Laughter - South Melbourne 2 Port Melbourne 0

But I am just a simple wog soccer club. I have only read
 about being relevant to Australian football in books.

So this is where we're at now. It especially applies to us because, you know, former NSL powerhouse and such and such, but it could equally apply to any other team in our league (or applicable leagues in other states) which may happen to be in our present position. That position is of course, top of the league midway through the season (regardless of whether we 'deserve' to be there or not), playing against a local rival with a ton of ex-players of ours, a game our side manages to win, extending our lead at the top... and it hardly seemed to matter.

We're not just talking about the crowd, which while at its usual smallness, was still broadly appreciative of these facts. Hell, we even looked good and/or better than our opponent, like we actually deserved to win by even more than the two goal margin that we did win by. The coach even made some early, attacking subs, our attacks looked almost fluid, and even our crossing wasn't so bad once Matthew Millar decided that trying to launch balls over Turn 6 and onto Albert Road was probably not the best use of his latent talents. Our defending meanwhile was a bit higgledy-piggledy at times, but Port weren't able to take advantage of that. Now that Luke Adams' All Whites duties are concluded with (they won the OFC Nations Cup on penalties), that he'll be back in the side, provided that the rumours of him trialling with other teams aren't true.

- You are now assimilated into Australian football.
- But how?
- It is the mystery of the FFA Cup.

Yet all eyes were and are on Tuesday, not because of the opponent in that match, or because it may help us move one step closer to defending our Dockerty Cup title, but because we have the chance to win a match in which we can afterwards figuratively shout out 'bingo' and hope that winning the jackpot means we get a big pay day (host an A-League team on national television, in front of a big crowd, where we acquit ourselves well on all fronts), instead of an away trip to Shamrock Rovers in Darwin where we'll probably manage to lose on penalties again and disgrace ourselves in some other hitherto unforeseeable but hilarious manner.

Beating Bentleigh on Tuesday, should we manage to do so - and at this point I would like to perpetuate the partly superstitious nonce jinx related idea that we are the rank underdogs in this match - will mean so much more than whatever it is we're trying to achieve in the league. Maybe our people in the terraces are desperate for the attention that an FFA Cup proper appearance will provide, having sold their souls for 'just a taste'; worse, perhaps all the attention being paid to Tuesday, combined with the nonsense lightheartedness of Friday, is a sign that people are getting bored with this league and have truly begun placing more importance on Shaun Mooney's crap-shoot tournament than their bread and butter league.

Compared to that possibility, comfortably beating a middling Port side in the league on a cold and wet evening in June isn't remotely on the radar.

Yes, we have no loukoumathes
When I say that all eyes were on Tuesday, I should be put a minor caveat on that. There was also attention being paid to the fact that the St Gerry's loukoumathes stand had not turned up despite promising to do so. Cue several chants about the absence of loukoumathes. Then again, perhaps even all the chatter about Korean BBQ and pastitsio and all the rest of the Food Network style chatter in Clarendon Corner was just people getting into the Food Federation Australia Cup swing of things.

My favourite part of the evening
When the People's Champ put in a nice pass that Milos Lujic didn't react to quickly enough, Lujic still applauded the People's Champ for the effort. Unfortunately, the People's Champ had already turned around by this point, never seeing Lujic's gesture of goodwill.

Let's be unabashedly positive for just a moment
Leigh Minopoulos scored. There's no one who can be displeased about that. The thing is, even if the goal was from two yards out, and even if Leigh doesn't always set the world on fire, the way he moves around the field is just so different to the way the rest of the team does. It's not primarily about raw pace or neat one-twos, but about gliding around the field and finding himself in the right space. Hope we keep him on, because he adds another string to our bow.

A word on Port, just for the sake of it 
Yes they had some good players out or having recently departed, but I'm annually flummoxed as to what it is they're trying to achieve. Apart from the misfortune of the 2013 Southern Stars incident, which saw Port be the big losers - although they still could have made the finals had they not capitulated against us in the final round - they spend big, recruit hard, and end up lower mid-table or needing dodgy late goals to avoid the drop. Or maybe, they also had two eyes on the FFA Cup.

Next game
FFA Cup match against Bentleigh on Tuesday, at Kingston Heath. The winner of this match qualifies for the FFA Cup proper.

Those who choose to travel to matches via public transport should be aware that there are works being undertaken on the Frankston line in preparation for level crossing removals. Check the PTV website to see how this may affect your journey.

For the record, Gains and I will be bypassing the Frankston line,, taking the Sandringham line out to Hampton, then catching the 828 from there.

For those who can't make it to the game, the game will also (probably) be live video streamed by FFV, though if they use the same streaming service as they did for the Green Gully vs Bulleen FFA Cup match last Wednesday, don't count on it being anything remotely like reliable.

Arrivals... 
Phase 2 of Operation Let's Sign Some Bloke From Spain That No One's Ever Seen And Let's Hope That Maybe He'll Be A Striker has seen us sign up a - wait for it - striker(?!) from Leganes reserves called Manuel Padilla Herrero. A (mandatory adjective) jetlagged Herrero played about an hour in the under 20s on Friday night, scoring a hattrick and providing at least one assist. The report of one the people that was there watching the 20s (I was at the Limerick, where we were cheering every 'Manolo' score update on Twitter), while acknowledging the poverty of the opposition, noted that Manolo's touch, game sense and work rate were very good.

So maybe, just maybe, we have a little gem on our hands. That then creates a series of neat little problems like, will we play him on Tuesday? Who gets dropped to let him start? Does the formation change? And will his loan spell end before our season does?

...and departures
Teenage wingback Luke Eyles has been released, subsequently signing with NPL2 promotion contender Kingston City. The Tasmanian was in the first year of a two year deal with South after signing from 2015 Tasmanian champions Hobart Olympia, but has been unable to break into South's starting lineup.

Midfielder Cody Martindale, who also spent most of this season in the under 20s on the comeback trail after missing most of last season due to injury, has ended up at Northcote, but both Martindale and Eyles are reportedly being asked back for 2017 pre-season training at South.

One assumes that Philzgerald Mbaka is also gone, but no official announcement has been made on that front so far as I can tell.

You really blew it!
I would just like to thank those people who ripped flares both before and during the second Australia vs Greece game for finally squashing any hope that South Melbourne had of getting into the A-League. And we were this close to making it, too.

Around the grounds/Year of the Fence
Make your own fun

Halftime here in seniors, scoreless between Cairnlea and Altona East. Entertaining though. @FFV365 #yearofthefence pic.twitter.com/FPGv2j8OZs

— Paul Mavroudis (@PaulMavroudis) June 11, 2016

Got stood up for a Saturday arvo soccer sesh, but I somehow managed to find the desire against incredible odds to drive out to Cairnlea to see the struggling home side take on the slightly more struggling Altona East. Thankfully being out at Cairnlea meant that I got to spend an afternoon with Cairnlea's media dude Andrew, and better still, we got to see a pretty tidy game, especially the second half with its four goals. This included an injury time penalty equaliser which disappointed the locals.

Final thought
Who am I kidding, Friday was fun as all fuck.

Thank goodness for Google Translate

Port 3 South 3
Out at Port Melbourne last Friday, those present saw a match of two halves, which I prefer to a game of three thirds. Being 3-0 down and then bringing it back to 3-3 says something and nothing at the same time. I have not seen enough of the team during this pre-season to make too many sweeping judgements, Michael Eagar looks good, Milos Lujic is doing his usual thing, and the rest of the usual first teamers have looked neither better nor worse - though Norton's cross for one of our goals suggests that his good form from last season will be taken into this season. I'm not sold though on this centre back they have trialling at the moment - Milos Tosic, I think his name is, probably from South Australia - he's a massive unit, which will be good for defending at set pieces, but his size comes with a severe lack of pace.

The search for strike partner or Milos Lujic continues. To that end we have apparently signed Congolese - that's Republic of Congo for all you geographers out there - striker or midfielder Philtzgerald Mbaka. Mbaka, a 23 year old left sided player, most recently played at Getafe B, the lower tier outfit of Getafe. The news article rightly mentions that this is a risky move for Mbaka - should he perform poorly, he will lose visibility for selection to the Republic of Congo's national team - and for all you promotion-relegation enthusiasts, the article also mentions the lack of promotion-relegation to and from the A-League, not just for its own sake, but in the way it hinders players at lower levels here. Mbaka didn't do anything special in his time against Port (nor against Comets), but then again neither did pretty much anyone else. All our goals conceded seemed to come from defensive mistakes.

For their part, Port will be competitive once again in 2016, and will be pissed off if they don't make the finals, but it's hard to see them pushing all the way unless they get a good run in terms of injuries and the like. This game was watched from the now normally closed off outer side of SS Anderson Reserve - here's hoping that continues in the 2016 season proper - in part perhaps because they've dug a large trench of sorts where the hill adjacent to the Laurie Schwab press box stands. Whether that's where the planned electronic scoreboard will be installed, I don't know, but I reckon that trench would be too deep for that, and on the wrong side of the ground for most spectators. It looks like local Greek-Australian soccer stalwart Jim Massis is also back in charge of the canteen there.

Some of you may have seen the video of triallist Velibor Mitrovic's excellent free kick against Port doing the rounds of the internet, but those of you who are a little too obsessed with the work of Football Chaos may also be familiar with this player from this stunner during Mitrovic's time with Kingston City.



Sure the defence gives him too much room, but anyone that can crack a shot like that should be worth a look, no?

In less good news, word on the street seems to be that young midfielder Cody Martindale, who missed the majority of the 2015 season after getting injured away against Heidelberg, has re-injured the same leg and may miss the entire season once more. Leigh Minopoulos was a non-starter for ??? but will hopefully be right for the start of the season.

Youngster Spiros Stamoulis seems to have been signed by Spanish side Alaves on a two year deal.

L'Alavés ha fitxat al davanter del South Melbourne, Spiros Stamoulis (18). Firma per 2 temporades. #fitxatges pic.twitter.com/IEExg4ONVA

— Mercat de fitxatges (@Mercafitxatges) January 17, 2016

It's possibly only an academy thing, but good luck to him anyway.

South 1 Comets 1

A photograph of people of taking a photograph. Yes, yes, it's all very meta. Photo: Paul Mavroudis.

In front of a crowd of 80 people (not counting those people running around the track) some sub par finishing kept the goals in this game to a more modest level than they perhaps should have been. Comets had been beaten 5-0 by Heidelberg last Friday, although according to some people that had been a weaker team than was on evidence here. Both sides switched players around and in and out as tends to happen at this time of year. Missing for us were Leigh Minopoulos (moon boot), Matthew Foschini (honeymoon), and Tim Mala (partying).

On the plus side, Matthew Theodore looks a like a bundle of energy during this pre-season. Injuries and work commitments have hampered Theodore in recent times, but there's obviously still a lot of love out there for player with his work ethic, style and ability to quickly thread a through ball to Milos Lujic. Still, you wonder if he will be able to overcome the obstacles of combining a hectic career as a corporate lawyer, being the wife of a bitter and broken entrepreneurial consultant and the mother of two teenage girls growing up in the cynical and angst ridden 1990s - and still find the time to play semi-professional soccer.

A pennant from Adelaide Comets
marking the occasion of their visit to
Melbourne. Photo: Paul Mavroudis.

Having deleted Twitter off my phone - ostensibly because it was interfering with my work and/or not allowing me to be 'in the moment' at games - I was surprised to find out later that I had received two notifications from gamblers looking for score updates from this game (which was also played in three thirty minute thirds). Of all the things to gamble on, why this fixture? OK, I get that some might get a laugh out of it because of the sheer obscurity of the affair, but beyond that?

Oh well, I suppose people need to entertain themselves with something while we wait for resolution to the lease and social club issues.

Bendigo calling
Seems like we're booked in to play a sort of match against NPL2 franchise Bendigo City on Saturday night up in Bendigo. Kickoff would be at 7pm at Epsom Huntly Reserve, which is on the outskirts of Bendigo. I don't think I'll be able to go to this one, which is a shame, but that's what happens when you play these games in the middle of nowhere. Check the South website for more details in case they bother to put any up.

Takis Mantarakis passes away
Multiple championship winner, captain, South team of the century team member and all round club icon Takis Mantarakis passed away at the age of 81 last Saturday. The obituary on smfc.com.au is well written, and has some excellent photos to boot. Looking at the reaction on Facebook to Mantarakis' death, what comes through is not so much his undoubtedly massive contribution to South over many years, but especially his human decency. Those understand Greek may also choose to listen to this piece from SBS Greeks' 'Athletes who we loved' series.

Stupid Branding Requirement - Melbourne Knights 1 South Melbourne 2

Well, that was a pleasant experience in all sorts of strange ways. Watching the rain start to come down and the lightning strike in the vicinity of Knights Stadium as I drove east along Ballarat Road, it felt good to be heading back to something resembling serious soccer. No need to pay for parking also added that little bit of extra value, though I probably should ducked into the NPL Victoria season launch being held inside the Melbourne Croatia social club adjacent to the ground - if only to add a bi more colour.

I had my umbrella with me, but the rain was that heavy and persistent, and it was only a pre-season affair after all, that I ended up staying in the stand for the whole game, copping cigarette smoke wherever I sat, Bad eye sight and increasingly decrepit short term memory meant that I spent a good bit of the game trying to figure out who some of the players were, especially that skinny looking number seven with the dyed blonde hair - oh, wait, it's Nick Epifano.

No difficulty picking out the goalkeeper at our end, since despite being the better side throughout the first half, and spurning several chances, we went into half time 1-0 down after Knights scored from a corner which Gavalas failed to get to despite it being in the six yard box.

Stipo Andriajasevic records the first goal of the #FFVCS for @MelbKnights over @smfc at Knights Stadium pic.twitter.com/ymNJDTEzmn
— NPL Vic Football (@NPLVic_Football) February 13, 2015

But immaculately taken photos don't tell the whole story of course - it was an excellent corner from the Knights, but the knee jerk reaction from me and some others around me was to blame Gavalas and pine for the days of [insert last decent keeper you think we had and/or Chris Maynard]. I admit that I'm not a Gavalas fan, and that I was probably too strident last night, but when later that night Chris May came out confidently and punched a ball well clear, 'give Pete a chance' ran a clear second to instinctive malevolence - and that's taking into account Gavalas very good diving save from a long range free kick in the second half.

The game wore on, and while one doesn't ever knowingly or willingly discount the chance of an equaliser, time was running out, though we were getting closer. There are certainly games I've seen where we've looked a lot less likely to score a goal. Considering Gains had written us off - for shame, Gains, for saying that we wouldn't score - it was especially pleasing that Andy Brennan of all people popped up with the equaliser, taking advantage of a corner ending up at the back post for him to score with his first touch.

@AndyBrennan36 equalises for @smfc in #FFVCS against @MelbKnights. Scores 1-1 pic.twitter.com/Sl1KnyqcvZ
— NPL Vic Football (@NPLVic_Football) February 13, 2015

Leigh Minopoulos' winner in injury time, averting the skipping of extra time and straight to penalty shoot out scenario that was set to settle the game, was both an encouraging moment for the team itself in running out the game in the way that we did, but also a sign of the depth we have on hand, This depth may cause its own problems down the line - injuries and suspensions aside, Taylor tends to like putting out the same starting eleven if things are going well - some players are going to be spending a bit of time on the pine this season.

While it'd be stupid to extrapolate a whole season's eventualities based on one game - and a game played in atrocious weather, before the real stuff has started, and before anyone's settle down at that - there were signs of why I think we'll both win the championship again, as well as reasons why we'll fail to do so.

Going forward, aside from the poor finishing, we looked damn good, perhaps better than at any moment I care to think of during 2014. Some of the one-twos, the turns, and the way the forwards seemed to be in synch with each other was very encouraging. We also moved the ball forward quickly, without resorting to long balls; though Chris Taylor seemed to have a different opinion, remarking to the media after the game that he thought we were too direct - and who would have thought Taylor would ever say something like that?

The reasons we could fail to win the title? Complacency, for sure, but the keeping situation is undoubtedly the one everyone is focusing on whether you despise Pete Gavalas or want to him to do well for the simple fact that he's our keeper and that there's no point in trying to destroy our own, when there's already so many others willing to help us along in that regard. More than his failure to get to that corner yesterday - and I think the old adage 'karate yes, or karate no, but never karate guess so' applies for that situation - it was the fact that his defenders clearly weren't on the same page with him on several occasions that is most immediate concern, in this ear when you goalkeeper is meant to be a de facto sweeper.

Whether that was down to a newly re-jigged defence still finding its bearings - it was interesting for example to see Michael Eagar in a defensive midfield role, where the New Zealand soccer fans are more accustomed to seeing him - or due to the weather, you hope that it will be gone soon, because we've already been through this. The opposition, too, was not at full strength, and they too showed signs that they'll need to settle - and while I wish it was league match we'd just won, rather than a pre-season ceremonial shield, I'm still happy to have won said shield as opposed to meaningless scratch match.

Is that a 'happy to be back' face, or 'I am
 going to fuck you guys so hard' face? 

Welcome aboard more new faces
We've copped a little bit of stick for going all gung-ho with our recruiting so soon after a championship. Never mind that we've lost a few players, and that our best kids have been taken by the A-League NPL teams (not that we would have probably used them anyway, but it did happen), it's also part of our well established culture to snare talent from wherever we can, and damn the consequences.

To that end aside from the signing of Peter Gavalas, we've also signed midfielder Cody Martindale (who? exactly) from State League 1 outfit Noble Park; and Kristian 'Gonzo the Great' Konstantinidis (need more Greeks!) from Northcote City, another player who's had a run in with our supporters, I think that feud stemming from some idiocy during our ill-fated 2013 preliminary finals attempt.

Steven, I like your hustle. [Steven smiles]. That's why it was so hard to cut you.

It's farewell to the other of our two championship year goalkeepers, Chris Maynard, who has been let go. There had been consistent chatter about his tendency to miss training, but once he won the number one spot, it seems the fact that he turned up to pre-season training 10 kilos heavier - and remember how it was mentioned at the AGM that we're keeping track of all these things now - didn't help his cause any which way The talk is that Nikola Roganovic will be the number two to Peter Gavalas. Both have spent a bit of time out of the game, and Gavalas of course has all sorts of baggage brings with them (already LOLing it up on Facebook), so it'll be very, very interesting to see how this plays out.

Maynard has since ended up signing for Heidelberg. Let's hope this gamble pays off for us. Rightly or not, many of us have doubts, perhaps magnified further by the fact that even last year the keeping situation was always seen as a weak point. [cliché alert] Only time will tell.

Next week
The official start of our title defence, against perennial bridesmaids Oakleigh Cannons. It's our only home league fixture until April. It sucks that it will be on a Thursday night, which sucks, but welcome to the concept of the marquee opening fixture, which because it went so well last year, will be tried again in 2015. I suppose we should be glad that we're handpicked for these occasions.

Memberships/Negative Nancy persona ditched for one paragraph at least
For those of you who have pre-purchased memberships - good on ya, and if you haven't, head here - then they will be available for collection as per usual outside the gate before our first home game.

Seriously - buy a membership, come to games, be part of the solution, not part of the problem. It's been ten years - get over the fact that we're still in the second tier, and remember that it's still the same club. Don't listen to the naysayers and the excuse makers - it's still South Melbourne, it's still Hellas, in blue and white. Come watch a team that looks like it will have a decent chance to defend its title. Never mind the running track - it's still among the best stadiums in the state, and it's not like you haven't watched sport from distances further away and in lesser comfort than what you get at Lakeside.

Final thought