Laying down the law - Kiss of Death, Round 8, 2012

8:30 PM Friday May 25th - Hume City vs Green Gully Cavaliers
Both teams are coming of 0-1 wins. Gully at Southern Stars, and Hume at Oakleigh Cannons. The bigger win of course being the surprise by Hume. Will be a tough contest out at Epping on Friday night. The weather will be cold and rainy. Hume City 1 – Green Gully 3.

7:00 PM Saturday May 26th - Southern Stars vs Richmond
Southern Stars have not won a game since beating South Melbourne a few weeks back. This should come as no surprise. Richmond have struggled, especially with the home draw against Moreland last week. I was surprised by that result. I reckon this will be a very scrappy affair with a couple of reds. Southern Stars 1 – Richmond 1.

3:00 PM Sunday May 27th - Moreland Zebras vs Bentleigh Greens
I was at Bentleigh last week and saw them lose 2-3 to Northcote after going in at the break 1-0 up and dominating. Moreland will continue to struggle, even with the transfer window coming up soon. They have also recently lost Steven Weir due to visa issues. Moreland Zebras 0 – Bentleigh Greens 3.

3:00 PM Sunday May 27th - Northcote City vs Heidelberg United
I’m calling it from now, if I haven’t already called it. If Heidelberg lose this weekend, then they will get relegated along with Whittlesea or Southern Stars. Northcote was really good last week against Bentleigh and they should’ve had 5, 6 or maybe 7 goals all up. Greek derby which will only attract the usuals. Northcote City 4 – Heidelberg United 2.

3:00 PM Sunday May 27th - Melbourne Knights vs Oakleigh Cannons
The Knights have a chance to get another win this weekend after their excellent 1-2 result at Lakeside last week. They looked good, and their ladder position doesn’t do them justice. Unless it was a one off? Oakleigh is the usual rabble who gets the results you don’t expect. I can’t see them getting a result at Knights stadium however. Melbourne Knights 3 – Oakleigh Canons 1.

3:00 PM Saturday May 26th - Dandenong Thunder vs South Melbourne
Match of the season to date. A high flying perfect record Dandenong, vs an underachieving, morale in the shit South Melbourne. I am going to give an analysis of last week's match vs the Knights before I preview this match. Well. Where should I start? In last week's column I demanded a response to South's season so far with a win over the Knights. It never came. I am not going to defend shit. Even the Bergers beat the Knights. Are we contenders or pretenders? At the moment we are more like pretenders. Our results speak for themselves. There is no way that people can tell me that we are seriously contending for this years title. I’d rather they say that Gus is rebuilding and not to expect a championship this season, but for sure next season. Instead I have people in power pissing in the wind about how good this list is, how they all have the same goal, and how we will kill it this year. Seriously fellas!

1. I think that Gus has been tactically outplayed in nearly every game this season except round one. Instead of drawing teams out of the backline, we batter ram them hoping they will crumble. Come on Gus and Joe, you two should know better than that. When a team is content with ten men behind the ball, you need to drag them up the park, not push them further back.
2. There are players in the starting eleven who should not be in the starting eleven. I shall list them for you, and expect them to prove me wrong. Peter Gavalas, Brad Norton, Dimi Tsiaris, either of the Trifiro brothers, Matko Budimir and Trent Rixon. Gavalas is being continually rewarded for his below par performances, and there seems to be no faith in young Saldaris. Norton is not good enough for South Melbourne. The kid might try very hard, but makes too many errors. Tsiaris has underperformed and I still don’t know what his position is. The Trifiro brothers only play with each other. Budimir is good for the club, but not good enough for starting eleven as yet. Trent Rixon, well half the shit he misses, he would score for Northcote blind folded.
3. Egos. We have too many egos in the team. If they aren’t up to it, they should be shown the door.
4. Nice football. Does not work in the VPL. Anti-football is the key to winning anything in the VPL. We have so much possession, make so many passes, yet seem to walk away with only zero or one point. This isn’t a boxing match. It is football. You don’t score, you don’t win, regardless of statistical possession.
5. Reaction to abuse. Yes, some people go overboard. However, people expect results. As members they are entitled to vent within reason. When players and coach react in a negative way to that abuse because they don’t like it, or because they think they are at a shitty little suburban club, then something needs to change. The members aren’t the ones going away. Remember that next time you pull a face, challenge a fan to a car park stoush, or come back out of the tunnel and abuse back, people are watching. No one ever blames the fans, instead they remember the reaction of the players. A word of warning. Do not go anti-fan. This will bite you in the ass big time. You want to win the fans back do you? You want the abuse to go away? You want the fans to worship the ground you walk on home and away? You want the fans to clap you off after a loss? Simple solution to all those questions. Play football to win games, and all the above will stop.

Now to this weeks match. Dandy is the form team by a country mile. South will struggle. There I’ve said it. For some reason I have that weird feeling that South might actually win this one. Either convincingly or by stealing it. At this stage, who really cares. Dandenong Thunder 0 – South Melbourne 2, in the upset of the season so far.

A word on the South Youth team. Pfft. Probably the worst team in years. Things have to change there as well. The fish rots from the head, therefore I am calling for the youth team coach's head. He has to go. How he can be the best candidate for the South Melbourne U21 squad is laughable. Whoever hasn’t seen this team should go down there one day and have a laugh. Woeful is an understatement.