Precipice - South Melbourne 1 Oakleigh Cannons 2

Not much time for anything more expansive or timely this week. We're in a mess. On field, off field. Running out of players. Unable to bring in players. And every day the ordinary supporter feeling more and more helpless, hopeless, and irrelevant. Helpless to help the club, hopeless for a better future, irrelevant to everyone in Australian soccer, including the people running our club

South of the Border, now in its 18th year of once great but now spotty coverage of this club, has seldom been a haven of positivity. Chalk that down to the main contributor. But every week just seems to get worse. What's there to cling on to right now? NSD and the Oceania fantasy. Here's my conspiracy: the club is being run half-arsed on the field this year (no summer training camp, high school reunion recruitment, Danish nepo-baby, etc) so that we save money and/or get relegated so that we can have our youth team in VPL1 next year while the real seniors play in a fully fledged NSD. It's the only thing that makes sense to me, otherwise we are being run so poorly, you wonder what it is we're doing.

Younger, more rosy-cheeked bloggers like Manny - who is doing a bang up job with Blue and White Views - still has the kind of enthusiasm for the battle that I used to have a long, long time ago, searching for ways to improve, offering suggestions. There is his post, for instance, on better and/or more diverse canteen options. Sounds good, eminently sensible, and some of (like loukoumades) that we used to have before. But last week, when a lot of friends and family turned up early to watch the under 23s curtain raiser, there wasn't even any food. I can understand that somewhat right at kickoff. But a lot of people wandered in to the social club at half time, and found nothing. So before we even branch out to other offerings, could we at least have the current offerings available when people are looking for them?

In another post, Manny wonders where the club communications with its members are? We were once at the forefront of social media stuff which, while not a like for like replacement for news direct from the board, at least felt something more than the barebones stuff we put out. A few Facebook posts with results, fixtures, and players birthdays - the bulk of what we get now - is not enough. Manny is right - we need direct, and more frequent communication from the board about the ongoing plans for the club. When Nick Maikousis took over as president, we were promised more frequent member forums, and for a little while we at least had something like that. But now we can't even schedule an AGM, which apart from a moral imperative for a member-based club, is also a legal obligation. You would like to think that people involved in their personal lives in elevated positions in the corporate and legal worlds would have a finer appreciation for that legal obligation, but for some reason the ordinary South Melbourne member is treated less important.

You've got the club's general manager David Clarkson making a brief sojourn into Clarendon Corner last week asking how we can bring people back to the club, but not sticking around long enough to get a thorough answer. Yes, I would love David Clarkson to have the authority to gather that information from the remaining fans and relay that info to the club hierarchy, since we don't really have any other way of communicating it, unless - god forbid - we break open the EGM petition glass. I'm happy to offer an impromptu (and probably unhelpful, doom merchant style) thesis on the subject, but it's not just about me - it's about all of us. Speaking of all us, if you aren't a corporate member, then you basically do not exist to the club outside of match day (unless it's to apparently get banned off the club's socials). I get it, the sponsors are important, and they need their own events. But no room for even one fan table at the jersey night? Also, did you know there was a jersey night? It's a good thing that the Olympic friendly earlier this year doubled up as a family day event, because we haven't had a family day for years otherwise. We didn't even have an informal Christmas gathering last year.

So, again, who and what is this club for? And if the fully-formed NSD doesn't get up, then what? Even if we survive relegation, what are we doing? Sure, go to a game, watch a dreadful refereeing decision put a team already on the back foot even more on the back foot, but focusing on that misses the forest for the trees. How did we get to the stage where one obviously poor refereeing decision could send us down a division? How can Oakleigh have Pierce Waring on the bench, a player who probably would be starting everywhere else, while South fans in the stands are wondering who (with no disrespect intended) each new kid is on the bench? What is the plan? Are we just killing time? Should we wind the club up? It would free up a lot of time on the weekend for me, but I would miss some of the people.

Next game
In a few hours against Port. Oh boy.

Final thought
Anyway, if you want more timely, positive, and good natured South material go to Blue and White Views, also available as a Facebook page.

Pyrrhic victory - Bentleigh Greens 1 South Melbourne 2

What an amazing night. I finished work just after midday (the Queenslanders who run the company call it an "early mark"), so I was able to get home, get changed, and not have to lug my bag of fruit and the rest of my stuff to Kingston Heath later that day. Thanks to Melbourne's magnificent public transport system, I got to Cheltenham station much earlier than I expected, so I had dinner at the Indian joint with pretty much only five star and one star online reviews (I'd give it 3.5) across the street from the station, before eventually heading to the ground.

Now while I was at the bus stop across from the station, I got notifications from at least two different people that rather than the game not being televised, it was actually being televised! Live-streamed to the dozens of people watching for reasons of so-called entertainment, and also a few thousand watching for reasons of loving the odds, not the game. Quite how Football Victoria came up with the idea to stream this match a couple of hours before kickoff, I do not know. Would it have changed my plans, but which I mean, would I have stayed home instead of making the long journey to and from Cheltenham from Sunshine? Maybe. Maybe not. But it would have been nice to have the choice, I suppose.

I did offer to that night's designated match commentator to help out on special comments, which some people may remember I did for a couple of games back in 2019 (to rave reviews, albeit mostly by people who knew me), but it turned out it was much more important to don a supporters' marshal vest, and be part of what looked like a knockoff Croatian I&D crew. Fair enough.

In the context of this particular season - where we are running the very real risk of relegation - this was perhaps the worst possible result. We won the game, which means that we have to play at least one more match that will make preparation for the relegation avoidance battle more difficult. We also won this game in extra time, which means we had to play an extra half hour in a midweek fixture, when we have a very tough game on the Sunday. We also lost two more experienced players to injury, which will make the task associated with league survival that much more difficult.

The loss of Jake Marshall (calf), our most solid defensive player, is going to be brutal at both ends of the field. Apart from his service at the defensive end, he's one of the few remaining aerial threats we have up front from corners. Worse, losing Andy Brennan (hamstring) - regardless of whether you think he's too old, or hasn't had a good season - means the loss of one of the few line breaking players at our disposal. So no Marshall, no Brennan, no Bonada, no Archibald, no Moller (for the sake of thoroughness) - it's not looking good, by which I mean, it's looking worse than before. 

And Max Mikkola's even abandoned the long throws, I'm not sure whether due to instruction, spite, or injury. Our one now only semi-dependant, near-obsolete weapon, and that's been tossed aside for... reasons. Maybe good ones, I don't know. But it was wild to see that on a narrow field - quite strange to see such a thing, considering every team has been widening their pitch where possible to nullify the long throw - Bentleigh's gone the other way. Well, I'm sure George Katsakis has his reasons.

And the loss was right there for the taking, too. We weren't bad, all things considered - we've been much worse this season - but everything in the final third was absolute rubbish. When they were ascendant in this see-sawing match, Bentleigh looked much more likely to score than we did in our ascendant phases. Eventually a cheap midfield turnover saw the Greens take the lead late, and blessed defeat was in sight. Then we had to go ruin it by scoring an equaliser. After all that, you might as well go win the game, right? Andriko Mesourouni's tap in from the one time we actually put in a proper low ball across the box, so there's that lesson to be taken out of this game. Play a striker, win the match? Madness, in its own way. 

Next game
Tomorrow (Sunday) at home against Oakleigh to round out the first half of the season. In a strange turn of events, the under 23s will actually be the curtain raiser.

Dockerty Cup draw
The draw for rounds six and seven was held on Wednesday night, where it was revealed that in the next round we will be hosting Pascoe Vale. It's the first time since 2019 - so, before the pandemic - where  we've been drawn against a side lower than the Victorian second tier. Back then it was Doveton, of course, after which we ended up signing their goalkeeper Josh Dorron. Maybe we'll get a striker out of this match? Who knows.

There were so many worse match-ups that could have happened. Knights again, of course. One of the many NPL sides still remaining. Another Greek club, for another chance at local community humiliation. North Sunshine, where I assume the People's Champ is still playing. But no, we got lucky, because we've got Pascoe Vale, currently bottom of the VPL2. Of course considering our own form and personnel issues, there's no guarantee that this will turn out well anyway, but we could have got a lot worse.

If we do get past Paco, we'll be away to the winner of Dandenong City or Brunswick City. so we're cooked anyway. And what if we did get into the national round of 32 of the Australia Cup? What would we do? Where we would we find useful non-cup tied players to bring into the squad? OK, calm down, one week at a time, we've got more immediate problems to deal with.

Someone should do something about all the problems
Normally I'm partial to the work of Neos Kosmos contributor Dean Kalimniou, who writes interesting articles about all things Hellenic, from the ancient to the now. One area, however, where I refuse to even bother reading him is when he starts talking about soccer, especially Australian soccer - not least because, as one reader of this blog commented, what does it mean for Dean to call himself a South Melbourne supporter, if Dean is never seen at any of our games?

Now I bring that up only to set up the scenario here - Kalimniou wrote an article about Preston Lions trying to trademark the name "Preston Makedonia", and the obvious consternation that would cause members of the Greek community. I'm not going to comment on that, but rather the reaction by some readers on Facebook to the article, as seen to the right. 

Sitting here as a South Melbourne Hellas fan, watching what appears to be an earnest discussion about forming and/or supporting a singular large Greek-backed club in Melbourne, for the sake of Hellenism... and I don't quite know what year I'm in. Is it 1959 all over again? Are we going to see Neos Kosmos articles arguing for the end to the squabbling and petty fiefdoms of Yarra Park and Hellenic, and pleading for unity for the sake of the glory of Hellenism? 

I can't see it happening myself, but I am a pessimist by nature.

Final thought
So our man at Football Australia is gone, and they just announced an $8 million loss. I'm sure this won't impact the National Second Division at all.

Expected - Avondale 4 South Melbourne 0

After disregarding the ample time available to me on Sunday to post something about this game - for whatever reason it seemed more worth my time to harvest the olives from next door's tree that hangs over our fence - I'm just popping in quickly to note that in terms of the scoreline this is probably exactly what we expected; in terms of how it happened, probably about 50/50.

I don't know how many players Avondale had out which made us look slightly better than what we are, and I don't really care. Nor do I care that they kinda put the cue in the rack after 4-0. I do care that we copped three in five minutes, but I also care that the team at least played the game out to the end, and looked closer to scoring a league goal than it has for a couple of months. Don't get me wrong, though - the experience still sucked.

Next game
Tonight, Dockerty Cup away to Bentleigh. This game will not be televised. This game will be televised. Bloody late notice.

New caretaker coach
Having gone through our entire rolodex and being hung up on by everyone they've called - including Mrs Neville from across the street - we finally have a coach to take us through to the end of the NPL season. Welcome back, I suppose, Sinisa Cohadzic, former South youth team coach and technical director.

Final thought
I know that the Dockerty Cup isn't a priority anymore, but... I don't know... I still care about it.

Perspective - Green Gully 1 South Melbourne 0

I could rabbit on about the coaching situation, being winless in the league for several months, having no strikers, no AGM, and many other things, but maybe for one week we can focus on a bigger loss.

I was devastated, and I'm still in shock at the news of the sudden death this week of Con Shomos, longtime Hellas fan and friend to many of us at South Melbourne, especially those in proximity to what's left of Clarendon Corner and the various South forums. Con was as staunch a Hellatzi as you could find, but more importantly, Con was a terrific bloke, and you'd struggle to find anyone at the club with a bad word to say about him. 

When I first met him just under 20 years ago when I came back to the club after my lost weekend away from the game, Con was an older, moderate voice among the then much larger and much broader church that was Clarendon Corner, and he retained that unofficial role up to his sudden passing this week. Along with his late father, he had his sons with him, the youngest of whom would jump on you in the old social club. Being 15 to 20 years older than the majority of Clarendon Corner's early 20s cohort, Con had a broader perspective and a more mellow approach than most of us to the way the club was run. Even now, nearly 20 years on from when most of us met him, most of us were still playing catch up.

Con had a dry, subtle sense of humour, but it seldom if ever ventured into cruelty. More than once he managed to burst the bubble of my outsized sense of moral superiority, but I never felt bad when he did it. He was adept at being able to disagree without being disagreeable, something that I still wish that I was better at. He was generous in spirit and in action. His generosity was ordinary and expected, but no less valuable for its simplicity. Need a lift to the nearest station? Easy. Need some help to pack something away, or to set something up? If Con could help, he would. Need a sensible voice on the forums and social media to represent South fans? Con did his bit, without any grandstanding.

Need someone to volunteer to man the barbecue back in the days when Clarendon Corner would have its annual match against Original Melbourne 21? Con was your man. He was my captain when I played for CC White against CC Blue in the curtain raiser to the main game. He got members of Clarendon Corner employment at the company he used to work at, which maintained the copying, printing, and ID card services at local universities. Again, not an extraordinary gesture, but a gesture nevertheless done out of love for South Melbourne Hellas and its people.

For those of us at South who knew him well, he was variously an indoor soccer teammate, or a fellow gig goer and guitar enthusiast. He had a predilection for bands from the Aussie pub scene that many have forgotten, but he still kept an eye on what was going on in the now. He was a footy fan in the way many in Melbourne are, not quite as dedicated as the most fanatical, but still aware of who was doing well and who wasn't. Though Hellas was his sporting alpha and omega, Con had more than a soft spot for the Pies, and I'll never forget the 2010 Queen's Birthday match a few of us South people went to, and not just because it was also Gains' first footy match, which ended in a bloody draw. 

Myself, Con, and another Con, at South's 50th
anniversary gala ball at Crown Casino in 2009.

Con was an enthusiastic traveler to South's interstate and overseas sojourns, even as they became rarer following the end of the NSL. Those who shared the trips to Singapore and the Gold Coast certainly have their stories, but I'll never forget the 2008 Canberra trip where Con, who had driven up with his boys, hooked up a speaker to his car to play a recording of Lefteri's trumpet for the patrons at AIS Field 14. He was pleasant to sit and enjoy a meal with in the social club, as well as to sit with towards the back of our grandstand, where he was a fixture at our home games. He had his favourite players and the ones he didn't like so much, just like the rest of us, because he was one of us. He will be missed.

My sincerest condolences to all of Con's friends and family, especially his three boys, Nathan, Nicholas, and James.

Next game
Avondale away today.

Final thought
What else to say? There have certainly been better times to be a South fan. Hopefully some more of those better times are not too far away.