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Official South Melbourne Hellas thread 🔵⚪

Kitchen sink has to be thrown at Preston game. The reality is our strongest team could only draw against Auckland last time so sending over 2-3 key players wont make a difference, we are losing that game 100%

Priority is Preston and then after that we can send a few over to Fiji to hopefully get results against the bottom teams of the ofc.
 
southmelb said:
Kitchen sink has to be thrown at Preston game. The reality is our strongest team could only draw against Auckland last time so sending over 2-3 key players wont make a difference, we are losing that game 100%

Priority is Preston and then after that we can send a few over to Fiji to hopefully get results against the bottom teams of the ofc.
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Ideally we need to be throwing the kitchen sink for both of our next two NPL Victoria games against Preston Lions and Oakleigh, fielding a full strength playing list whereas we can probably skimp on OFC Pro League matches and drop points against Auckland before getting the job done against Bula FC and PNG Hekari.
 
southmelb said:
Kitchen sink has to be thrown at Preston game. The reality is our strongest team could only draw against Auckland last time so sending over 2-3 key players wont make a difference, we are losing that game 100%

Priority is Preston and then after that we can send a few over to Fiji to hopefully get results against the bottom teams of the ofc.
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our "strongest" team had only played 2-3 times together and not sure if your remember much of the Auckland match but he had near chance after near chance in the first half, should have been up 2 or 3 nil at halftime... We are a different team now.
 
Spartan Warrior said:
Their pavilion has been demolished so council has set up temp facilities until new pavilion is built. I would not even attempt to park in Dendy Park as parking is limited. Either try on Dendy St or opposite Nepean Hwy service lane..
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I found VIP parking purely by fluke....
 
hellas_johnny said:
thoguht coveny looked alright in his half albeit against lower league opponents. Agreed he needs to be given a chance. The one thats interesting for me is burchmore. has been given the senior list spot but i think i'm more confident with osullivan at right back ahead of him. osullivan is a very no nonsese defender out there and a good size.
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Coveny, O'Sullivan AND Skapoulas had great games.
 
SMFC1959 said:
Given the rumours circulating of South fielding a strong line up against Preston, then you would have to assume the following will start against Auckland on Sunday:

Charlston
Inglese
Coveny
O’Sullivan (is he registered to play in OFC?)
Skapoulas
Menelaou
Leech
Cocks
Pope
Singh
Bonada

As Ive mentioned previously, I don’t think both Singh and Lackay are up to the required standard.

It probably makes sense to send Bonada over early to focus on the Auckland match. At least we would have Leech, Menelaou, Bonada and Cocks who could add some quality to that weak starting XI.

The aim for Sunday’s match against Auckland would be to keep it tight at the back and look to grind out a 0-0 draw, or undertake one of the greatest smash and grab efforts.
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I think he will send Swibel to NZ instead of Bonada.
 
southmelb said:
Kitchen sink has to be thrown at Preston game. The reality is our strongest team could only draw against Auckland last time so sending over 2-3 key players wont make a difference, we are losing that game 100%

Priority is Preston and then after that we can send a few over to Fiji to hopefully get results against the bottom teams of the ofc.
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I think its IS going to be thrown.... If we cant land any punches on them early its going to be tough to hang on for a draw
 
Bryce is out for Preston but they get Jamal Ali back and likely Bozinovski. Defensively they were a joke against Hume but 2 returning players will make a difference, Kubilay is also expected to return.

We will need to be clinical. Our chance to conversion ratio has been poor so far. Assuming everyone plays we should be pretty fresh.
 
southmelb said:
Bryce is out for Preston but they get Jamal Ali back and likely Bozinovski. Defensively they were a joke against Hume but 2 returning players will make a difference, Kubilay is also expected to return.

We will need to be clinical. Our chance to conversion ratio has been poor so far. Assuming everyone plays we should be pretty fresh.
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Having said all that they rode their luck for most of the season so far... if we play as we know there is no reason we cant take this one on current state of both teams!
 
Hellenic_blue&white said:
Having said all that they rode their luck for most of the season so far... if we play as we know there is no reason we cant take this one on current state of both teams!
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Preston is a bucket with a hole in it at the back but have some serious firepower on the counter. You never can tell which side will turn up... They'll be itching to have a crack at us, I reckon it will be a fairly comfortable one for us...
 
southmelb said:
Bryce is out for Preston but they get Jamal Ali back and likely Bozinovski. Defensively they were a joke against Hume but 2 returning players will make a difference, Kubilay is also expected to return.

We will need to be clinical. Our chance to conversion ratio has been poor so far. Assuming everyone plays we should be pretty fresh.
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Spot on. These are the matches where chances will be limited and we need to take our them. We cannot be wasteful. Its the type of match where only one goal may be the difference.

The players would have had another 11 day break, so that makes 2 matches in 21 days. That's more than enough rest.
 
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Monoethnic Social Club said:
Preston is a bucket with a hole in it at the back but have some serious firepower on the counter. You never can tell which side will turn up... They'll be itching to have a crack at us, I reckon it will be a fairly comfortable one for us...
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Preston will want to send a message to the league that they mean business. They have invested crazy money into their squad, so they will want to beat us in order to reduce the gap at the top.

Defeat Preston away and we move 11 points ahead of them on the league standings. Plus it will ensure we stay top of the standings for another week. We need to accumulate as many points as possible given May will be solely focused on the OFC Pro League.
 
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Koubilay played about an hour in the cup, expecting him to start alongside Mihailidis and Cuba in midfield.

Think it’s lucky Preston’s strikers are donkeys. I rate Francis a bit but Romero starts for whatever reason…
 
On Saturday, we start with the strongest starting XI:

Lopez
Painter-Andrews
Jankovic
Eliopoulos
Lampard
Giannakopoulos
Pasquali
Mikkola
Uchida
Bonada
Swibel

You bring on Cocks if we are in need of a goal. Otherwise, we would not be making any changes given the rest of the squad would be in Fiji.
 
SMFC1959 said:
On Saturday, we start with the strongest starting XI:

Lopez
Painter-Andrews
Jankovic
Eliopoulos
Lampard
Giannakopoulos
Pasquali
Mikkola
Uchida
Bonada
Swibel

You bring on Cocks if we are in need of a goal. Otherwise, we would not be making any changes given the rest of the squad would be in Fiji.
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I have a gut feeling 1-2 players on that list are gonna be on the plane.
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
I have a gut feeling 1-2 players on that list are gonna be on the plane.
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The only ones that I could think of are Cocks and Bonada. Sinisa would be mad to break up the Pasquali and Giannakopoulos midfield combination, plus the back line.

Let Auckland win the OFC Pro League Minor Premiership. It is the Grand Final that dictates who wins the $450,000.
 
SMFC1959 said:
The only ones that I could think of are Cocks and Bonada. Sinisa would be mad to break up the Pasquali and Giannakopoulos midfield combination, plus the back line.

Let Auckland win the OFC Pro League Minor Premiership. It is the Grand Final that dictates who wins the $450,000.
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I think this is where we miscalculated last time. We chucked in the Hume game with a weak lineup and failed to beat Auckland 2 days later anyway. Same mistake cant be repeated. Auckland wins Sunday, we have to beat PNG and Tahiti, 2 wins from Fiji is enough.

In league play we need to come away with a split from the preston/oakleigh games as we did with the dandenong double. This keeps us in good shape, worst case we may be 3rd on the ladder.
 
southmelb said:
I think this is where we miscalculated last time. We chucked in the Hume game with a weak lineup and failed to beat Auckland 2 days later anyway. Same mistake cant be repeated. Auckland wins Sunday, we have to beat PNG and Tahiti, 2 wins from Fiji is enough.

In league play we need to come away with a split from the preston/oakleigh games as we did with the dandenong double. This keeps us in good shape, worst case we may be 3rd on the ladder.
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Agree - a win against Preston and draw against Oakleigh would be a good outcome. If we then send our best players to Fiji, then we should win the remaining 3 matches (Bula, PNG Hekari, Tahiti United). That would lock in second spot behind Auckland prior to the Leaders Group finals series kicking off in early May.

The question here is how many points can we accumulate from the Preston, Oakleigh, St Albans, and Melbourne City matches. After that, the focus will move exclusively to the OFC Pro League in May. To be honest, we need maximum points from the St Albans and Melbourne City fixtures to ensure we can remain in the top 4 by the end of May.

With the above in mind, that will mean matches in May against Heidelberg, George Cross, Avondale, and a possible Dockerty Cup match will all be played against our weakest Starting XI. I cannot see South winning more than 4 points in those 3 aforementioned NPL fixtures. We would need a favourable Dockerty Cup draw in order to avoid playing senior players in that cup match.
 
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