2011 squad lists released

As seen here on the FFV's site. Some interesting names on and not on the South list - and that of several other clubs. The big surprise is seeing Trent Waterson's name on our list - yes, that Trent Waterson. Some may recall Waterson having a sort of breakout season in 2006 for Sunshine in the VPL, including scoring the winning goal against us from an unmarked header in the six yard box at Chaplin Reserve. He joined us the following season, but was never really able to on a consistent basis recapture the form that brought him across in the first place. Then as several players have done in recent times, he went from South to SouthLite - aka Oakleigh - and had their relevance disappear off the face of the earth, and in Waterson's case, even had him being asked - let's just say politely, for what it's worth - by a fan to give back the trophy he was awarded by Clarendon Corner. With so many midfielders in the squad, you have to wonder what people are thinking in bringing him back.

The big story player wise this off-season has been the Ramazan Tavsancioglu saga. Not wishing to revisit the gory details - you can do that elsewhere on this blog - he's found his way to Oakleigh. But in a surprise, Peter Zois, who left us hanging prior to our Singapore Cup quarter final, is not on their list. As aren't Joe Keenan and Yianni Galanos on our lists. Keenan perhaps is still technically regarded as an Adelaide United player, and rumours have circulated that Zois will be a permanent number two at Heart, although as their still current number two he may still be registered there. There's also no Nathan Caldwell - is this the final admission that his playing career, which was halted by a stray Robbie Wynne tackle during the 2009 Hellenic Cup, is never to resume? If so, it's a sad end to what should have been a tidy career at this level - here's hoping I'm wrong.

But what of Galanos? Is his injury so severe that he won't be available for the entire season, as previously rumoured but quickly quashed by the South media machine? Is this why Watersin has been brought back into the fold? And what of the several rumoured super signings waiting in the wings at several clubs? What's the point of putting up a list if there's going to be more added to it and the people you thought were going to be on it aren't on there? Once again, I just don't know how this is all meant to work - but that's part of the fun I suppose.

Zois signs with the Cannons - Out of Singapore Cup squad

All the way back in December 2009, when I posted this clip of South's new recruits introducing or re-introducing themselves to the South family, I told you it was not for the squeamish. I readily admit that I was holding back somewhat - I could have easily said not for the diabetic, the credulous, the incredulous and people who are quick to joy and then anger caused by their own relentless and relentlessly undermined optimism. And so Peter Zois has packed his bags, the latest in a long line of exits down the freeway to the railway track and industrial estate of Jack Edwards Reserve: Ricky Diaco, Robbie Wynne, Trent Waterson, Yusuf Yusuf, Scot MacNicol. I suppose the one sobering thing that we as South fans can take from this is that none of those players went on to bigger and better things - indeed many of them went backwards.

The ancient Cynics might have had a chuckle at the foolhardy exclamations made by Zois and the fans over the course of 2010, mostly to do with loyalty and the South cause. The manner of the exit leaves something to be desired, mind you - so close to the deadline for finalising details for the Singapore Cup quarter finals, and as a traitor in any sense of the word, he deserves to cop hell - hey, it's an emotional game. But I'm reminded also of this rambling post I made in October 2008, about what factors other than money might and can have an influence. And part of the reason I wrote that is because money is seldom the reason that clubs and players will openly say is 90% of a decision depends on. Last December, in reply to the question, why did you sign with South Melbourne, Zois answered 'great history, great culture, biggest club outside the A-League', and continued with 'buzz, club moving forward, out of the box thinking'. When asked who he was looking forward to playing with the most, he said 'everyone'.

So all of a sudden, the buzz is gone, the forward movement has hit reverse and all our thinking is now firmly back inside boxes sealed with that crappy brown tape that's always manages to twist itself into stupid knots. And not only that - our history, our culture and our status as biggest club outside the A-League - all gone - and 'everyone' is no fun to play with anymore. I don't know whether or not any of these things have really changed that much in the ten months that Pete has spent at Lakeside. It'd be a pity if it they had, but somehow I doubt it.

Dollars and Sense, or what kind of price can you put on abstract concepts?

Stick with me as best you can because this might go all over the place or even nowhere. I was thinking recently about how much players might get paid in this league, and what influences other than money might have an impact on where players choose to spend their playing time.

A few years back on smfcboard, someone claiming to be Sam Poutakidis made what seemed to be an outrageous claim at the time, that someone might choose a club like Oakleigh not for the money but for its facilities. We all had a good laugh (and whinge)... but no one thought to start putting dollar signs or devising some kind of method. Now that's perfectly ok; the players themselves probably don't go through and list every detail and put a price on it, and it may even be that money is 90% of the deal.

But looking back on certain cases... Hamlet Armenian allegedly coming to South to cut down on travel time... Diaco enjoying having some sort of fandom to play in front of... a Billy Nats playing for the club he grew up supporting... a Scotty MacNicol coming back perhaps because of a lack of opportunities despite what he may have been getting... players coming to South perhaps in the belief that their A-League ambitions would be better suited at Lakeside than say Chaplin or Monterey Reserve... liking or disliking one coach over another... and never forgetting the lure of a championship, where rogue players and their clubs tolerate each other for as long as possible as long as glory is within sight... all of this to be considered within a framework where the next paycheque might never come in.

I don't know what the average VPL player gets for certain, let alone our boys. But for simplicity's sake let's say our boys get about $350-500 on average. The better players a little more, the younger fringe players a little less. If they were to be offered more money at other clubs, or perhaps less money to play for a geographically more suitable team, or any of the myriad options possible, how much would it take to tip them over the edge one way or another? If a player came out and said, 'I'm mostly about the money', would we all break out in shock, or applaud their honesty? Would other players follow suit? I'm not holding my breath for it to happen, nor do I suggest that a thought process is that rational... but players, coaches and clubs all make financial decisions which are not exclusively decided by money, and only hindsight, such as every payment cleared or a new trophy in the cabinet, gives us perhaps any clue if it was the right choice.