Kiss of Death, Round 8, 2013

Oakleigh Cannons vs Hume City @ Jack Edwards on Friday @ 8.30pm
Oakleigh take on Hume on Friday night, in what is a must win if they are to have any chance of finals football. They looked very poor on Sunday vs South Melbourne, and they should’ve copped more than two. Miron Bleiberg continually put his hands on his face in reaction to the way his side was attempting to do anything. They just couldn’t do anything right. The same can be said for their season so far. Hume on the other hand are getting the results they need in order to still have a sniff. Oakleigh will beat Hume convincingly with a score that will surprise everyone. If they start that new boy up front, they shouldn’t have a problem. Oakleigh Cannons 4 – Hume City 1.

Port Melbourne Sharts vs Southern Stars @ Port Melbourne on Friday @ 8.30pm
Well, well, well. Eric survives another week. They will beat Southern Stars, I mean these days who can’t beat Southern Stars. People shouldn’t get too excited however, as Southern Stars are the new whipping boys of the VPL for this season. Port Melbourne Sharts 4 – Southern Stars 0.

Richmond vs Green Gully Cavaliers @ KB Reserve on Friday @ 8.30pm
Richmond, Richmond, Richmond. FML. Will you ever win a game this season? Yes, yes, yes you will! This is the game to lift Richmond off the bottom of the table. They will beat a poor form Green Gully. Even though Richmond has the leakiest defence with 23 goals, they have actually scored two times more than Gully who don’t travel away from home too well. Being a Friday night, Gully will stumble hard. Richmond 3 – Green Gully 1.

Pascoe Vale vs South Melbourne @ Hosken Reserve on Saturday @ 7pm
The clash of all clashes. Pascoe Vale surprised everyone with a 0-2 win away at Dandenong last week, while South dispached Oakleigh with no real issues there. Apparently the best thing about Pascoe Vale is their canteen. Wood fired pizzas, souvlakis, cevapis, and a smorgasboard of tasty delights. I haven’t been there for about four years when they were in state league 2, but apparently things have changed. They might be a bit of a handful for South, who played well against Oakleigh, but I couldn’t get my head around some of Tsolakis’ decisions. Rixon is unfit, it’s flaming obvious. From the 60th minute onwards he was poor. He had a limp, didn’t challenge for balls in the air, was slow, and really, we were playing with 10 men from then on. Gus got the subs to warm up. He only made one change Petreski for Gasparis who copped a knock. Not making a sub nearly cost us the game. If Vlahos for example was to come on for Rixon, he would’ve turned an already shambolic Oakleigh defence upside down. But, instead we had to sit there and watch us hang on to a win which should’ve been more comfortable. But anyhoo, people say who cares we got the win. I say, a responsible coach makes changes which are required, especially when blind Freddy can see it. Too much faith in your players can be a detriment to your team. Cut out the mateship and play your best eleven.
Pascoe Vale 0 – South Melbourne 4.

Melbourne Knights vs Dandenong Thunder @ Knights Stadium on Sunday @ 3pm
The Knights this week face an up and down Dandy Thunder. The Knights will be on their high horse after releasing a press statement midweek confirming that they will NOT be applying for the new NPLV. I support this move as the NPLV is a piece of shit that needs to be canned. Melbourne Knights 3 – Dandy Thunder 1

Northcote City vs Bentleigh Greens @ Northcote on Sunday @ 3pm
The first time this season that Northcote will be tested. They have a few tough games coming up away from home. Bentleigh is playing really good football. Exciting to watch.  Northcote City 1 – Bentleigh Greens 2.

Finally what you have all been waiting for. My NPLV rant.
Seriously what a joke of an idea. To expect an ‘elite’ competition to kick off without the FFV putting their hands in their own pockets is a joke in itself. The clubs are the ones who will risk losing everything, all while the FFV does the ‘der um, hmm, ask an expert’ routine. Green Gully and the Melbourne Knights are the only two clubs who have gone public with their position and declared that they will NOT be applying for the NPLV. Good on them. They took this to their membership and they voted no. Other clubs which I won’t mention, think they don’t need to go to their membership and instead will take it to their members once they have been accepted by the FFV. Well what’s the fucken point then? I know how this tactic works. You tell the members you have been accepted, and how good it is, and the members being sheep will clap their hands, congratulate you all and pass the motion. Then the club will be royally fucked.

I am as anti-NPLV as the anonymous poster down below. Fuck the NPLV. It is to benefit no one other than certain footballing entities in the country. Why try and reinvent the wheel? It’s not corporate enough for you ? Football is not a corporate sport, it is a religion, and if you are a non-believer then fuck right off. We do not need the NPLV, and we do not need some suits in fancy offices trying to tell us what’s good for our game.

All this fear mongering about playing in the highest league possible, is a fucken joke. The sad thing is that people actually fall for that shit…