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Official South Melbourne Hellas thread 🔵⚪

Spartan Warrior said:
South vs Altona most likely being moved to Sat 19th 5pm....
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Very good outcome, along with the Heidelberg fixture being moved to the following day. The South coach will have a bigger squad to fully use across the 3 matches.

Nagamatsu can focus on the Altona and Heidelberg matches, whilst Menelaou, Spink, and Iwakama can play across the three fixtures. You'll probably see more of O'Sullivan in the Heidelberg match.
 
SMFC1959 said:
Very good outcome, along with the Heidelberg fixture being moved to the following day. The South coach will have a bigger squad to fully use across the 3 matches.

Nagamatsu can focus on the Altona and Heidelberg matches, whilst Menelaou, Spink, and Iwakama can play across the three fixtures. You'll probably see more of O'Sullivan in the Heidelberg match.
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Pretty sure spink would be cuptied aswell
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
https://www.smfc.com.au/2025/07/10/squad-roster-update-mid-late-season-transfer-period/

All squad movements and jersey number allocations for South Melbourne in the mid-season transfer window have now been confirmed. Ross Archibald has been delisted from the roster to focus on recovery from a long-term injury sustained against Altona Magic earlier in the season also.
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Cant figure what happened with Mells, shame we lost him IMO as he had shown signs of good football..
I expected more from Zak Spiteri also but couldnt take that next step.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
https://www.smfc.com.au/2025/07/10/squad-roster-update-mid-late-season-transfer-period/

All squad movements and jersey number allocations for South Melbourne in the mid-season transfer window have now been confirmed. Ross Archibald has been delisted from the roster to focus on recovery from a long-term injury sustained against Altona Magic earlier in the season also.
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Big glaring hole where the #9 shirt is .... I hope plans are in place for a Championship striker.... We have now taken up both international and one AFC spot though?

Sad news about Ross though... is a lovely bloke and I hope he recovers soon and comes back to the roster.... we miss him on the pitch...
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
Watch the Port game from last week and how they copped their first goal....... explains everything.
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Port isnt really the benchmark to judge him on though.. they will leak goals no matter who you place as a one off in that team..
While at us we couldnt fault him on much (on field) no doubt, perhaps he wasnt the player the coach wanted for his system and i can understand that, but we will all admit there was a glaring hole in the middle when he didnt play.
IMO i think he couldve worked well with a proper holding midfielder (wouldve complimented Menelaou inthink) as a player that could push more forward and create chances... not exactly a playmaker but a buffer that could easily carry the ball forward or release to running forwards this would also porbably have allowed Pope more freedom aswell.
Just an observation from a grandstand manager 🤣😂🤣😂
 
Hellenic_blue&white said:
Port isnt really the benchmark to judge him on though.. they will leak goals no matter who you place as a one off in that team..
While at us we couldnt fault him on much (on field) no doubt, perhaps he wasnt the player the coach wanted for his system and i can understand that, but we will all admit there was a glaring hole in the middle when he didnt play.
IMO i think he couldve worked well with a proper holding midfielder (wouldve complimented Menelaou inthink) as a player that could push more forward and create chances... not exactly a playmaker but a buffer that could easily carry the ball forward or release to running forwards this would also porbably have allowed Pope more freedom aswell.
Just an observation from a grandstand manager 🤣😂🤣😂
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hahha we are ALL grandstand managers re... hahahah I like Mells both as a player and a character on the team... When he pushed and tracked back he was a force in the midfield and changed the outcome of matches, no doubt.

My only issue was work rate... we simply dont have the luxury (especially before we got Ren in) to have a #10 that doesn't perform defensively. Its hard to fit both Pope and Mells in the same lineup and, although Mells is the better layer with the bal at his feet AND decision making, Pope is a mongrel in the midfield ... Think back to the St Albans game, Mells first half was absolutely awesome but came out in the second half a totally different player... If we had gotten him 3-4 seasons ago he would have been a great asset but now I think its the twilight of his career sadly...
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
hahha we are ALL grandstand managers re... hahahah I like Mells both as a player and a character on the team... When he pushed and tracked back he was a force in the midfield and changed the outcome of matches, no doubt.

My only issue was work rate... we simply dont have the luxury (especially before we got Ren in) to have a #10 that doesn't perform defensively. Its hard to fit both Pope and Mells in the same lineup and, although Mells is the better layer with the bal at his feet AND decision making, Pope is a mongrel in the midfield ... Think back to the St Albans game, Mells first half was absolutely awesome but came out in the second half a totally different player... If we had gotten him 3-4 seasons ago he would have been a great asset but now I think its the twilight of his career sadly...
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We essentially saying the same thing...that was exactly his problem, for sure!
 
Mells is 28, ideal age at npl level. He simply made the wrong career choice to join an Esteban coached team. The Mells that finished top 5 in the gold medal 3 years ago is finished, he was running the show for Piddicks midfield.

I think he came to South to tick off the box of playing for his family club and the fact he lives in the area, he was never going to work playing Esteball.

I saw him on a podcast a few days ago and he pretty much said the st albans game at the start of the season killed us.
 
Definitely does seem a cop out putting it down to the injury, however fans also noted that there were times when he didn't go in when it was his turn to go. The gully game in particular we lost because he went in soft for the ball instead of taking the tackle. They got the ball and scored from that moment. There were other moments throughout the season where similar happened. He mentions how in the video that that's not the type of thing he does as a player but that doesn't matter, if its your time to go, you go. He also wasn't fit enough to run out full games, injury or not he generally only get through 65 minutes at most.
 
smfc_hellas59 said:
Interesting insights from Mells about what happened to South this season and why he left from the 4:40 minute mark

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Really great interview and a fascinating career.. The bloke spoke respectfully about the club and the squad and wish him well wherver he lands.....Very poor of our football department letting him go like that. Its as I suspected, we got caught out by that one stupid game... it changed the whole "project" .. Its bad enough enough the TD and cronies were bringing in "project" players without the managers approval but too many chiefs and not enough Indians can ruin a club.... Interesting stat that Esteban had the highest win/loss ratio of any South manager ... it doesnt suprise me.... The guy was thrown under the bus, I still stand by this....
 
hellas_johnny said:
Definitely does seem a cop out putting it down to the injury, however fans also noted that there were times when he didn't go in when it was his turn to go. The gully game in particular we lost because he went in soft for the ball instead of taking the tackle. They got the ball and scored from that moment. There were other moments throughout the season where similar happened. He also wasn't fit enough to run out full games, injury or not he's generally only get through 60 minutes at most.
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agree... Its OK, as he mentions, at Port to have Archibald do his grunt work but in re-payment he needed to be that player in midfield that could turn the game on its head with magic....
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
Really great interview and a fascinating career.. The bloke spoke respectfully about the club and the squad and wish him well wherver he lands.....Very poor of our football department letting him go like that. Its as I suspected, we got caught out by that one stupid game... it changed the whole "project" .. Its bad enough enough the TD and cronies were bringing in "project" players without the managers approval but too many chiefs and not enough Indians can ruin a club.... Interesting stat that Esteban had the highest win/loss ratio of any South manager ... it doesnt suprise me.... The guy was thrown under the bus, I still stand by this....
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Esteban was the one who brought in those players not the TD, the issue is that the TD coming in new to the role, felt esteban deserved the trust having come so close the last 3 seasons and didn't want to step on toes especially so early in the role. But this is a huge problem as a TD role oblverseas everything so should be hands on. Muller especially was an esteban signing, the club didn't want him but esteban insisted.
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
agree... Its OK, as he mentions, at Port to have Archibald do his grunt work but in re-payment he needed to be that player in midfield that could turn the game on its head with magic....
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I must say though we'll done to him for how respectful he was during this interview, a lot of players would slander the process etc but you can tell he definitely still cares about the club
 
hellas_johnny said:
Esteban was the one who brought in those players not the TD, the issue is that the TD coming in new to the role, felt esteban deserved the trust having come so close the last 3 seasons and didn't want to step on toes especially so early in the role. But this is a huge problem as a TD role oblverseas everything so should be hands on. Muller especially was an esteban signing, the club didn't want him but esteban insisted.
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It didnt sound that way regarding Mells.... I dont know who was responsible for that Scandinavian Temu Sawyer but I know for a fact Esteban didnt want Messourouni signed or Barcia OR Peios let go... ???
 
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