players returning from injury and international duty will only bolster the squad and improve our chances at a Top 4 finish.

[alexthepom]

All this talk of "I am a member therefore I pay the wages and the club should do what we say" is a bit dumb. Clubs around the world who go out ad spend stupid money like sacking managers or useless overpriced strikers to make vocal supporters happy end up in a worse position. We are fans of the club but we are not qualified to run the business or the football departments.

I agree with the general way the club is being run. Youth based with a handful of experienced leaders with a marquee manager to guide them.

They should spend the big money on a top new

Coach not an overpriced ex socceroo

[Cammo]

I think we can all agree that we have some problems. Crowds/membership need to rise, we've made some recruiting blunders, the JVS announcement timing and the fact we will probably be posting another financial loss.

That said, I think you'd struggle to find a start up club anywhere in the world that has not faced similar teething issues. Charlotte Bobcats are still battling, some of the more recent NHL teams, even some of the newer MLS teams that didn't have an existing history to draw on.

In regards to a few points:

- I don't see any issue in Scotty Munn not having an explicit "football background". Many, many businesses around the globe have CEO's that have limited knowledge of the subject area but skills in leadership, governance, management, marketing, sponsorship and so forth. In these instances, the CEO will bring in people around them to complement his/her skillset. Given we have JD on the books, I feel comfortable with the CEO/Football Director arrangement.

- With regards to fans, the club does need to sort out its approach to reach both the football purist and the football novice, which is potentially very tough. If we don't target and reach 10,000 members next season, I'll be disappointed. With the AFL, Storm, Rebels, Cricket and a bunch of other sports, we are working in a super crowded market for the time and money of your average Joe sports-fan. The suggestion of success will bring some in, but we also need to make sure we keep them. I think the management understand this.

- Let's forget the theme song see happened. Nightmare stuff.

- Finally, football decisions are always easier to judge in hindsight, but I think we can all agreed that the Maycon signing was a mistake and not signing a Madaschi-type from the start of the season was similarly bad. However with Good, Germano, Fred, Dugandzic and now Redmayne, I think we come out on top. I'm sure the signing of Paul Reid was primarily because he was a warm body. Remember we had an available squad of 12 at the time.

Keep the faith, folks.

Edited February 21, 2012 by Cammo

[belaguttman]

I don't agree with many of your conclusions downbylaw. Recruitment decisions are made by the Football department AFAIK, not by Scott Munn. They have decided on a strategy for long-term success both on the field and off the field that involves youth development. Whichever strategy a club chooses there are going to be risks and pay-offs. Our pay-offs will hopefully include success on the field although this relies on us keeping a core of players that we develop. The salary cap will always result in the HAL being a selling league and this is where our player development can pay off financially in the long-term. There are short-term risks in this strategy: it's hard to build membership and crowd numbers when home wins are rare and this is clearly a threat to short-term viability and momentum. Our recruitment has been a bit hit and miss but then this also part of the risk of not developing players within the club: Goodwin is a great example, he's a known quantity that understands the playing philosophy and his role in it and can just step up to the senior team if the player support and man management is good. Recruited players are always more of a risk, Maycon is a good example and hopefully we learn from that mistake. We are really only 2 or 3 players away from a very good team: a 'Madaschi-like' CB and a reliable striker who can finish.

Remember that although we are called members of the club we actually purchase season tickets, not membership in the true sense. This is the weakness of the HAL franchise model, the club is a millionaire's plaything and we rely on their deep pockets and vision to make it work. It's very obvious this week what happens when this goes wrong.

It was common knowledge a year ago that JVS would decide his future with the club in January. There was already speculation mid year that he would return to Holland because his daughter had returned there. What is the value in just saying nothing then in that situation, it increases uncertainty, allows rumours to flourish and can also become destabilising. It would be helpful though to announce a new coach ASAP.

[cadete]

FFS – It will seems that the majority of Heart supporters will blindly support anything the club does or anything related to the club.

Don’t people realise that not making the finals in the A League is like receiving at highest 40% in a exam...

Celebrating Mediocrity will get you nowhere just look at the Freo Dockers.

[belaguttman]

FFS – It will seems that the majority of Heart supporters will blindly support anything the club does or anything related to the club. Don’t people realise that not making the finals in the A League is like receiving at highest 40% in a exam... Celebrating Mediocrity will get you nowhere just look at the Freo Dockers.

Cadete there isn't a strategy that will produce all desired results instantly unless you have infinite resources. If we are building for long-tern success with a youth strategy then inconsistent performance is always going to be an issue to deal with. I think that it could have been dealt with a little better than it has, but the problems with the opposite strategy are being faced now by Victory. That being said though I agree with everyone that our performance this year has not been good enough. Our 'winning streak' showed our true level of performance, I'm not a believer in the idea that a team can play above it's potential. We need to look at issues around recruitment, depth, man management, group psychology to correct why we have consistently performed below our potential. You'll note that our potential is possible with our current starting 11 with our existing youth development strategy and playing strategy.

[perthheart]

Not saying i'm celebrating mediocrity. I'd just rather see a long term plan seen through to full completion. Of course you have to adjust things as you learn from your mistakes. I'd much rather support a club that has a long term plan in place for success then come out all guns blazing like GCU claiming we will win the league in our first season etc etc etc.

The main area that has not been good enough is player recruitment and this will need to improve in the future. As i've said before in a league of such fine margins you need to get the recruitment side of things spot on. It's the signing of players like Williams and Maycon over an experienced CB that have made the difference between us being mid-table and higher up.

If things like this are so obvious to the fans I would like to think it is quite clear now to the football department. We have the core of what can be a league winning team in place atm. We need to cut off the dead weight in the new year and bring in some more proven performers. This for me will see us release Worm, Maycon and probably Terra. This gives us three international spots (of which don't have to be filled by internationals). Of which we should be replacing them with a striker, another creative midfielder and an experienced CB.

For me another striker is of the least importance of the three. If we continue to play the same system then 6-7 goals a season is about all we can expect from the cf as he will be often isolated and required to hold up the ball to bring the wingers into the game. And as Eli grows more into the role he will probably be better than a lot of players we will get in.

Another creative mid to cover when Fred is injured and give us another route to goal is a must and obviously an experienced CB is the most important.

I'd like to see us go for Thwaite as a centre back personally. Surely he would want out of GCU.

[belaguttman]

Michael Thwaite is from (North) Qld and would prefer to stay there although that shouldn't stop us trying to recruit him. Who knows what Clive is up to, but GCU is certainly in a better state that the Romanian club that he was at?

[Hendo]

belaguttman, the voice of reason.

Our main issue right now, has definitely been the issue of recruitment, thus in turn directly affects our quality of depth within the squad, which has undoubtedly severely impacted on our current season thus far. However in saying that, the whole league in general has been across the board, quite average in recruitment. But, as belaguttman stated, we are only a mere 2-3 players from being a very, very good team. We have seen glimpses of it this season, we have played some marvelous football, we are still building the foundations and we will reap the rewards. It's going to a very, very interesting winter break nonetheless and hopefully, the right signings will be made. . Furthermore, one cannot forget that this is only our second season in an already pre-established league.

[Ando]

"But in our second season we had already won the championship"

Yeah, but you were playing against six other teams and the NZ Knights.

Rof Rof Rof.

We're building for the future, better to be critical now than wonder where it all went wrong five years down the track. We're doing ok, we could be doing better and this critical analysis is good stuff.

[The Aardvark]

I agree certainly there are weaknesses in the club setup/performances, but on the whole I think the club is doing a good job.

Re crowds: Yes our crowds are average, but don't forget we are in a saturated sports market, with a sport that has typically been made out to be a soft game of girly divers by a large percentage of the very people in Melbourne who actually attend sports, ie. AFL fans. So we are trying to either convince those guys that we are worth watching, or convince those who don't mind soccer but don't attend sport. I think we are slowly getting there, but in a city with another big side in the market (Victory, who took a massive chunk of the easier to attract supporters, those with an interest and who will attend) this is obviously going to be a prolonged process.

To get these guys to enjoy our matches and come back then we need to be entertaining. I'm fairly new to soccer myself, but I've taken about 6 people to our matches in the last 2 months who have less knowledge than myself, and generally they seem to have enjoyed it. The things that have stood out for them are Yarraside, the excitement of when we score and Alex Terra. For some reason I think Terra is worth a lot more to us than his actual playing output.

Re JVS departure: I'm not sure what you guys want the club to do here. In my experience as an AFL fan there is nothing worse for supporters than being kept out of the loop by the club. This has manifested itself in various ways, like a player missing months of footy without an injury being reported, or a player not selected for whatever reason, and the continual speculation regarding backroom staff.

It was the clubs duty to identify JVS intentions for next season and beyond, and IMO the worst thing they could have done when he informed them of his decision was to just sit on it until the season ended. Supporters hate that "we don't know as of yet" crap. The club did the right thing announcing it when they found out, there is no better time to announce it. And on the plus side it enables us to start looking at coaches early, let guys like Milicic actually make a case for the role for longer than a 30 minute powerpoint presentation. And besides, we can't afford to either pay out JVS contract or just cut him loose and lose him forever, so of course he is going to coach out the season.

And as for it's affect on media who are now going to speculate over who is our next manager. So what? As if there wouldn't have been a paragraph in every Heart article mentioning how "The future of Dutch manager JVS is still unsure, however it is believed he is leaning towards a return to Europe".

[kontra.11]

What has happened to us this season is like what most teams have gone through. A big streak of success and then just as big of a bad streak.. This league has no consistency other than the top 2.

I think the club is on the right track. It has a visibly good culture and we have got a really promising youth team which has only been put together this season.

[alexandro]

What has happened to us this season is like what most teams have gone through. A big streak of success and then just as big of a bad streak.. This league has no consistency other than the top 2.

Except that Brisbane lost five in a row...

[JD.]

This league has no consistency other than the top 2.

At least that makes for a more interesting, even competition, rather than just a handful of teams dominating.

[kontra.11]

I agree, I am just saying that we are no different to most teams in the league and that it is hard to keep winning, especially if you have injury problems like we have..

[Bannon]

To get these guys to enjoy our matches and come back then we need to be entertaining. I'm fairly new to soccer myself, but I've taken about 6 people to our matches in the last 2 months who have less knowledge than myself, and generally they seem to have enjoyed it. The things that have stood out for them are Yarraside, the excitement of when we score and Alex Terra. For some reason I think Terra is worth a lot more to us than his actual playing output.

Same thing happened when i brought down some afl fans who where into euro soccer but not so much a league and they loved yarraside and terra was a stand out to them as well needs to keep doing bicycles haha

[Cammo]

I dunno what the status is of RWU, but is there a role there for RWU to pen a letter to Scotty Munn and the board outlining a range of concerns, compliments, and criticisms from the perspectives of the supporters - both on and off the field? I think that would be a healthy exchange between the club and it's fans.

All it would need is a group of 6-8 people work shopping some ideas based on this thread and working up a letter. Whilst we couldn't cover all issues, I'm sure we could express a few core concerns.

[Butty]

I agree, I am just saying that we are no different to most teams in the league and that it is hard to keep winning, especially if you have injury problems like we have..

[Dynamo_Melb_Warrior]

I dunno what the status is of RWU, but is there a role there for RWU to pen a letter to Scotty Munn and the board outlining a range of concerns, compliments, and criticisms from the perspectives of the supporters - both on and off the field? I think that would be a healthy exchange between the club and it's fans.

All it would need is a group of 6-8 people work shopping some ideas based on this thread and working up a letter. Whilst we couldn't cover all issues, I'm sure we could express a few core concerns.

Isn't that what RWU was set up to do? I agree with you, RWU have the relationship with the club, and I think with their want to be for the fans by the fans, they should be doing exactly that.

Get that healthy exchange from the club to the fans and power forward.

[jw1739]

Isn't that what RWU was set up to do? I agree with you, RWU have the relationship with the club, and I think with their want to be for the fans by the fans, they should be doing exactly that.

Get that healthy exchange from the club to the fans and power forward.

Warrior, I rarely disagree with you, but...

All the so-called 'issues' that have been raised in this thread have either already been dealt with, or satisfactorily and candidly explained by Scott Munn, or are already blindingly obvious to the Heart football department and the syndicate led by Peter Sidwell.

Neither this forum nor the previous RWU forum represents the 6,700-odd season-ticket holders.

Heart is a very small and close-knit group of people - players, staff and administration. A letter of complaint would be essentially a complaint about how someone is doing their job.

Season 2 is not yet over. The club is in its infancy.

Letters of this type never achieve anything. They alienate the recipient, and cause it to be defensive. Once upon a time, with a small group of work colleagues, I made the mistake of doing something like this. It back-fired big time.

Don't even think about it.

[Dynamo_Melb_Warrior]

I do not think there are too many issues, just some slight concerns and worries about some decisions going forward. It is not a letter to barrage the club, just get some openness between the fans and the club. Whilst doing this, I listened to the HeartCast. That is what I was after and Scott Munn as per usual was very open and honest to the fans. Well done all round.

[downbylaw]

Been patiently waiting to log in on a positive note but ill die of thirst waiting any longer. Cpt. Scott T Munn MUST been thrown overboard as the club is completely directionless.

We possess a squad that will be completely turned over again making for another year of likely poor results. Tadic and Garcia sadly wont be here. Unsure about gohards contract but quite possibly our three best could be gone just to compound it all.

When will someone wake up and realise heads must roll. Things are worse in EVERY SINGLE DEPARTMENT than 9 months ago when I made this thread ffs and alarms were ringing then. Wake up please!

Edited December 15, 2012 by downbylaw

[downbylaw]

Oh, and that Hawaii junket has proven to be worth the pinch of shit it looked to be when they announced it. No one can turn shit into clay ever. We looked at a visa player who in turn we signed. Thats fine....if he was to be a regular starter. The bright sparks wasted a visa on a bloody water boy helping chase down loose balls at training. Ingenious.