retired_karamelkel

As to prove my fears. the next five games were gut-wrenching. We couldn't buy a goal, and when we did, the opposition would score to level the game. We had four striaght draws before managing to pull out a 2-0 win at home. Remarkably, we managed to keep afloat in 5th place, mainly because we weren't losing. Our goalscoring woes were added to, when John Allen, back from a twisted knee, promptly broke his wrist and was out for six months. To add insult, the trainer examined Allen after the wrist setting and found that Allen had a groin strain that he wasn't talking about. Needless to say, Allen would need surgery for that as well and as a consquence would be out for a total of ten months. He was done until next season. That injury gave Matt Hunter the chance he'd been lloking for to crack the foreard rotation, and he scored in his season debut. However, it wasn't all negative during this time. My scouts continued to search for talent and suddenly hit a rich vein of young talented goalkeepers. Brett Taylor, a 19 yr old Aus came from Olympic Sharks in a 60 grand deal and will become the first team starter at goal. He has that kind of talent. 16 yr old GK Gary Ward was signd out of gigh school and negoiations contine with 17 yr old keeper Brett Nidi of Paramatta Eagles. Brett has world-class handling and could be a superstar in a few years. But we're having trouble signing him to a deal thank s to a penny-pinching board. To make room for the goalies and other players, two reserve keepers and Mendes werre released and three other reserve players who weren't gonnga make it, including Andy Dallas were released. This last release frees up a foreign slot on the roster. We are trying to land American Matt Anderson who is playing for an Aus. mnor league team. Anderson has the skills to step into the starting forward spot, but salary is an issue. My board semed determined to constraian the salary cap at 10 grand per player and it is costing us a chace at good talent. I intend to complain at the next board meeting and may issue an ultimatetum if they deny my request for higher wages and don't give a valid reason for the denial. if that doesn't work, then I'll leave the club and find a job elsewhere. I refuse to be hamstrung by a board without suffient reason.

retired_karamelkel

Seeing as I have nothing better to do, here's the update that takes us to the halfway point in the NSL season.

The press claimed that things couldn't get worse, but they did. The board rejected my pleas for better wages and so I issued an ulimatium. The fans, of course, supported my bid to improve the team, but the board still refused saying that they simply didn't have the money to pay players a decent salary. They did say they appreciated my work at the club and that they hopred I would stay. Mollified by the honesty and the praise, I decided to keep plugging away. Our next three games were close affairs as usual, an 0-0 draw, a 1-0 win and then, a shellacking 4-1 loss to league leaders Newcastle UFC at home. All I can say is that they played brilliantly and thier forward had a career day. To make matters worse, Matt Hunter torgn his groin muscle and would be out for three months, or basically the rest of the regular season. That meant two of the first team forwards were out...not a good thing. I'll bet the board was ruing thier decison to hold the line on salaries. On the other hand maybe we could persuade Anderson to come if we could offer a sizeable signing bonus. It was a tactic that had worked with goalie phenom Brett Nardi, who had finally agreed to come to Perth after we gave him a sizable signing bonus. In the next half of the season, we were going to have to find more ways to score goals. Otherwise, it was going to be a rough second half.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** Australian National Soccer League - Saturday 18th December 2010********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2010/1 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Newcastle UFC 13 5 0 1 15 5 6 0 1 18 8 33 2nd Brisbane Strikers 13 6 1 1 20 14 3 2 0 8 5 30 3rd Northern Spirit 13 5 2 1 15 7 4 0 1 12 4 29 4th Adelaide City 14 5 1 0 17 4 3 2 3 11 13 27 5th Kingz 14 5 1 2 17 11 1 2 3 9 10 21 6th Perth Glory 13 3 2 2 5 5 2 4 0 6 4 21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Parramatta Power 14 4 0 2 11 6 3 0 5 12 16 21 8th Marconi 14 1 5 2 9 14 3 0 3 11 11 17 9th South Melbourne 13 1 1 3 8 11 3 1 4 7 8 14 10th Olympic Sharks 12 2 1 3 6 10 1 2 3 10 13 12 11th Wollongong Wolves 12 3 1 2 8 8 0 1 5 2 13 11 12th Sydney Utd 13 0 0 5 10 16 2 3 3 13 15 9 13th Melbourne Knights 13 0 2 3 3 8 1 2 5 10 17 7 14th Canberra Cosmos 13 0 2 6 6 17 1 0 4 7 13 5 ************************************************** ********************************************** Perth Glory - Saturday 18th December 2010********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2010/1 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24 Allen, John 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Baker, Joseph - - - - - - - - ---- 3 Banks, Ryan 12 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.83 19 Bernier, Nick 9 (1) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.80 4 Bonetti, Ansah 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.25 25 Bresciano, Chris 10 3 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 1 7.00 10 Byrne, Matthew 5 (4) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.22 11 Carney, David 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.25 23 Catanzaro, Simon 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.00 15 Coffey, Sam 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 27 Dixon, Brian 8 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.78 - Donovan, Stephen - - - - - - - - ---- 13 Edwards, Adrian 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 14 Farrugia, Eddie - - - - - - - - ---- - Farrugia, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Ferguson, Joel - - - - - - - - ---- - Galea, Simon - - - - - - - - ---- 9 Hall, Con 6 (2) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.63 44 Harrison, Joel - - - - - - - - ---- 43 Hughes, Chris - - - - - - - - ---- 26 Hunter, Matt 3 (1) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 30 Jones, Cameron - - - - - - - - ---- 2 Mezzino, David 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.33 5 Milosevic, Matthew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 31 Molenda, Robbie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 40 Morrison, Shaun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 16 Moss, Simon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 32 Murphy, Phil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 12 Murphy, Tom 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 6 Murray, Mark 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.00 - Nardi, Brett 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 21 Ndah, George 4 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.83 28 O'Neill, David 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.25 20 Pir, Serdar 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 8 Robertson, Sean 10 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.83 35 Savage, Mark - - - - - - - - ---- 33 Smith, Christopher - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Starr, Frank 2 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 37 Stojcevski, Adrian 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.44 18 Sweeney, Steven 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 34 Thomas, Brett 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 29 Thomas, Graham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 22 Thompson, Adrian 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 39 Trimboli, Shane - - - - - - - - ---- - Ward, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- 1 Woods, Peter 13 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 7.08 38 Zito, Mike - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

retired_karamelkel

The next eight games had their ups and downs, but at least we were still clinging to the playoffs, having gone 4-1-3 in the games. Our goal scoring continued to be anemic, but I was working around that. The American, Matt Anderson finally agreed to come to Perth on a 10K salary, but it took a 90K signing bonus, which, of ciurse, earned him the nickname of "Bonus Baby"(Fans of American sports will get the reference) Anderson, while not scoring, has terrified goalkeepers and is creating chances for others. With that signing, I broke the bank...I had no more transfer money to spend, which meant that it was going to be difficult to resign Mark Murry, Chris Bresiano and Matt Hunter. The first two were resisting the board's attempts to cut thier salaries and there isn't any bonus money to sweeten the unpalatable contracts I can offer. Hunter, at least, has given me the terms he's willing to take, but I can't meet them. He might resign, but it's doubtful. Murry and Bresiano are lost causes, neither is willing to negoaite. To cap off the stretch..Dan carney became unglued after he played poorly in a 1-0 loss to second placed Northern Spirit. Carney lashed out at his "teammates' poor performances." I defended the team and pointed out that Carney ws the only one playing poorly. The statement earned me a commendation from the board. I then fined Carney 2 weeks pay for bad behavior and 2 more weeks pay for lousy per formance. I sent him to the reserves and to train with the goalkeepers. Needless to say he's been transfer-listed, a move greeted with enthusasim by the team, and he won't play another minute at the club.

retired_karamelkel

To our credit we sprinted the final five games as we fought to secure our playoff spot. We went 3-1-1 with the sole loss coming to Newcastle UFC, who were having a dream seaon. In the end, we finished 4th despite having the second lowest number of goals in the league. In the playoffs, we played reasonablely well, but lost to Kingz on away goals. All in all, it was a frustrating season, because everything was solid but the forwards to start the season, and then, at the end of the season, the midfield became a bit chippy. It seemed as though we were never quite put it all together. Hopefully, the offseason will bring a few new players and a bright outlook for the newxt season. Since I have now completed a full season at Perth; here are my personal team awards. (The official stuff will be covered in the offseason post)

Biggest Suprise- Ansah Bonetti- Slated as a backup at the beginning of the season, Bonetti played so well in spot appreances that he carved a place in the starting lineup three quaters of the way through the season.

Biggest disapiontment- (tie) Robbie Banks and Sean Roberson- I expected much more out of these two than I got. Check the preseason report nd the final stats to see what I mean.

Reserve Team MVP- Robbie Molenda. He blistered the reseves with 9 goals in 18 appearances and a 7.56. He'll get a shot at firest-team football next year.

Most consistant player- Mark Murry, a 7.00 rating in 27 games shows that the defender played well day in and day out.

Best Newcomer- Matt Anderson- Helped solidify a struggling forward corp.

Team MVP- Matt Byne, The forward sparked our goalscoring efforts in the second half of the season.

We wish the following players well at thier new teams next season: Murry, Pir, Tom Murphy, Bresiano, Hall and Hunter.

Thank God and Greyhound he's gone award: Carney

Final league standings and stats-

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** Australian National Soccer League - Monday 4th April 2011********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2010/1 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Q Newcastle UFC 26 10 0 3 36 19 11 1 1 33 17 64 2nd Q Northern Spirit 26 9 3 1 23 10 10 1 2 31 9 61 3rd Q Adelaide City 26 9 1 3 27 10 7 2 4 22 17 51 4th Q Perth Glory 26 8 3 2 13 6 4 5 4 14 15 44 5th Q Kingz 26 8 1 4 27 18 5 3 5 23 21 43 6th Q Parramatta Power 26 8 0 5 26 17 5 1 7 18 25 40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Brisbane Strikers 26 7 3 3 27 20 3 5 5 18 25 38 8th Olympic Sharks 26 5 3 5 22 23 6 2 5 26 27 38 9th Marconi 26 4 5 4 19 21 6 0 7 19 22 35 10th Melbourne Knights 26 5 2 6 17 18 3 3 7 15 23 29 11th South Melbourne 26 2 3 8 18 28 5 1 7 11 15 25 12th Wollongong Wolves 26 5 1 7 14 18 0 3 10 7 28 19 13th Sydney Utd 26 1 3 9 22 32 2 3 8 15 29 15 14th Canberra Cosmos 26 1 4 8 12 26 1 2 10 14 30 12 ************************************************** ********************************************** Perth Glory - Monday 18th April 2011********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2010/1 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24 Allen, John 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 17 Anderson, Matt 8 (1) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.22 - Baker, Joseph - - - - - - - - ---- 3 Banks, Ryan 17 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.82 - Barbaro, Daniel - - - - - - - - ---- 19 Bernier, Nick 15 (1) 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 6.88 4 Bonetti, Ansah 11 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 7.09 25 Bresciano, Chris 24 4 0 1 (1) 3 0 0 4 7.08 10 Byrne, Matthew 16 (4) 4 0 0 2 0 0 2 7.05 23 Catanzaro, Simon 13 (3) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.81 15 Coffey, Sam 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 27 Dixon, Brian 18 (1) 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.84 - Donovan, Stephen - - - - - - - - ---- 13 Edwards, Adrian 5 (3) 2 0 0 1 2 0 1 6.50 14 Farrugia, Eddie - - - - - - - - ---- - Farrugia, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Ferguson, Joel - - - - - - - - ---- - Galea, Simon - - - - - - - - ---- 9 Hall, Con 6 (3) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.56 44 Harrison, Joel - - - - - - - - ---- 43 Hughes, Chris - - - - - - - - ---- 26 Hunter, Matt 5 (3) 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.88 30 Jones, Cameron - - - - - - - - ---- - Josevski, Danny - - - - - - - - ---- 2 Mezzino, David 23 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.96 5 Milosevic, Matthew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 31 Molenda, Robbie 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 40 Morrison, Shaun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 16 Moss, Simon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 32 Murphy, Phil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 12 Murphy, Tom 3 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.40 6 Murray, Mark 27 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 7.00 - Nardi, Brett 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 21 Ndah, George 6 (3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.78 28 O'Neill, David 11 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.91 20 Pir, Serdar 9 (1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 8 Robertson, Sean 20 (2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.64 35 Savage, Mark - - - - - - - - ---- 33 Smith, Christopher - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Starr, Frank 5 (4) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.78 37 Stojcevski, Adrian 20 4 0 0 1 0 0 2 6.95 18 Sweeney, Steven 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.67 34 Thomas, Brett 11 (1) 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 7.33 29 Thomas, Graham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 22 Thompson, Adrian 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 39 Trimboli, Shane - - - - - - - - ---- - Ward, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- 1 Woods, Peter 17 (1) 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 38 Zito, Mike - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

retired_karamelkel

The offseson's highlights were Peter Eoods finshing third in the NSL Goalkeeper award and Matt Byrne winning the Fan's PoY. As I've mentioned before, the of-seaon in Austrailia is a long one. Therefore, I simply made my training camp longer than usual. Ever since my high school coaching days I had believed in running brutal, intense workouts for the youngsters on my teams (under 26 yrs old). Players hated my camps, but I firmly believed that it improves the kids, especially those with grit and a work ethic. The long break meant I ran my camp from mid Aprilto early Aug,,,,windsprints till four guys puke, and fundalmental drills were the order at my camp. And, for once, I had the idal coaching staff or the job, although they ween't brilliant coaches by any means, they wee all exceptional teachers of the game. With a 47 man roster that averaged a shade over 21 years of age, teaching was needed more than anything. As the winter progressed(I'm finally catching on to the season change, so I should say mu camp took place in the winter!) more and more young players arrived on scouts recommendations. In addition, Chris Bresiano, Tom Murphy and Matt Hunter all signed new contracts. To make room or the players, Ndah, Dixon and Allen were all released and Ndah and Dixon quickly found work in the English lower divisions. With the training camp done in early August, Perth Glory embarked on on a seven game tour of the islands American Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. The many games on the tour allowed me to test my reserves and see if anyone besides Molenda was ready for the big time. After the tour, we played in the Peth Cup, a small competion I set up for teams in Perth. We, of course won the cup (not to mention the tour games), but Bresiano tore his groin muscle, required surgery and his season was done before it even began. Chris Hughes, a 17 yr old Aus MC joined the first team as I prepared the squad list for the upcoming season.

retired_karamelkel

The2011/12 Perth Glory First First Team *starters at given position will be listeed first

Goalkeepers:- This may be our most improved area of the club. We now have two solid first team keeopers and two quality youngsters in the reserves.

Brett Thomas (20 Aus U21)- A 30K pickup from Oympic Sharks last season. Thomas has emerged as the number one, thanks to the fact there are no real weakness in his game.

Peter Woods(28 Aus)- A good keeper who would be starting except that he is too often out of position.

Adrian Thompson (34 Aus)- Third stringer whose primary job is to coach the youg goalkeepers.

Players to watch: Brett Nardi (18 Aus)- Tremendous young keeper with solid skills. Plenty of upside.

Defenders:- This year the question mark for the club is defense, which features two new starters in central defense.

Ryan Banks(25 Aus 1 DL)- Had a disappionting season last year. He has talent and played well in preseason, so he gets another shot.

Steven Sweeney(24 Aus DL)- solid backup

David Mezzino(24 Aus U21 DR)-Has reasonable skills.

David O'Neil(24 Sco DR)- Has decent skills and works hard. Would probably start if it weren't for the foriegner rule.

John Brown (26 Sco DC)- Came up through Watford's youth system, but in eight years there, rarely got a game. Signed in the off season on a free and has all the skills I look for in my central defenders.

Tom Murphy (21 Aus 2/1)- Good defender for the NSL, No real weakness or strenghs.

Greg Thomas (22 Aus DC)- solid backup

Phil Murphy (21 Aus)- Another equally solid backup. Seems to have good upside.

retired_karamelkel

Midfield:- With the injury to Bresciano, this becomes a slightly suspect. It'll be up to someone to take charge and lead this unit.

Adrian Stojeski(20 Aus LMC)- I'm hoping for a breakout year from this mercurial player. He's got the talent, but needs to use it.

Frank Starr(26 Aus LMC)-Talented player who should be a starter, but he's not a real good teammate.

Sean Robertson(25 Aus U21 Mc)- Had a disappointing season last year, but gets another shot as I think his main problem was that he couldn't handle the pressure of being the team captain.

Shane Thompson(31 Aus MC)- Career NSL backup. Solid in that role. Signed as a free agent in the offseason.

Simon Catanzano(30 Aus RMC)- Reasonahble talent. Good enough to start at any rate.

Chris Hughes(17 Aus RMC)- Solid player, has no real strengths or weaknesses. Could be a good starter in a few years.

Matt Hunter(20 Aus AMC)- A better fit at amc. Has much talent and this could be a breakout year for him.

Ansah Bonetti(29 TTO 9/2 AMC)- Last years suprise is back on the bench. However, if Hunter has to move to foreard then Bonetti will start.

Forwards: The real stength of this club during preseason. Hopefully the good play will carry over to the regular season. It can't be any worse than last year, where at the halfway point of the season the NSL leading goalscorer had more goals than we did!

Nick Bernier(25 Can 5)- Speedy forward can run a 4/40 and can dribble. Will scare the daylights out of defenders.

Matt Anderson(25 American 25 1)- The best dribbler on the club. He's a bit slow for a forward so he breaks down defenses with his feet.

Matt Byne(25 Aus)- Last year's MVP and Fan's POY, he has ungodly scoring instints, and I won't hesitate to use him as a starter.

Robbie Molenda(21 Aus)- Last year's reserve team POY. He can finish and has good instints. Will be a pretty good player down the line.

Player to watch: Sam coffey(20 Aus)- Talented forward could win a spot in the rotation next season.

I'm not too worried about the talent of the first team. However, I do have concerns about the character of many of my players. They are all leaders, but many lack a work ethic and passion. Things could get nasty in the lockerroom if I can't find a captain.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** Perth Glory - Saturday 1st October 2011********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14 Anderson, Matt S C USA 28.11.85 25 1 - £10K 23.6.15 £110K - Baker, Joseph D L AUS 4.8.91 20 - - £8K 28.6.13 £10K 3 Banks, Ryan D L AUS 20.3.86 25 1 - £30K 20.6.13 £50K - Barbaro, Daniel S C AUS 6.6.94 17 - - £10K 5.6.14 £40K 19 Bernier, Nick S C CAN 13.11.85 25 5 - £9K 11.6.14 £100K 4 Bonetti, Ansah F C TTO 28.11.81 29 9 2 £35K 16.6.14 £22K 24 Bresciano, Chris M C AUS 12.1.84 27 - - £9K 8.6.14 £55K 20 Brown, John D C SCO 4.4.85 26 - - £9K 8.6.14 £35K - Byrne, Brad AM/F C AUS 17.9.94 17 - - £5K 24.6.15 £18K 10 Byrne, Matthew S C AUS 23.2.86 25 - - £30K 10.6.12 £60K 15 Catanzaro, Simon F RLC AUS 1.2.81 30 - - £35K 19.6.13 £55K - Coffey, Sam S C AUS 17.10.90 20 - - £20K 17.6.12 £22K - Donovan, Stephen SW/D C AUS 20.4.92 19 - - £8K 15.6.13 £10K - Dugas, Chris D C CAN 24.1.94 17 - - £9K 28.6.15 £16K 17 Edwards, Adrian M C AUS 22.5.90 21 - - £16K 18.6.13 £18K - Farrugia, Eddie D C AUS 16.11.93 17 - - £5K 3.6.14 £14K - Farrugia, Gary S C AUS 22.8.93 18 - - £7K 26.6.14 £28K - Ferguson, Joel M RC AUS 9.6.91 20 - - £8K 13.6.13 £14K - Galea, Simon AM C AUS 3.11.93 17 - - £9K 9.6.13 £16K - Hall, Robert DM C AUS 23.5.92 19 - - £9K 14.6.15 £35K - Harrison, Joel GK AUS 21.11.93 17 - - £10K 6.6.14 £14K 26 Hughes, Chris M C AUS 22.9.93 18 - - £5K 1.6.14 £24K 9 Hunter, Matt F C AUS 15.9.91 20 - - £10K 10.6.14 £130K - Jones, Cameron F RLC AUS 20.7.91 20 - - £8K 11.6.13 £22K - Josevski, Danny M C AUS 6.1.92 19 - - £6K 26.6.13 £14K 2 Mezzino, David D RL AUS 3.3.87 24 - - £10K 13.6.14 £50K 6 Milosevic, Matthew D C AUS 20.1.89 22 - - £16K 12.6.12 £9K 25 Molenda, Robbie F C AUS 13.2.90 21 - - £10K 28.6.13 £40K - Morrison, Shaun D R AUS 12.2.93 18 - - £10K 11.6.13 £10K 23 Murphy, Phil SW/D RC AUS 4.3.90 21 - - £14K 20.6.13 £20K 5 Murphy, Tom SW/D C AUS 6.1.90 21 2 1 £12K 10.6.14 £90K - Nardi, Brett GK AUS 7.4.93 18 - - £10K 13.6.13 £18K 12 O'Neill, David D R SCO 19.9.87 24 - - £10K 13.6.13 £22K 8 Robertson, Sean M C AUS 12.11.85 25 - - £35K 1.6.12 £75K - Savage, Mark D L AUS 20.4.91 20 - - £9K 9.6.13 £10K - Smith, Christopher AM C AUS 9.6.93 18 - - £9K 7.6.13 £10K 7 Starr, Frank M RC AUS 23.4.85 26 - - £35K 27.6.13 £30K 16 Stojcevski, Adrian AM LC AUS 11.9.91 20 - - £14K 28.6.13 £30K 11 Sweeney, Steven D L AUS 22.2.87 24 - - £14K 17.6.12 £18K 1 Thomas, Brett GK AUS 12.4.91 20 - - £20K 27.6.13 £40K 22 Thomas, Graham D C AUS 10.7.89 22 - - £24K 9.6.13 £28K 21 Thompson, Adrian GK AUS 13.3.77 34 - - £10K 25.6.14 £16K 18 Thompson, Shane M RC AUS 3.5.80 31 - - £9K 25.6.14 £16K - Trimboli, Shane D C AUS 8.11.92 18 - - £6K 28.6.13 £10K - Ward, Gary GK AUS 10.3.94 17 - - £7K 3.6.13 £10K 13 Woods, Peter GK AUS 22.2.83 28 - - £28K 25.6.14 £35K - Zito, Mike DM C AUS 16.1.92 19 - - £10K 6.6.13 £55K </pre>

retired_karamelkel

The first six games were brutal to say the least, an exercise in frustration as we now langlish in 10th place with a 1-2-3 record. As usual with a young team, inconsistancy has been our hallmark. The only constistantly good performances have been David Mezzino. I've already made some permenant luneup changes. Banks has been dropped to the reserves because he simply can't tackle anyone. Mezzino has slid over to left back and O'Neill and Shaun Morrison are platooning at right back. In addition, Woods will be platooning in goal with Thomas, until a leader has emrgeed on the team. We made some staff changes as well. Adrian Thompson was released when he refused to become a full-time coach and a goalkeeper coach was hired in his stead. Another scout has been hired, bringing the total to five. In regard to player movement, we just signed the usual youngsters. The board seem to be giving me plenty of rope as I've helped them cut costs. The payroll for the first team is 300K a year and the whole 50 man squad runs to 675K or less than what the average player made at Celtic when I was there. The economics are a bitch in Oz. No TV revenue and no prize money. Any money you make is at the gate and the crowds aren't that big, or that willing to buy team merchandise. At least it's essentailly the same around the league. I don't think there's a single "big" successful club in the NSL. I just have to be patient and wait for the lads at Perth to mature into solid players.

retired_karamelkel

We reached the halfway point of the season on fire having gone 6-1-0 over the run. We should have won the lone draw, having had 24 shots on goal 15 on targert, but the Kigz Mike Raeford had a career day in his home park and we ended up drawing 2-2. I'm mystified as to our sucess...some slight roster tinkering seems to have worked. Both Banks and Roberson were released to make room for younger, cheaper players, who, in the long run will perform better. Nick Bernier and Matt Himter are explosive as forwards and the defense seems to have sorted itself out. Whatever it may be, we are looking good right now. It should be a fun second half.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** Australian National Soccer League - Friday 16th December 2011********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2011/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Northern Spirit 13 5 1 1 12 3 4 2 0 19 5 30 2nd Newcastle UFC 13 5 1 0 20 7 4 1 2 22 19 29 3rd Kingz 13 4 2 1 17 9 4 2 0 11 4 28 4th Olympic Sharks 13 4 1 1 16 11 3 3 1 14 9 25 5th Perth Glory 13 4 2 0 12 7 3 1 3 10 6 24 6th Adelaide City 13 4 3 0 12 5 0 2 4 10 21 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Brisbane Strikers 13 4 0 2 11 8 0 3 4 8 14 15 8th Melbourne Knights 13 2 3 1 10 9 1 3 3 5 9 15 9th Canberra Cosmos 13 3 2 2 15 16 1 1 4 5 12 15 10th South Melbourne 13 3 2 2 17 16 0 3 3 7 11 14 11th Marconi 13 3 1 3 10 12 0 1 5 7 14 11 12th Sydney Utd 13 3 1 2 8 8 0 0 7 6 18 10 13th Parramatta Power 13 3 1 2 8 11 0 0 7 7 22 10 14th Wollongong Wolves 13 2 2 3 8 11 0 0 6 2 12 8 ************************************************** ********************************************** Perth Glory - Friday 16th December 2011********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2011/2 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14 Anderson, Matt 3 0 0 1 (0) 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Baker, Joseph - - - - - - - - ---- - Barbaro, Daniel - - - - - - - - ---- 19 Bernier, Nick 13 7 0 0 3 1 0 2 7.62 4 Bonetti, Ansah 7 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 7.29 24 Bresciano, Chris 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 20 Brown, John 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.83 - Byrne, Brad - - - - - - - - ---- 10 Byrne, Matthew 3 (2) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.80 15 Catanzaro, Simon 13 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.23 - Coffey, Sam 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Donovan, Stephen - - - - - - - - ---- - Dugas, Chris - - - - - - - - ---- 17 Edwards, Adrian 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Farrugia, Eddie - - - - - - - - ---- - Farrugia, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- 3 Ferguson, Joel 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Galea, Simon - - - - - - - - ---- - Hall, Robert - - - - - - - - ---- - Harrison, Joel - - - - - - - - ---- 26 Hughes, Chris 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 9 Hunter, Matt 12 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 7.17 - Jones, Cameron - - - - - - - - ---- - Josevski, Danny - - - - - - - - ---- - Kelly, Scott - - - - - - - - ---- - Lyons, Nick - - - - - - - - ---- 2 Mezzino, David 13 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 7.31 6 Milosevic, Matthew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 25 Molenda, Robbie 2 (3) 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.00 21 Morrison, Shaun 3 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 23 Murphy, Phil 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.71 5 Murphy, Tom 8 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.56 - Nardi, Brett 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 12 O'Neill, David 7 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 7.14 - Prentice, Alex - - - - - - - - ---- - Savage, Mark - - - - - - - - ---- - Scott, Jamie - - - - - - - - ---- - Smith, Christopher - - - - - - - - ---- - Smith, Tony - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Starr, Frank 5 (4) 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 7.00 16 Stojcevski, Adrian 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.70 11 Sweeney, Steven 0 (3) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.00 1 Thomas, Brett 11 0 11 0 0 0 0 1 7.45 22 Thomas, Graham 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7.33 18 Thompson, Shane 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Trimboli, Shane - - - - - - - - ---- - Ward, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- 13 Woods, Peter 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Wright, Matthew - - - - - - - - ---- - Zito, Mike - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

retired_karamelkel

It was about this time that the Austrailian govt decided to launch an investigation into whether soccer would ever make it big in the country. Being the one manager in Oz with a good int. reutation from my days at Celtic, I was called to testify in frount of the House subcommitee. I offered the opinion thaat Ausssue soccer would never make it big. The league was barely surviving finanacially and there wasn't a decent team in the Oceania region. I offered the following evidence as supporting my claims. The teams are listed by league position and the collumns are aranged: Team name, number of players, average age of team. total payroll, average salary and highest salary.

Northern Spirit: 49, 23.5, 1.1 million, 22K, 55K

Newcastle UFC- 48, 24.5, 975k, 20K, 40K

Football Kingz- 49, 23, 775K, 16k, 60K

Syd. O-Sharks- 50, 22.5, 1.2M, 24K, 55K

Perth Glory- 50, 21, 675K, 12K, 35K

Adelaide City- 48, 22, 525K, 12K, 22K

Brisbane Strikers- 48, 22, 500K, 10K, 12K

Melbourne Knights- 49, 22.5, 675K, 14K, 30K

Canberra Cosmos- 48, 25, 450K, 10K, 16K

South Melbourne- 48, 22, 525K, 10K, 14k

Marconi Stallions- 49, 23, 500K, 10K, 12K

Sydney United- 49, 25, 525k, 10K, 20K

Paramatta Power- 50, 21.5, 525K, 10K, 20K

Wollogong- (Semi Pro)- 50, 23, 550k, 12K, 20K


Take a look and draw your own conclusions.