Solid Sunday Entertainment - St Albans 1 South Melbourne 4

Churchill Reserve being probably the second closest NPL venue to my house, I decided to get there super early on Sunday. I even drove there, because that would only take about 15 minutes, whereas the equivalent public transport trip would take close to an hour, which does not seem ideal for a seven kilometre trip. Plus if you get there early enough, there's a nice parking spot in the shade on Fox Street. Then again, if the price of petrol keeps going up, I might as well walk to games like this.

I got to the ground in time for the under 21s, and parking myself in between the two benches, I must say that I was left asking myself a lot of questions. First, whose bright idea was it to have our away kit look like a Carlton SC away kit? Frankly, it was a little sickening, and having to see that for the rest of the year isn't going to be easy.

But more questions, this time related to junior development. Now granted that on any given topic, there's always someone who knows less than you do, I'm still somewhere near the bottom of the knowledge pyramid when it comes to junior or youth soccer. But there's always a chance to learn more, even if that attempt at gaining knowledge is limited to a couple of games a year.

Do we place enough emphasis on the difference between being robotic and being automatic? I ask this, because I have come across complaints about youth players under various methods (often attributed to this or that "curriculum"), and the tendency to create robotic players who are unable to adapt to unfamiliar or especially to dynamic situations. 

And the micromanagement of the players by the coaches! I understand that they are youth players, and that they need instruction, but at what point should players in this age group (under 21s, so say about 16-18 year olds) no longer need to be constantly told where to stand, where to run, and what pass to make? At what point do not only the individual players themselves take charge of their own positioning and decision making, but also certain players adopt leadership roles to help implement whatever game plan the coach has them playing under?

I won't make much if any comment on things like the quality of first touches, or when's the right time to play back to the keeper, or decision making as it relates to playing on a small ground that has more ups and downs than a vinyl oval from the Test Match board game that's been gathering dust in a cupboard for the past 25 years. 

One thing I do know, though, is that it's never a wise idea for match officials to get involved with banter with the hoi polloi standing behind the fence. I mean, you can usually answer a rudimentary question about something that just happened without too much harm, and maybe at a more social level the whole experience is a bit more relaxed. But that young man running the line would have done better to not take the bait of arguing with a mouthy St Albans fan (and self-declared NPL player), because nothing good will come of it.

An attempt at a well-thought out post on the senior match held last Sunday is pointless if you were standing on the outer side of Churchill Reserve. That ground has to have some of the worst sight-lines in Victorian soccer, with only the social club wing affording anything approaching near unimpeded views. And of course I didn't stand on that side of the ground, but instead on the Fox Street wing, where my view was blocked by fencing, media scaffolding, poles, metal benches, and lots of people. Imagine a finals match played there, with say, double the crowd of Sunday's match?

But let me first digress a little further. If you did not attend because you are slack, not only did you miss on another great victory for Hellas, but you also missed out on one of the worst attempts at mowing a lawn you've ever seen. While our view of the game was poor, South of the Border had a first class seat to watch a shambles of an attempt at mowing a nature strip. Not sure why the bloke living across the street decided that kickoff was the right time to start mowing a lawn, but each to their own I suppose.

Initially I thought the rumble in the background was the generator being used to keep the batteries running on the camera for the live stream, but a quick look behind us saw our man in his hat, hi-viz, and gloves wielding his machine like he was trying to stab the grass. Now I'm no lawn mowing expert, but I'm pretty sure the general idea is to just mow one lane of grass, and then go back the other way slightly to the left (or right) of whatever line you just mowed?

This bloke looked like he was a devil of a time, though he did get one bit right, when he tossed a small branch onto his neighbour's nature strip. We've all done that, because you know it will come back to your side eventually, and there's nothing malicious in the act. It's the kind of entertainment you wouldn't get in a national second division loaded with proper grounds.

The senior match seemed to go the way most of our games have gone so far this season. Fair start, messy middle, reasonable finish. That whole messy middle bit is an ongoing concern, especially when we come up against better teams. Again, there were signs of panic and an inability to wrest the initiative when under sustained pressure. The small ground however meant that in this case, flailing long balls to Harry Sawyer were automatically more dangerous than they would be on a larger ground.

Improved set piece taking - and decision making - has been a boon so far this season, and so it proved again on Sunday, with corners and such helping bail us out when we needed it most. Credit to Pat Langlois and his surely unsustainable run of headed goals. Credit also to Max Mikkola, Jai Ingham, and sub for this week Alun Webb for at least showing that we'll be a consistent counter attacking threat this season. In 2021, we scored just 19 goals in 18 leagues matches. We're already up to 12 from 4 games in 2022. 

Once we get Sawyer not trying to jump too high to connect with crosses he could really just walk to, we might be even stronger. Sometimes I'm not sure that he realises how tall he actually is.

The real hardcore cynics out there, in an attempt to outdo themselves, are still stuck in a 2018-2021 mindset, counting down the points needed to reach 30 in order to claim safety from relegation. Half-joke it may be, but I think this season's personnel make relegation extremely unlikely. If this team doesn't make finals, it'd be an astonishing failure. 

There are defensive issues, issues with tactics, issues with giving up initiative for long periods of time, and of course the possibility that we haven't exactly come up against the strongest opponents as of yet. But for the most part the 2022 team has not been a side cobbling together undeserved points, but rather one that has deserved, clearly, to win at least three of its four games so far. It might not yet be time to believe that good things will inevitably happen, but it might soon be time to start things that bad things inevitably will.

Next game

Hume City at home on Friday night. This is an ordinary match, for an ordinary three points. How dull.

In case you were wondering

That's four from four from our eight twenty-twenty-one six pointers for twenty-twenty-two. 

Here at South of the Border we're going to track this novelty as it relates to us, though good luck to anyone trying to keep tabs on how the entirety of the bespoke solution is going. Our revised 2021 points tally is now 37 points, well clear of the hypothetical relegation placings; and with Port Melbourne being docked 18 points for 2021, we're also in with a real shot at a hypothetical finals place.

For the record, we have four more bespoke six point matches to go:

• Round 9, at home against Oakleigh
• Round 13, at home against Avondale
• Round 15, away to Eastern Lions
• Round 25, at home against Dandenong City

Australia Cup news

The Australia Cup fourth round draw was conducted last week, and we were drawn against away to Avondale. Oh well, we had a good run. Just for the record, Victoria has been granted five spots in this year's national stage of the cup. Because there was no national NPL championship last season - of which the winner would receive a place in the Australia Cup as a reward - Victoria was granted that extra spot because the state's superior performances in FFA Cup tournaments past.

NPL TV app updates 

The other week on the steps outside the social club, a fellow Hellatzi noted that the Cluch app on his Android phone wasn't working - furthermore, it was asking for an update which didn't seem to exist in the Google Play Store. Whatever the issue seemed to be, it had not yet caught up to my ancient Nokia - but South of the Border eventually reached that point on Saturday while trying to catch up with some of the overnight goals. 

An uninstall/reinstall maneuver only managed to turn my phone's Cluch app into the soccer-less, and largely pointless version of the app that's been available on Google Home devices. Not ideal. A search for NPL TV in the Play Store did unearth an NPL TV specific app however; so if you came across the same problem of your Cluch app carking it, it seems like we are being migrated across to a new app.

Now, it does seem like that there are incremental improvements being made to the product, like the ability to go back and forth in ten second increments, as well as rewind in some games, but I haven't really had the chance to check it out fully. I'm not even sure if they've added the ability to pause matches. Still, what we wait for most is a smart TV app so we're no longer casting from PCs.

But I'm told it's still a much better product than whatever Paramount+ is offering for its A-League coverage, so apparently I shouldn't complain so much.

Final thought

Oh boy, those Dinamo kids behind the goal with those firecrackers. Someone could blown a finger off, or an ear drum out, or... well, since no security or marshals cared on the day, I probably shouldn't either.

Notes from last night's members meeting

Whenever the club calls one of these meetings - all too infrequently, really - you always wonder how many people will turn up, what the night will see us cover, and what the mood of the joint will be.

My hunch was that this meeting would be a little bit about the upcoming FFA Cup match in Queensland, a lot more about the operation of the social club, and apart from those items whatever else could be thrown in by whoever saw an opening in the likely loose agenda/running order.

And that's pretty much happened. For the most part the evening was civil and constructive. While folks like me are generally happy with how the social club has been operating, there are many, many areas which can and should be improved upon. And for the 20 odd supporters who came down to the meeting, I think it's fair to say that they got their points across on those matters in a clear manner.

That doesn't mean that some suggestions and preferences didn't contradict each other, but that's always going to be the case; you can't please everybody all of the time all at once. The club hopes to hold these kinds of events more often. I agree with this, and the mere existence of the social club makes it easier to do that. The next such meeting may happen before the AGM. The AGM itself is slated to happen 'this side of Christmas'.

Queensland FFA Cup plans

This came across as a bit ad hoc and likely to end up a bit of a mess. The intention seemed to be to organise pre-game meet-ups, a lunch session, and post-game drinks on the Gold Coast on the day of the game. Whether the club will be able to organise anything at such short notice I don't know. The key points seemed to be:

• The team will be flying up the day before game. On the day of the game, they'll be having a training session at Broadbeach United Soccer Club. This is because it's apparently the only club in the region that has a surface in reasonable enough shape. Fans will be able to go and have a look, but there won't be a barbecue or anything like that.
• The club is interested in getting supporters together for lunch after this training session, but as to the details, that remains unclear. Likewise for the post-game drinks gathering. Stay tuned to the club's official media channels I suppose, in the event that something comes together.
• There were names and emails being collected by the president, on the premise that the club would purchase tickets for those people. Again, I don't know how widely this will be promoted outside the group that attended last night's meeting.
• Gold Coast City is also promoting a deal for online ticket sales, whereby for every adult ticket you purchase you get a free concession ticket. 

For those left behind here in Melbourne, the club will be screening the game in the social club. One would assume and hope that the social club would be packed out for such an affair, but you never know. 

Social Club matters

Most of the issues with the functionality of the social club can be reduced to two factors:

• On match days, the club misunderstanding how different South fans want to use the social club.
• On non-match days, the club overestimating how often members were likely to use the facility.

As a case in point: though of course I see my friends and well-wishers at games and sit with them in the social club if they're present, I go to games by myself. I prefer to arrive at games early. I'm in the social club when it's not busy. I'm able to order and be served food and drink quickly. I drink alcohol only moderately, and prefer craft beer, mixed drinks or soft drinks over standard beer. I tend to leave games fairly quickly after their conclusion, because I have family commitments. I'm interested in some kinds of events hosted at the club (Socceroos screenings, trivia nights) but I'm not interested in others (Greece national team games, Greek nights, futsal, poker nights). I'm a bit of a spendthrift, but I'm more than willing to pay slightly higher prices at the social club because more of the money will stay at the club.

This is one kind of experience and attitude. Others will arrive later and stay later than I do. They may drink more booze than I do and have different tastes, and they may shout drinks for others. They will have a different preference in terms of food and drink and how they want it served, what kind of events they want to see held, how they get to and from games. They are more conscious of pricing, either on principle or because of necessity. The club needs to get across these details, some of which can only be learned from the experience of running the social club, some which can only be learned from listening to supporter feedback, and others... well, they're in the marketing and business game, not me.

South Melbourne's membership is at its most demographically diverse in its history. I'm not talking only about the ethnic angle. We have the core membership and fan base which is mostly interested in the fate of the senior men's team, and builds their relationship to the club around that. Others may extend their interest towards the senior women, or follow the women's team more specifically. As well as having as the WNPL women's team, we also have at least an implied continuing connection to the social women players at SMWFC.

Then we have the juniors (now made up of boys and girls), and their parents. We have people who live near the ground, but most live somewhere farther away. We have our staunch members who have kept coming, and we have a smattering of people who have joined up more recently. Of course our majority 'support' is now made up of latent and lapsed fans, and it's harder and perhaps even pointless for the purposes of this discussion to include them. As hard as it may be to achieve, the social club then needs to be almost all things to all people, or failing that, it needs to achieve a level of proficiency on access and price that works for as many of our different demographics as is feasible and reasonable. It's not an easy balance, but at the moment there is still so much work to do, but there's also opportunity in that.

Food and drink
Speed of service was a big issue, as has been the case since the social club opened. There is also the confusion for patrons and staff at busy and crowded times with the ticket system. One solution offered up by a supporter was a buzzer or pager system, which works well in pubs and places like large pharmacies. Nevertheless, that doesn't help those who don't want to wait a long time for food, especially because they have no interest in hanging around in the social cub and would rather be outside.

The overemphasis on stocking premium and craft beers was also brought up. Some (like yours truly) are more than happy with the selection of beers on tap, but others want the choice of more 'common fare' for want of a better term. There was also strong criticism of the absolute mess for those wanting to buy coffee. There was the suggestion that the coffee cart would be moved elsewhere to a more suitable position, and that the payment system - which currently sees tickets purchased from the bar and not from the coffee cart - would be improved. The suggestion was also made that one should be able to order pretty much anything from any cash register.

Some changes already planned for next season should help improve the general experience. Chief among these will be our taking over the running of the kiosk on the right hand side of the grandstand, which will hopefully spread the load. Operating that kiosk will also mean that people who want to buy from and support the club will not need to be in the social club to do so. But it doesn't mean that the social club kitchen as it has been built is effectively able to cope with large crowds, and that in itself is a worry.

The idea of a happy hour at some point before or after the game was also floated, and seemed to garner support. The pricing of drinks was also brought up as an issue, specifically soft drinks, but don't expect significant change on that front as post-mix makes the club more money.

Entry and exit
This is often a mess. The single entry system has been a shambles, and this is all on the club because it has forgotten that a lot of our supporters turn up close to kickoff. There seemed to be the suggestion that the club would likely open up multiple entrances on more occasions next year, whether that was a combination of the futsal entrance and Gate 2 or office entrances. I brought up the fact that entry to the venue is often poorly patrolled/controlled by security and door people, and people can walk in without paying or having their memberships checked.

Exits were also a problem. Because of a combination of using only one entry point, as well as the priority access for social club members to the social club immediately after a game, exiting the venue has been problematic, To some extent this is a communication issue, with many patrons apparently being unaware that regardless of whatever the entry situation is on any given match day, Gate 2 is always available as an exit point.

There were also points made about the way people cluster around the bar, even when not buying food or drinks, which makes moving around the social club difficult. To this was added the potential for different arrangements of tables, including round tables. Still, one gets the feeling that the board are going to continue to wing it on these particular issues, as well as maintaining the emphasis on trying to get people into the social club.

Scheduling
We may see some reduction in the NPL/WNPL double headers. This would be done in part to increase our footprint at Lakeside across more days, and hopefully have more traffic through the social club. An added benefit of such an approach, though not mentioned on the night, would be having our under 20s NPL and under 18s WNPL teams get more time on a half decent pitch as opposed to the minefield pitches down Middle Park way.

Scheduling for the men's games remains contested. There's a split between people who prefer Fridays and people who prefer Sundays. My main contribution to that discussion was that if we were going to mix it up by including Friday night games, could we not do them in the middle of winter? I know the board has its own preferences on time-slots, and for every staunch '3PM Sunday' type, there are others who want to avoid going up against junior games. You can't please everyone.

Ultimately senior men's game scheduling will be decided, as it has been for the past few seasons, according to preferences of the coaching staff. There was the apparent promise of getting in one or two home games before the grand prix next season. This season it was understandable (albeit detrimental to our on field performances) that the club held off hosting home games until the social club was ready. Next year, notwithstanding annual work on the Lakeside surface, this should be avoided as much as possible.

Events and usage - Futsal court

As has been discussed around the traps, the club was approached by several outside groups to run the futsal court. The club decided against this approach. The bad side of that is that it appears that the club made that decision without any obvious due diligence. That's balanced out (at least in my opinion, though others will certainly disagree) that the club was entitled to find out in its own time what the functional capacity of the futsal court was, what the club could achieve from a commercial point of view on its own, as well balancing the desire to use the court for junior training sessions as well. The option to lease out the futsal court to an outside group in future has not been ruled out. The club claims that the court's daytime usage is going quite well, principally based around local schools, and that the court is also getting good usage on Saturdays from junior competition.

Events and usage - Bistro
The club was disappointed at the lack of patronage and usage of the social club outside of match days by club members. The members in attendance were quick to point out several reasons for this:

• South members as a whole do not live near the ground. Indeed, many live quite far away from the venue, making an impromptu trip out to Lakeside untenable for many of our fans.
• There is a reason why our juniors and their parents are more frequent attendees during the week - because their schedules are based around the club.
• In terms of events, there is not enough attracting people to Friday sessions, the day of the week currently lagging the most and which the club would like to improve the most.
• The club could not solely rely on leveraging off the club's limited membership base; it needs to branch out to other potentially interested groups.

OK, look. If one was to choose one singularly magnificent mind-boggling example of stupidity so far as the club's operation of the social club is concerned, it's this: the club expected most if not all of the promotional work for the social club to come from the club's membership. Now I can agree with the board that word of mouth is going to be more than useful in the gradual promotion of the social club, but when:

• There are no obvious contact details about hiring out the venue.
• There is no price list or set menu list for events.
• It is not even clear when the social club is open.

What hope do we really have of telling others about our social club, when we ourselves don't know what's going on? In other words, the promotion of the social club as a whole has been dire. Of course one could just contact the club directly, but if you're going to run a bistro that hopes to attract members to non-game day visits, let alone run as a low key/casual function space, than the club really needs to step up its promotional game.

Think of it this way. If the folk from Clarendon Corner wanted to organise a one day futsal tournament among themselves during the off-season, who would they contact? How would they find out that information? Sure, someone like myself could figuratively be bothered to email or call the generic club contact, or ask people working (for now...) at the club about sorting stuff out, but it shouldn't have to be like that. The information needs to be clear and easy to access.

I get that it's going to take time for things to settle. Having so many home games back-to-back possibly made things more difficult. I think another part of the problem was the high expectations set by the board and supporters for the social club, but also with how things began when it opened. For the last point in particular, the initial menus were broad and sought to cater to a bistro clientèle... then over several weeks everything was scaled back. The good news is that apparently the club does tend to make money off most nights and events that it holds, though there are erratic or inconsistent results. Some Socceroos games get much better turnouts than others for instance.

There was of course the issue of being able to leverage off of schools and athletics and such using Lakeside. Some of the issues come across as bureaucratic nonsense, others more understandable. In the former category, issues around emergency exits, safety and such seemed kind of ridiculous. On the latter part, schools asking for food that fits specific dietary requirements - in other words, healthy foods - is more problematic. It goes some way to explaining why other, outside groups have also not bothered to set up shop for such events. Maybe we need Jamie Oliver to step in and help us?

After last week's initially confusing set up with regards to which social club door should be open for the grand final - and for me at least, how we were able to manage to be open at all, despite it not being our event - was answered in that because it was a soccer event, we could open.

But some issues are not going to be able to overcome. The liquor licensing laws are always going to hold us back. The inability to carry liquor outside the social club into the arena area is an issue that is not going to go away. But our restricted (midnight) licence also means that, realistically, we won't be able to host things like late night EPL fixtures, inhibiting our ability to play host to specific EPL fan groups. Not having FoxSports or Optus also limits the kind of sports screenings you can have.

Decor and design
There was some criticism of the look of the social club. The president's response to that was that the emphasis should be on the major things we have won, as well as keeping things in tune with the 'clean' look of the social club space. To be fair (and by way of explanation), that approach is in line with some of the recommendations made by people (including myself) who visited several AFL club museums as part of research into how other sporting clubs do museum spaces (the details of which are for another time).

Still, some good points were brought up, in that the space as a whole was still too bare, and that there were several walls which could use something - whether trophies, pennants or other stuff - to complement the existing look. For example, I'm not in favour of going back to the old cluttered look of the previous museum, but there should be room for honour boards, pennants or more club branding around the place. I like the general aesthetic ideas being used at the moment (though I had nothing to do with its implementation after the research trip), but it veers too much the other way towards austerity.

If the idea was to create a 'neutral' space suitable for non-South functions, then it misses the point somewhat. Groups who hold work or other functions in bowls clubs and the like aren't in neutral spaces, indeed quite the contrary. What we can do is implement a more prominent South feel to the place whose aesthetics also fit in with the current arrangement. The lack of an honour board was one point brought up. The old honour board, currently located in the players' rooms, would look very much out of place in a 'modern' setting like our social club. But what about a modernised, perspex version as used by Collingwood in its foyer and museum spaces? They use a black and white motif which looks clean and smart, and is the kind of thing that we could certainly implement ourselves to add more of a 'blue and white' feel to the place.

The president stated that there is a sub-committee working on such ideas, which I'm glad to hear. Further mooted improvements include a history of the evolution of our jersey and our badges over the years, which if implemented would be a drastic improvement on the current under-utilisation of wall space. If they want any particular feedback, I'm willing to be a sounding board.

Communication
This is always going to be an issue. Most irritatingly, it tends to veer between the sometimes very good (our general social media presence) and the sometimes very, very bad (pick your own case study). The worst cases are when the board think their ideas are clear or are likely to have wide ranging support within the club, but are in reality quite the opposite. The FFA Cup event in the social club and the requirement to pay for entry into our NPL finals game are just two examples where had the board not assumed to know how pleb South fans would react and instead maybe done a straw poll of some such fans, they could've avoided copping grief for those decisions.

We have members with real world experiences, some who help run other soccer and sporting clubs, some of whom have experience running event spaces and corporate gigs, who would be ready to offer advice if asked. We also have people who aren't trapped in the echo chamber of the boardroom, and who have a different feel for what's going on among the supporters. It's up to the board to seek out those people and to use that expertise, and if not to follow it, then to at least take it into account.

Afterwards
The tail end of the meeting veered off into discussions about Facebook and member numbers, which turned into an unruly mess. I agreed with some of the points being made, but that discussion was a bit of a dog's breakfast if I'm being honest.

Social Club Artefact Wednesday - Scandinavian Junior Cup 1966

A trophy of unknown provenance: the 1966 Scandinavian Junior Cup, probably won
by South Melbourne Hellas. Behind it, a Victorian Womens Soccer Association
award, and a Club World Championship licence plate. Photo: Paul Mavroudis.

Can someone, anyone, tell us about the provenance of this trophy? I mean, yes we can ascertain that it says 'Scandinavian Junior Cup', and yes we can see that there's a year on it, that being 1966, and yes we can see that our name is on there. Is it safe to assume that we won? From the limited asking around that I've been able to do - and unfortunately, most of the people I've asked from that era have no idea about this trophy - it was not an overseas junket (how cool would that have been?), but rather some sort of local tournament, probably organised by a local club. But to what does the 'Scandinavian' part of the trophy actually refer to? At the present time, there are no answers, but if anyone has information, we'd love to hear it. it does make me think though, that when we eventually get around to building the new museum area for the social club, the least we could is to give some of these old trophies a good polish, because a few of them looked a little bit worse for wear at the time of packing them away.

More Spanos/Learning Greek Is Fun/Fixtures! Wait, Fixtures?

James Spanos Wins Under 21s Best and Fairest
I don't know why we're surprised anymore - James Spanos does it again, winning the under 21s best and fairest. The man is incredible, especially since he goes almost completely unnoticed by this blog and even most other pundits. Maybe it's time we truly admitted that our infatuation with one particular under 21s player this season has clouded our judgement to the detriment of our reporting.

So well done to Spanos, and well to the South Melbourne Super Duper Academy Revolution 3000, for not needing to actually have a proper voting system for finding out who the best 21s player was this season, and just going for Spanos. Excelsior!

Pateraki and Rombotis, Behind the Bike Sheds After School
Congratulations to all my non-Greek readers, you're about to get an off-season lesson in this beautiful language.

• Τζαμπατζήδες, tzambatzithes - freeloaders or cheapskates is a good start, but this Greek phrase its own certain je ne sais quoi.
• ψευτες, pseftes - liars
• Kύριος Kεραυνος, Kyrios Keravnos - Lord (or Mister) Thunder
• παπαγαλοι, papagali - parrots
• Βραζιλία, Vrazilia - Brazil 
• σπορια, sporia - seeds

If you missed the 3XY sports program, well hooley dooley, did you miss some fireworks. Host Kostas Paterakis was mad. Really mad. It seems as if Stathis Rombotis said so0me really nasty things about Pateraki and 3XY, because Pateraki was breathing fire.

Now, I haven't read the original article that seems to fired Paterakis up so much, but for the next hour or so, he laid into Rombotis. For once South wasn't copping the brunt, or indeed any flak in their coverage. This was personal.

It started off with παπαγαλοι and σπορια, and got more hilarious from there. Judging by Paterakis' tirade, Rombotis (whom Paterakis kept calling Kύριος Kεραυνος) seems to have made the allegation that the whole 3XY (and perhaps by inference, Greek-Australian sports journalist fraternity) are Τζαμπατζήδες. Well, Kostas didn't take kindly to that, nor the allegation that he and his colleagues were ψευτες.

During elaboration of the matter, we somehow ended up in Βραζιλία, and the 2000 World Club Championships and who paid for who to get over there. Then we moved into the 2004 efforts to save the club, from which Paterakis claimed that Rombotis was absent.

Then Paterakis, absolutely fuming at this point, basically called Rombotis out, daring him to call, as long as he kept his call to five minutes, because they didn't want it to drag on for an hour. If Rombotis did call, he didn't make it to the air.

Some other highlights:

• The thunder sound affects they played at one stage
• Playing, I'm pretty sure it was this παπαγαλο song. I nearly died.
• Once again confirming why they have no time to cover anything on their show, by talking about this issue for about 50 minutes (and let's not forget the 20 minute chat with Kevin Muscat - I switched it off for that discussion).
• Mind you, they had finished with the issue, then George Karandonis turned up and it kicked off again.
• The claim made by Paterakis that, if they wanted to, they had plenty of other ways of hurting South. 

What was great about this hour long tirade, is that apart from the times when they're wrestling with whose microphone is supposed to be on, and callers dropping out, is that there was some actual effort put into the show. Little things like song selection and sound affects add so much. More please.

Still, disappointed that there was no sign of the promised extended talkback session on South's recent crisis. Nor was there any reference made to the previous week's promise to have a South representative on the show next week. Don't tell me that's going to end up not happening like the last time they made that promise?

2013 Fixtures
Apparently these were supposed to come out today. No such luck. A certain παπαγαλο has told us that the season will be starting on the week of April 6th.

Late, sloppy rundown of last week's club meeting

With apologies for the very large delay in getting this post out.

Last week's meeting had much to recommend it. The club explained its plans for the social club, elaborated its approach to the FFV's establishment of the National Competitions Review recommendations and sought to explain how our academy system would fit into those plans.

The presentations mollified a lot of the hostility that had been building up with regards to our engagement with the NCR process in particular. Yet there are still questions which remain unanswered, and troubling questions about the conduct of certain board members and their affiliates.

Social Club
The social club plans were the first point of discussion. The lack of a social club facility was a bone of contention among many supporters, for two reasons. Firstly because maintaining control of that space was meant to provide the club with susbtantial income independent of football, and secondly because it would provide the club with a sense of place and ownership over at least part of Lakeside Stadium. Quite a few supporters have made the observation that the venue does not feel like it is 'ours', and the line that it was better to do things right rather than quickly were beginning to wear thin.

Previous presentations on the matter had suggested that a privately operated restaurant/bistro would be accompanied by corporate suites and offices. The plans presented last night were substantially different. While maintaining the bistro element of the original plans, the corporate suite option was excised in favour of a futsal court. I must admit, I was not the only one with significant concerns about this change.

The questions from the audience were obvious. What benefit would we have in operating a futsal court in a precinct which already had five futsal courts? Why go from the corporate suites to the futsal court option? The answers were illuminating, and satisfactory to me at least, though not without concerns about how we go about our day to day business with regards to our presence in the venue.

According to the board, our lease stipulates that we must use our exclusive areas for football purposes. Thus, the option of renting out our revamped facilities to entities such as medical centres etc would be prohibited. A futsal court, which would not only be useful for our juniors, would also be able to exploit the apparently bursting at the seams situation down at the pit lane facilities.

Not everyone was satisfied with this plan, even after the explanation. One time board member George Koukoulas was particularly vocal in his opposition, both to the futsal court itself, and the rationale behind, arguing that the restrictions that the board claimed somewhat forced them towards their direction were not true. He seemed to lose the public battle on that front, for the time being at least, his approach falling flat with much of the membership.

The club is looking to run the futsal and bistro operations itself. One older gentleman objected to this arrangement, claiming that the club had tried taking this route before and it hadn't worked. It didn't seem to wash with most of the attendees. The club is also apparently not looking to borrow any funds beyond the government grant to fund the redevelopment, which raised a few eyebrows.  The board believes its revenue estimates are relatively conservative - opinion on that matter differed within the audience.

Being dependent on a government grant, the plans had to be audited by the relevant authorities. The board stated that contracts have been signed, work is ready to go within two weeks, and they are hoping for a March completion date. I asked if the basic plans/drawings could be put up online, they said yes, but we'll see ow it goes I suppose.

National Competition Review
There has been much exasperation about the board's apparently full steam ahead approach with the NCR. The board reiterated that they would prefer to work inside the tent and assist the FFV is creating a workable reform process. In addition, the board claimed they would not sign anything unless changes were introduced which were in line with our expectations of the future working of this new era.

They claimed that 4-5 other clubs were also taking up discussions with the FFV, though they did not specify which clubs were doing so. I had also heard this rumour before, with several names being bandied about, but with no way of actually confirming the validity of that rumour. If it is true, it seems to be that one club from state league 1, and four or so clubs from the VPL are trying to engage with the FFV. Considering that there have been meetings between the other 11 VPL clubs and an apparent unanimity in opposing the FFV's NCR reforms, that bloc of 11 may not be so united.

We'll have to wait until December/January for the next stage to be clearer about what form this new competition will take, and whether the club will support it.

Additional Concerns
Within what I considered the mostly good news being delivered, I was concerned about several issues. Firstly, that the issue of integrating women's football into the academy system, a key component of the 'Elite' program requirements, was not broached at all. In fact, women's football and our attempts to try and build a bridge with South Melbourne Women's Football Club did not rate a mention. Hopefully there are some significant updates on this matter by the time the AGM comes around. This saga has been going on too long.

The academy system will favour the wealthy. It is hard to know how we will attract the best talent with costs of around $3000, regardless of the possibility of two or three scholarship positions. The board made the reasonable comment that the costs were influenced by the lack of money coming from the top. In Australia, this kind of system of four days a week training, with all the trimmings, is a new concept. The hope was that once the club renovation took place, and surplus money started flowing in, that costs could be lowered. That sounds great, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for costs to fall.

If the club chooses to head down this path, it needs to commit to it for a good five years at the absolute minimum. It's likely that we won't get to see the fruit of this labour for some time, until players that have come through the system in its entirety are being produced. Only then can we really ascertain the program's success. In an industry and in a club culture of very short term goal setting, it'll take some holding of their nerve to make it that far.

The attempt to if not shut down debate, then at least try and insinuate that negative or critical comments made on internet forums, did not sit well with me. The club does not and should not control the opinions of its membership. Yes, often times the discussion from the supporters can get out of hand, misrepresent an issue, or paint the club in a negative light - but that's the modern age. If the club seeks to fight back on foreign media soil, it would be best to do that openly, and not hiding behind aliases especially while threatening to reveal the identities of your average supporter. Unfortunately, this subject was also not covered to my liking.

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere Department
Lastly, I was very surprised to see Tom Kalas use a portion of a blog post of mine - from the infamous Kubler Ross Model spectacular - as part of his presentation. It kinda made my head spin for a little bit, not for the fact the he reads this blog, which I was already aware of, but that he saw fit to use it for the purposes of selling our reincarnation, re-interpreting the depressing missive into a justification for change. When Gil Scott Heron said that the revolution would not be televised, some forty odd years ago now, I doubt that he had in mind that it would be blogged instead.

Jerry's Final Thought
I expected a much more hostile and heated meeting. It got tense at times, there was shouting, people talking over one another, but that's not unusual for something like this. To my surprise, most of the attendees seemed open minded about the proposed changes, even if they weren't necessarily convinced by all of them. If that's the least that comes of out of this process, maybe this club does have a worthwhile future.

Laying down the law - Kiss of Death, Round 8, 2012

8:30 PM Friday May 25th - Hume City vs Green Gully Cavaliers
Both teams are coming of 0-1 wins. Gully at Southern Stars, and Hume at Oakleigh Cannons. The bigger win of course being the surprise by Hume. Will be a tough contest out at Epping on Friday night. The weather will be cold and rainy. Hume City 1 – Green Gully 3.

7:00 PM Saturday May 26th - Southern Stars vs Richmond
Southern Stars have not won a game since beating South Melbourne a few weeks back. This should come as no surprise. Richmond have struggled, especially with the home draw against Moreland last week. I was surprised by that result. I reckon this will be a very scrappy affair with a couple of reds. Southern Stars 1 – Richmond 1.

3:00 PM Sunday May 27th - Moreland Zebras vs Bentleigh Greens
I was at Bentleigh last week and saw them lose 2-3 to Northcote after going in at the break 1-0 up and dominating. Moreland will continue to struggle, even with the transfer window coming up soon. They have also recently lost Steven Weir due to visa issues. Moreland Zebras 0 – Bentleigh Greens 3.

3:00 PM Sunday May 27th - Northcote City vs Heidelberg United
I’m calling it from now, if I haven’t already called it. If Heidelberg lose this weekend, then they will get relegated along with Whittlesea or Southern Stars. Northcote was really good last week against Bentleigh and they should’ve had 5, 6 or maybe 7 goals all up. Greek derby which will only attract the usuals. Northcote City 4 – Heidelberg United 2.

3:00 PM Sunday May 27th - Melbourne Knights vs Oakleigh Cannons
The Knights have a chance to get another win this weekend after their excellent 1-2 result at Lakeside last week. They looked good, and their ladder position doesn’t do them justice. Unless it was a one off? Oakleigh is the usual rabble who gets the results you don’t expect. I can’t see them getting a result at Knights stadium however. Melbourne Knights 3 – Oakleigh Canons 1.

3:00 PM Saturday May 26th - Dandenong Thunder vs South Melbourne
Match of the season to date. A high flying perfect record Dandenong, vs an underachieving, morale in the shit South Melbourne. I am going to give an analysis of last week's match vs the Knights before I preview this match. Well. Where should I start? In last week's column I demanded a response to South's season so far with a win over the Knights. It never came. I am not going to defend shit. Even the Bergers beat the Knights. Are we contenders or pretenders? At the moment we are more like pretenders. Our results speak for themselves. There is no way that people can tell me that we are seriously contending for this years title. I’d rather they say that Gus is rebuilding and not to expect a championship this season, but for sure next season. Instead I have people in power pissing in the wind about how good this list is, how they all have the same goal, and how we will kill it this year. Seriously fellas!

1. I think that Gus has been tactically outplayed in nearly every game this season except round one. Instead of drawing teams out of the backline, we batter ram them hoping they will crumble. Come on Gus and Joe, you two should know better than that. When a team is content with ten men behind the ball, you need to drag them up the park, not push them further back.
2. There are players in the starting eleven who should not be in the starting eleven. I shall list them for you, and expect them to prove me wrong. Peter Gavalas, Brad Norton, Dimi Tsiaris, either of the Trifiro brothers, Matko Budimir and Trent Rixon. Gavalas is being continually rewarded for his below par performances, and there seems to be no faith in young Saldaris. Norton is not good enough for South Melbourne. The kid might try very hard, but makes too many errors. Tsiaris has underperformed and I still don’t know what his position is. The Trifiro brothers only play with each other. Budimir is good for the club, but not good enough for starting eleven as yet. Trent Rixon, well half the shit he misses, he would score for Northcote blind folded.
3. Egos. We have too many egos in the team. If they aren’t up to it, they should be shown the door.
4. Nice football. Does not work in the VPL. Anti-football is the key to winning anything in the VPL. We have so much possession, make so many passes, yet seem to walk away with only zero or one point. This isn’t a boxing match. It is football. You don’t score, you don’t win, regardless of statistical possession.
5. Reaction to abuse. Yes, some people go overboard. However, people expect results. As members they are entitled to vent within reason. When players and coach react in a negative way to that abuse because they don’t like it, or because they think they are at a shitty little suburban club, then something needs to change. The members aren’t the ones going away. Remember that next time you pull a face, challenge a fan to a car park stoush, or come back out of the tunnel and abuse back, people are watching. No one ever blames the fans, instead they remember the reaction of the players. A word of warning. Do not go anti-fan. This will bite you in the ass big time. You want to win the fans back do you? You want the abuse to go away? You want the fans to worship the ground you walk on home and away? You want the fans to clap you off after a loss? Simple solution to all those questions. Play football to win games, and all the above will stop.

Now to this weeks match. Dandy is the form team by a country mile. South will struggle. There I’ve said it. For some reason I have that weird feeling that South might actually win this one. Either convincingly or by stealing it. At this stage, who really cares. Dandenong Thunder 0 – South Melbourne 2, in the upset of the season so far.

A word on the South Youth team. Pfft. Probably the worst team in years. Things have to change there as well. The fish rots from the head, therefore I am calling for the youth team coach's head. He has to go. How he can be the best candidate for the South Melbourne U21 squad is laughable. Whoever hasn’t seen this team should go down there one day and have a laugh. Woeful is an understatement.

Peter Skapetis talks to OS Aussie

Former South junior and now member of QPR's Centre of Excellence Peter Skapetis has a brief interview with OS Aussie.

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION

Peter Skapetis is a driven young man brought up at the famous South Melbourne football club who now finds himself at Premier League club, Queens Park Rangers. A goalscorer with a lot of energy, he is definitely one for the future. Let’s just hope that that future is with Australia.

You went through most of your junior development at South Melbourne FC. Can you tell us about your time there?

I played my whole junior career with South Melbourne and I owe a lot to the club, I loved my time there and developed life long friendships with all my team mates and my coaches. I was captain all the way through and over the years we acquired the best team having something like 8 of the starting 11 all in the Victorian state system, it was a great squad to be a part of and a great club to play for.

You’ve signed an 18 month contract at the QPR Centre of Excellence as a First Year Scholar. What is the set-up like at QPR?

The facilities at QPR are fantastic. It’s always great to be part of that professional environment and being in and around the first team every day really inspires you and gives you something to work towards. Everyday is structured really well combining football, gym and schooling.

Head of Youth Development at the club, Steve Gallen, described you as “quick, bright, and lively and he likes to score goals” How do you see yourself as a player? How much have you developed there?

Yeah I think I’m strong, quick and skilful and already even though I’ve only spent a short time at QPR I’ve seen a huge improvement in my game and that’s purely because of the constant exposure to Steve and his other coaches. They have definitely increased my knowledge and skill in the game and I know over my time at the club I will only get better.

Since moving to QPR have you had any contact from the National setup? Is being a part of the national teams a goal for you at this stage of your career?

I haven’t been approached by the national system yet but It’s always been a dream of mine to play for the national team and I would love a call up whether its for Greece or Australia. Its definitely a great honour and in my opinion it’s a fantastic achievement to wear your national colours.

Were you ever offered a chance to play for the Heart or Victory before the move abroad? If so, what made you decide not to join an A-league club?

I had trials at Melbourne Heart before I left but as soon as I heard I was coming to the UK that’s what I put all my focus towards so not really. Who knows what my happen in the future I might come back and play in the A-league later on in my career.

What has it been like living in London? Has there been much of an adjustment needed from living in Melbourne?

It’s a big change living in another city especially away from your family but I guess it’s what I’ve got to do to succeed and it’s for the better. The lifestyle is the same it’s just a busier version of Melbourne. Also catching public transport for me was a new thing and of course homesickness is probably the hardest part of being away.

At the end of the 18 months contract, what will you consider to be a success?

Success for me would only be a pro contract and nothing less. It’s what I work for everyday and I’ve never lost sight of it.

Which player do you look up to? And why?

My favourite player used to be Cristiano Ronaldo but as soon as I made the move to England it’s been Sergio Aguero. I play very similar to him and he’s a goal scorer who is in great form.

Which player at QPR has impressed you most?

From what I’ve seen in training and matches this year it has to be Adel Taarabt, he’s got great skill on the ball and is a real marquee player for the club.

Peter Skapetis off to QPR

Don't know much about this player to be honest - but wish him all the best nevertheless.

Article from QPR site.

Sky Sports article.

Mass exodus of junior teams?

Reports have been circulating on soccer-forum.net that former head of football Ange Dallas has left the club entirely, and taken five 'elite' teams with him. Apparently the vacant slots have already been filled, and the renegade teams attempts to join with Bayside Argonauts have been slightly hit on the head, with one of the coaches seeking to move his team across being effectively barred from doing so.

The Great Escape - South Melbourne 3 Northcote City 3

Before we get to the dramatic senior match, it's only fitting that we talk a bit about the under 21s.

Despite the substantial turnover in personnel during the season, they managed to work their way to the top of the table. But they needed a win in today's final round to seal back to back titles. Despite being well out of title contention, Northcote weren't keen on giving us the points, and they fought and kicked their way throughout the contest.

We took the lead in the first half, after a great dummy run in an offside position opened up the space for the young man to dribble through and pass to his teammate to score. Northcote leveled early in the second half, but our boys weren't going to rely on the other results going their way.

Nick Niagoran belted home a spectacular goal, right into the top right corner, to make it 2-1 - and that was the score at the end of the game. It was something straight out of a Boys Own Annual. Congratulations to coach Gus Caminos and all the boys who pulled on a blue and white shirt this year, for a title well earned.

Congratulations to the under 21s on achieving back to back titles. Photo: Peter Psarros.

The main event
When watching the first of last year's AFL grand finals, my arms went numb during the last three minutes of the game. Today, at Port Melbourne, I started losing the feeling in my hands about halfway through the second half. It was that tense.

Not much room under the social club roof. Photo: Peter Psarros.

The game had been hyped up considerably. The so called sister club relationship. The fact that it had been moved from John Cain to SS Anderson Reserve. The minimum five goals scored in each of the past three meetings. The possibility of Gianni De Nittis coming on late and providing a dose of karma.

Somehow, this game lived up to every expectation. The rain held off, the crowd wasn't too bad, and they didn't have to wait long for a goal, with Jesse Krncevic beating the offside trap and managing to slot it home on a tight angle to make it 1-0 after just three minutes.

But Northcote are nothing if not proficient in front of goals, and within a minute they had leveled, breezing through our right hand side for an easy finish. Soon after, they were 2-1 up, when Steven Topalovic gave the ball away cheaply on the last line of defence, exposing Zaim Zeneli. Topalovic had a poor game it must be said, and if Rhodri Payne is fit for next week there'd be serious doubts over him getting a starting spot.

When Trent Rixon scored his second to make it 3-1 after 33 minutes, after being unmarked but brilliantly controlling a long pass, it looked like it was just about out of reach for us. Defensively we were all over the shop, and we were being punished mercilessly for it. And when Stephen Weir met Daniel Dragicevic's cross, only to stub the shot straight at Northcote's goalkeeper, Charles Treacey, from a mere six yards out, the hope that we might come back just sank a little further.

Celebrations as Krncevic's second goal floats in just under the crossbar.
Photo: Peter Psarros.

But then Jesse Krncevic scored one of the goals of the season, and somehow we were still in with a chance. A ball was played wide out to the right into space, and Treacey came way off his line to try, possibly in a moment of madness, cut off Krncevic's angle. But the striker had a different idea, lobbing the ball over Treacey's head, and just underneath the crossbar. It was a more spectacular effort than last week's attempt to chip Stuart Webster, but it came off and at 3-2 we were back in the game.

Practice makes perfect - Weir celebrates after scoring from a free kick.
Photo: Peter Psarros.

And then we got a free kick just outside the box, in the same territory that Stephen Weir has been attempting to score from since he crossed over from Hume City halfway through the season. Most of his efforts from similar situations thus far had hit the wall - including against his former side Hume just a couple of weeks agao, which saw Krncevic pounce on the crumb. This time, the shot was perfectly placed into the bottom corner, and somehow the team went into halftime at 3-3.

Surely there would be more goals in the second half? Somehow, all the scoring dried up, though not without some desperate defending and alert goalkeeping on both sides of the ground. Either side could have taken the win, but even with an injured Zeneli, and Gianni De Nittis coming towards the end of the game as Northcote desperately searched for the winning goal - only all three points being good enough to see them in the finals at our expense - neither side were able to break the deadlock.

Jesse Krncevic had the best chance of the closing minutes, but even he couldn't add to his two goals. Yianni Galanos, coming off the bench late in the game to make his official South debut after almost an entire season laid off with a pre-season injury, provided the inch perfect cross. Perhaps there was too much time for Jesse to think about it, as his angled header went wide, and the opportunity to finish third and grab a double chance was lost

But it would be harsh to put all the blame on our fourth placed finish on that moment. There were too many other times during the season where we shot ourselves in the foot, and now we will have to do it the hard way, needing to win through four consecutive rounds. It's not impossible, but the room for error is just about non-existent.

And first cab off the rank is Heidelberg, who threw away their chance at getting at least a double chance courtesy of a shock loss to Springvale White Eagles. For some reason Heidelberg Harismidis was at our game rather then his own team's - probably too hard to get to for him. Spying he claimed.

No point in looking beyond the coming week however. Real one week at a time stuff, until we take the title or we bow out. It's a hell of a hoodoo to have to overcome, but we'll see how we go.

Under 21s gunning for back to back titles this week

I know when it comes to under 21 leagues and below that we're all supposed to be politically correct and be focusing on the development of the players and not the results, but stuff it.

South's under 21s have worked bloody hard this year, working against player defections and injuries, and occasionally losing a player to the senior squad - both ours and Hobart Olympia's - that it's the result that everyone will be looking at this week.

They currently top the standings on 49 points, one point ahead of Hume City, who play third placed Melbourne Knights in the final week. Only Hume can take the title off South.

Hume have a far superior goal difference to South, so our boys will have to at least match Hume's result in the final round to take the title for the second year in a row. South of the Border wishes them all the best in their pursuit of what would be a well deserved title.

Sturm und Drang - South Melbourne 3 Hume City 1

After everything that has happened this week, let alone this season, it was nice to see the under 21s again. And they didn't disappoint, taking top spot from Hume by beating them 1-0, after holding out against a strong wind in the first half. That a certain former South youth player with red hair, who crossed over to Hume halfway through the season missed a sitter to level the scores must have made the win just that little bit sweeter.

Somehow, we're second on the table. Of course it helps when other teams drop points, as Oakleigh did today against Richmond, where Ricky Diaco had a penalty saved in the second half with his side trailing 2-1; and it also helps when sides have games in hand to play, such as Oakleigh, Heidelberg and Northcote.

2-0 and down to 10 men as Lou Acevksi gets sent off. Photo: Cindy Nitsos

But you can also make your own luck. When Stephen Weir's free kick deflected off the wall into the space in front of Hume City substitute goalkeeper Kenny Gerohristodoulou, it was Jesse Krncevic, back today after a long spell on the sidelines with suspension, who reacted fastest and swung the ball into the corner. That was 3-0, and more or less the game wrapped up.

It wasn't a good day for the Hume goalkeepers in general, as first Daniel Dragicevic slid the ball past Lou Acevski from a tight angle, into basically the only space available to him; and then when Sebastian Petrovic headed home South's second soon after, Acevski was given a straight red card for kicking a ball into a South player.

Five different ways to stand in a wall. Photo: Cindy Nitsos.

Later, Gerohristodoulou, whose choice of shorts left little to the freeballin' imagination, pushed a South fan who was giving him back the ball for a goal kick, which fired up the crowd behind his goal. Hume City had a bad day at the office, but handled their emotions poorly. South by contrast had its best performance for some months now, without Tom Matthews, Steven O'Dor and even Joe Montemurro on the bench.

Discounting the most recent VTC match, it was the first time we had scored two goals in a match since the round 13 loss against Green Gully, and the first time we'd scored three since that fabulous 15 minute spell against Melbourne Knights all the way back in round six. We had several chances to add to our tally, before taking the foot off the pedal in the last 20 minutes or so and allowing Richie Cardozo to net a consolation goal for Hume.

Daniel Dragicevic leads the celebrations after scoring the opener. Photo: Cindy Nitsos.

After the first goal, someone ripped a flare at a South league game for the first time in about four years. There goes $500, or $1500, or whatever it is now, and another reason for the FFV to get on our back, like we needed one. I wonder if the perpetrator realised that the FFV were filming the game for their live stream? Somewhere at South there must be a communal self-destruct button that I haven't found yet. When I do find it, I'll either rip the bloody thing out, or press it with such conviction that the earth opens up and swallows us whole, leaving scant trace of our existence.

And then there  was the moment when myself and Ian Syson were discussing getting someone like Southpole to provide a guest lecture for Victoria University's 'Poetry and Poetics' class, to discuss the process of oral compositions, non-literary working class adaptations and such. Clarendon Corner's rewording of Frozen Tears 'South Melbourne', was just tremendous, bitter, resentful and yet full of wit.

Did I mention that we're second on the ladder? Heinous, isn't it.

South Melbourne and Box Hill United playing for the Adidas Cup

If you need a South fix on this otherwise football free weekend, here's something which may pique your interest, and it's for a good cause as well. South of the Border may be in attendance, but only in the event that we choose to give the Green Gully - Mildura United match in the Mirabella Cup a miss. No women's matches... I guess we're still estranged from each other...


Easter Saturday Football Gala – Box Hill United SC v South Melbourne FC,

Date Saturday 23 April 2011

Venue: Wembley Park, Canterbury Road, Box Hill - Full Canteen Facilities will be open

Entry Cost – Gold Coin Donation, proceeds to Royal Children’s Hospital – Good Friday Appeal

Schedule of Games (Age Group/Kick Off/Game Length)

• U12 Boys 9.30 am 50 min (2 x 25 min)
• U14 Boys 10.45 am 60 min (2 x 30 min)
• U15 Boys 12.00 pm 70 min (2 x 35 min)
• U18 Boys 1.20 pm 80 min (2 x 40 min)
• U21 Men 3.15 pm 90 min (2 x 45min)
• Senior Men 5.15 pm 90 min (2 x 45min)

All Junior boys teams are at A Level. SSF Matches U10 & U11 Kick off at 11am, in tandem matches at Sparks Reserve – across the road, from Wembley Park. FFV competition rules apply.

Points to be allocated on basis of result of each game.
• 3 points for Win
• 1 point for Draw
• Bonus point for every 2 goals scored, for either team.
• Goal Average to decide winner, if needed.

Winner will be awarded the Adidas Cup

Parking available across the road from Wembley Park, at Sparks Reserve.

Needs More Cowbell - South 3 Knights 1

Amongst the questions that we pondered on the bus trip to Northcote - if Romeo and Juliet were around today, would they die their hair raven black, dress up in mourning clothes with the pale makeup and black eyeliner and sit under the clocks at Flinders Street Station on a Friday night? Gains, Steve from Broady and me also discussed the merits of Chekhov, Gogol and Vonnegut. We discussed the ceaseless contest between youth's faith in using the rare example over the elder's preference for basing their judgments on a form of experience which seeks to negate the improbable, yet possible?

What could bring up such weighty topic of conversation. Gianni De Nittis of course. We fought over both his legacy, whether he had any untapped potential, and the thought only occurs to me now, whether he simply managed to have scored in two massively important games in the space of two weeks, cementing his status as a VPL South legend but unfairly burdening him with expectations which he would seldom be able to meet in future.

We watched the majority of the under 21s contest. We don't talk much about the under 21s on here - after blitzing the field last season, this year has seen defensive frailties creep into their game. De Nittis had been relegated to the 21s, and opened the scoring with apparently a ripping goal. I couldn't see it from my vantage point inside the social club. I did however see him try to be tricky, lose the ball, and retaliate with tackle from behind. The offence saw him get a red card. As Vonnegut's Tralfamadoreans said, 'so it goes'. The game finished at 2-2.

The main event was an even affair for sixty minutes. Which is to say, the Knights played well without creating too many chances, while we were forced onto the sidelines with very little room to move in the middle. Our short passing game was non-existent, and we seemed to be clueless as to how to work out something which might get us a goal, other than Mick Malthouse style chip kicks along the outer side, which almost inevitably had Jesse Krncevic, turning and shooting off balance into the side netting, or straight at our old foe Martin John.

When Steven O'Dor gave away an obvious handball in the box, the world paused as the referee seemed to lag behind the rest of the crowd in acknowledging the /infringement. But once his consultation with the corresponding linesperson was done, the Knights got their penalty and a deserved lead despite Zaim Zeneli moving to the correct side. The Knights kept up the pressure, and probably should have made it 2-0, but for one slightly convoluted explanation, which is as follows.

During the game one of the many Georges at South Melbourne suggested that the Knights were of the same ilk as the South of 2008. That is, they could fight and scrap and even dominate a match, but their inability to score goals would always come back to haunt them. People like to see parallels between the past and the present as a way of making sense of the world, but that particular George may have been on to something there. Pound for pound the Knights were the better team for seventy minutes; they even had the lead - and yet they just couldn't jag the result.

South finally woke up, having made use of its substitutions in an effort to win the game. The most important of these was Daniel Vasilevski, though both Kyle Joryeff and Kamal Ibrahim added something for which Gasparis, Petrovich and Taseski had not. Still, for about ten minutes we spent most of our energy on trying to snag an unlikely long range effort. But then Vasilevski - the only player who should be allowed to take our shooting free kicks - put one away into the top corner where even the valiant efforts of Martin John could do nothing about it, and all of a sudden, we felt a draw would be a good result after playing so poorly.

But that plan was ruined when we scored again, Ibrahim setting up an easy finish for Krncevic, the prodigal son continuing to put goals away. And then we scored another one, Joryeff putting his name down to become the new Yusef Yusef by scoring a junk time goal to rub pure iodine into the open wounds of the visitors. The Knights deserved at least a draw, but such is the game of football that even relative dominance is nothing without putting the ball in the back of net.

We don't have the wood on too many sides these days, but the Knights for some reason continue to find ways to see us get the three points more often than not. While I was disappointed with the majority of the performance by our boys, there's a certain satisfaction in getting a win over an old rival when they gave it more than a good shake and it still wasn't enough.

A hearty congratulations to...

Our under 21s who sealed the championship weeks ago, but keep on keeping on regardless. Now, it's fair to say that much of the opposition is of a poor standard, but you can only beat with who's put up in front of you, or something. And the squad is like, young, too, which gives one a minor, cautious hope for the future. Their only loss thus far was in the very first game against the NTC. So here's to the under 21s, for going one better than last year, winning our first under 21 title since the 2004 NSL Southern Division youth championship. We went on to lose 2-1 to Canberra Deakin, the Northern Division winners, who featured one Nathan Caldwell (and for us, Steve O'Dor), sidelined for almost two seasons now. Is he ever going to come back?

21s extend lead at top - Women alone on bottom of table

In addition to the mildly reassuring win the seniors had on Sunday, I also managed to see a about an hour's worth of the under 21's stunning 8-1 win over Sunshine. Sunshine were playing with 10 men for a whole swathe of the 2nd half, and I'm not sure if that was due to an early first half sending off or some other reason, but it was pretty entertaining stuff all the same, both sides going at it full tilt until the Georgies just ran out of legs.
The women on the other hand lost once more, this time in the battle of the cellar dwellers against recently promoted Altona City. Losing 1-0, the women are now anchored at the bottom of the WVPL table. The reserves are having a better time of it though, winning, 2-0. But at this rate it seems like only a matter of time before the women return to state league 1, the disappointment of which would only be amplified after last year's excellent campaign.

Arounds the grounds with the youth and women's sides

I've neglected these two entities for different reasons so far this season, and perhaps it's time to rectify that situation.

The under 21s have been having a good season - the momentum gained from turning around the fortunes last year (praise be to David Lugli for making them watchable again), where they finished second to Heidelberg after a couple of seasons of serious below par-ness, has not been squandered, and they are currently sitting first on the table, under the managership of Joe 'Pepe' Montemurro. I had the opportunity to watch nearly the entire hit out against Hume - the only fault I could find was in squandering countless opportunities - but their commitment and class couldn't be questioned when they came back from a goal down to beat Hume 2-1. Rhodri Payne also got some game time as he makes his way back from injury, but no sign yet of Nathan Caldwell. It's a very far cry from the dark days of 2007, where a 9 man Kingston outfit - with an outfield player as keeper! - dragged back a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 at Kingston Heath, with some of our players on the bench laughing about it, as if it didn't matter.

As for the women, the giddy highs achieved last year appear to be a distant memory. They've lost all three games so far, having lost players of the calibre of Laura and Amelia Spiranovic as well as others to various forces of natural attrition, such as work, travel and becoming part of the women's NTC squad. As reported earlier in the year, it also appears as if they still haven't decided whether they are one of us - that is, the bigger South family - or a distinct entity. They still use the South name and a version of the South logo, but appear to be getting closer to declaring outright and full independence. Which is fine by me, as long as they get themselves a new identity. While their links to South have always been viewed by some as tenuous at best, now that the club is bringing everything back into the fold, the way things once ran, logically, can't continue in the bold world of today. If they want to be a club solely for women, that's entirely their prerogative - but lose the South Melbourne name and let everyone get on with their lives.

Two other things that happened yesterday

Our under 21s came from behind to win 3-2! I missed our last two goals because I was busy pressing the flesh with my beloved public. Nevertheless, well done lads. The other thing of minor note was my suffering withdrawal symptoms of not being able to watch last night's Sunshine George Cross vs Heidelberg match online. Look at me, after just one live streamed game and already the rare sound blips of the live betting sites no longer cut it.

Hellenic Cup finals on tomorrow

At Kingston City's ground, The Grange. Our Under 21s are involved, playing against Heidelberg, at 10am, if you can be bothered going. Our women (can we still call them that?) are not involved - they've lost some key players, though the main team pushed Heidelberg in the semis last week. The senior men are playing against Bentleigh at 6pm. It's our fourth final in 5 years - a then state league 1 Bentleigh knocked us out in the quarter finals at The Grange in 2008. Bentleigh were the last team to win back to back Hellenic Cups. Four teams have won the tournament in successive attempts - Northcote (1984-85), Oakleigh (1987 and 1990), Port Melbourne (1994-95), and Bentleigh (1996-97 and 2002-03). In the great scheme of things, this tarted up pre-season guff isn't worth much. But we're here now, the prizemoney's good, and it's a very nice trophy.

South Melbourne 4 South Hobart 1 beta

This was more a scratch match kind of deal. There were a small smattering of senior Hellas players in the ostensibly under 21 line up, and according to the report from Walter Pless' blog, South Hobart mostly fielded a youth line up as well, putting on some senior players on the 2nd half. The game itself wasn't too crash hot from Hellas. There were some nice touches, but there was also some fairly sloppy play. We lead 3-0 at half time, but it wasn't like the visitors didn't have some of their own chances, poor finishing letting them down. They were a bit more up for it in general, and they out in several borderline strong/rough tackles. They scored the final goal of the match. Goalscorers for us, Ahmet Turer, Gianni De Nittis, Joe Keenan, Yusef Yusef. Andy King was the man with the consolation goal for the visitors.

During the match, I asked someone with some responsibility if we could go down there next year. He said it's already been agreed to. So now we have twelve months of feverish anticipation; will it yield disappointment or the return of South on the road? Who knows. Of more immediate concern is tomorrow's ridgy didge game between the senior South Melbourne and South Hobart sides, kick off at 5pm.

Also, be like me, buy your membership. I bought me a South Gold, partly for extra cash that goes to the club, partly because there are elections scheduled for this year.