No one deserved anything for this season, yet here we are.
Player of the year: Jake Marshall. Had to give it to someone, and since barely anyone either played all or most games, or even played consistently well in most games, I'm giving it to the bloke who improved the most from last season.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Ben Djiba. An actual South youth player who won himself a starting position and didn't look out of place in doing so.
Goal of the year: Luke Adams' chest control and volley against Port all the way back in round 3. There were some flukey goals, a couple of nice goals by Gerrie Sylaidos, even some nice team goals, but since we barely had a striker all season, Adams' finish was the closest we'd get. And it was a nice goal.
Best performance: Heidelberg away. We looked like the real deal for half an hour.
Best away game: Also Heidelberg away. Much comedy ensued.
Call of the year: Hume goalkeeper Michael Weier's genuine concern for our emotional welfare when he noticed that we weren't abusing him.
Chant of the year: the cantor at Heidelberg away during the bride and groom's photo. Sorry to everyone else who tried to come up with chants to the tune of 'Guantanamera' or 'Go West', or whatever that very bad Josh Dorron chant out at Dandenong was.
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: Afghan Star in Sunshine.
Friends we lost along the way: A South umbrella I lost at a Catholic community hall.
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: The People's Champ actually getting the sack from a club. Who knew it could be that easy?
Showing posts with label chants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chants. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Saltiness - Altona Magic 1 South Melbourne 2
Another example of the blog's steep decline in quality and timeliness.
Drove to Paisley Park from Sunshine with the last quarter of the Blues-Pies game on the radio, and dreading arriving at the ground with the Pies having lost... thankfully no nonsense hundred metre penalty could prevent a Collingwood victory. Thankfully also that I had to stop at just about every red light on the way, which allowed me to refocus on the road.
After arriving at Paisley Park (and waiting out the last couple of minutes of the footy while parked), I managed to catch most of the under 20s game. We dominated proceedings, but failed to get the win. That's less important than the performances of the players of course, because it is a development team in a development league that's a subsidiary to another development in a development league. Of most interest of course was the ongoing form/status of Manny Aguek, who played well but could not manage to convert any of his many chances on the weekend.
Then time for the seniors. I don't think many of us had high expectations of this game (and the two after it), especially given the σαπίλα of the second half of the Oakleigh game. There were two useful ins from that league game (I am conveniently ignoring the midweek cup game), with Gerrie Sylaidos and Zac Bates in the side. Gerrie was good, and Bates was fast. Kristian Konstantinidis didn't start the game, because he arrived at the game due to car troubles. Luke Adams was sick. Ethan Gage is/was absent due to differing reasons depending on who you ask.
The first half performance wasn't too bad. A bit dull, to the point where a idle chat about certain non-NCIP compliant flags at the venue turned into a full-blown vexillology discussion, and whether or not flags from JRR Tolkien's universe would pass the test, seeing as how they are often explicitly linked to particular races.
Anyway, apart from a near own goal (well-saved by Roganovic), Magic didn't really create anything resembling a threatening chance. The game was a messy one, which I thought would suit us, in the sense that if Magic got up and about and started playing in the way they're capable of, we'd struggle to keep up. But then towards the end of the first half, we started to eke some nice moves, and I suppose we felt good that we were still in this game.
The second half could not have started off much worse, with KK giving away a goal. Magic had struggled to make attacking inroads, but instead of clearing the ball up the field, KK had one of his brain-fades and turned the ball over while dribbling in circles on his own byline. Another day, another goal coughed up cheaply. If teams were scoring 30 metre rockets or goals from 25 pass moves, I could cope a little easier with that, but most weeks so many of the goals are self-inflicted.
Look, that's not such a surprise. That's what happens to teams like ours, regardless of the opposition. If one were to use a cricket analogy, one is as likely (perhaps even more likely) to get out from a single bad delivery than several good ones.
And we finally managed to get a bit of luck going our own way. I am glad that Marcus Schroen's free kick (I am not calling it a shot) went in, but there is no way that Marcus meant for the ball to end up in the back of the net. But they all count the same, right? And I suppose the delivery was good enough in the sense that KK was there at the back-post anyway, after faking(?) despondency on the edge of the 18 yard box before the free kick was taken. Say what you will about KK, but he is actually quite adept at making some nice runs into the box from set piece situations.
The other goal, the one that put us into the lead, was a bit more orthodox, but in some ways no less accidental. A decent Schroen pass from deep released Pep Marafioti into space (thanks in part also to the Magic defender who was too high upfield - a common theme on the night, as the home side played a very high line), who after making his run, bobbled the ball at his feet, managed to squeeze the ball under the Magic keeper. Maybe one could be generous and say that the surface contributed to the bobbling, but the net effect was that the stumbling effort to control the ball actually sucked the keeper out further than he may have otherwise committed.
At any rate, Pep's penchant for hitting shots straight at the keeper went his way this time, and he moved into outright leader for our golden boot, with the still miserly total of three goals. Say what you will about Pep though, chances do tend to fall his way, even if he hasn't managed to convert as many as he should've.
And accidental or fortunate goals are still worth more than orthodox no-goals, as could be seen by the normal chances we created we which failed to score from - most notably a Bates one-on-one and a Billy Konstantinidis header. Credit to the opposition goalkeeper on that one, who would've probably walked away with the man-of-the-match plaudits had his team walked away from this game with a point.
I am a bit worried though by our players celebrating by jumping on the fence at Paisley Park - I only say this because I know from unpleasant personal experience that several parts of the field's perimeter fencing has bits of unclipped metal sticking up. Anyway, the only damage done was getting soaked in beer from someone launching their cup in the air during the goal celebrations. And there's me with an umbrella for the rain which never came, sitting closed at my side. At least the guy next to me complaining about being soaked had a waterproof jacket.
The game was interrupted during the second-half by a low flying drone, which stopped the game for a little bit, and led to this reworking of the 'hooligan blood' chant:
Still, one can understand the frustration with the game not ending, because there was the feeling that a very good performance - probably our best of the season, if we limit it to the second half - could've been undone by late moment of misfortune. But at least we didn't have our official Twitter account sooking about the officiating.
The thing is that even with their player outs, Magic have a much a stronger (and more expensive) squad than we do, and with a couple of notable exceptions, there'd be few of the players we fielded on Saturday night that they'd swap into their side at the expense of the players they had themselves.
But the story of the night is that against an undermanned but still heavy favourite Magic side, we created many good chances and restricted our opponents to almost nothing of value. They can try and play the underdog, but the international gambling community knows who let them down on Saturday night.
Apart from being worthwhile in its own right, the win was also useful in the ongoing struggle to avoid relegation, especially as Oakleigh took beat Pascoe Vale the day after. The other relevant results tended to go our way this week, but our failure to beat any of the six sides below us at this point of the year (with the exception of Dandy City and Port) is beginning to bite. We're just three points above the playoff spot, and it's that fact which makes you wish we could have scraped more than a combined one point against Oakleigh, Thunder, Kingston, and Pascoe Vale.
Next game
The Bergers away on Saturday night.
Shedding excess baggage
The mid-season transfer window has opened, and our first move has been to part ways withforward midfielder winger defender utility p;layer George Howard. He seems to have landed at Hume City.
Final thought
Wishing ex-South man Andy Brennan all the joy and happiness in the world.
Drove to Paisley Park from Sunshine with the last quarter of the Blues-Pies game on the radio, and dreading arriving at the ground with the Pies having lost... thankfully no nonsense hundred metre penalty could prevent a Collingwood victory. Thankfully also that I had to stop at just about every red light on the way, which allowed me to refocus on the road.
After arriving at Paisley Park (and waiting out the last couple of minutes of the footy while parked), I managed to catch most of the under 20s game. We dominated proceedings, but failed to get the win. That's less important than the performances of the players of course, because it is a development team in a development league that's a subsidiary to another development in a development league. Of most interest of course was the ongoing form/status of Manny Aguek, who played well but could not manage to convert any of his many chances on the weekend.
 |
| There's safe standing, and then there's this; people standing on old flimsy chairs, on soft, muddy ground. Photo: Luke Radziminski. |
The first half performance wasn't too bad. A bit dull, to the point where a idle chat about certain non-NCIP compliant flags at the venue turned into a full-blown vexillology discussion, and whether or not flags from JRR Tolkien's universe would pass the test, seeing as how they are often explicitly linked to particular races.
Anyway, apart from a near own goal (well-saved by Roganovic), Magic didn't really create anything resembling a threatening chance. The game was a messy one, which I thought would suit us, in the sense that if Magic got up and about and started playing in the way they're capable of, we'd struggle to keep up. But then towards the end of the first half, we started to eke some nice moves, and I suppose we felt good that we were still in this game.
The second half could not have started off much worse, with KK giving away a goal. Magic had struggled to make attacking inroads, but instead of clearing the ball up the field, KK had one of his brain-fades and turned the ball over while dribbling in circles on his own byline. Another day, another goal coughed up cheaply. If teams were scoring 30 metre rockets or goals from 25 pass moves, I could cope a little easier with that, but most weeks so many of the goals are self-inflicted.
Look, that's not such a surprise. That's what happens to teams like ours, regardless of the opposition. If one were to use a cricket analogy, one is as likely (perhaps even more likely) to get out from a single bad delivery than several good ones.
And we finally managed to get a bit of luck going our own way. I am glad that Marcus Schroen's free kick (I am not calling it a shot) went in, but there is no way that Marcus meant for the ball to end up in the back of the net. But they all count the same, right? And I suppose the delivery was good enough in the sense that KK was there at the back-post anyway, after faking(?) despondency on the edge of the 18 yard box before the free kick was taken. Say what you will about KK, but he is actually quite adept at making some nice runs into the box from set piece situations.
The other goal, the one that put us into the lead, was a bit more orthodox, but in some ways no less accidental. A decent Schroen pass from deep released Pep Marafioti into space (thanks in part also to the Magic defender who was too high upfield - a common theme on the night, as the home side played a very high line), who after making his run, bobbled the ball at his feet, managed to squeeze the ball under the Magic keeper. Maybe one could be generous and say that the surface contributed to the bobbling, but the net effect was that the stumbling effort to control the ball actually sucked the keeper out further than he may have otherwise committed.
At any rate, Pep's penchant for hitting shots straight at the keeper went his way this time, and he moved into outright leader for our golden boot, with the still miserly total of three goals. Say what you will about Pep though, chances do tend to fall his way, even if he hasn't managed to convert as many as he should've.
And accidental or fortunate goals are still worth more than orthodox no-goals, as could be seen by the normal chances we created we which failed to score from - most notably a Bates one-on-one and a Billy Konstantinidis header. Credit to the opposition goalkeeper on that one, who would've probably walked away with the man-of-the-match plaudits had his team walked away from this game with a point.
I am a bit worried though by our players celebrating by jumping on the fence at Paisley Park - I only say this because I know from unpleasant personal experience that several parts of the field's perimeter fencing has bits of unclipped metal sticking up. Anyway, the only damage done was getting soaked in beer from someone launching their cup in the air during the goal celebrations. And there's me with an umbrella for the rain which never came, sitting closed at my side. At least the guy next to me complaining about being soaked had a waterproof jacket.
The game was interrupted during the second-half by a low flying drone, which stopped the game for a little bit, and led to this reworking of the 'hooligan blood' chant:
Hooligan droneAlong with the three goals, the substitutions and stops in play for injuries, the appearance of the drone saw the officials add six minutes of injury time, which ended up being closer to eight. Naturally this upset quite a few South fans, but one has to remember that the added time as displayed on the fourth official's board is only the minimum amount of time to be added on.
Flying through the air
Hope it doesn't crash
Hope it doesn't crash
Hope it doesn't crash
Still, one can understand the frustration with the game not ending, because there was the feeling that a very good performance - probably our best of the season, if we limit it to the second half - could've been undone by late moment of misfortune. But at least we didn't have our official Twitter account sooking about the officiating.
I'm a fan of official media streams going off the rails (even if it's just ever so slightly), but what was the Magic Twitter account complaining about here? The late 50/50 contest between Jake Marshall and Dusan Bosnjak in the dying moments of the game? That's a bit of a stretch and to extrapolate that into numerous other decisions is mind-boggling, especially as they tended to get the rub of the green, especially in the first half.FT SCORE|— Altona Magic S.C (@AltonaMagic) May 11, 2019
Was not our night as our seniors go down to South 2-1 as some decisions did not go our way.
Our 20’s played a 1-1 draw with a great performance.
📸 @Avellino_Photo… https://t.co/S23HiLpmyT
The thing is that even with their player outs, Magic have a much a stronger (and more expensive) squad than we do, and with a couple of notable exceptions, there'd be few of the players we fielded on Saturday night that they'd swap into their side at the expense of the players they had themselves.
Apart from being worthwhile in its own right, the win was also useful in the ongoing struggle to avoid relegation, especially as Oakleigh took beat Pascoe Vale the day after. The other relevant results tended to go our way this week, but our failure to beat any of the six sides below us at this point of the year (with the exception of Dandy City and Port) is beginning to bite. We're just three points above the playoff spot, and it's that fact which makes you wish we could have scraped more than a combined one point against Oakleigh, Thunder, Kingston, and Pascoe Vale.
Next game
The Bergers away on Saturday night.
Shedding excess baggage
The mid-season transfer window has opened, and our first move has been to part ways with
Final thought
Wishing ex-South man Andy Brennan all the joy and happiness in the world.
“I tried to hide my sexuality a lot and tried to push it aside. Not admitting the truth even to myself, just because of the way I thought it would be perceived."— The PFA (@thepfa) May 14, 2019
Former @ALeague player and @GreenGullySC forward @AndyBrennan36 has made the courageous decision to come out publicly pic.twitter.com/1UEH8s76pQ
Saturday, 11 May 2019
Beanie weather - Doveton 0 South Melbourne 1
Another perfunctory report.
After a long, hard day's work making sure people put their votes in the correct ballot box, I walked home from work, picked up my car, drove to Nick's place to pick him up, and together we made the long trip out to Dandenong. Thankfully everything went very smoothly, no delays on the trains, and smooth connections between different transport modes. Were it ever thus.
Got to the game in time for something approximating dinner, a rubbery sponge of a bread roll filled with marinated chicken not worth the $10 price tag in terms of its serving size. Beggars can't be choosers though. More gladly, even while we all complained, it was the first proper cold day of soccer for the year. Not just a bit a chilly, not just "I regret not bringing a coat", but actually biting cold, wet socks, reconsidering life decisions weather.
One expected Doveton to hack and slash, but perhaps not quite so early. Maybe they thought they were just being vigorous? Certainly the referees generally seemed to think so, applying a lighter touch than I would've liked. It was good (and surprising )to see Gerrie Sylaidos back on the park, because he makes a modest world of difference. Even if he tends to float in and out of games (which may be as much to do with his inexperience as it is to do with team structures), he's one of the few players who (cliché alert) seems likely to make things happen for us.
Also, opposition players seem genuinely in awe and/or afraid of him, as Australian players tend to be of any player than can dribble the ball.
The team otherwise wasn't quite at full-strength, but who even knows what that is and whether that even makes a difference. We managed to create some good chances, but mostly on tight angles which were easy enough to clean up by the Doveton defence. Doveton would seemingly make some promising forays of their own at the other end of the ground, but who's to say how close they really got when you're watching the game from 110 metres away.
At halftime several South fans congregated around a mid-sized sedan and drank moderately upmarket hot chocolate poured out of a thermos into Styrofoam cups. I apologise to the environment after the fact for not expecting the possibility of away days hot chocolate to become a reality, and forgetting all of my novelty mugs (Star Trek, Brian Griffin, South Melbourne Hellas) at home. Apart from warming the body and soul, it did remind me of the behaviour of Green Gully's elderly fans back in 2009, which is a bit sad; but the theme of South supporters aging alongside their near pension-age club is at the heart of what this blog has documented.
The second half was more of the same, us doing more of the attacking, but not being able to really create the killer chance. Enter Billy Konstantinidis and his one-man mission to relocate the club to George Andrew Reserve because "he scores at this ground". Having Billy start on the bench seemed risky considering our paucity of scoring this year, but at least this time the strategy paid off. Mind you, it helps the situation when a) Kosta Stratomitros was given a quarter-acre block from which to send his cross in, b) Konstantinidis was left without a marker for who knows what reason, and c) Billy knows how to head the ball well proper.
Some sympathy for the Doveton goalkeeper "Josh". He'd done his bit up until that point, closing off angles, coming off his line, and generally cleaning up our half-dangerous moments with confidence. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for us, Billy's header was too good for even the greatest of goalkeepers. Thus the singing of one of the (even by the lyricist's own admission) worst chants ever heard at a South game.
One possible VAR moment aside, Fate's cruel hand seemed to descend at the worst possible moment in the worst possible way. Promising right-back Ben Djiba, who had performed mostly admirably during the game, inadvertently had his arm hit by an awkwardly bouncing ball. Thankfully, Nikola Roganovic guessed the right direction and made the crucial save from the spot kick. Thereafter not even "Josh" going up for a corner could make up for that missed opportunity for the Doves, who conceded a foul on Roganovic before the corner was even taken.
Winning the game was nice, but it doesn't solve our immediate on-field problems, all of which exist in the league, and in which we haven't won a game for many weeks. Indeed, the previous game we'd won before this one was the previous cup game against Essendon Royals. Key players are out of form and who's even sure whether they're on an upward or downward trend. Ditto for certain players who have been around for a very long time.
I assumed we would get done on the night. Not because we are bad (which we mostly are) or because Doveton are good (which, as it turns out, they aren't really, or at least not as much as I expected of an undefeated team), but because that's just the way things seem to be going for us this year. And yet therein lies the possibility that we yet very well somehow fall over backwards into an FFA Cup round of 32 spot with one of our worst ever teams.
FFA Cup draw news
However, all those dreams of national cup glory will have to be set aside for the time being. We've been drawn as the home side against NPL 2 side Langwarrin. Even at Lakeside, I doubt that anyone thinks we're better than a 50/50 chance.
Next game
Altona Magic at Paisley Park on Saturday evening. In other words, today. Rug up.
Final thought
Thanks to Johnny again for another lift back to civilisation from Dandenong.
After a long, hard day's work making sure people put their votes in the correct ballot box, I walked home from work, picked up my car, drove to Nick's place to pick him up, and together we made the long trip out to Dandenong. Thankfully everything went very smoothly, no delays on the trains, and smooth connections between different transport modes. Were it ever thus.
 |
| Another day, another bit of proof of how much pompom beanies resonate with (checks non-existent commerce textbook), the consumer demographic known as "ordinary people". Photo: Luke Radziminski |
One expected Doveton to hack and slash, but perhaps not quite so early. Maybe they thought they were just being vigorous? Certainly the referees generally seemed to think so, applying a lighter touch than I would've liked. It was good (and surprising )to see Gerrie Sylaidos back on the park, because he makes a modest world of difference. Even if he tends to float in and out of games (which may be as much to do with his inexperience as it is to do with team structures), he's one of the few players who (cliché alert) seems likely to make things happen for us.
Also, opposition players seem genuinely in awe and/or afraid of him, as Australian players tend to be of any player than can dribble the ball.
The team otherwise wasn't quite at full-strength, but who even knows what that is and whether that even makes a difference. We managed to create some good chances, but mostly on tight angles which were easy enough to clean up by the Doveton defence. Doveton would seemingly make some promising forays of their own at the other end of the ground, but who's to say how close they really got when you're watching the game from 110 metres away.
At halftime several South fans congregated around a mid-sized sedan and drank moderately upmarket hot chocolate poured out of a thermos into Styrofoam cups. I apologise to the environment after the fact for not expecting the possibility of away days hot chocolate to become a reality, and forgetting all of my novelty mugs (Star Trek, Brian Griffin, South Melbourne Hellas) at home. Apart from warming the body and soul, it did remind me of the behaviour of Green Gully's elderly fans back in 2009, which is a bit sad; but the theme of South supporters aging alongside their near pension-age club is at the heart of what this blog has documented.
The second half was more of the same, us doing more of the attacking, but not being able to really create the killer chance. Enter Billy Konstantinidis and his one-man mission to relocate the club to George Andrew Reserve because "he scores at this ground". Having Billy start on the bench seemed risky considering our paucity of scoring this year, but at least this time the strategy paid off. Mind you, it helps the situation when a) Kosta Stratomitros was given a quarter-acre block from which to send his cross in, b) Konstantinidis was left without a marker for who knows what reason, and c) Billy knows how to head the ball well proper.
Some sympathy for the Doveton goalkeeper "Josh". He'd done his bit up until that point, closing off angles, coming off his line, and generally cleaning up our half-dangerous moments with confidence. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for us, Billy's header was too good for even the greatest of goalkeepers. Thus the singing of one of the (even by the lyricist's own admission) worst chants ever heard at a South game.
Foreboding mood turned into indiscriminately optimistic joy, and more stupid chants such as:🎶 You tried your best Josh, you did. You tried your best Josh, you did. You tried your best Josh, you did. Oh, Josh you tried your best! 🎶 #FFACUP— ēļřāffő (@dvrf1878) May 8, 2019
We're coming for you,And the even worse:
We're coming for you,
Darwin Olympic,
We're coming for you!
What else you gonna do,Of course all of this mirth was premature in the sense that there were still 20 minutes to go, the opposition had already managed to create some chances, and they were playing against team that somehow managed to collide into and dispossess each other, something I've otherwise only ever seen in a State League 5 game, where a mate happened to be coaching the pound-for-pound worst team I've ever seen.
On a Wednesday night?
Darwin away!
Darwin away!
Darwin away!
One possible VAR moment aside, Fate's cruel hand seemed to descend at the worst possible moment in the worst possible way. Promising right-back Ben Djiba, who had performed mostly admirably during the game, inadvertently had his arm hit by an awkwardly bouncing ball. Thankfully, Nikola Roganovic guessed the right direction and made the crucial save from the spot kick. Thereafter not even "Josh" going up for a corner could make up for that missed opportunity for the Doves, who conceded a foul on Roganovic before the corner was even taken.
Winning the game was nice, but it doesn't solve our immediate on-field problems, all of which exist in the league, and in which we haven't won a game for many weeks. Indeed, the previous game we'd won before this one was the previous cup game against Essendon Royals. Key players are out of form and who's even sure whether they're on an upward or downward trend. Ditto for certain players who have been around for a very long time.
I assumed we would get done on the night. Not because we are bad (which we mostly are) or because Doveton are good (which, as it turns out, they aren't really, or at least not as much as I expected of an undefeated team), but because that's just the way things seem to be going for us this year. And yet therein lies the possibility that we yet very well somehow fall over backwards into an FFA Cup round of 32 spot with one of our worst ever teams.
However, all those dreams of national cup glory will have to be set aside for the time being. We've been drawn as the home side against NPL 2 side Langwarrin. Even at Lakeside, I doubt that anyone thinks we're better than a 50/50 chance.
Next game
Altona Magic at Paisley Park on Saturday evening. In other words, today. Rug up.
Final thought
Thanks to Johnny again for another lift back to civilisation from Dandenong.
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
South of the Border awards 2018
As usual, I put in zero effort with these.
Player of the year: Leigh Minopoulos. I was going to give it to Oliver Minatel for his novelty goals and shift into defensive midfield which yielded temporary positive results. Then I was going to give it to Marcus Schroen for being a sort of mid-season boom recruit. But I give the award this year to the guy who showed the biggest heart throughout the whole of the season.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Ben Djiba. It's a shallow pool, again. Though there were numerous young players dropped into the side during the year, and most of them showed something, there were few if any who were given extended time invthe seniro side. But among those who were used, none was thrown into the deep end quite like Ben Djiba, and I give him credit for this - he coughed up the goal in the first ten minutes against Port, but he was nowhere near our worst player on that day, and went on to settle and look like maybe belonged on that field.
Goal of the year: Four way tie between the three goals Kingston scored against Gully in round 26, or Pascoe Vale's equaliser against Hume in the same round.
Best performance: Dandenong Thunder away. Downshill skiing? Maybe, but it was 9-0 and utter domination from start to finish.
Best away game of the year: Bentleigh away. Positive attitude, positive result.
Call of the year: "We should let Sasa coach the first half of games, and CT the second". It almost seems quaint now, but it showed that the team wasn't completely trash.
Chant of the year: I really shouldn't pick any of the perennials for this, but "sack the board" became the standout. Apologies to "Sideshow Bob / Kill Bart", and "call it off!".
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: Even though the MSG lobby says there's no scientific evidence that their product causes the headaches that MSG is rumoured to do, I got a massive headache the day after eating at some Laotian joint whose meal was otherwise very good. So the prize goes to some Afghan chicken place in Dandenong.
Friends we lost along the way: A South Melbourne umbrella. Table service in the social club. Dignity.
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: South supporters reputedly betting successfully against their own team, exploiting outrageously mistaken odds in order to help fund their own world cup trips.
Player of the year: Leigh Minopoulos. I was going to give it to Oliver Minatel for his novelty goals and shift into defensive midfield which yielded temporary positive results. Then I was going to give it to Marcus Schroen for being a sort of mid-season boom recruit. But I give the award this year to the guy who showed the biggest heart throughout the whole of the season.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Ben Djiba. It's a shallow pool, again. Though there were numerous young players dropped into the side during the year, and most of them showed something, there were few if any who were given extended time invthe seniro side. But among those who were used, none was thrown into the deep end quite like Ben Djiba, and I give him credit for this - he coughed up the goal in the first ten minutes against Port, but he was nowhere near our worst player on that day, and went on to settle and look like maybe belonged on that field.
Goal of the year: Four way tie between the three goals Kingston scored against Gully in round 26, or Pascoe Vale's equaliser against Hume in the same round.
Best performance: Dandenong Thunder away. Downshill skiing? Maybe, but it was 9-0 and utter domination from start to finish.
Best away game of the year: Bentleigh away. Positive attitude, positive result.
Call of the year: "We should let Sasa coach the first half of games, and CT the second". It almost seems quaint now, but it showed that the team wasn't completely trash.
Chant of the year: I really shouldn't pick any of the perennials for this, but "sack the board" became the standout. Apologies to "Sideshow Bob / Kill Bart", and "call it off!".
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: Even though the MSG lobby says there's no scientific evidence that their product causes the headaches that MSG is rumoured to do, I got a massive headache the day after eating at some Laotian joint whose meal was otherwise very good. So the prize goes to some Afghan chicken place in Dandenong.
Friends we lost along the way: A South Melbourne umbrella. Table service in the social club. Dignity.
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: South supporters reputedly betting successfully against their own team, exploiting outrageously mistaken odds in order to help fund their own world cup trips.
Tuesday, 24 July 2018
Luck's a fortune - South Melbourne 2 Hume City 1
We had our bit of luck the other week against Bentleigh, the but the good fortune was coming out of our ears on Sunday. Of course it didn't quite seem like that at first what with not having turned up for the first half or hour or so, and giving away what looked like either a very soft or very avoidable penalty in just the kind of position where there's no life or death need to do so.
But then we managed to wake up a bit and for the last 15 minutes of the first half at least we created some chances and such. Still, Pep Marafioti's goal, while admittedly well placed, relied as much upon the good fortune that such flick headers rely on, as well Hume keeper Michael Weier getting himself into a bit of a tangle trying to figure out which direction he was meant to be heading in. It was probably a touch fortunate as well that Leigh Minopoulos wasn't called for offside at the point Marafioti headed the ball. Maybe the linesman didn't see it, maybe he didn't think Minopoulos was interfering, either way it counted, and we were in with a chance of doing something we'd not done yet in 2018: win a game after going a goal behind.
Speaking of real and imagined offsides, the first half had what looked like two of the worst offside calls I've ever seen, one where Minopoulos was called offside when he was about three of metres onside, and one where he was called onside despite being two metres on the wrong side of the ledger. Anyway, such is life, but geez they looked like terrible calls at the time.
Now some people are saying that that 15 minute patch in the first half was all the quality that we were really able to produce during the game, but I think that's a bit harsh myself. I agree that we were outplayed, but I don't agree with the idea that we did nothing at all in the second half. Having said that, throughout the game Hume squandered about four or five clear cut chances that should've consigned us a to a loss. Our defending was not up to scratch, in particular knowing when to press, and even more in particular being able to track the runs off the ball that Hume's attacking players were making. They were excellent on that front, perhaps the best of any team I've seen this season, but unfortunately for them, they didn't have a striker up front to make the most of any of the chances they created. Nikola Roganovic didn't have to make a save off any of them, so wayward were Hume's shots on goal from otherwise point-blank range.
While we were bumbling about when in defence and sending balls forward trying to find a goal, we made a whole bunch of subs, one of which included a tanned Milos Lujic. Standing next to me, Dave - who is becoming quite the terrace wit of late - posited that it would be about 33 seconds before Milos took a dive. Well, Dave's estimation was about 15 seconds too generous. Now, maybe when the replay comes out, the EPL assistant calibre English referee here to teach us many things will be proven right and that Milos was indeed bundled over illegally by a Hume defender. Anyway, Milos stepped up and scored it, we survived the remaining 20 odd minutes one way or another, and got three very valuable points. It wasn't particularly convincing, but so what? We're getting back toward having all of our senior players available, and the team more often than not now looks up for the fight.
Next game
Heidelberg United at home on Sunday afternoon. The men's match will be preceded by the NPLW senior match, also a South Melbourne vs Heidelberg affair. How convenient is that? The women's game kicks off at 1:30.
Tribunal shenanigans
So apparently we are going to the tribunal after all for that brawl against Northcote. I'm told it's not because Northcote pushed for it, and it's not based on any extant footage, so who knows what the hearing is going to be based on.
Bad taste chants
Bad George, bad George, what you gonna do?
What you gonna do, when he stomps on you?
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| I'm happy to lay off my persistent desire for a pom-pom South Melbourne Hellas beanie, if we can get branded accountant visors instead. Surely South has enough accountants on the board and in the stands to make this worthwhile. |
In regards to our chances of survival, the past week was a bit of a mixed bag. First, the good. Just in case you skipped ahead to this section: we won! And we beat a fellow relegation battler! That's three points we've got that they don't, and thus three points ahead of Hume with a much better goal difference. The other good news is that Bulleen lost, meaning that we are now ten points and significant goal difference ahead of the last placed Lions. Realistically, with five games to go, they ain't catching us.
In slightly less good news, Kingston beat Northcote last night in a match we would've preferred had ended up in a draw. That result means that Northcote are now in second last, seven points behind us, and again with a significantly inferior goal difference compared to us. You can't write them off though - after all, they have Bulleen yet to play - but you'd rather be where we are than where they are. Sadly, because Kingston got the win, they're still only four points behind us, making the game between us in a few weeks even more important.
Throwing a curve-ball into the works of all things relegation is the steep decline of Green Gully over the past two and a bit months. Our recent good run of results - ten points from a possible twelve over the past four weeks - means we have overtaken Gully, whom we play in a couple of weeks, on goal difference. Gully also have Hume and Kingston to play in their remaining games, completely upturning whatever half-arsed musings I made on this relegation situation a couple of weeks ago.
For those of us more inclined to be of a positive frame of mind - and let me make it clear that I am not one of you - our good run of form, if you want to call it that, has seen us keep up with the top six, maintaining the four point gap between ourselves and the current sixth placed side, which is Melbourne Knights. But that's for others to dream about. I'm only so bold as to say that we won't finish last, that we probably won't finish second last, and everything after that in this horror show of a season is a bonus. Quite obviously, we are not safe yet.
Vale Jim Postecoglou
Sad news this week that Ange Postecoglou's father has passed away. Ange has written a moving piece on what his father meant to him, which is well worth the read. The details for the funeral are below.
A-League meetingOn behalf of the Postecoglou family, we would like to thank you for all of the messages of support for Ange. They would also like to confirm that the funeral for Jim will be held at 1.30pm on Wednesday July 25th at Box Hill Greek Orthodox Church, 1 Hopetoun Parade, Box Hill.— South Melbourne FC (@smfc) July 24, 2018
A reminder that the club is hosting an information session for members and season ticket holders this Thursday evening on the club's A-League bid. The all-you-can-eat buffet meal service will also be running, along with I assume the half-price drinks.
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| "I can't believe a convicted felon would get so many votes and another convicted felon would get so few.". |
Speaking of the A-League bid, in their clickbait wisdom the good folk of FourFourTwo conducted a poll the other week, asking their readers which of the ten remaining A-League bidders they would like to see be included as part of the A-League's imminent expansion phase. This robust and unequivocally scientific poll was narrowly won by our very own South Melbourne Hellas over the Wollongong bid, both some distance ahead of the next best Canberra bid, and all three a very long way in front of the other land and property development firms masquerading as Australian top-flight soccer operations.
Anyway this result sent some of the very small amount of people who care and put value into these things into a bit of a spin. mostly those who hate South Melbourne, ethnic soccer, etc. "The result changed once South Melbourne shared the poll on social media!". Well, what did you expect them to do, sit there and let another pointless yet easy to exploit positive media opportunity go to waste? "The poll must have been corrupted!". Well, look, you know what? It probably was. Internet polls are an enormous waste of time, not least because of their easy corruptibility. But - and here's the kicker - if that was the case, still the only people who could be bothered to corrupt the poll apparently did so in favour of South Melbourne, and probably the other two vote winning bids. Why? Because they're the only bids with enough people that care, yet.
For all the talk about groundswells of untapped interest from the more nebulously conceived consortia, the only groups who have come out in support of them are local councils and assorted state politicians, and to a lesser extent some clubs - though these last are usually grouped together in an amorphous mass. Not that any of that matters of course, because this is just a playground optics game, but my word it is fun to watch the cat among the pigeons.
Here's something a few of us - OK, maybe just me - thought might never happen. Ian Syson, one of South of the Border's dearest friends, is holding a launch party for his new book, The Game That Never Happened: The Vanishing History of Soccer in Australia. This has been a work long in the making, and we'll be talking about that a bit on the blog at some point in the near future I hope, when I do a kind of overview of what this is all about.
The details for the launch are as per the flyer on the right. Understandably, being held in the middle of the working week in the middle of the working day isn't convenient for those outside the layabout university and professional sectors, but for those who can spare the time, it'd be great to see you there. If you do intend to show up, please RSVP to the MCC Library, because they need to put your name down so that security will allow you inside the building.
The book should be available in the usual online and bricks and mortar locations. If it isn't, you can contact the publisher or distributor directly, or give me a bell and I should be able to arrange something.
Final thought
Can we sign Bolt? At least we have a running track! 😂— Foti Stavrakis (@FotiStavrakis) July 17, 2018
Monday, 16 October 2017
South of the Border Awards 2017
Player of the year: Nick Epifano. The People's Champ missed the first five games, but was one of the two catalysts - along with Michael Eagar - for our turnaround in form after the poor start to the season. His performances were more even across the season than they have been in the past, and his effort on the defensive side of the game also improved a lot. Here's hoping that this season is a launching pad to an even better season next year.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Matthew Millar. Two years in a row, thank goodness he turned 21 in August so he can't win it again next season.
Goal of the year: Milos Lujic vs Knights at home. Yes it was a great goal, an atypical one for six yard box specialist like Milos, but its timing - after a half where we'd been pretty well outplayed and should've been down 2-0 at least - adds to the magic.
Best performance: against Heidelberg at the Bubbledome. Played them off the park from beginning to end.
Best away game of the year: I didn't go, but apparently the trip to the Gold Coast was pretty wild.
Call of the year: 'Come on Laura, miss it for South!' - me, at former South player Laura Spiranovic as she was taking a penalty in the shoot-out for Geelong Galaxy in the grand final against South. Laura missed.
Chant of the year: A-League or NPL / It doesn't matter to us/ The only thing that really matters / Is South Melbourne Hellas. Honourable mentions to 'Bill Paps is on fire the truth is terrified', and,'Sing us a song you're a Hellas fan', even if only like three of us actually
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: The social club wins by default. It'll have to lift its game next year though.
Friends we lost along the way: The social club count up clock. Smfcboard.com. Paul Henning. :(
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: I mean, where do you start? Misplaced fingers? Alleged spitting? Players going on holidays during the season? The visa player who spent most of his time in the 20s? Me beating Big Griff on FIFA 15 in the social club by having some random PAOK player's shot dribble underneath Mat Ryan? My image being plastered all over Windsor station by a bunch of kids?
I could go on. But I think the award should go to the West of the Quarry Twitter account, which a few rounds into the season was having a right old laugh at our very poor start to the season, only to see the tables turned pretty quickly.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Matthew Millar. Two years in a row, thank goodness he turned 21 in August so he can't win it again next season.
Goal of the year: Milos Lujic vs Knights at home. Yes it was a great goal, an atypical one for six yard box specialist like Milos, but its timing - after a half where we'd been pretty well outplayed and should've been down 2-0 at least - adds to the magic.
Best performance: against Heidelberg at the Bubbledome. Played them off the park from beginning to end.
Best away game of the year: I didn't go, but apparently the trip to the Gold Coast was pretty wild.
Call of the year: 'Come on Laura, miss it for South!' - me, at former South player Laura Spiranovic as she was taking a penalty in the shoot-out for Geelong Galaxy in the grand final against South. Laura missed.
Chant of the year: A-League or NPL / It doesn't matter to us/ The only thing that really matters / Is South Melbourne Hellas. Honourable mentions to 'Bill Paps is on fire the truth is terrified', and,'Sing us a song you're a Hellas fan', even if only like three of us actually
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: The social club wins by default. It'll have to lift its game next year though.
Friends we lost along the way: The social club count up clock. Smfcboard.com. Paul Henning. :(
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: I mean, where do you start? Misplaced fingers? Alleged spitting? Players going on holidays during the season? The visa player who spent most of his time in the 20s? Me beating Big Griff on FIFA 15 in the social club by having some random PAOK player's shot dribble underneath Mat Ryan? My image being plastered all over Windsor station by a bunch of kids?
I could go on. But I think the award should go to the West of the Quarry Twitter account, which a few rounds into the season was having a right old laugh at our very poor start to the season, only to see the tables turned pretty quickly.
At least they admitted their mea culpa. Going to so many of their games this season was almost as enjoyable as going to our games. Too bad that it seems they've got their act together for 2018.That awkward moment when you laugh at South for being in the relegation zone a few weeks into the season.— West of the Quarry (@wotq53) May 14, 2017
Monday, 29 May 2017
Comeback (ahem) Kings - South Melbourne 2 Port Melbourne 1
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| Jesse Daley's shot flies past Port's keeper for the equaliser. Photo: Rob Cruse. |
But as for Sunday, what a pleasant late afternoon's work it was. There was a chill in the air even as the sun shone, there was a rainbow, there was a little bit of rain, and we worked our way to another win and third place on the ladder. It was great having to once again only half care about what was taking place on the field. No hype, and no glory even in victory, just like most other weeks.
If there was one lesson to be learned from our embarrassing 4-0 loss to Port earlier this season, it was 'don't let them shoot'. So of course we let them shoot, and got lucky - one shot rattled the crossbar if I remember correctly, though I could well be remembering another game - except for the one time where we weren't lucky. Did Andreas Govas' shot bounce over Nikola Roganovic's arm?
Either way, we fell behind, but did we even care? As one of the lads in the stand noted, after Wednesday, what was left for us to do? It was kind of like one of those thrill seeking adrenaline junkies that's pushed the envelope so far that it's impossible for them to get excited about anything. Nevertheless, the team worked its way into the game, working the wide positions well, which is when we're at our best under this current iteration. On a narrower ground, with an opponent more apt at closing down the passing lanes, we'd be a lot less convincing.
I'm not saying we were great, because we were not. Everyone expected that we'd be flat, and we were, except for the unsung hero of Wednesday, Jesse Daley, who was in manic form. He was everywhere, and it was through him that we got the equaliser, when he blasted his shot past the Port keeper. By this stage we had gained control of the match, and apart from some slack marking in the middle park, there should not have been to many issues with overcoming the visitors.
The second half saw Daley - who was in an especially mouthy mood - put in a number of good crosses, with one eventually being met by the head of Milos Lujic. There was a period of five or so minutes where we struggled to get the ball out of defensive third, but apart from that, Port posed little threat. Even with an assortment of Stellas coming onto the field, Port's biggest chance lay with us being stupid. Cue Tim Mala badly misreading a passage of play, and getting sent off for his troubles, as he committed a foul as the result of needing to furiously track back. At least the resulting free kick missed, and we got the chocolates..
The only downside was having to ponder the consequences of winning in this way, with yellow cards mounting up and real or imagined reinforcements still some time away.
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| *record scratch* *freeze frame* Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation, etc |
I don't know. It's supposed to be Avondale at home on Sunday afternoon, but there's all sorts of wild rumours going around about postponed matches, Brazil using Lakeside, and Dockerty Cup scheduling, that who knows what's going on. Check the official sources for any changes, but maybe wait just a bit for the Roberto Carlos circus to leave town first. If South of the Border hears anything, we'll let you know.
It can only end well
A bloke who can't coach, hired for a team that doesn't exist, for a competition that's not desperate for either. But of course if you talk like this, 'they' get upset and start murmuring things in the bowels of Lakeside, believing that you can't hear them. Guys, even if I don't type it, I'm thinking it. And even if I can't hear you say it, I can imagine it.
I mean, I've started joining in wrestling gags, and I don't even watch wrestling for crying out loud.
Chants
An unusually productive day yesterday, motivated mostly by the tenacious work of Jesse Daley and Luke 'The Luckiest Man in Show Business' Adams coming back from Bali without a tan,
- 'Bill Paps is on fire, the truth is terrified'
- 'I wish that I scored Jesse's goal / where can I score a goal like that?'
- 'Jesse talk it up, talk it up, Jesse talk it up'
- 'Where's your tan at?'
A big opportunity was missed when we failed to tie Adams' midweek absence to Schapelle Corby's return to Australia.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah (still no idea who he is) ended up signing with Brisbane Roar. What a pity.
Letter to the editor (including how to contact South of the Border)
Following on from Wednesday's win against Dandenong City, South of the Border received some welcome feedback and commentary, including a timely and appreciated reminder about choosing certain words more carefully.
[Although I was a bit taken aback by one regular reader who saw only an attempt to be a curmudgeon - which was certainly the not the point]
One of the more interesting bits of correspondence came through the comments section (though I did not publish it for reasons which shall reveal themselves), which reads as follows:
Greetings Mr Paul, wow I've just discovered your blog and love it. I read in some very early posts you sometimes ask fans to contribute articles. I would like to contribute this below if you think it is appropriate regarding Hellas’s A-League bid. Sorry for posting in this wrong area – I just didn't know how to contribute this article.
Well, of course I'm always delighted when new readers discover South of the Border, especially when it's South fans doing the discovering. And I'm even happier when they want to contribute something a bit more substantial than a comment - not that there's anything wrong with contributing solely through the comments.
As for the best way to go about contacting me, email is my preferred option - blackmissionary@hotmail.com is my address. If you want to more immediately get my attention, and you have a Twitter account, then you can find me @paulmavroudis.
Here is our new friend's submission, on the matter of the rhetorical conduct of South Melbourne's A-League bid. Keep in mind that this was sent before yesterday's shenanigans.
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| Bill Paps was off in the world of make believe again today. |
I write this piece with a heavy heart. I have been a South Melbourne Hellas supporter since I was a young child – probably like most South fans. I have experienced agony, frustration, sadness and plenty of lost sleep whenever I think about our omission from the top flight of football in Australia. I wouldn't say I am a great fan of the A-League or its structure – but I am mature enough to recognize the NSL needed to replaced. I just always thought that South would be at the forefront of soccer in Melbourne and indeed the highest competition available in Australia. I like most have waited patiently knowing that some day our time will come. Melbourne is a big city growing by 100,000 people per year and it’s inevitable that at some point a third Melbourne A-League club would be looked at. That is indisputable; at some point expansion will happen again in Melbourne. This has always provided me a glimmer of hope even in the dark times when I felt sick at the prospect we will be stuck in the wilderness forever.
I absolutely do want to acknowledge that the board of SMFC have done a terrific job re-building the club which let us never forget was on the brink of oblivion circa 2004. The stadium deal, the refurbishments, the social club are massive achievements. These are no small feats, they have secured our future. So why the heavy heart and frustration and countless nights lying awake in the middle of the night? It is because I unequivocally and firmly believe that we are squandering the best chance we will ever have to position ourselves to get back into the top flight. This shouldn't be the case but we actually are shooting ourselves in the foot and on various fronts becoming a laughing stock. Here is why:
We need to stop our arrogant approach, we need to stop the rhetoric that it is our ‘Alvaro Recoba’ divine right to be in the top flight. I would like to know from the board who thought it was a good idea to have Bill Papastergiadis head our bid and be a spokesman? Wrong choice. In all his public appearances and interviews the ridiculous comments regarding over inflated crowd figures, the whole Real Madrid ‘link’ which is misconstrued garbage and the let’s not get started on the ‘Roberto Carlos’ angle. This is all GUFF – this actually harms the credibility of our bid. I cannot overstate this.
Bill is obviously an intelligent person, great lawyer etc., but he should not be representing our hopes and aspirations. That he is the President of the Greek Community of Melbourne and the spokesman for our club does nothing whatsoever to demonstrate to the masses that we are looking for broad based appeal bid, it rather just reinforces prejudices that unfortunately the majority of people hold.
Other bids speak of how they will engage the community. Someone please, correct me if I am wrong but I have not heard from anyone associated with the bid team or the board how we will be a broad based bid – how we will attract new fans. Other bids talk about alliances with local communities, teams or football associations. But for us it’s been left to assume that the ‘thousands’ of poulimenoi will come back to follow us. Wrong, wrong, wrong! If this is our great hope – we are gone.
The other angle I wish to tackle is our relationship with the FFA and indeed what the A-League is and represents. Key people from our club and some supporters continually diss the FFA and the A-League. Geez! Where is our diplomacy? Does anyone think this approach will actually bring a groundswell of support to our bid? Do we actually think it is a great idea to have Tom Kalas being pivotal in forming and becoming a spokesman for the AAFC? Agitating change, sniping comments against the FFA but then at the same time asking to be considered for an A-League license? Again – no diplomacy at all. Where is our humility?
I will end here with a comparison to other A-League hopefuls. This quote from Robert Cavallucci of FC Brisbane City A-League aspirant is a pearler and sums up perfectly all that is wrong with our bid team strategy:
If you've got a commercial argument, if you've got a football argument for what you’re doing, stop doing it by antagonising and picking a fight with FFA. Through positive presentation of who you are, demonstrate to the football community, the A-League clubs, the governing body, why you deserve to be there.Bang! Spot on! Let’s repeat this and shout it from the rooftops to our bid team, Mr President Leo Athanasakis, some board members and some of our social media fans. Please say after me: “stop doing it by antagonising and picking a fight with FFA”. And again: “stop doing it by antagonising and picking a fight with FFA”. Through positive presentation of who you are, demonstrate to the football community, the A-League clubs, the governing body, why you deserve to be there.
In concluding, I would please urge our board and the bid team to reconsider our approach. This might be our last shot for a very long time. Do what is right, be humble, focus on what we bring to the table and demonstrate how we can attract new fans. Make it a football bid – not just a selfish we deserve to be there SMFC centric bid.
Regards, T. Arvanitis, Murrumbeena, VIC
Around the grounds
$7 for a souv means $3 for the raffle
Standing in a particular position at McIvor Reserve on Saturday afternoon, it looked like there were twice as many people at Yarraville vs Altona East than there actually were. But enough about metrics. Both teams have had their difficulties in 2017, but there's struggling and then there's struggling, if you catch my drift. The team that was struggling less scored within the first few minutes, scored a penalty at the end, and were rarely troubled by Altona East in between those events. I don't remember Tommi Tommich, who was in goal for Yarraville, having to make much more than a solitary save.
Final thought
Very saddened to hear of the passing of former Heidelberg player and president Jim Mangopoulos. Back in the 1990s in his guise as a lawyer, he represented my folks in a civil case when so many others refused - and got them a result of sorts. It was an incredibly stressful time for us - his support was and remains appreciated by my family. Sincerest condolences to his friends and family, and to all at Heidelberg Alexander.
Friday, 28 April 2017
Four-Six-Zero - South Melbourne 2 Box Hill United 1
If you wanted to take a glimpse into what it would be like to watch South Melbourne 2017 (or 2016, or 2015) sans its only two forwards of any note, this was the game to be at.
There was no Milos Lujic (death in the family), no Leigh Minopoulos (injury/soreness) and thus there were no recognised strikers on the field for us. I guess you could say Marcus Schroen and the bullocking Matthew Millar were as close as we got on that front. Liam McCormick got a start; Matthew Foschini played at right back instead of Tim Mala; Jesse Daley got a start, as did Luke Pavlou. Carl Piergianni replaced Luke Adams.
So while we were in some ways undermanned, we were not so drastically undermanned as to be able to use it as an excuse had we lost. After all, Box Hill is bottom of their division, haven't won a league game for ages and is struggling to score goals. But as is the nature of the cup, they came out to play, and did about as well as you could have expected them to have done.
That didn't mean we didn't have a bucket load of chances to score, in a game where if nothing else the lack of usual and very traditional target man meant that our attacks were more ground based and variable in direction, and dare I say it, even a bit faster than usual.
The finishing let us down, but that wasn't necessarily down to the people taking the shots not being forwards - any forward or midfielder should have done better from many of those situations. One sequence of play saw players line up across the six yard box and repeatedly knock the ball across instead of shooting. Matthew Millar shot when he should have passed and passed when he should have shot. Jesse Daley kept lining up the keeper with timid shots.
In that sense it would be misleading to see Nick Epifano's goal as unjust, even if it was unorthodox and unexpected - an over-hit in-swinging cross from out wide over the top of the keeper. Even Marcus Schroen's winner, while well taken, depended on the goalkeeper going to ground instead of holding his position.
Box Hill's goal depended on a quarter-arsed effort in midifield from the People's Champ, some tidy work up the line from the visitors, and abysmal marking in the six yard box. A near miss from a free kick fooled quite a few people - both South and non-South. And we were lucky that Nikola Roganovic remained alert, as he pulled off a good diving save to keep the game from going to extra time.
But that shot was from range, and while we can give credit to Box Hill for fighting until the end, there was a clear difference in class between the two sides and in the overall calibre of the chances created. Many of us wondered why coach Taylor did not make any more subs than he did, especially in injury time - and where did the ref find four minutes of injury time in this game? - if not for tactical reasons than to at least waste time. Perhaps we'll never know.
Nevertheless, when all is said and done it could have ended up a lot worse, as it did for certain other NPL teams on the night. Melbourne Knights lost to Dandenong City (not so much an upset, but still funny because it wasn't us) and Oakleigh being humiliated 4-2 by a Moreland City containing that lovable cripple Trent Rixon, who managed to score a double and do that stupid fish flop celebration.
Just be glad that we got through, unimpressive as it was in times. Be glad that we can disappoint again, perhaps more certainly, in the next round, when we'll probably and belatedly get matched up against a team of merit.
Next game
At home to Pascoe Vale (currently a game ahead of us) on Sunday arvo. It's another double header, with our third placed women's team who are playing the ladder leading Geelong.
Sing us a song, you're a Hellas fan
Some new chants made the rounds, one to the tune of Billy Joel's 'Piano Man', the other pleading for Taylor to make a sub to the tune of B52s' 'Love Shack'. I didn't mind either of them. Disappointing that the rendition of the Chariots of Fire theme didn't take off as much as it should have.
Midweek social club musings
More changes to the menu. Open souvs, a reduction in the range of burgers, and more of a Greek flavour to parts of the menu. I have the feeling that we're close to a more final version of the menu.
Back on the horse (match programmes and such)
Many promises have been made by me on this front, almost all of them broken. But we are trying to make amends.
Final thought
There was no good reason for this coming out this delayed.
There was no Milos Lujic (death in the family), no Leigh Minopoulos (injury/soreness) and thus there were no recognised strikers on the field for us. I guess you could say Marcus Schroen and the bullocking Matthew Millar were as close as we got on that front. Liam McCormick got a start; Matthew Foschini played at right back instead of Tim Mala; Jesse Daley got a start, as did Luke Pavlou. Carl Piergianni replaced Luke Adams.
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| Who am I to judge someone's reasons for being on Twitter? |
That didn't mean we didn't have a bucket load of chances to score, in a game where if nothing else the lack of usual and very traditional target man meant that our attacks were more ground based and variable in direction, and dare I say it, even a bit faster than usual.
The finishing let us down, but that wasn't necessarily down to the people taking the shots not being forwards - any forward or midfielder should have done better from many of those situations. One sequence of play saw players line up across the six yard box and repeatedly knock the ball across instead of shooting. Matthew Millar shot when he should have passed and passed when he should have shot. Jesse Daley kept lining up the keeper with timid shots.
In that sense it would be misleading to see Nick Epifano's goal as unjust, even if it was unorthodox and unexpected - an over-hit in-swinging cross from out wide over the top of the keeper. Even Marcus Schroen's winner, while well taken, depended on the goalkeeper going to ground instead of holding his position.
Box Hill's goal depended on a quarter-arsed effort in midifield from the People's Champ, some tidy work up the line from the visitors, and abysmal marking in the six yard box. A near miss from a free kick fooled quite a few people - both South and non-South. And we were lucky that Nikola Roganovic remained alert, as he pulled off a good diving save to keep the game from going to extra time.
But that shot was from range, and while we can give credit to Box Hill for fighting until the end, there was a clear difference in class between the two sides and in the overall calibre of the chances created. Many of us wondered why coach Taylor did not make any more subs than he did, especially in injury time - and where did the ref find four minutes of injury time in this game? - if not for tactical reasons than to at least waste time. Perhaps we'll never know.
Nevertheless, when all is said and done it could have ended up a lot worse, as it did for certain other NPL teams on the night. Melbourne Knights lost to Dandenong City (not so much an upset, but still funny because it wasn't us) and Oakleigh being humiliated 4-2 by a Moreland City containing that lovable cripple Trent Rixon, who managed to score a double and do that stupid fish flop celebration.
Just be glad that we got through, unimpressive as it was in times. Be glad that we can disappoint again, perhaps more certainly, in the next round, when we'll probably and belatedly get matched up against a team of merit.
Next game
At home to Pascoe Vale (currently a game ahead of us) on Sunday arvo. It's another double header, with our third placed women's team who are playing the ladder leading Geelong.
Sing us a song, you're a Hellas fan
Some new chants made the rounds, one to the tune of Billy Joel's 'Piano Man', the other pleading for Taylor to make a sub to the tune of B52s' 'Love Shack'. I didn't mind either of them. Disappointing that the rendition of the Chariots of Fire theme didn't take off as much as it should have.
Midweek social club musings
More changes to the menu. Open souvs, a reduction in the range of burgers, and more of a Greek flavour to parts of the menu. I have the feeling that we're close to a more final version of the menu.
Back on the horse (match programmes and such)
Many promises have been made by me on this front, almost all of them broken. But we are trying to make amends.
- 1978 Newcastle KB
- 1980 Brisbane City
- 1996 VSF annual report
- The Little Professor of Soccer - Leo Baumgartner
Final thought
There was no good reason for this coming out this delayed.
Monday, 13 March 2017
Small sample size - St Albans 0 South Melbourne 2
The tight confines of Churchill Reserve, an effect amplified by the high fences around the ground, give a side out of form - and especially players not willing to go all in - little room to hide.
There's not much room to hide for spectators either, with the sun beating down, and a mixture of complicated sight-lines forcing people into the sun there were some novel improvisations - one old bloke who I assume had forgotten his hat took to grabbing a fallen branch with some leaves to shield his eyes from the sun.
(Being on the other side of the media gantry of a group of vocal Dinamo fans who ran the gauntlet between performing a chant to the tune of Kelis' 'Milkshake', to the desperately old and unbelievably and exponentially awful 'I'd rather be an Abo than a Greek', was also aesthetically and morally unpleasant. At least their heckling of Chris Taylor overshadowed most of what could have been mustered up South's fans.)
The last time St Albans were in the Victorian top flight was 2011 - and having just been promoted, they went straight down. In that sense they were both the best and worst opponent we could have faced given our current predicament. At least we got them early before the ground got chewed up by overuse. Apart from some timid attempts on goal, South at least came out in a determined fashion, bossing the majority of the game against a side already likely to go down.
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| St Albans goalkeeper Chris May cuts a forlorn figure as South Melbourne celebrate Milos Lujic's goal. Photo: Cindy Nitsos. |
Former skipper Michael Eagar had his kit with him, but did not start, with the coaches preferring to keep Luke Adams and Carl Piergianni as the central defensive pairing. More importantly, Kristian Konstantinidis started the game, replacing Tim Mala at right back. Konstantinidis may have started more games this year - or at least, one would have hoped he would have - were it not for him missing a large chunk of the pre-season because of an overseas holiday. His inclusion yesterday provided a bigger and faster option at right back, as well as a welcome attacking option on the right hand side.
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| Jesse Daley, making his first start for South Melbourne, had an impressive match on the right side of midfield. Photo: Cindy Nitsos. |
Leigh Minopoulos was quiet in the first half - though to be fair, the ball did not often go out to the left during the first 45 minutes - but came into his own during the second period, being dangerous along both the wing and along the byline. And although some of Leigh's shots were poorly directed, he managed to ice the game with a stunning long range goal.
It was pleasing that one of our players not only found enough space outside the box to take a shot, but actually followed through with it. The quality of the finish (keeping in mind that Leigh is the only South player to score from open play this season; yes, yes, small sample size) overshadowed some of the poor finishing during the rest of the day.VIDEO // Check out this long-range belter by @LeighMinopoulos against St @albans_st today! #PS4NPLVIC #SMFC17 pic.twitter.com/Xd2NRLfTFE— South Melbourne FC (@smfc) March 12, 2017
It would have been nice had that goal been scored ten or twenty minutes earlier, which would have eased the nerves a bit and prevented our supporters suffering irreversible heart damage. I suppose we should be grateful we got it anyway. In any event, no one's getting carried with a win like that, against the only team that was lower on the table than us. St Albans struggled for most of the game, and look like they're going to struggle for the rest of the season especially away from the tight confines of Churchill Reserve. It's a good thing that St Albans butchered two golden chances either side of our goal in the first half - a better team (not us, at least not at the moment) would have put those chances away, and the game would have been different. Otherwise, Dinamo rarely threatened.
There are still concerns for us. Through passes were often over hit, as they have been for most of the season thus far. Even given the smaller dimensions of the ground, those adjustments weren't made - though to be fair, we seemed more daring and accurate when sending long balls to Lujic. There were times, too, where we lost our shape and composure in midfield for periods of time that were quite noticeable. There were still too many instances where poor communication saw clearances - both on the ground and in the air - made in such a rush that possession was gifted back to the opposition.
We got more numbers in the box than we have most of this season, but still too often Lujic would have to wait for support to arrive. Lujic's finishing is off, but he did well to win the penalty. Some or even all of these issues are par for the course at this level, but the point is to cut down on them as much as possible. While there were two or three standouts on the day, most of the rest of the team can't be said to have reached any great heights. A late collision with a St Albans player saw Nikola Roganovic on the ground for a long a period of time, but he played out the match.
I'm not prepared to throw these three points back into the ocean, mind you. It was a win that couldn't have come any sooner for us.
Next game
We enter the FFA Cup this week. We have been drawn against NPL 2 side Eastern Lions. The game has been scheduled for this Saturday as:
Saturday 18th March, 4:00PM, South Melbourne vs Eastern Lions, John Cain Memorial Park, ThornburyIt is part of a double-header which includes Northcote City vs North geelong kicking off at 1:00PM.
Some people are discussing whether those who have purchased memberships will be allowed free entry. My information is that while we are the nominal 'home' team for our fixture, as it not a home controlled fixture at Lakeside, a South membership will not get you free entry into this game.
Ticket prices for this round of the cup are set at a maximum of $8 for adults.
This week's game will be also be streamed live on Facebook by the club.
Social club update
Things seem to be progressing at a fair clip now.
On the other hand...Not long to go now :) @smfc pic.twitter.com/HQqUKvXrBi— Tony Margaritis (@sthmel) March 10, 2017
While we're on the road for seven consecutive weeks (and probably eight with the cup match) to start the season, the AFL gets to use Lakeside to continue trialling its bollocks short format AFLX concept.
Even taking everything else into account (grand prix, possible desire to make full use of completed social club), it's not a good look.Did you allow this @smfc? pic.twitter.com/9qmUiJj22Z— Savvas Tzionis (@Savvastzionis) March 11, 2017
Caption Competition
If any reader can come up with a better caption than West of the Quarry's effort, I will purchase them a drink of their choice at our next game.
Do they do that every week?When your 'push' for the A-league goes that little bit too far.. pic.twitter.com/LBAPWvDN7f— West of the Quarry (@wotq53) March 13, 2017
I wonder - do non-Greek teams in Victoria pull out the lamb gyro every week, or do they save that up for visits by Greek teams? I might have to do a more scientific study of this, but it does seem to be the case.
Nonsense verbalised thought bubble of the week
When players are obviously not communicating properly on the field, the call will invetiably come from the coaches and supporters yelling 'TALK!'. I know I've done it. But is talking enough? Would it be better to yell 'CONVERSE!'? Isn't what we're really asking for a 'MEANINGFUL EXCHANGE OF COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS, AND THE APPLICATION OF THOSE IDEAS INTO EFFECTIVE PRAXIS!'? Frankly speaking, I'm not sure talking is enough.
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| The women's NPL team made it two wins in a row, coming from behind to beat Calder United 4-2 out at Keilor. I really should have gone to this match instead of the Altona East game. Photo: Cindy Nitsos. |
The search for the mysterious Spicemarket goes on
Tossing up between watching the South women and a trip out to Paisley Park, I chose the latter. Ah, regrets. The fixture was an FFA Cup tie between Altona East and Rosebud Heart. The game was held on Altona Magic's side of Paisley Park, because East's side has had its surface relaid, and a new fence installed. This was not much of a game - Rosebud (newly promoted to State League 4) ran out of gas after twenty minutes, and East (grimly hanging on to life in State League 1) are dreadful. It took East until early in second half to score (a shot rebounding off the post into the path of a striker facing an open net), not that they looked much like scoring before that. When East got their second (shallow cross to the near post headed in a by diving player), I thought that would open the floodgates. It didn't. Rosebud managed pulled a goal back with about five to play (lobbed shot over stranded keeper), but couldn't muster enough energy to pull another one back. So in summary, East for relegation for sure unless something amazing happens - which could be as simple as Bendigo coming last in NPL2, their senior team folding, and therefore whoever finishes second last in State League 1 North-West might get a lifeline. How's that for optimism?
Final thought
After all that, we're still in the relegation zone, by virtue of being in the playoff spot.
Sunday, 5 March 2017
Disgusting - Heidelberg United 1 South Melbourne 0
That performance was disgusting. Second efforts poor. Second to the ball so often it made a mockery of our midfield made up grinders, there to break play up. Worst were the comical errors. Misplaced through ball after misplaced through ball. Letting Harry Noon free on the edge of the box at least four times from set pieces in the second half alone. Letting players cut in to shoot, instead of forcing them wide.
After not scoring for two weeks, and after getting just one point from our opening three games, we were promised at least the consideration of tactical and personnel changes. The personnel changes amounted to Matthew Foschini returning to the squad after missing last week's loss against Avondale due to an interstate wedding, with Nick Epifano making away after being suspended for five games for spitting at a Bentleigh player during the Community Shield game. Meanwhile the tactical changes seemed to deviate from our long term plan of lobbing it to Lujic, changing it yesterday to just lobbing it anywhere.
While not nearly as dire as last week, the first half wasn't much to write home about for both teams. We occasionally looked better than we had at any moment since the first half of round 1, but we really only created something of note after a late half wrestling bout between Milos Lujic and Heidelberg goalkeeper Chris Theodoris-Petropoulos. Having said that, Heidelberg looked the likelier to score in a game that was threatening to veer out of control because of the obvious spite between the two teams, and the officials refusing to clamp down on the nonsense early enough. If there was some hope based on the way that we ran out the first half that we could get a result here, it was snuffed out very quickly when a much improved Heidelberg came out for the second half, and we could at best offer only meek resistance.
Nikola Roganovic was clearly our best - he stopped the score ballooning out to something where Heidelberg's second half superiority in particular would have been reflected on the scoreboard. Without due cover when going forward, and without the relationship forged with Epifano, Brad Norton is neither as effective as he should be, nor as we know he can be. The central pairing of Luke Adams and Carl Piergianni did well in the air, but were burnt repeatedly on the ground by Kenny Athiu. Piergianni especially is a problematic case - he has clear talent, being a strong aerial presence at both ends of the ground, but his lack of pace has been a concern from the start.
Tim Mala's attacking capabilities, never stellar, have become reduced to taking throw ins in the attacking half. Matthew Millar needs to get over his alleged revilement of playing as a full-back, because as a midfielder he has been well below the standard expected, even last year. The signing of Liam McCormick has been bothering me from the beginning - by any way of looking at it, it was a strange signing. He did not create any impression during the pre-season, and so far during the season proper, apart from obviously contributing a certain amount of hardness, has added little quality wise.
Luke Pavlou and Matthew Foschini are there to work the midfield grind, but when the 'creative' players go missing, they have failed to add their own attacking capability. To that end, I have been very disappointed by Marcus Schroen so far in 2017 - considering how he finished off 2016, and the way he played during the pre-season, he has been depressingly ineffective. Milos Lujic's body language is as petulant as ever, but there's little else he can do - there is so little support for him from the midfield, and the delivery to him has been so poor, and the marking so tight, that Plan A is more than just on the ropes.
Leigh Minopoulos, so often the man counted upon by South supporters and perhaps the coaches to turn a game, especially off the bench, looked as lost as anyone when he came on. He had little effect on the game - though he was in good company on that front - but often wandered around the right hand side seemingly unsure of where he was meant to be. Jesse Daley came on even later than he did last week, and put in a good corner. There's a few supporters hoping, perhaps even demanding, that he be a key part of the revival, believing that his quality corner taking (from an admittedly minuscule sample size), and their desire for a Number 10, can be answered by Daley.
I'm not averse to that theory, if the thinking behind it is that Daley can perform the role that Matthew Theodore used to provide. Meanwhile, Andy Kecojevic, who could conceivably also play a similar role, continues to rot on the bench. Whatever one's thoughts are on whether Andy is a good prospect or not, surely it's time to either play him or let him go.
If all this sounds too negative, then the flip-side to that is that most of this team is still made up of players that (somehow) got us up to third place last year (look it up, it happened), and a grand final win. Some have pointed the finger at a good run at the end of 2016 saving face for all concerned, but even at our lowest ebb last year we never looked this bad for this many weeks in a row. I mean three scoreless league games in a row, which hasn't happened since...
Rounds 9-11, 2011
A quick scan suggests until this scoring drought, this was the last time South went three leagues games without scoring. During that run we had a 5-0 loss at Hume where everything went wrong, a depleted squad securing a fortunate 0-0 draw against Thunder, and the same depleted squad copping a 5-0 hammering against Northcote. I'm obviously disregarding the 14-0 romp against Yarraville in the Cup, which fell in amid that dismal league run.
Let's keep this sophisticated
I can't and don't condone everything our supporters say, but they are entitled to be frustrated and angry with how the team is playing at the moment. If some of our players are upset by this fact, rather than the specific content of a hostile comment - and I don't recall anything particularly stupid/offensive uttered last night - then they're at the wrong club.
Having said that, it's hardly an edifying experience to see players and supporters hurling abuse at each other. At least yesterday this was done at the comical distance of about 100 metres between the main parties. It will be much worse if the same happens at next week's venue.
Next game
A bottom of the table battle against St Albans at Churchill Reserve. They're not doing well, but at least they've managed to score more recently than we have.
Unsolved Mysteries
Does anyone know why the kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes? There was no massive line outside waiting to get in - actually the crowd was kind of rubbish. And not that I'm blaming the kickoff delay for us losing, because we managed that well enough on our own thank you very much, but not telling the relevant South people that there had been a delay until very late in the piece is pretty dodgy.
People's Champ suspended for five games
As noted above, Nick Epifano has been suspended for five games after being found guilty of spitting by the tribunal during the week. It is my understanding that the club is planning an appeal.
Chants
'Let's practice set pieces'. Also assorted nonsense directed at the fourth official who couldn't decide whether he wanted to put a jacket on or not.
Well done...
To the Women's NPL team for picking up their first win of the season, a 2-0 result against Heidelberg. I saw the second half of this contest, and while I can't say it was a terribly good game - the team played much better the week before, from what I gather - they did well to grind out the win in stupidly hot conditions. Melina Ayres picked up both goals, though the serial killer stare she has in the her 'animated goal video' is scary as fuck.
Well done also to the male 20 side, who have a perfect four from four record this year. Some reasonably/relatively talented players in this group, worth watching.
A-League expansion criteria delayed
When I said somewhere (fucked if I can find it now) that the expansion criteria would be delayed beyond February - an opinion I based around this December 2016 article, which had David Gallop claiming 'before July' - some South people said 'no way'.
Well, not only did FFA drop hints here and here that the criteria would be delayed - then came the kicker that by FFA's own admission that franchise model as it exists is stuffed, and that expansion even by two teams would financially cripple FFA and its A-League franchises.
So here we are. While expansion won't happen before 2018/19, which we knew anyway, have fun waiting for the criteria to come out, eventually, and for Red Bull Ballarat to be given a licence anyway.
Around the grounds
Elvis Kamsoba will destroy us, even if he does nothing else
The Melbourne Knights team that beat Bentleigh the other week must have still been waiting for a flight from Moorabbin airport, because the Knights side that turned up on Friday night for their game against Kingston City was pretty ordinary. Kingston aren't great, but they surprised me by not relying solely on counterattacks. The first half was kinda interesting, and then not. Kingston won a stone-cold, clear as day penalty early in the second half, which they converted, and survived some terrible finishing on their part, as well as a very dodgy penalty call against them - one time 'blink of an eye' South recruit Jason Hicks smashing the penalty against the post and across the face of goal. Former briefly South man Slaven Vranesevic sealed the points for the visitors with a beautiful free kick from range, which gladdened the heart of this spectator, until he remembered that a former South man had just scored a beautiful free kick from range, and South hasn't had someone who could do that with any consistency since 2011 in the form of Daniel Vasilevski - as I was reminded by still bitter Knights after the game. 2011 was such a wild year.
Final thought
If this team was built with the A-League in mind, then they must have been preparing it for a competition with no relegation.
After not scoring for two weeks, and after getting just one point from our opening three games, we were promised at least the consideration of tactical and personnel changes. The personnel changes amounted to Matthew Foschini returning to the squad after missing last week's loss against Avondale due to an interstate wedding, with Nick Epifano making away after being suspended for five games for spitting at a Bentleigh player during the Community Shield game. Meanwhile the tactical changes seemed to deviate from our long term plan of lobbing it to Lujic, changing it yesterday to just lobbing it anywhere.
While not nearly as dire as last week, the first half wasn't much to write home about for both teams. We occasionally looked better than we had at any moment since the first half of round 1, but we really only created something of note after a late half wrestling bout between Milos Lujic and Heidelberg goalkeeper Chris Theodoris-Petropoulos. Having said that, Heidelberg looked the likelier to score in a game that was threatening to veer out of control because of the obvious spite between the two teams, and the officials refusing to clamp down on the nonsense early enough. If there was some hope based on the way that we ran out the first half that we could get a result here, it was snuffed out very quickly when a much improved Heidelberg came out for the second half, and we could at best offer only meek resistance.
Nikola Roganovic was clearly our best - he stopped the score ballooning out to something where Heidelberg's second half superiority in particular would have been reflected on the scoreboard. Without due cover when going forward, and without the relationship forged with Epifano, Brad Norton is neither as effective as he should be, nor as we know he can be. The central pairing of Luke Adams and Carl Piergianni did well in the air, but were burnt repeatedly on the ground by Kenny Athiu. Piergianni especially is a problematic case - he has clear talent, being a strong aerial presence at both ends of the ground, but his lack of pace has been a concern from the start.
Tim Mala's attacking capabilities, never stellar, have become reduced to taking throw ins in the attacking half. Matthew Millar needs to get over his alleged revilement of playing as a full-back, because as a midfielder he has been well below the standard expected, even last year. The signing of Liam McCormick has been bothering me from the beginning - by any way of looking at it, it was a strange signing. He did not create any impression during the pre-season, and so far during the season proper, apart from obviously contributing a certain amount of hardness, has added little quality wise.
Luke Pavlou and Matthew Foschini are there to work the midfield grind, but when the 'creative' players go missing, they have failed to add their own attacking capability. To that end, I have been very disappointed by Marcus Schroen so far in 2017 - considering how he finished off 2016, and the way he played during the pre-season, he has been depressingly ineffective. Milos Lujic's body language is as petulant as ever, but there's little else he can do - there is so little support for him from the midfield, and the delivery to him has been so poor, and the marking so tight, that Plan A is more than just on the ropes.
Leigh Minopoulos, so often the man counted upon by South supporters and perhaps the coaches to turn a game, especially off the bench, looked as lost as anyone when he came on. He had little effect on the game - though he was in good company on that front - but often wandered around the right hand side seemingly unsure of where he was meant to be. Jesse Daley came on even later than he did last week, and put in a good corner. There's a few supporters hoping, perhaps even demanding, that he be a key part of the revival, believing that his quality corner taking (from an admittedly minuscule sample size), and their desire for a Number 10, can be answered by Daley.
I'm not averse to that theory, if the thinking behind it is that Daley can perform the role that Matthew Theodore used to provide. Meanwhile, Andy Kecojevic, who could conceivably also play a similar role, continues to rot on the bench. Whatever one's thoughts are on whether Andy is a good prospect or not, surely it's time to either play him or let him go.
If all this sounds too negative, then the flip-side to that is that most of this team is still made up of players that (somehow) got us up to third place last year (look it up, it happened), and a grand final win. Some have pointed the finger at a good run at the end of 2016 saving face for all concerned, but even at our lowest ebb last year we never looked this bad for this many weeks in a row. I mean three scoreless league games in a row, which hasn't happened since...
Rounds 9-11, 2011
A quick scan suggests until this scoring drought, this was the last time South went three leagues games without scoring. During that run we had a 5-0 loss at Hume where everything went wrong, a depleted squad securing a fortunate 0-0 draw against Thunder, and the same depleted squad copping a 5-0 hammering against Northcote. I'm obviously disregarding the 14-0 romp against Yarraville in the Cup, which fell in amid that dismal league run.
Let's keep this sophisticated
I can't and don't condone everything our supporters say, but they are entitled to be frustrated and angry with how the team is playing at the moment. If some of our players are upset by this fact, rather than the specific content of a hostile comment - and I don't recall anything particularly stupid/offensive uttered last night - then they're at the wrong club.
Having said that, it's hardly an edifying experience to see players and supporters hurling abuse at each other. At least yesterday this was done at the comical distance of about 100 metres between the main parties. It will be much worse if the same happens at next week's venue.
Next game
A bottom of the table battle against St Albans at Churchill Reserve. They're not doing well, but at least they've managed to score more recently than we have.
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| Robert Stack was the stuff of 90s kid nightmares. Then you saw him do a cameo on BASEketball and everything was cool. |
Does anyone know why the kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes? There was no massive line outside waiting to get in - actually the crowd was kind of rubbish. And not that I'm blaming the kickoff delay for us losing, because we managed that well enough on our own thank you very much, but not telling the relevant South people that there had been a delay until very late in the piece is pretty dodgy.
People's Champ suspended for five games
As noted above, Nick Epifano has been suspended for five games after being found guilty of spitting by the tribunal during the week. It is my understanding that the club is planning an appeal.
Chants
'Let's practice set pieces'. Also assorted nonsense directed at the fourth official who couldn't decide whether he wanted to put a jacket on or not.
Well done...
To the Women's NPL team for picking up their first win of the season, a 2-0 result against Heidelberg. I saw the second half of this contest, and while I can't say it was a terribly good game - the team played much better the week before, from what I gather - they did well to grind out the win in stupidly hot conditions. Melina Ayres picked up both goals, though the serial killer stare she has in the her 'animated goal video' is scary as fuck.
Well done also to the male 20 side, who have a perfect four from four record this year. Some reasonably/relatively talented players in this group, worth watching.
A-League expansion criteria delayed
When I said somewhere (fucked if I can find it now) that the expansion criteria would be delayed beyond February - an opinion I based around this December 2016 article, which had David Gallop claiming 'before July' - some South people said 'no way'.
Well, not only did FFA drop hints here and here that the criteria would be delayed - then came the kicker that by FFA's own admission that franchise model as it exists is stuffed, and that expansion even by two teams would financially cripple FFA and its A-League franchises.
So here we are. While expansion won't happen before 2018/19, which we knew anyway, have fun waiting for the criteria to come out, eventually, and for Red Bull Ballarat to be given a licence anyway.
Around the grounds
Elvis Kamsoba will destroy us, even if he does nothing else
The Melbourne Knights team that beat Bentleigh the other week must have still been waiting for a flight from Moorabbin airport, because the Knights side that turned up on Friday night for their game against Kingston City was pretty ordinary. Kingston aren't great, but they surprised me by not relying solely on counterattacks. The first half was kinda interesting, and then not. Kingston won a stone-cold, clear as day penalty early in the second half, which they converted, and survived some terrible finishing on their part, as well as a very dodgy penalty call against them - one time 'blink of an eye' South recruit Jason Hicks smashing the penalty against the post and across the face of goal. Former briefly South man Slaven Vranesevic sealed the points for the visitors with a beautiful free kick from range, which gladdened the heart of this spectator, until he remembered that a former South man had just scored a beautiful free kick from range, and South hasn't had someone who could do that with any consistency since 2011 in the form of Daniel Vasilevski - as I was reminded by still bitter Knights after the game. 2011 was such a wild year.
Final thought
If this team was built with the A-League in mind, then they must have been preparing it for a competition with no relegation.
Sunday, 25 September 2016
South of the Border Awards 2016
Clearly I put as much thought and care into these things as I usually do.
Player of the year: Nikola Roganovic, who apart from Milos Lujic, almost singlehandedly kept us near the top of the table, and who pulled off two wonder saves in the grand final. Apologies to Milos Lujic, who would have won it any other year.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Matthew Millar. This is especially pertinent once I realised he was only 20, and not something like 23. Apologies to no one else.
Goal of the year: Iqi Jawadi away at Port Melbourne. A goal so good, it destroyed his South career. Marcus Schroen would have won it if he scored from that free kick in the grand final, or from any free kick for that matter, because no one scores from free kicks for us pretty much ever.
Best performance: Round 1, Bergers at home. Maybe I should have picked a game where we didn't win thanks in part to a red card, but good luck finding that game. Apologies to the first seventy minutes or so against Bentleigh in the league - you were scuttled by a) bad coaching and b) losing.
Best away game of the year: Victory away. 'So much to do at Cartmanland, but you can't come' and all that. Apologies to those of you who couldn't get in to that game, and for whom the best away game would probably have been the Heidelberg semi-final I suppose.
Call of the year: The Melbourne Knights fan at Somers Street who abused the officials (who got the relevant offside call and subsequent red card absolutely right, then abused MFootball's commentary team accusing them of being biased because he thought they were working for Greek radio. Apologies to myself for several witty comments made throughout the year.
Chant of the year: '6-5, on aggregate!' You shouldn't hand out such awards to yourself, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and that chant probably saved a few people from going catatonic with rage that night. Apologies to 'thanks for beating Bentleigh' from the grand final.
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: Nasi lemak at Old Town White Coffee. Apologies to the fifty bazillion Korean fried chicken places we went to. No apologies to places that sponsored the club, because you all dropped the ball at some point.
Friends we (apparently) lost along the way:Another umbrella. Maybe Skip Fulton. Possibly West of the Quarry.
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: Steve from Broady's initial itinerary for his trip to Perth to watch the Socceroos vs Iraq. Unfortunately he came to his senses and avoided creating a sequel to Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Player of the year: Nikola Roganovic, who apart from Milos Lujic, almost singlehandedly kept us near the top of the table, and who pulled off two wonder saves in the grand final. Apologies to Milos Lujic, who would have won it any other year.
Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Matthew Millar. This is especially pertinent once I realised he was only 20, and not something like 23. Apologies to no one else.
Goal of the year: Iqi Jawadi away at Port Melbourne. A goal so good, it destroyed his South career. Marcus Schroen would have won it if he scored from that free kick in the grand final, or from any free kick for that matter, because no one scores from free kicks for us pretty much ever.
Best performance: Round 1, Bergers at home. Maybe I should have picked a game where we didn't win thanks in part to a red card, but good luck finding that game. Apologies to the first seventy minutes or so against Bentleigh in the league - you were scuttled by a) bad coaching and b) losing.
Best away game of the year: Victory away. 'So much to do at Cartmanland, but you can't come' and all that. Apologies to those of you who couldn't get in to that game, and for whom the best away game would probably have been the Heidelberg semi-final I suppose.
Call of the year: The Melbourne Knights fan at Somers Street who abused the officials (who got the relevant offside call and subsequent red card absolutely right, then abused MFootball's commentary team accusing them of being biased because he thought they were working for Greek radio. Apologies to myself for several witty comments made throughout the year.
Chant of the year: '6-5, on aggregate!' You shouldn't hand out such awards to yourself, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and that chant probably saved a few people from going catatonic with rage that night. Apologies to 'thanks for beating Bentleigh' from the grand final.
Best pre-match/after match dinner location: Nasi lemak at Old Town White Coffee. Apologies to the fifty bazillion Korean fried chicken places we went to. No apologies to places that sponsored the club, because you all dropped the ball at some point.
Friends we (apparently) lost along the way:Another umbrella. Maybe Skip Fulton. Possibly West of the Quarry.
Barely related to anything stupidity highlight of the year: Steve from Broady's initial itinerary for his trip to Perth to watch the Socceroos vs Iraq. Unfortunately he came to his senses and avoided creating a sequel to Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
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