The worst season preview ever - 2013 edition

Finally, the new season is just about here. Let's get stuck in.

On-field, the expectations will of course be high. That's what South fans expect, and finishing inside the top three, with the double chance that comes with that, is the only acceptable outcome in the home and away season. For better or worse, there's no more Joe Montemurro on the sidelines for the first time in three years - and now it's all down to Gus Tsolakis and his crew. During this pre-season, however much you can take out of that, we've moved the ball forward more quickly, and haven't been reliant on two or three chances to score all our goals - even if our finishing has been poor this so far.

Defensively, the English trio of Matthews, Byles and Kelly, provided they stick together for most of the season, should provide a more solid defensive framework than last year. With Kiwi Rhodri Payne seemingly finally out of favour, the left-back slot will be a hotly contested position, though there don't appear to be any obvious replacements yet. Will much maligned utility Brad Norton get the gig? Will Phil Petreski be shifted out of his midfield roles to fill the gap? Or will they pull a rabbit out of the hat and give the passionate/temperamental Anthony Giannopoulos a gig?

Since waking up finally when he got a back pass against Port (all praise to mighty Baal), Peter Gavalas has actually looked hungry. He got benched against I think it was the Bergers and instead of a doing a casual warm down he was doing sit ups and push ups like a bit of a maniac. Rumour has it that likely second choice Seb Mattei doesn't give a shit about football anymore, but since it seemed like we had one of those last year as a first choice, who'd notice the difference this year if it turned out the same?

As usual we have more midfielders than you can poke a stick at, and how we fit them all into a starting eleven will be very interesting. With Carl Recchia done for the year, you'd expect Dimi Tsiaras to have the defensive mid slot sown up. Alan Kearney will hopefully add some much needed toughness to the middle, but the attacking midfield roles and wing positions are still all up for grabs, with most of the contenders not completely grabbing the bull by the horns just yet.

Marinos Gasparis looks fitter than he's ever been, but will that help him to overcome his chronic inconsistency? Joe Keenan has been given a fair bit of time this pre-season to show his mettle, but the Keenan of old, who was able to slide past players, slot lovely curved goals and put in good crosses hasn't been spotted for some time. Dimi Hatzimouratis's 2012 season was cut down by injury, and while he hasn't done anything remarkable this past month, there are still those who rate him highly

There are also several young players - among them James Karvellis and Andrew Cartanos - who got game time last year and during the pre-season -, who may be called upon if the above players don't perform.

And what of Fernando De Moraes? He didn't have one of his best seasons last year, and even though his work rate did go up to unprecedented levels for him, that's not what he's there for. A role off the bench role may be what's forthcoming, but will he bes satisfied by that?

There's also the question of Andy Vlahos, who could be used either forward or in midfield. While surely coming to the end of his career, he seems content with coming off the bench, and he was useful in that role last season. His greatest strength may lie in his several years of coaching experience, perhaps adding to the tactical arsenal available to Tsolakis.

Further upfield, Renco Van Eeken, and the Queensland pairing of Tyson Holmes and Rhys Meredith have looked fast and dangerous, without putting anyone other state league two Malvern City to the sword. I can't wait to see how they fit Trent Rixon into this line up. Hell, I can't wait to see Trent's reaction when his first touch in an attacking move isn't 15 metres in our own half.

Let's Digress and Have a Look at the Other Teams
Green Gully

What disaster will happen to us there this year?

Port Melbourne, Bentleigh Greens, Oakleigh Cannons (combined preview)


Richmond
I don't care about their management switch, or which players they've lost or brought in. Like Michael Lynch, all I want to know is, will the food still be as good?

Hume City
Back home again, no need for a trip out to Epping.

Melbourne Knights
Our very own Gus Tsolakis reckons people should keep an eye out for them this year.

Dandenong Thunder

Thanks to the FFV (and for me on two fronts!), this is where we'll be watching this game from this year.

Pascoe Vale
Another team going for the night game angle.

Southern Stars
What now after the end of the Irish Free State? I suppose there'll be some prurient interest in seeing in how Rama is getting along, a bit less so for Jason Ricciuti.

Northcote
Should not be underestimated.

As usual there will also be the myriad off-field shenanigans.
The social club's progress - or rather, lack of it - will be felt more and more as the season wears on. What was meant to be one of the linchpins of our return has yet to materialise, and the dispute with the government about the social club redevelopment fund could well drag on. What would be good would be to see some information from the club on this issue, and though there have been inferences that it is forthcoming,

The end of the year also sees elections for the boards of SMFC and SMH. Will there be any rival tickets this time around? We've not had an actual election for so long. There's been much dissatisfaction from among certain former board members, but will they make a move? And if they do, what will their platform be? Who else will be on their ticket?

Another question to ponder is what role will the expanded suffrage will have in determining our future. Now that voting rights have been opened up to a whole lot more people, will there be increased interest in the behind the scenes working of the club? There were signs at the AGM that outside the ranks of the old social club clique, there were people who were willing to turn up and participate or at least be witness to the nitty gritty of our club's planning.

There's also the question of the National Competitions Review. There are those out there who are claiming that it won't come in next year - witness the splurging by some state league 1 clubs for a promotion spot that probably doesn't exist - and yet you also have certain VPL clubs spending cash like it's going out of fashion for what exactly?

Assuming that the NCR does go ahead next season, how will we be forced to adjust? Will the rumoured 280 point cap - instead of 200 - come in? If it does, will it be permanent, or phased down over subsequent seasons? Will the FFV allow us to keep charging our $3200 a year?

Of course, there is the ongoing issue of the re-conciliation efforts with SMWFC. Progress seems interminably slow on this front, and yet a women's unit will be an essential component of the NCR. Does SMWFC even want re-conciliation, or just co-operation for the sake of the precinct? If they want to remain a social/community outfit, what are our options after that? Is there demand for $3200 coaching for junior girls' teams?

And how much more South for the A-League nonsense will we see this year? Every time I think this issue is going to finally go away for good, it comes back with a bit of vengeance. What will be the next phase in this consuming obsession?

Hint: Another Melbourne Heart is doomed or moving to Geelong is already gathering steam.

As For The Blog

Expect more of the usual sweet nourishing (Krusty Brand Imitation) gruel from myself: match reports where the actual game is almost incidental, more calls to give 'Gia' a run, rushed experiments in stylistic alternatives to our normal writing (thinking about Our Man in Kandahar style things - I'm halfway through Egon Kisch's Australian Landfall at the moment), and the usual South of the Border Cheap Eats guide - we've already lost our original and most loved fall-back place Es Teler '77 on Swanston, now that they've moved somewhere else and re-branded themselves as some sort of Indo-Malay place instead of just plain old Indo.

Maybe even a a retool of the blog's look, because I'm not convinced that we've got close to plumbing the depths of hideous web design that only looks semi-decent on a seven ( I think) year old Benq notebook.

There will also be the usual off the wall observations from the Kiss of Death that has earned this blog its cult audience of movers and shakers, and boy are we looking forward to its contributions before the KOD's usual late season slide into 'too much busy farken, can you do it for me farken' status.

Of course if anyone else (lol, bahahahaha) wants to write for us, just drop us a note. Some more comments would be nice, someone apart from the ever reliable Savvas Tzionis and whichever board lackeys decided to add their two cents of propaganda. Also, maybe this year we'll actually get to see Steve from Broady pitch in with his long promised regular comments or even some stats or something.

I have no idea how much time I'm going to lose for this project now that we're working(!) three days a week and are also expected to do PhD level research and writing, but if my honours thesis year and half was (or more like three months of actual half-arsed effort) is anything to go by, I don't think you'll notice any difference, except for the soccer fiction reviews I'll have teed up for the off-season at the end of the year.

Final Thoughts
I've already seen Oakleigh Harismidis at two separate matches at Chaplin Reserve, once with a knock off Brisbane Bears scarf, and once talking to the canteen ladies telling them how valuable they are to that organisation. It's going to be hard top off that spectacle, but the VPL hasn't disappointed before. Chances are another farcical loss at Gully this Saturday will do the trick.

Model of efficiency; Shopping Trolley Shenanigans

Trundled out yesterday all the way to South Dandenong to watch us play our last friendly game before the real stuff starts next week. First surprise - we didn't play on the main field, but on the one behind the stand. More of a rural atmosphere, what with trees hanging over the edge of one side the field.

The game itself - we had all of two shots on goal, and scored from one of these. Dandenong peppered the goals, and fed through their new college superstar recruit on the counter, but they also only managed one goal. Our defense was makeshift, so whole it struggled to contain and clear the ball, there's plenty of of experienced players to come into the squad.

Judging by their approach to the game, Dandenong are pumped for this season after last year's relatively poor effort. Craig Elvin still allowed to get away with murder. Hopefully the refs start clamping down on such players across the league. I'm not holding my breath.

Public transport in the south-eastern suburbs - or Dandenong at least
Well patronised, punctual and effective.

Until some idiot leaves a shopping trolley on the tracks before Huntingdale station on the way home. Cue the train smacking into said trolley, being damaged, and after sitting idle for about 40 minutes (or whatever it was), then dumping us at Oakleigh (because in the driver's words, the train was being held together with a stick). And there's also some probably pseudo marine corps dude giving me greasy looks for who knows what reason.

Another story to add to the public transport filebook.

Job half done - Dandenong Thunder 0 South Melbourne 1

First things first. Elbow, Wednesday night, tremendous. Randy Newman and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on Friday night, equally tremendous. Metro and their stupid revised timetable, not so tremendous. Still, thanks to Randy I was singing and humming 'Short People' for most of the game yesterday. Decent song, but there's no many other better ones why was that one stuck in my head? At least the trip to Dandenong by rail and bus was nice and efficient.

Anyway, to the day's events proper. One could, even at this early stage of what will certainly be another poor match report, start theorising about what could happen next week. But I hardly see the point just yet - Heidelberg still has two games to play before the final round, and while they will be expected to take all nine points from their remaining matches, a slip up in either of the two games before the final round will have significant consequences for everyone else.

Suffice to say that while the results didn't necessarily go our way yesterday, we at least fulfilled our part of the bargain - well, for this week at least. Despite the Thunder's loss of several players, as well as the consequent damaged morale from being docked six points - been there, done that - they still had a chance to play finals football, no matter how much the old Albanian guy munching on pumpkin seeds next to me had already given up the ghost.

And for that, I'm grateful that we started off well, even though we had to rely on desperation and luck to get us over the line. Still, it was nice to see that kind of hunger out there at all, from a team that has been in constant upheaval this season, on and off the park. For the second week in a row, post Joe Montemurro's departure, we moved the ball well and reasonably quickly, used the width available, and gasp, had Eddie barking out orders from the bench.

Eventually our pressure paid off when one of our numerous crosses found a target - this time Jesse Krncevic, whose diving header was angled perfectly into the corner of the net, out of Stuart Webster's reach - to give us a well deserved one nil lead. Thunder should have equalised however, when they somehow managed to hit the crossbar from close range, and the aforementioned old bloke told me to buy a lotto ticket. His whole life in Australia he's been probably waiting for South Dandenong to reach the Victorian top flight and maybe win a title, and I'm destined to never see my team in the true top-flight again. Somewhere in there is an ignoble futility expressed exceedingly poorly. Too many adverbs, perhaps.

The second half was more of the same - hard tackling, wasted chances and a difficult pitch to play on, wet, slippery and with several dead spots where the ball instead of bouncing would get stuck in the mud. Having made the switch to the opposite side of the ground in the second half, it was hard to tell exactly how close the Thunder got to scoring, but from the reaction of the crowd, it was pretty bloody close. Rhodri got caught in the wars again, the recipient of another bruising and probably illegal challenge that wasn't called up - but we hopefully have enough depth now, with most of our squad in reasonable fitness to cover should he not be available next week.

But not close enough, and thus we managed to get the three points and take it to a final round showdown with Northcote, which will hopefully utterly destroy our faux sister club relationship of the past two seasons. What the FFV was thinking when it placed two Greek clubs against each other in the final round I don't know. They probably don't read the papers, because if they did, they might just realise that no one gives a stuff about this league, and that there's probably more worthwhile ways out there of earning a living. Maybe they should ask the owners of the garish mansions around George Andrews Reserve how they make their living.

If I could make any sort of rational sense of this season, I would - though I get the feeling that if we lose to Northcote next week, it'll become perfectly clear, unlike the two messages I got on my phone telling me to be at the MCG today by 12:30 and to remember to grab my beers. What that's all about I do not know.