Back With A Vengeance - Kiss of Death, Round 14, 2013

Players come and go but the club remains. This is something people do not understand, or refuse to comprehend. The transfer window is now closed and the player merry-go-round is over. Clubs wheeled and dealed to their heart's content over the last two weeks or so. But who cares really, they’re all mercenaries anyway.

Oakleigh Cannons vs Green Gully Cavaliers @ Jack Edwards @ 8.30pm on Friday
Oakleigh to win this one. They are on the up. Gully is too, but have yet to convince me. Oakleigh 2 – Green Gully Cavaliers 0.

Pascoe Vale vs Port Melbourne Sharks @ Pascoe Vale @ 8.30pm on Friday
I tip a draw for this one. Pascoe is somewhat on the up, and Port is starting to get the shakes. Pascoe Vale 1 – Port Melbourne 1.

Richmond vs Dandy Thunder @ Richmond @ 8.30pm on Friday
Richmond would feel hard done by the FFV’s decision to award Gully the three points for the washed out match which was stopped with 20 or so minutes to go. The FFV continues to disgrace itself with these decisions. Richmond 1 – Dandy Thunder 3.

Hume City vs Southern Stars @ Hume @ 3pm on Sunday
The Turkish derby with a Romanian influence. Hume City 4 – Southern Stars 2.

Melbourne Knights vs Northcote@ Knights Stadium @ 3pm on Sunday
The Knights will finally burst Northcote's bubble. Northcote is hitting the wall slowly but surely. Melbourne Knights 2 – Northcote City 1. Knights to be trailing 0-1 at HT.

South Melbourne vs Bentleigh Greens @ Lakeside @ 3pm on Sunday
Oh how I’d love to beat those morons from Bentleigh. Saw 'em against Dandy last week, nothing spesh. Saw South against Stars last weekend, nothing spesh, lol. Still scratching my head over Rixon's start then subsequent substitution after 30 minutes. Don’t know what's happening there. South Melbourne 3 – Bentleigh Greens 0

Media Hammering
Melbourne's Greek media has been having a go at South Melbourne over the last few weeks. 3XY copped a backhander over it live on air which is always fun to hear. 3XY was taken to task by ‘Leonidas’ of Altona Meadows.

 I know Leonidas. He is a family friend and South diehard which I can remember from way back. He asked the question of the night. “Why does 3XY and Ta Nea never mention South Melbourne Hellas as ‘Ellas’ in its media?". 3XY put up a poor argument in saying that the FFV mentions South Melbourne as South Melbourne, so why shouldn’t 3XY? Leonidas responded with “yes, but you mention Heidelberg as Alexandros, Port Melbourne as Nea Ellas, Northcote as Iraklis, and all the other Greek teams by their well known monikers”. 3XY responded with a deafening silence.

That is where he had them. They agreed to disagree, and then went on to read out the weekend's scores and they mentioned South Melbourne as Ellas. 3XY Radio 0 – Leonidas of Altona Meadows 1.

The week before 3XY claimed that they had been put in a position where they ‘decided to leave Lakeside’. What a load of crap. They stood up on the balcony, and because no one from the board wanted to talk to them on the record, and because the crowd was staring daggers at them, they felt themselves uncomfortable. Well, when you go on air and talk shit, that’s expected to happen. When you play with South Melbourne, you play with fire, and you will get burnt.

Then they were begging for someone from South to call them up. To their surprise, and mine, a South board member finally did. Hats off to Tony Margaritis, who made that call. He put them in their place. Started off by basically telling them, for four years you have waged a campaign against us, and now when there is a ‘scandal’ as you say, you want us to call up. He then went on to tell them that yes, Peter Tsolakis did in fact know the players would be sacked, and yes he did give the OK for it to be done. They back-peddled to a point, and you could hear their throats trembling that once again they had got their facts wrong, and had promoted a story based on rumours. Shambles to say the least. Then Mr. Rombotis called up and pulled the classic line on them. “Has Mr. Stamoulis given you guys permission to discuss South Melbourne on air?”. After doing some of my own research on this, I have been told by numerous people in the know that they had in fact banned South Melbourne from all their media outlets both radio and print. The journalists were instructed to not mention South Melbourne at all. Shambles on all levels.

The one person who is really rubbing up people the wrong way is veteran journalist Elias Donoudis from the Neos Kosmos. Since I cannot find an email address so I can contact you directly, I am putting up a reply to the inaccurate remarks you make on a weekly basis in your column.

Dear Mr Donoudis,

I have been a reader of Neos Kosmos for about 30 years. Namely the sports section, which is where I always begin to read the publication, as for me, sports is the real news of the world. I scratch my head however when I read the following which I have translated, “The current South Melbourne is in no way connected to the South Melbourne Hellas of old”. I still do not understand how someone who has been a sports journalist since Jesus was a child, can misconstrue and mislead your readers into believing this utter trash.

How do you justify your position in that statement? Are you saying that the Heidelberg Alexander of now, is not linked to the Heidelberg Alexander of old? Are you saying the Melbourne Knights of now are not linked to the Melbourne Croatia of old? I cannot fathom how this can be the case. What is the basis of your statement? Do you have an issue with the current South board? Do you have an issue with South Melbourne as a club?

You rarely mention South Melbourne in any articles unless they lose. You should be ashamed of this position you take, because as a youngster I remember you being wined and dined in the social club at Middle Park, and as a grown adult I remember you being wined and dined in the VIP sections of the then Bob Jane Stadium during the NSL days. If we are not good enough for you now because the ‘tzampa’ (freebies) has stopped, then please stop writing shit in your columns.

Concentrate on the other VPL clubs who wine and dine you so they can make your columns. Keep publishing photos of presidents and committee men who wine and dine you across the Greek communities of Melbourne. South Melbourne does not need Mr Donoudis. South Melbourne does not need the Neos Kosmos.

If you would like to reply please email kodvic@gmail.com

I am also happy to meet up with you, minus the wining and dining to discuss this gripe you seem to have so I can try and understand what you are on about.

Regards,

KOD

The only journalist out there worth mentioning is George Karantonis of Southern FM. His program is aired on Tuesday nights from 10pm – 12pm. George goes out of his way to be fair for every team out there. As much as he is pro-South, he is also to give South a battering if need be. However, the difference between him and the other other journos, is that he does his research and gathers the facts before he goes to air. He has never been wrong as far as I know, and usually when he speaks people listen, because they know he has done his research. His talkback is also quality. However, the one thing I’m getting sick of is his affinity with Greek musician John Tikis. My wife informs me that George loves this guy as he is from Mytilene and so is John Tikis. Go figure.

Board Rant
When are we having the EGM for the NPL? We, the members have a right to know what is going on. Why are you lot so silent on that? There is no excuse to not notify the members via EGM that we have made an application. The members decide the application, not a few faceless men. We are a members based club, not a privately owned entity. I cannot wait to sit there chanting ‘sack the board’, when it all goes pear shaped. You were voted in, you can also be voted out!

Social Club. What social club? How about letting us know what is going on? The silence is deafening and the natives are getting restless.

Transfer News
South released Marinos Gasparis to Northcote, and Anthony Giannopoulos to Sunshine Georgies. Why do I mention Anthony when about 90% of you don’t know who he is? Simple really. He has been at South Melbourne from the age of six. He is now 19. He was in the senior squad this year but only made one appearance during the cup tie with Northcote. He is no doubt a rising star. Why South would release him is incomprehensible, considering they are flying the flag for the NPL, and a player like him would be great for the points based system to be introduced. However, in their wisdom they released him on Monday night, and left him in the lurch to find a club by 5pm Wednesday.

Eventually Sunshine Georgies agreed to a trial, liked what they saw, and to no one's surprise Anthony subsequently signed with them. I have always been a fan of the Sunshine Georgies. They have always been a great club when it comes to juniors, and have developed some great players. A friend of mine's cousin is somewhat of a legend at that club, hence the soft spot I have for them. It is disappointing however that South failed dismally.

Any assistance in finding him a club although minimal is disappointing, considering they released him so he could get ‘senior game time’. Usually, another team is already half lined up. They had nothing. This disappoints and somewhat angers me. That is poor to say the least. We have a history of right royally fucking our youth and this just continues that legacy.

I and a lot of other South fans would like to wish Anthony the best of luck at the Sunshine Georgies and hope to see him in the South colours where he rightfully belongs in the near future. Good luck Gia.