MV v WU to be held at either Lakeside Stadium or Knights Stadium 

Darling St is a football field embedded in a cricket oval, and can only accommodate spectators on one side. No. 2 is a great little ground and not far from Newcastle Olympic's home base anyway. For the others it mainly seems to be about broadcast-quality lighting. Why Brisbane City can't use Spencer Park is a mystery though, its facilities are pretty much on par with Perry Park and it would be cool to have a cup game there.

We got some major news as Peter Filopoulos at Football Australia in the regarding Australia Cup game between Western United and Melbourne Victory as it currently stands 10 days out.

It’s being currently resolved but the delay was due to Western United not having a deal in place with a venue Football Australia doesn’t hire the match venues at round of 32.

APL CEO Danny Townsend said APL can't step in at all in regarding to match venues with Australia Cup matches.

As late Friday Night i was speaking to Kick360 reporter and NPL Victoria commentator Neal Symons and he went major whack at A League outfit Western United he shares the frustrations also said to me & to Melbourne Victory members and Western United members have every right to be pissed off.

And deserve better with the Australia Cup venue debacle this is a disgrace in which the For Vucks Sake lads went whack saying Football Australia need to step in and should had announced it on Tuesday July 5th the deadline booking grounds was Monday July 4th.

Win a title don't have a home ground.   The more things change the more they stay the same.  Amateur hour. 

Most likely to be held at AAMI park?? 

Where else would they play. 

Lakeside Stadium 

Been through this before it's not happening 

Aren't their home games played in Hobart these days?

Reason it’s AAMI Park next Wednesday so people are aware as I heard an exclusive zero people know about this that Knights Stadium, Green Gully Reserve, City Vista Recreation Reserve, ABD Stadium weren’t allowed to host it.

Despite we’re 99% locked in due to all 4 grounds had training commitments next Wednesday ahead of their respective catch up games and preserve ground ahead NIKE Cup decider hence we’re a no straight away Chris Gleeson messaged me last week not shocked plus South said no as well not surprised.

Training for NPL clubs > than a pretend franchise putting green tarps all over your home stadium... :)

Or Ballarat?

It's a lottery. 

So is all the bulk build, fixed price building companies folding in Victoria at the minute.... Looks like the Western Wembley may be "shovel ready"  for a few more years......,

Can't wait for the council to finish that haul road. 
Will there be an official opening to celebrate this milestone?
Looking forward to a photo opportunity with Diamanti on a bulldozer 

More matches tonight 

Which are the picks?

Roar v Heidelberg I guess...

I know, it was a bad joke that's all

They could have played at Knights Stadium if they weren't so stingy.

Any possible upsets on the cards? 

Austin looking very good for brissy

Just came in here to say that Channel 10s coverage and presentation shits all over anything that has gone before.

They lift this competition.

We really have something now.

Good to see Heidleberg give the Roar a good run for their money. Has been a good game. Nice free to Mileusnic to finish off the game. And a good effort by Charlie Austin. 

Good but not great numbers in the stands. Something to build on for sure.

I almost enjoyed the Heidelberg v Roar game.

Heidelberg showed they are a club with quality both on and off the pitch. Their attacking movements were skilful and well executed, and caused us considerable difficulty. Defensively they were effective all over the pitch - but noting that Roar under that defensive pressure contributed a great deal to Heidelberg's effectiveness.

I am seeing a disturbing trend in our slowing the play down on restarts, back passing, and inability to find a teammate throughout the team. I do not want to think that it is Moon's adopted practice to continually pass backwards until we get caught in a hideous position and lose the ball one way or another. The fact that Moon was getting so frustrated with players passing backwards gives me hope that it is just pre-season wrinkles and players afraid to go forward until they develop some trust in each other.

Danzaki got pulled because his touch and passing were off, and by the looks of it he was ignoring Moon's calls to play higher. He will improve without doubt as he learns how we are playing now compared to what we did last time with him.

If Austin retains his drive and desire through whatever period it takes for the rest of the team to learn how to pass or receive a through ball then he is going to help us to become really dangerous in the front third. If the lack of composure and quality that comes so often into our passing game pisses him off enough early on we could lose him mentally I fear. His touch and vision are a joy to watch and like a lot of really good players he can make seconds of free time when under pressure and surrounded. Love seeing that in players. Also loved seeing him sucking in the deep breaths - he is a fantastic signing for us as both a skilful player and a guide to all those lesser and up-and-coming forwards we have and it can only get better as he gets fitter and his influence reaps rewards.

Not loving Trewin as a 6. His strength is defending and I have yet to consider him a particularly useful link moving forwards - much more as a last ditch, well timed intervenor and interceptor of play coming in than holding down such a critical role bringing the ball out under pressure - especially when we are playing backwards so much and creating a lot of that pressure.

Beautiful strike by Mileusnic. Some very nice bits to our play by a number of contributors - and no doubt much more to come. Hingert had a very good game (I thought - no doubt I am wrong about that again :P ).

That was the sort of role that Daley is built for - getting in and stuffing up the opposition attacks.

Chapman looked to be responsible for some very silly decision making that put us under pressure a few times when it was not necessary. A bit of a worry for me when I am counting on our defensive group to be rock solid and instead we are unable to stop good solo runs or cover the passing options other than as a desperation tackle.

As long as we saw pre-season flaws, and not a style of play that we intend running with, I found the positives for us in a game against a very effective and capable opponent, were another good step towards this coming season.

Well done Heidelberg. Glad we got the win and showed some really good moments.

Mono - if you were there in that shirt I could not see you. Was that you running up and down the sideline perhaps? Mad bugger - if it wasn't you he shares your passion for club!

Nah ended up staying home and watching from the coach..... :)  Couldn't find the Holland shirt and to be honest, after a long day at work, I couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to get down to the "village" Agree with Austin, love the way a good first touch and game awareness seems to give class players an extra few seconds of time on the ball... It really shows up in a match. Also agree 100% on Daley, he thrives as a "breaker".
The "mad bugger: is a fixture at Bergers games... has been for years.... he makes me look indifferent to soccer.. The guy rides every single passage of play like he is on the pitch himself, probably gets more kms in his legs just spectating as most of the players.... 

Thanks for your comments @RIMB. I appreciate your analysis as it enables me to understand the game better. Similar to you, I am disappointed by how much we turn back and pass back. I assumed it was by instruction. In this regard I feel Scott Neville is a liability to the team as he seems to be one of the main ones who does this. A good example of this early in the second half, we made a break down the right with him on the ball. He looked forward, and Akbari and Lofthouse (?) were in space in front of their sole central defender with a good channel enabling a forward pass. However, he cut back and passed to a central defender of ours. Momentum was lost!

I read once where professional footballers look to act in the 10 seconds after a turnover as this is where the opposition is unbalanced and the opportunity for a good attack is highest. As a team we seem to want to secure possession before we make any movement forward. This is a very conservative approach and is to the detriment to our efforts to score goals. In my example, Scott was very proactive in getting to near the centre line and created a good opportunity, but then wasted his own exertions by turning around and passing the ball back to where he had been.

The "Mad Bugger" was a good interaction for us on the couch. A pity the broadcasters don't take the opportunity to have a few words with these characters iat the end of the game.

The mad bugger is probably an accountant, or librarian.

He goes to Northcote City as well.

TBH I think it's poor form for him to be highlighted on social media.

Yeah I agree... Guy is a harmless dude that just really loves soccer... Used to come to Hellas games back in the NSL days too.
How's Heracles going these days, big bad Bounas still thumping them in for fun? I used to pop in once or twice a year for a souv when I lived closer and South weren't playing... Plenty of Bergers and Hellas fans from the northern suburbs have Northcote as the "little brother" club :)