Official South Melbourne Hellas thread 🔵⚪

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Spink and Khaddour would be in Auckland now if we still had them.

Spink 100% should have been retained.

Mourdakoutis would be good, i mean whats he gonna do after the ofc? Same goes for Acton and Lofthouse.

Problem is these guys will probably want to be starting 11 players week in week out and thats not going to happen.

Where as a Manny or Feutz drops Swibel to the bench straight away.

exactly right.

 

[SMFC1959]

Spink and Khaddour would be in Auckland now if we still had them.

Spink 100% should have been retained.

Mourdakoutis would be good, i mean whats he gonna do after the ofc? Same goes for Acton and Lofthouse.

Problem is these guys will probably want to be starting 11 players week in week out and thats not going to happen.

Where as a Manny or Feutz drops Swibel to the bench straight away.

Tass Mourdoukoutas would be a very good pick up as a Centre Back to complement Jankovic and Eliopoulos.

Lofthouse would be a great attacking option upfront. Plays that attacking forward role so well. Acton would not want to sit on the bench given we have Lopez. Unless the plan is to find a quality replacement for Lopez, so Acton could fill that void from 2027 onwards.

If it were not for the visa spot restrictions, I would also look at David Yoo from South Island and Liam Gillion from Auckland.

The addition of Mourdoukoutas, Lofthouse, and Feutz would give us quality and depth. Just need a decent midfielder and the squad becomes extremely strong. Don't forget, that these players are not cup tied, so they can play in the Australia Cup !

With the above in mind, you release Shalamanov-Trenkov and Singh. You loan out Lackay and Coveny.

That means Inglese, O'Sullivan, Burchmore-Gore, Menelaou, Leech, Pope, Dovison, and Mesourouni effectively become your bench players. That's a pretty strong bench to provide fresh legs and cover for any injuries and suspensions.

 

[SMFC1959]

The one thing with Spink and Khadoor though is that they are getting senior NPL matchtime, I dont blame them for leaving to get minutes with another club...

Spink left because of a lack of match time. He moved from the Gold Coast and was not getting much match time last season. No hard feelings there.

Khaddour only played 3 matches with us in the Australian Championship and was always away on international duty with Lebanon. It would not surprise me if the club was not fussed that he departed.

 

[SMFC1959]

Sprinkle in manny and you've got a winning team.

Manny would be the perfect addition to this squad. The season in Malta is drawing to a close this weekend, so he could rejoin us in late June when the transfer window opens up.

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

Spink left because of a lack of match time. He moved from the Gold Coast and was not getting much match time last season. No hard feelings there.

Spink contonues to remind me every chance he is a second string player at best...

Khaddour only played 3 matches with us in the Australian Championship and was always away on international duty with Lebanon. It would not surprise me if the club was not fussed that he departed.

KHaddour had his chance and couldnt break our staring 11... woulsnt leave abyone out for him imo. For me we are covered here...

Tass Mourdoukoutas would be a very good pick up as a Centre Back to complement Jankovic and Eliopoulos.

I prefer the melb city giant easier to mould into a starter ...

Lofthouse would be a great attacking option upfront.

100%

Plays that attacking forward role so well. Acton would not want to sit on the bench given we have Lopez. Unless the plan is to find a quality replacement for Lopez, so Acton could fill that void from 2027 onwards.

Only if lopez is looking to move on amd even then id try for Hilton first as the most ideal replacement.

The addition of Mourdoukoutas, Lofthouse, and Feutz would give us quality and depth. Just need a decent midfielder and the squad becomes extremely strong. Don't forget, that these players are not cup tied, so they can play in the Australia Cup !

Thats the advantage.. feutz would fit perfectly imo also..

With the above in mind, you release Shalamanov-Trenkov and Singh. You loan out Lackay and Coveny.

Or keep just lackay so @Monoethnic Social Club doesnt blame me and my dislike of him...hahaha

That means Inglese, O'Sullivan, Burchmore-Gore, Menelaou, Leech, Pope, Dovison, and Mesourouni effectively become your bench players. That's a pretty strong bench to provide fresh legs and cover for any injuries and suspensions.

Yep!

 

[SMFC1959]

Alot of this comes down to budget. If we win the OFC Pro League, then invest some of that into signing better players.

However, the majority of that money should be locked away in the bank and not touched! I might be old school, but cash is king !

 

[KostaV92]

Hilton who is currently on Auckland’s bench ( A league team) would be a good choice for a keeper if he doesn’t sign on not sure if the Striker from Melbourne city who scored 4 on Bentleigh would be a good pick up he probably has a A league contract not sure I don’t watch much A league

Also we need to start keeping an eye on released A league players

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

Hilton who is currently on Auckland’s bench ( A league team) would be a good choice for a keeper if he doesn’t sign on not sure if the Striker from Melbourne city who scored 4 on Bentleigh would be a good pick up he probably has a A league contract not sure I don’t watch much A league

Also we need to start keeping an eye on released A league players

Reckon you are right on the money here!

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Also we need to start keeping an eye on released A league players

Macklin Freke and Henry Hore were both delisted by Brisbane Roar recently so they might be good options to bolster keeper and midfield stocks heading into the latter half of the season.

 

[SMFC1959]

Macklin Freke and Henry Hore were both delisted by Brisbane Roar recently so they might be good options to bolster keeper and midfield stocks heading into the latter half of the season.

Henry Hoare was great in that season he played for us. Definitely worth a look at.

 

[southmelb]

If Sydney beat newcastle tomorrow could we end up being part of a double header grand final in Auckland?

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

If Sydney beat newcastle tomorrow could we end up being part of a double header grand final in Auckland?

There won't be a double header for the OFC Pro League and A-League Men grand finals because the OFC Pro League grand final has been confirmed for Eden Park whilst Auckland FC would be playing at Mount Smart Stadium should they get hosting rights.

 

[southmelb]

Surprised they'd go for the smaller stadium.

 

[southmelb]

May need to keep an eye on Makis Petratos form, one to poach for sure. Mid 20s so you wont lose him to an A league team.

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

May need to keep an eye on Makis Petratos form, one to poach for sure. Mid 20s so you wont lose him to an A league team.

I agree has looked impressive at times and worth a look in, my only concern is he seems a little lazy off the ball....

 

[southmelb]

Hume look really really good. This whole giving players a rest nonsense after the ofc better not be true because we go there the week after the ofc. They have such a quick front line.

 

[SMFC1959]

Good to see Heidelberg and Oakleigh drew last night. That minimises the damage slightly during our focus on OFC Pro League.

I’m hoping the Hume vs Avondale match ends in a draw as well.

I’m going to say something that everyone will think I’m nuts. We need the U23s to grind out a 1-0 win over CS George Cross. It’s very unlikely, but the kids need to believe in themselves and give it a good go.

If everything goes our way, we could be only 1 win off top spot. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.

 

[southmelb]

I think Monday might go close to our heaviest defeat, George Cross are not a ball playing team, they're physical and rough and play heavily for set pieces, our kids are very undersized, this wont be a team moving the ball side to side, they will be pumping it into our box and sadly that style of play is very confronting for a team of youth. I hope im horribly off the mark here but i suspect it will play out like that.

You could put together an all star team of under 23s from every club and they'd still lose to green gully.

 

[SMFC1959]

I think Monday might go close to our heaviest defeat, George Cross are not a ball playing team, they're physical and rough and play heavily for set pieces, our kids are very undersized, this wont be a team moving the ball side to side, they will be pumping it into our box and sadly that style of play is very confronting for a team of youth. I hope im horribly off the mark here but i suspect it will play out like that.

You could put together an all star team of under 23s from every club and they'd still lose to green gully.

You’re right. That’s the part that makes me nervous about CS George Cross - the physicality. If we were at full strength, we would have smashed them 4-0.

They will go hard into tackles, intimidate the kids with their hack tactics, and try and pinch a goal from a set piece. The U23s will need to move the ball quickly to put CS George Cross under real pressure. It will take a moment of brilliance to win it. We just need Van Riet, Saristavros, Dovison, Durso, and the Angelatos brothers to play the match of their lives on Monday night. Get a win here and that undoes the Melbourne City Yth loss. Still annoyed they took Pope, O’Sullivan, Mesourouni, Singh and Leech to Auckland. They would have created a spine to build around.

 

[southmelb]

Those players you mentioned should be here. No ofc team has a squad of 23 over there. I mean seriously we know Singh is no hope of seeing the field in the semi or the final, why is he over there?