The Worst 4-2 Win In History - South Melbourne 4 Preston Lions 2

Where do you start with a game like that?

Perhaps you can start by saying, "Geez, I've got a bad feeling about this game", but that's pretty much every game these days. Hell, maybe even the whole last six years.

You can ponder the merits of the lineup. None of the Dandy Thunder players available due to being cup tied. No Alan Kearney, suspended. No Dimi Tsiaras, I assume for the same reason. Shaun Kelly still out injured. Norton out of position at centreback. A crippled Rixon getting another start, sans walking frame. At least Gavalas was cleared to play in this game, and Fernando got a rare senior start.

There should be no excuses about having played a game just two days beforehand. Preston had done the same. Our squad is larger. You'd have thought that playing an opponent two levels below you, who have some admittedly OK players, but who are still only sixth in their half of their division, we should have still sauntered this in, relatively speaking. Instead, we made seriously hard work of it, and perhaps only the soccer gods destroying the visiting side with a series of bad luck saw us eventually get over the line.

Full credit to Preston. They gave it pretty much everything they had. They didn't completely park the bus. They took most of their chances, and perhaps only the aforementioned bad luck stood in their way. There were diehard South fans shaking hands with Preston supporters after the game; not out of arrogance, but out of contrition for winning an admittedly entertaining game that we perhaps didn't deserve to do so.

A dog chasing its tail wouldn't go around in as many circles as we did last night. As one wit noted, that dog would probably have got bored of doing so long before we would. Falling behind early to a fantastic and seemingly inevitable goal - there were several Preston players lined up waiting to shoot from better position if need be - shouldn't have been disastrous, as we still should have had the time and the firepower to make it up in the end. Instead we wasted a couple of good chances by shooting wide, refused to shoot at other times and even reverted to short corners.

When Rixon was onside we didn't play the ball through to him. When he was offside, we did. At the other end, our defensive line was all over the shop, allowing Preston to play through balls beating our offside trap, as well as looking rickety and nervous on the ball. While we had most of the ball, at times our passing was beyond dreadful. Preston goalkeeper Nicholas Kostadinovski did well when he was called upon, intercepting loose balls when faced with one on one situations.

The red card dished out to Preston in the first half was ludicrous. It was a second yellow, for what appeared to be playing the ball too quickly from a free kick after having been warned not to do so by the referee. Still, we went into the sheds at half-time wondering when we were going to wake up and finally put away the visitors.

It took longer than expected, and required some more help from the soccer gods. First there was more pain, as Sanni Dauda nabbed his second of the game with a header at the near post from a corner, taking advantage of some atrocious defending.

Then the pendulum swung back our way. About an hour in, Kostadinovski, apparently suffering from an extreme bout of cramp, was unable to continue. He was replaced by a 16 year old. Within a minute, a Fernando de Moraes cross to the back post was headed in by Rhys Meredith, and we were back in the game.

Still we had to butcher several chances after that - most notably Nicky Soolsma hitting the post from a sliding attempt, and Tyson Holmes blasting the ball into Clarendon Street from a simple chance - before we got the equaliser. And even there we needed a touch of luck to level the scores against an exhausted Lions outfit, after Preston conceded an own goal. A Fernando free kick from out wide on the left eluded everyone to give South the lead, and soon after he scored his second to put the game completely out of Preston's reach.

Probably any other player celebrating in the fashion that Fernando did after scoring his goals against a fourth tier side would have been entirely anathema to me, but he gets let off the hook for the sake of long service and obvious love for this club.

Game Smfc vs Preston Lions tonight!If you don't love the club you can't play this game!Massive derby!
— Fernando de Moraes (@nandojogado) July 23, 2013

It was our first win under Chris Taylor, and our first win since we beat Northcote in the cup back June 10th. We haven't won a league match since May, when we convincingly beat Oakleigh.

It's nice though to still be in the hunt for at least some silverware this season. Our next opponent - in the semi finals if you can believe it - will be Green Gully, at a neutral venue, with the other semi-final being between the Thunder and George Cross. We'll have to play about a billion times better than we did last night to have a realistic chance of making the final, but at least we have a shot at it.

Waiting For Godot, VPL style. Photo: Michael Dimoudis.

They Only Come Out At Night/Working Overtime
Channel 9 were there. Channel 10 were there too, or so I heard. Apart from a flare thrown over the fence from the far side of the lake end after the match - which landed on the empty terraces and looked suitably pathetic - nothing happened, which was good. If only nothing had happened eight years ago as well, he says quietly to himself. Still, the media vultures went home empty handed, and they'll now have to manufacture some other story to fill in airtime. Good thing they're well versed in that kind of thing.

I guess today tonight and ACA will have to stick to Stories about Boat People and Laundry Powder.
— Paul Touliatos (@pavlaki1969) July 23, 2013

There was also this comment by the famous (infamous?) Benjamin on the 442 forum:

Ch 9 had a camera van outside Lakeside last night, ABC tried to get in (without tickets) to "promote state league football" and were told by security to "come back on Sunday". Everyone wants to stir trouble.

There wasn't any, by the way.

"Promote state league football". Now I've heard everything.

Renco Van Eeken Fruit Watch
Apparently nothing happened on that front last night.<

EDIT:
See comments section for an update.

Member Information Evening
It's at Beachcomber, August 6th. The sacrifices I make for this club. Anyway, they'll be discussing A-League (snort), National Premier League (make it happen!), social club (what's that?), the junior pavilion and football (what about soccer?).

Spencer Street Station Shenanigans 
Met Sebit Muon and another youth player on the way home last night. Told Sebit that Steve From Broady is a huge fan of his, and discussed the game briefly, as they had been at a training session. Cool story bro and all that.

Next Game
Back to league duties, with a home match against the Thunder.

Final Thought
I suffered from a dizzy spell after the second goal. Following this club is not good for my health.

This is what I get for being away from the internet for more than five minutes

I am Gabriel, the messenger, the teller of astonishing truths. Now I am dying, my temperature soaring, my hands and memory tremoring: perhaps I should be held accountable for everything I say.

Gabriel, in Sonya Hartnett's Surrender


I get home early from work. That's what happens when 80% of my students - in a class of five - don't do the required reading. At least they got a kick of reading Jas H. Duke poems.

Then instead of doing my usual thing of getting straight onto the net to check my messages and forums, I decide to put the dishes away.

I follow that up by making a peanut butter sandwich, and putting on an episode of Rocko's Modern Life - trying my hardest here to be ahead of the 1990s revival curve.

I eventually log on. Emails. Tweets. Even phone calls. People (apparently) refreshing the blog looking for news. For the second time this year, things have gone off tap - and Scott Munn is forced to concede that this is the second time an offer has been made by South. Well, that was certainly news to me.

After the attempt to do whatever it was with the Central Coast Mariners (here and here), it appears that we've lined up another target, this one closer to home, and kicked off the South Melbourne Heart rumours again. And you also have the rumour, as seen on soccer-forum, that we're calling up up every A-League franchise on the fringe of real or imagined imminent disaster trying to buy our way in.

It begs the question - why not just try and buy our own way in, as ourselves? Anyway, for those waiting by their keyboards, the scuttlebutt that I'd heard – not from a committee member, mind – was that South was going to 'go for the jugular'. And let's be honest here - we'd all heard that phrase too many times before.

Well, maybe not exactly that phrase, but re-entry to the top flight was always something that was sought by our supporters. A hope occasionally dangled in front of us by the club, by fringe parts of the media, and even occasionally by the FFA. But mostly by ourselves, wallowing in our hubris and sense of entitlement.

It's strange how in the company of some, you can not only find such statements as plausible, but also as tangible, almost done. And then in the company of others, you can only laugh at the audacity of hope that people at this club still cling to.

But beneath this veneer of objectivity and stoicism, I'm just as likely to get swept up in the ludicrous moments that this game, this Australian game, and our club, our Australian club, provides on an equally ludicrously frequent basis.

So much so that I write the most heinous sentence in any of the at present over 1400 entries on this blog. It helps that Steve from Broady has only started writing recently here I suppose.

And then my internet breaks down, again, and I find myself in an early 90s technological silence. No way of dealing with cacophonous forum fallout, at least for a little while.

Before that happened. I managed to get one or tweets in, an email dealing with other correspondence. But the majority of this was done the old fashioned way, on an eight year old computer with no internet access. And the thoughts on the matter that I have had for quite some time still ring true.

South Melbourne as South Melbourne, playing in blue and white. No more compromises, no more lies. We are who we are, and the rest can take it or leave it.

And maybe a special section in the ground for those of us who stuck it out in the bad times, guaranteed for life. Did I mention our famous sense of entitlement? LOL!

NCR debate heating up

Two things to take note of.

Firstly, the club will be hosting a members forum this Wednesday to discuss the social club redevelopment and our engagement with the NCR process. I'm a bit concerned about the crazy rumours that we will creating be a fustal court in our space - what happened to the bistro idea?

As for the  NCR, the board have a lot of work to do in convincing supporters that their approach is the correct one to take. Not that it isn't, or that they can't - I'm waiting to see what their rationale is - but personally attacking concerned members of the club on internet forums isn't the smartest thing to do, especially when you hide behind a veil of anonymity.

When Officer Friendly Comes Calling

Tucked away in an entry last week, we warned you that a South Melbourne flavoured mudslide was ready to flow down FourFourTwo mountain. Unlike the article referred to last week, this latest article, by the mysterious 'Staff Writer', does have real world consequences for South supporters, unlike that other Clive Palmer related nonsense.

It looks like the introduction of a supporter code of conduct is gathering pace. This has been an issue that has been around for many years, and which has always been viewed with suspicion by the people most likely to fall foul of such rules.

And until recently, the club has had a dreadful record in making disciplinary action stick, that is when they've even bothered to dish it out. Rather than go off half-cocked though, I think we should wait and see what exactly the club has in mind.

Of course there will be questions - such as how will this be any different to the FFV's code of conduct?

Will foul language be targeted? Will foul language in Greek be targeted?

Will talented, handsome, but prone to roguish behaviour media volunteers have the rules applied to them in the same way as their non-volunteer friends?

Is any of this necessary when we're at a 'major events' venue where specific laws already exist to deal with offenders?

And is it true that some fans are considering bringing flares back to games, not realising they could be up for a fine in the realm of $6,000?

And is it true that there are security cameras and people operating them just waiting for some dolt to do something stupid?

So many questions, and not enough information. Not quite yet, anyway.

South exit Hellenic Cup; two new signings; FourFourTwo shenanigans; Beachcombing

It was a farcical evening of football last night at The Grange. For the second time this pre-season South has come up short against state league one outfit Western Suburbs, this time bowing out in a penalty shootout, after both regular and extra time yielded no goals.

After all five penalties were scored by both teams in the shoot out, Suburbs went ahead 6-5 in sudden death - and they won the tie when Steve O'Dor hit his penalty too close to the Suburbs keeper who easily kept the ball out. This will be the first time since 2008 that South has not made the tournament final.

The game was open, with chances ate both ends, though the shooting of both sides left a lot to be desired - in South's case this was worsened by the apparent fear of shooting from anything other the six yard box.

Suburbs played a counter attacking game, clogging up the middle of the field, pushing South wide, and attacking on the counter. Their speedy players were able to race up the field and place the defense under serious pressure - especially considering the apparent disconnect between O'Dor and Gavalas.

After being nursed through the pre-season, Trent Rixon came on late, though Gus Tsolakis appears to be a coach who is wary of using his bench. Crosses that were in the right spot were not met by players being in the right spot. Players that were in the right spot saw crosses fly over them.

It's hardly end of the world stuff though - and it goes to show how the alignment of the state league and VPL pre-seasons have enabled a more closely fought tournament - however this has been overshadowed by even more ludicrous actions from the organising committee.

The original kickoff time for the game was 6:30PM. Of course most, if not all of our players are semi-professionals, who work day jobs. Some even work as late as 6:00 PM. The time would have been even worse for the Western Suburbs, whose players would have likely had to have journeyed an even longer distance than most of our players.

I can't even recall what time the game eventually started. To my surprise, the game also went the full 90 minutes, instead of the hitherto usual 70 - if my recollection is accurate, in previous tournaments 90 minute matches were reserved for the final.

The most ridiculous portion of the evening though, was when news filtered in from the other semi-final, being played by Heidelberg and Northcote. Remarkably, it was being played at Ralph Reserve, whose surface, by all accounts, has been ripped to shreds, and had whole days of action cancelled on it, and matches relocated.

That match, too, failed to yield a winner, but rather than going into extra time, the match went straight into penalties. The lack of suitable lighting was given as the reason for this occurrence. One wonders of they were finishing their match in the dark, and why we had to play extra time.

As it is, our involvement in this tournament is now over, except for the wearisome 3rd/4th place playoff. If last year's match between Oakleigh and Bentleigh is any guide - the single worst game I have ever seen - there will be no point in attending this match. I would feel confident in predicting a largely under 21s squad will take the field on behalf of the club.

Tournament highlights next week.

Need More Greeks!
Boy, hasn't this angle being worked to death lately. Two more officially on board - goalkeeper Peter Gavalas signed over from Bentleigh Greens - confirmed as both a Greek speaker and of the Orthodox faith; and Dimi Hatzimouratis, a pacy forward type who has been at a few clubs around Melbourne but has also spent some time in the Cypriot leagues. Gavalas' signing means the exit of Zaim Zeneli, most likely to Dandenong Thunder. Probably part of their 'need more Albanians' push. Hatzimouratis' signing means that Nicky Jacobs and Gianni De Nittis will probably be fighting over a bench position - unless Jacobs can somehow win a spot out wide.


South sides with the FFA
In the latest and perhaps most pointless chapter of the Clive Palmer - FFA feud, FourFourTwo is reporting that we're not saying that much at all about the matter. Word on the street is to expect more hot air blather in the coming months from us or about us in FourFourTwo


South at the Beach
Finally, in a revolutionary move, this year's version of South in the suburbs/aka membership fun day is actually taking place somewhere within rock throwing distance of South Melbourne! Well, more so rock throwing distance with a mortar launcher, but still better than requiring an intercontinental ballistic missile to deliver your payload.


It's on next Sunday, March 17th, from 11am to 1pm, at (new sponsor) Beachcomber Cafe, 10-18 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda. I think I'll give this one a miss. They seem like nice people over there, and the beach soccer volleyball to be played by South people sounds interesting (even it's no sepak takraw), but I think I should spend some time at home. Or maybe even at a Statewide Knockout Cup match.

South Melbourne - the team for the working class!

At least that's what coach Gus Tsolakis in thinks in this article from FourFourTwo. Apart from the very occasional frappe (sweet with milk, thanks), I don't drink coffee, so I don't know why latte drinkers get such a bad rap.

Notes from the return to Lakeside

Just very quickly, as I have a throbbing headache and am feeling a little nauseous.

Was there from about 12:45 until the end of the last game. It was by turns chilly and warm, but the rain held off, and it was a pleasant day overall.

Bought my membership, and got a Coke ball and Coke plastic 'glass' as part of some sponsorship arrangement. Was told that memberships were selling well, but they say that every year now, don't they?

Our stand is looking fantastic. New seats, new lights, new facilities. I'm not sure exactly how they're going to patrol and make sure only Gold members will have access to the padded seats, but they were comfortable. The view, while of course distant, is more than adequate. The media/scoreboard room is terrific.

The opposite stand is a bit more bare bones compared to our side, but the view is just as good, though leaving design holes in the back of the stand at the top will mean it gets a bit chilly during winter time. The setting sun still gets in your eyes, overall making our side the better choice.

Behind the goals is problematic, though those who insist on being part of the behind the goals faction will still probably soldier on. Standing room in between our stand and the track is not too bad. I managed to get a lap around the track before security got a more serious with that kind of thing.

Food wise, you're probably better off bringing something from home, or bringing your cheque book. Pricey and mainstream for the most part. Will have to wait and see what kind of fare the social club offers when its renovations are complete. But we do have vending machines!

The scoreboard is visible from outside the ground, but is angled more towards our stand, again making our stand a better choice. Its software crashed at one point, but the potential is there for some awesome usage. Hell, even having a match clock is something to be proud of.

The lights came on, but weren't really needed. Nice that we can do that now, and hopefully there's the possibility of a couple of night games there in 2012. The surface itself looked a treat, and seemed to play just as well.

Believe it or not, there was actually a game on as well - well, several to be precise, as our juniors took their turn to christen the stadium. The main game got off to a lively start, as one of the Trifiros scored within the first 30 seconds after some sweeping play across the ground.

We could have scored a couple more in the early stages, but then Olympic woke up and played the better for the rest of the half, deserving their 2-1 lead I suppose. They were a little too keen for my liking in their attempts at the tackle, and it ended up costing one of their players a trip to the hospital.

Both sides threw on some young players in the second half. We managed to get it back to 2-2, had a blatant onside called offside, copped a late goal, and the match finished 40 minutes into the second half. Then most of the estimated 3,500 crowd left while another junior side played for some reason.

Geoff Lord turned up, as did apparently several belly crawlers from bygone eras. Dom Barba, coach of Whittlesea Zebras was there. Clarendon Corner was there... or was it over there... or perhaps over there, as they struggled to find consensus about where to place themselves. The Olympic Ultras, if they were there, were barely noticeable.

All in all a good day, and now with only the AGM to go before the new year, the people responsible for providing the entertainment - and this wonderful facility - can rest a little easier, knowing that their efforts were worth it.

Pity that one of my preferred Clarendon Street eateries has changed branding/hands and I can't get a club sandwich there anymore.

Ljubo Milicevic to join South - your correspondent left almost speechless

FourFourTwo is reporting that the one and only Ljubo Milicevic - at least I hope there's only one of them - is joining South Melbourne. Yes, our South Melbourne. The club has not officially confirmed it as I go to print, but certain peoples with more authority have indicated that he has signed and will be start on Sunday against Bentleigh.

It won't be for an entire season, but he should add value to our defence if he doesn't break down with injury, as he is somewhat prone to doing. And while I'm normally not for these short term arrangements - especially leaving before the end of the season - the Ljubo Experience is so ripe for gimmick value that I'm sure whatever way it falls, there'll be laughs for everyone.

And he did say he wanted to go to a real club after all.

End of the 84th Minute

Neil Zimmerman (of the Victory in Melbourne blog) has shut up shop in regards to his 84th Minute project, to which I contributed just the one piece despite his gentle nagging - I'd say you can't rush genius, but the reality was the zeitgeist often moved too quickly, and let's face it, most of the ramblings on here don't interest the greater football public... I learned that the hard way in numerous conversations with people on the net, and by the fact that so many of my googled hits on here seem to be from people looking for Melbourne Heart news. Anyway, over to Neil for his explanation.


One story ends, another begins

You may or may not remember but last year I launched a new independent football e-zine called the84thminute with lots of grand plans for it to be the fans’ voice of football. However, with increased pressures at work and scoring a writing gig for FourFourTwo Australia I was unable to give it the full attention that it deserved and thus it has gone neglected and now will longer continue.

It was fun whilst it lasted and I thank all those who contributed articles. Whilst it’s sad to not continue with this project, that sadness is balanced out by the fact that I have started a new architecturally based blog call i don’t wear black. And don’t worry this blog will never go neglected.


Damn shame. Could have been something really good. One less link in the hall of fame then.

Coveny retires from top-flight football

From FourFourTwo Magazine, thanks to Simon for alerting us to its release.

Coveny said the highlights of his career were his 300 games for South Melbourne, including going to the World Club Championships, and his 64 games for his country, for which he is also the highest scorer with 28 goals.

Boutsi's Queensland Adventures

FourFourTwo magazine continuing their recent South Melbourne obession by hooking up with one of the more controversial characters the club has seen in its 49 years. Myself, I don't hate the bloke as much as some others, but karma - if you believe in it - seemed to sort him out in the end. Apparently a really nice bloke though.

Boutsy's A-League V NSL Verdict

More press on Southern Cross

From FourFourTwo... where else?

Cash No Issue For Vic Bid

Jon Ritson

VICTORIA'S bid for a second A-League franchise insist their figures add up with the money in place to ensure a sustainable success story.
Southern Cross FC will meet Football Federation Australia chiefs on Monday and are confident they've ticked all the boxes needed for A-League entry.

The Southern Cross name emerged from a franchise idea initially developed by South Melbourne FC which will be a minority partner in the franchise.

Bid spokesman Jim Mellas told au.fourfourtwo.com today: “We had an initial meeting with the FFA and came out of that feeling very positive.

“We think Southern Cross is an iconic Australian name, a name Victoria can identify with. We are not going to limit ourselves in terms of a geographical area (ie just Melbourne itself) and we feel we can achieve broad-based support.”

The FFA’s first question is always going to be ‘show me the money’ and Mellas says the bid team will be able to satisfy that issue.

He said: “We have enough commitments from investors to satisfy that point. We believe our figures stack up with a five-year plan that we will present.”

Earlier today the Southern Cross bid released a statement which outlined just how and where its A-League club would develop.

A bid statement read: “The consortium confirmed to the FFA that all financial, infrastructure and football operations requirements were in place and that the bid is commercially viable, compelling and broad based.

“The cornerstone of the Southern Cross FC bid is to utilise the soon-to-be redeveloped infrastructure at the new state athletics centre based at Albert Park.

“This $50m redevelopment which has been fully funded by the Victorian state government in their state budget will make the Southern Cross FC facilities the envy of any sporting club in Australia, rivalling facilities available to other sporting codes.

“The new facilities will include football administration and operations facilities, world class gymnasium, training and sports science facilities, a 15,000 seat stadium with additional training pavilion for juniors, womens’ and youth leagues along with multiple synthetic and natural grass training pitches, a restaurant and retail precinct.

"Match day games will be played at the new Olympic Park stadium. If successful, the new Southern Cross FC team will enter the A-league for 2010/2011.”

The bid team is set for further discussions with FFA chiefs before Monday's presentation.

Mellas said: "We have done our research and as I have said, we believe we have a bid that offers something to football fans in Victoria."

Southern Cross is battling for an A-League spot alongside bids from the South Coast, Canberra and potentially Tasmania among others.

First Blanco, Now Rasic

What is FourFourTwo actually trying to achieve with all this stuff?


FORMER World Cup Socceroos coach Rale Rasic has delivered a broadside to the new regime running Australian football.
Rasic believes the FFA are guilty of suppressing Australia’s football history and demeaning the importance of the National Soccer League, past Socceroos sides and the contributions of individuals involved with all aspects of the game for over half-a-century.

Despite recognising the progress made after the fall of the NSL and the establishment of the A-League, Rasic says the lack of acknowledgement and respect for his own contribution to the game epitomises a widespread ignorance of the nation’s football past.

“What happened was logical, it was evolution. It was progress but it happened artificially,” Rasic says of the establishment of the A-League.

Rasic – who was the first Socceroos coach to qualify Australia for the World Cup finals in 1974 – says the migrant culture associated with the NSL has been ignored by Australian football’s governing body.

“We used to have many ethnic clubs, which were the pride and honour of the people who built this country into what it is today; people who kept the communities - large communities - together, without being able to speak the language.

“For them it was impossible to learn the language and assimilate quickly. It is a problem that you still find today with people having problems learning the language and having to stick together within communities,” Rasic added.

“But Lowy’s regime does not recognise any of that. He just walked over and conquered the way he wanted to conquer these people, which is just rude.”

The former NSL Coach of the Year winner and Hall of Fame inductee, says that the FFA is accountable for its censorship of Australia’s football history and for its treatment of himself and other figures from Australia’s football past

“I think the FFA only want to talk about and show certain things," he said.

“Let me tell you that certain things that they did and questions they asked of myself and other coaches and of people who sacrificed themselves and their lives to this country: they treated them like prostitutes.”

Rasic also highlighted the presence of what he believes to be hypocrisy in the policies, actions and establishment of the FFA and what has widely been described as “new football”.

Rasic added: “Frank Lowy was a founding member of the NSL.

“He goes into exile for 24 years and comes back now and says that he can make a better contribution to Australian football than I can? Is he saying that there was no-one else who had contributed to football in this country over the years?”

“There were many, many problems with the NSL but surely we could not only be criticized for the mistakes and errors we made, considering all the good that people like Theo Marmaras did for football in this country..

“Don’t forget one thing: Theo Marmaras brought Australia back to FIFA and we, ten years later, qualified for the first World Cup ever: Theo brought this country to FIFA in ’64 and we qualified in ’74.

“So Theo Marmaras doesn’t deserve any credit? The contribution of these sorts of people is absolutely enormous.”

Despite his apparent disillusionment, Rasic believes that Australia’s football history will eventually be explored.

“I honestly think there is a lot of bullshit under the cover, put it that way. I think people are speechless, people fear something: no-one is saying anything.

“But you cannot ignore history: I tell you, the bubble will burst as soon as people wake up and say to themselves ‘what is going on?’”

“We have to learn to respect the past and look forward into the future."

The 72 year-old claims the respect shown to past Socceroos sides in particular has deteriorated, citing the contrast in the approach by previous body Soccer Australia to honouring past Socceroos before the World Cup Qualifier against Iran in 1997 and the actions of the FFA after the Qualifier against Uruguay in 2006.

“Against Iran we [the ’74 Socceroos team] were paraded around the MCG in a Rolls Royce,” he said.

“Following the match against Uruguay I was asked to contribute about $25 to snacks for a ceremony honouring ex-Socceroos.

“I said ‘Please, don’t insult me.’”

He added: “Essendon and Collingwood have a tradition of 100 years and so does Rugby League. Frank Lowy and his people must get to the roots of our football history and admit that he was part of it, good or bad.

“If the FFA don’t recognise the contribution people have made to football in this country and continue to be ignorant about the history of the game, then they should be ashamed of themselves.”

“I wrote a letter to John O’Neill in his first week of office, congratulating him and saying that I was looking froward to seeing him making a contribution toward football that would take us to the next level.

“I also told him I’m the owner of the biggest museum of football in this country and whether we could meet to discuss the issue in the future.

“I am still waiting for a letter back.”

Raul Blanco, eloquent and straighforward

As seen on the FourFourTwo website

Blanco: We Made Mistakes


Former Socceroos coach Raul Blanco admits the National Soccer League made "mistakes" - but says the FFA are blacklisting the sport's old guard.
Argentine-born Blanco, whose coaching career spanned across state, national and international level, says NSL clubs were guilty of isolating themselves from the wider Australian community during the existence of the now extinct league.

“The [NSL] clubs were guilty because they didn’t open the doors and allow people to come in,” said Blanco.

“I guess there’s nothing wrong with doing it at the beginning, getting the community to come together and saying 'this is our club'.

"But clubs failed to open their doors to the Australians, to everybody everywhere and say come down and be part of us.”

Blanco said the financial constraints on clubs severely hampered the potential of the league, contrasting sharply to the financial support given to the A-League.

“I think we always had an incredible challenge ahead of us, they were difficult times," he said.

“It was the first national league of any kind in this country. The vision was there but as time went on, the game outgrew the people.

"The money has always been an incredibly difficult issue.”

The former Arsenal de Sarandi, Prague F.C and Pan-Hellenic player says a major aspect of the league’s downfall was its reliance on an ageing fanbase.

He said: “They kept banking on the people who were growing older and it isn’t the same after a while.”

But Blanco says the failures of the NSL should not be solely attributed to the game’s administrators but also to a hostile society.

“I think when you look at the past, we all have to share a little bit of the blame both ways,” Blanco said.

“The response of the people wasn’t as open, warm and supportive as it should have been because they thought it was a game from somewhere else, a game not belonging to them.

“But it does belong to all of us, and as you can see now, it always has.”

Blanco, who arrived in Australia in 1967, emphasises the importance football held for entire communities of migrants.

“It meant everything to these people, they come from different parts of the world and they all found a common language in football as something which united masses all over the world – this is how clubs initiated and this is how football in many ways started over here,” Blanco added.

“I remember communities coming together on Sunday and Saturday to celebrate the incredible love affair they had with the game.

“They were wonderful times with full stadiums. There were 25,000 people in the final of the Ampol Cup.

“It was a normal thing to see the stadiums with a lot of people and excellent players.

“It was a wonderful experience which I enjoyed tremendously."

Blanco also reserves his deepest respect and admiration for those people who kept football alive for over half-a-century.

“Without all of the incredibly hard work that so many people did in a quiet way behind canteens, cleaning grounds, preparing things for the big occasions - thousands and thousands of people who worked incredibly hard just to keep the dream alive – we wouldn’t have football as it is today,” Blanco admitted.

“And they very tough times; it isn’t easy to travel from here to Brisbane or Adelaide with a team, enormous money was involved and the league survived for such a long time, even if we lacked the vision to be able to keep improving it.

“My admiration and respect for those people who worked so hard will be forever because I know what they did, how they worked so hard for the game."

Despite the positive contributions to the game, Blanco claims that people have been discriminated against by people involved in Australian football’s new era.

“The saddest part of it all is to see how many people belonging to that time are saying ‘Let’s not talk about it, let’s not think about it and let’s forget about it.’

"It is very annoying, sad, and discriminatory that they are saying this because they were part of it and now they are embracing the good times and saying forget about the past.” Blanco said.

“A country who forgets its past, it isn’t a true country: at least in terms of sporting culture.”

“And it seems that everything was wrong, badly done, too ethnic, but it saddens me to no end that the people who worked so hard were completely forgotten.

Blanco says Australia’s football past should be embraced.

He added: “We should not forget. Not only should we not forget, we should embrace those people who kept the dream alive.

"It has now happened only because of those people worked so hard behind closed doors and put so much time and effort of their lives into it keep it going.

“We just need a little bit of help, which this federation now has in a big way thanks to the government.”

The former Olyroos coach says the move to separate Australia’s football present to its past was a move which involved excluding people previously involved with the game.

He said: “I think it was very obvious from the very beginning the way they [the FFA] talked that they didn’t want to anything to do with the past, not to touch the people involved and in some cases, not to even mention them.

“I think from the very beginning, as soon as the new league was formed, it was a must that the people running the game made it clear that it was for everybody: we need you, we want you, make sure you’re part of it.

“If you don’t do that with these people, they won’t come in: they’ve got a bit of pride too – there are people who are perhaps hard-headed, stubborn and now won’t join.”

He added: “If you look to our federation right now, there are a lot of people who have nothing to do with our game.

"They didn’t then and they shouldn’t have anything to do with it now because they are not football people.

“You can be very intelligent but you have to understand what the game is all about and so many people I think don’t understand what it is all about.

“But in saying that I feel very strongly that they are eliminating people – maybe that’s a strong word though.”

Despite his own personal disappointment at the conduct of the FFA, Blanco believes the hurt experience by a generation of those involved with the game is virtually beyond repair.

“I was never invited anywhere, by anybody, at anytime. I think if you looked at what we did with the game, we might deserve a little better than that.

“I feel discriminated against to be honest. People don’t want us to be there. I would be lying to you if I said it doesn’t hurt a little bit because it does,” Blanco said.

“Four or five years of complete ignorance and talking as though they are 'old, ugly and ethnics' - it just keeps hurting the people who were hurt in the very beginning.

“And obviously if you start to receive a good amount of new spectators to the game, the more spectators they get the more they will forget these people.”

Despite the game needing to move into a new stage and the term 'new football' coming into use by the FFA, Blanco says the game is still the same.

“The game was stagnant. There’s no doubt about it. The game needed to be moved forward; everybody who loved the game would have told you there and then we needed change.

“Everybody started the battle a long time ago against the odds, because football was not welcome here; you can’t forget the adversities that people faced at that time.

“Johnny Warren would tell you from the top: it was a lonely battle. It had been unfair for a very long time.

“But it isn’t a new game, it is the same game, run in a new way with a lot more money than we ever had.”

Despite the difficulties and what he perceives to be the discrimination involved with the transition into a new age for Australian football, Blanco believes the “dream” of those migrants who kept the game alive is slowly being realised.

“Now you go to football and see people of all nationalities at Sydney, Melbourne and I think this is where the dream is starting to happen," he said.

“If the game is going to do better, you’ve got to suffer a bit of pain and applaud the move to move the game forward.

“So good luck and let’s hope we keep improving and keep moving forward.”

FourFourTwo's recent South obession continues

South: 'We Must Evolve For A-League'

South is struggling at the wrong end of the Victorian Premier League after a stuttering start that saw coach John Anastasiadis – an NSL winner with the club as a player – depart Bob Jane Stadium two weeks ago following a 3-0 home loss to Green Gully.

Michalakopoulos, 38, was installed soon after but could not stop the slide as high-flying local rivals Melbourne Knights beat his outfit 2-0 last weekend at Somers St.

South Melbourne now sit third bottom on six points while the Knights sit atop the VPL with 18 points from eight rounds.

But Michalakopoulos, a former 1992 Olyroo, is still upbeat that his side can claw its way into the six. “I’m positive and excited by what I’ve seen so far,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“It’s still early. We’ve got 18 rounds to go. But what I’d like to bring in to the side is a more free-flowing style.

“I like having two wide men aside of the striker almost as a three-man strike force.

“There is certainly enough talent in this squad to turn it around.”

The new South coach will get a chance to turn things around when second bottom Fawkner visit Bob Jane this weekend for a cellar-dwellar dog fight.

And Michalakopoulos is hoping his time as a player under legendary South coach – and Hungarian football icon Ferenc Puskas – will stand him in good stead.

“I was part of that golden era when we won the old NSL at South under Ferenc. That was back in 1991. I learnt a lot from the great man.”

As for the other hot topic bubbling around South Melbourne FC – the club’s stated desire to put an A-League bid together in three years – Michalakopoulos said the club needs a measured approach.

“Look, this is a big club," he said. "And we have a great junior set up. But an A-League bid needs to be done right.

"There is a good committee at the club and they are on the right track. But this needs a lot of work.

“We need to evolve as a club, however, still have some links with the current set up.

“Melbourne needs a second team. For South, perhaps an image change would work. We should be prepared to do what it takes.”


So M&M puts in his two bob. And the world keeps turning. Firstly, let's deal with the minor issue, the team's performance. Puskas is long gone, the mainstream didn't care when he was here, and his memory and the part you played in it and the things you learned aren't going to be of much use here. Because memories of the Galloping Major aren't going to make the team complete simple passes, shoot away from the keeper but into the goal, or make Deano stop flapping his arms and punching away high balls that he should easily catch. Sad but true. This isn't a go at Puskas' time here; indeed the fact that he was here at all is still treated as if it didn't happen or meant anything of importance by almost everyone in Australian soccer. Rather it should be noted that perhaps the most relevant advice for these difficult times can be found in the words of former Melbourne Croatia player Joe Biskic: 'Put ball in goal'. 'Nuff said.

As for the A-League stuff... now I don't know if M&M was put up to this by the board, or whether the people at FourFourTwo Magazine are that desperate for content during the Z-League's 23 month off-season that anything to sell a a few more copies of their rag, using the faint and distorted collective memory of South Melbourne Hellas as an important entity. Anyway, is there anything there that hasn't been regurgitated by the fifty-four stomach cow that is the Melbourne Victory forum, by those for, against and middle? Not that I can see. In fact, unless I see concrete evidence of anything, and I don't mean half-arsed press releases used to jazz up fading interest - which I used in a media writing class (to much amusement and astonishment) as part of an example of how effective baseless press-releases can stir up all sorts of unnecessary and unsolicited reactions - I mean actual, nuts, bolts, etc stuff.

Now I've heard rumours from reliable people of equally reliable people preparing a bid. Seen sketches of what 'our' logo may look like. But nothing made of bricks and mortar. Admittedly, Melbourne Victory had even less than what we have, mostly Geoff Lord lying about how much money he had, Tony Ising's fantasy (see the relevant entry on here for how that turned out), but when it comes to South, people reckon we've already had our chance, and with the addition of the faulty collective memory of our past, as well the blotting out of Geoff Lord trying to destroy Hawthorn... anyway, kinda lost my train of thought there.

Basically, M&M should focus on winning games, FourFourTwo should try harder to come up with articles, - perhaps trying to figure out why Puskas' time here gets ignored by everyone - and all those people spreading Z-League rumours, could you please stop? My life's depressing enough without this bullshit getting an airing every few months. Thanks.

Yay, more meaningless accolades

Pumpkin Seed Eaters aren't the only ones with cheap labour... one of South of the Border's own worker chimps (ok I read it off smfcboard) has alerted everyone that FourFourTwo Magazine has done anther of those lists, er, listing the best players outside the A-League. Apparently in this 'top ten' list, South's Hamlet Armenian is the only Victorian based players in there that isn't playing for the AIS, and one of the few not playing in New South Wales. Not sure how they've figured that stuff out, but anyway, good on him. I'd rather three points this week though. And can we have the NSL back already? It was the VPL with the illusion that it all mattered somehow. I guess I just wasn't made for these times.

Recipe for a lazy autumn day - or how to get everyone else to do your work for you, and lift your sales a bit in these hard times for the print media

It's a lazy autumn day, the sun shining through the kitchen window heats up the whole room, and you really can't be bothered doing anything of importance. So here's a wonderfully self-indulgent recipe perfect for the occasion.

* Start off with about two months worth of off-season boredom. Adding more gives it a stronger flavour.

* Add 1 cup bored Sydney soccer journos gracing us Mexicans with their presence. Currently in season, so make the most of it.

* Combine with 1 cup of reactionary response from vested interest; disguise the taste of fear with essence of 'in the game's interest'. This product is now widely available in supermarkets and from the AFL.

* Add about 10 pages worth of assorted hysterical ramblings off the Victory forum. Bought separately, these come in racist, fascist, hypocrite, noob and other varieties, but I find that mixing them all together creates the best results, and you can buy them in mixed preparations now.

* Add 2 heaped tablespoons of 'South Melbourne Hellas dreams'.

* Mix it all together, and it's ready to digest. As an optional extra, serve with the comments from FourFourTwo's forums. A warning though, that first time users may feel a little nauseous and/or overwhelmed at first, while prolonged and frequent use can cause depression and boredom. This is strictly a sometimes treat!