SMFC Best XI 2005-2015

The response to this wasn't great. No one from the blog only side of things came up with anything, but the members of smfcboard were better, providing enough of a guide and response. Naturally the bulk of this team is going to come from the 2006 and 2014 championship winning teams. But it's worth remembering that a good part of the 2006 team existed in one form or another from 2005-2008, and that the 2014 side was a product of the turmoil of mid 2013, and the foundation of 2015.

Formation
A 4-4-2 formation was by far the formation of choice among respondents. Most respondents didn't specify the style of 4-4-2, whether it was flat or a diamond, but it was nevertheless the clear stand out.

SMFC Best XI 2005-2015
Goalkeeper
Dean Anastasiadis was by far the most popular choice here. We've had two other keepers who've also won goalkeeper of the year, and one that has gone on to play for Borussia Dortmund and the Socceroos, but Deano was probably always going to come out on top.

Defenders
Ramazan Tavsanciouglu came out way in front of Tim Mala. Steven O'Dor also had his share of backers, more than Michael Eagar even (who also gets into this team), which is odd as O'Dor played just three games in the 2006 championship team - score for longevity on that front. Brad Norton rounds out the back four,

Midfielders
Fernando was the only player to be selected across the board in the respondents' sides, which is no surprise. The rest was much murkier. Tansel Baser and Iqi Jawadi get in under their own steam, but as for everyone else, the results were too scattered. Maybe Epifano could have won more admirers if, you know, he wasn't such an arsehat; maybe Andy Brennan would have got in had he stuck around for a whole season; in that sense, I'm making a captain's call of sorts, and selecting out of that mess Billy Natsioulas, who when he was 'on', was an entertaining and effective player.

Forwards
Milos Lujic is light years ahead of every other candidate here, and for good reason. No other forward got close to the same amount of votes, except for Vaughan Coveny, who is included here because of that, even though it creates a very top heavy kind of forward pair.

Captain
Fernando De Moraes, despite never officially being the standing captain, was nevertheless named as such by most of the respondents.

Coach
It was interesting to see so many choose John Anastasiadis over Chris Taylor as coach (even though I wouldn't have), but it is worth remembering that Johnny A started with almost nothing. Three players. Taylor may have started with a shell, but he also brought over several championship winning players from Thunder.

SMFC A-LEAGUE XI
One of our readers/smfcboard folk, 'SJS' was kind enough to submit a team of South players who have played in the A-League.

Formation: 4-5-1
Goalkeeper: Langerak
Defence: Tavsancioiglu, Djulbic, Milicevic, O'Dor
Midfield: Salley, Fernando, J. Trifiro, G. Trifiro, Hatzikostas (played ACL for Victory)
Forward: Coveny
Coach: Durakovic (was a technical director at South in VPL tenure)

NEED MORE GREEKS XI
Something I cobbled up rather quickly. Defensively a solid central pair, but unless you want to chuck in Chris Irwin, not very high on attacking prowess. Keepers, could have gone with Zois or Gavalas, but ended up going with the 'default' option.

Formation: 4-3-3
Goalkeeper: D. Anastasiadis
Defence: Poutakidis, Tsonis, Blatsis, Tsiaras
Midfield: Tzirtis, Natsioulas,  Hatzikostas,
Forward: Minopoulos, Salapasidis, Vlahos
Coach: J. Anastasiadis

Contrarians XI
Just some mucking around on my part.
Formation: 3-4-3. It's what I've been using on my Hattrick team for ages now.

Goalkeeper: Seb Mattei. Mattei never played a single game for us, and sometimes didn't even turn up to be the bench keeper. But no mistakes.

Defenders: Shaun Kelly, Jake Vandermey, Carl Recchia. Kelly got in halfway through the season, was sent off in his first game, and still finished as leading scorer for us in 2012. Vandermey is in there for sentimental reasons, sure, but also because he came back with Olympia in that team that beat us. Carl Recchia had 50 million stints at the club, and we'd probably take him back even now, and maybe one more time after that.

Midfielders: Ljubo Milicevic: Pizzas, foul throws, match winning performances, red cards, and a shitty attitude. Oh, and the own goal against which scored us a point after he left us. It was a hell of a nine game stint. Billy Jones: played the opening game, never seen and seldom spoken of ever again. Who is he? Where did he come from? Some things man is not meant to know. Antonio Naglieri: while he was with us, no one liked him. But everyone forgets that, and instead claims that he was a vital cog and steadying hand in our 2006 championship team. It's better to be liked later than never I suppose. Anthony Giannopoulos: should have played many more games for us. Yes, I'm biased, but did you see the way he stared down at his Northcote opponent who was on the ground in that memorable 3-2 cup win? That's someone who wanted to play for South more than anyone.

Forwards: Kevin Nelson, Jesse Krncevic, Nick Jacobs. Krncevic played just two season for us; the first almost all off the bench, the second marred by long suspensions and being considered too close to his dad. Yet Jesse is still my favourite forward of the post-NSL era. Kevin Nelson gets in because despite how awful he apparently was, still managed to score seven times in 12 games; Nick Jacobs, well I loved him from the first time I saw him in Hobart, and still mourn the passing of his soccer career, but at least he's in a good place right now with an inexplicably 8-1 Memphis Tigers.

Coach: Gus Caminos. Could have offered it to Joe Montemurro or even Ange Dalas who both seemed to do their fair share of coaching during 2011 - even though they weren't the official coach - but Caminos' back to back under 21 titles, often under difficult circumstances, are what gets him over the line here.