That was 5th May 1991...tonight 4th May 2021

30 years apart 2 epic South wins.

Holy crap..... 30 years.... I remember it like it was yesterday... can still smell the flares at Olympic Park :

Well Friday  night was horrible...  final 3rd effort was totally lacklustre, Hore and Gerrie maybe get a pass mark and Josh Baressi for a bit of the first half but seriously Esteban,, long diagonal balls to Lambropoulos on the narrowest pitch in the southern hemisphere? And triple sub????..... Anyway stings to loose to a keeper error, especially when we came so agonisingly close 3, 4 times to equalise. Think Croatia just wanted it more, well played to them ... 
Interesting info on highlights package by Knights, close to a 10 mil grant for improvements to their ground ( Not sure how that works as I thought they owned the land so why would local govmnt give them grant? But good luck to them  nonetheless) 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QGq0UkmDJCs&feature=youtu.be
P.S  Nicou was in the presidents room wearing a Croatia scarf the piece of crap, wasn't there an Aleague game on in town on Friday? Apparently, he was mouthing all sorts of inane promises about 2023 start for NSD and how he  had absolutely no input into selection for Tarneit and Macarthur.... that fat  cypriot sell out couldn't lie straight in his own coffin...  ut interesting how the FA is sniffing around the NSD clubs now.

Wasn't he wearing a South scarf at a game recently too!?!?

It was nice to get the win on Friday after the heartbreak of the FFA Cup game, and it was nice to see that such a heated rivalry didn't blow over into something more on and off the pitch. Everyone was there to enjoy the football, and that's exactly how it should be. I was extremely impressed by Jankovic, he looks an absolute monster this year, and I was less than impressed with Hore. 3 dives in the box, should've been booked for at least one of them. If he keeps that up, he'll get a reputation, and then players will just kick him relentlessly knowing they won't be punished for it. Was Barresi tasked with playing a 'false 9" kind of role? Looked like you guys were striker-less at times. I thought it was a good "battle" type of game, and it was nice to come away with the 3-points after Webb went off and we played the final 10-15 with 10 men as a result. Manos made a few important saves at the end [first Gerrie, then Jankovic] that just blew my mind tbh.

Yeah Nicou is the town bike of soccer in Australia.... Goes anywhere to get a free feed lol.
I agree about Hore, he does go down very very easily but is quite pacey and quick footed and, if he has Clarke or even Sawyer to bounce triangles off, can be quite effective. Jankovic is in absolute beast mode this year, I think, being a starting CB every game is really suiting his progression as a player, at Bentleigh he seemed to be almost a second stringer at times but its amazing what a few goals and playing in a pair with another man mountain like Marshall at CB does for your confidence... he almost scored a diving header FFS. hahahahah I think Esteban had Baressi as sort of high 10 type player sitting a deeper but since we weren't feeding through the midfield it was almost like a false 9 I guess.. Sawyer wasnt even on the bench and your right, no focus man at all, playing wide on a very narrow ground .... I must be naive but not sure what the mentality was behind that... Also can't understand the 3 subs early in the second half thing... Knights score 5 minutes later and we have already blown our load so to speak and cant react to formation change?
Good to see Jok getting a goal on his 2 or 3rd senior game for the Knights, made himself a nuisance a few times getting between the lines and I also like the Sanchez kid, had a mazy litte run late in the first half which he should have got a goal from.... Manos pulled an amazing one handed save late in the game to deny our equalizer and over all the Knights boys seemed really geared up for the contest ... losing the FFA cup game 3 days earlier must have stung and its amazing how much passion this derby still generates within the playing group.
Avondale and the Bergers both tripped up with draws so its pretty tight at the top this year.. Avondale away on Saturday is a HUGE game for us....

Found his feet in the youth team after moving over from NPL WA, scoring 8 goals in 2 games for them [including a 5 goal haul in 1 game]. He looks a bit of a diamond in the rough atm, but with hard work I think there's a player there that could become pretty damn handy. He reminds me of a young Kenny Athiu atm: still very, very raw. Sanchez is going to become quite a player too, I imagine he'll be on the radar of HAL clubs for their NYL squads soon tbh, though I [selfishly] hope we can keep him at the club, seeing as most HAL have shown they're pretty bad at actually developing players in the past.

Was hoping Hume would hold on against Avondale tbh, but they blew it. This is the tightest NPL Victoria season that I can remember for a very long time, which is great to see. I just hope that we can create a bit of a gap on 5th and 6th in the near future!

Our lack of goals is starting to become an issue, more specifically lack of 1st half goals, we are good front runners when we score first as we did against Hume but the Knights x2 and Dandy City games have shown what a struggle it is when we fall behind, now you can say both keepers were amazing to deny us, but then you look at Avondale play garbage and then pile on late goals with ease to get a result and they do it frequently. I feel like Hore and Sylaidos are our non negotiables in the final third..as in our creativity which is hardly our strong suit falls off a cliff if they arent on. Baressi will be key when he gets to full fitness. Wallen is proving to be a huge loss in the middle.

South need another striker before the transfer window closes. 

Drawn Eastern Lions at home in the cup, no excuses must advance in that game.

I think Estabans dilema is finding a way to play Sawyer AND Baressi in the same system which to me seems impossible. Its either one or the other and depending on that focal point is how/why he plays Gerrie, Wallen, Clark, Bates, Hore and Schroen. We haven't had a "striker" really since big Milsey and I dont think Esteban is looking for that type of player.... We are far to defensively minded, not that Im complaining about our "fortress" in front of the keeper mind you. Your right about Avondale but I think, based on who plays, we should have their speedsters covered. If we can nab a cheeky goal in the first half the game is ours for the taking.... crucial 2 x games, season defining almost I would say.

Disagree it's not possible.   Can easily play baressi behind sawyer in attacking mid.   The issue is his insistence on playing Clarke who is just a battler.  

I think this is the way to go. As for Clarke unfortunately I have to agree, I want to like him but he is just so one sided on his left his predictability is starting to wear thin, and in many ways Schroen in a central position often gets caught out when trying to get it onto his left as well. You look at someone like Gerrie Sylaidos when he runs with the ball at defenders you wouldn’t have a clue if he’s a left or right footer, Hore is equally well balanced. Clarke is by no means bad but we got him from Port Melbourne and no disrespect intended but he is a mid table port type player...if we want to compete against the best we need top end talent, he isn’t it. Being over the age of 30 he clearly isn’t getting better at this stage of his career.

Sorry I meant to say its not possible with Estaban wanting to play wingers rather than a central AM....

Loving Gerries drives into the box this year but has to work in the finishing. I think that is something Henry has over Gerrie but like that both can switch wings and wish Esteban  played them like this more often. 

Disagree on Clark tbh, he's a very tidy player who would look good for every club in NPL Victoria. Technically he's fantastic, it's just being so left-footed that could be the only knock on him. Port aren't too bad of a side tbh, though they seem to fluctuate between "really good" one year to "possibly relegated" the next.

It’s a pretty big limitation though, coach tends to play him on the right, his default move is pretty much to always make space for a left foot shot or cross, the opposition would know assuming they’ve done their homework that he is always going to his left. Now he has a tidy left foot...but at times it’s painful when the ball is to his right and you need him to pull the trigger and he refuses to because he needs to cut back to the other side. In the cup tie last Tuesday night he found himself in scoring position about 4 times and at least on 3 occasions he couldn’t fire away the shot because it wasn’t where he wanted it.

Surely the coach should just play him on the left then!? Gerrie/Hore are both right-footed, so they'd be at home on the right. I've always known Clark as a central player in the past, either as a CM/AM or even as a striker in his early days of NPL QLD, so I didn't know he now spends a lot of time out wide tbh. He's a player that's always impressed me though, so I hope it works out for him.

Burke-Gilroy now gone from Altona, only one left really is Lia and if he goes... they're 100% likely to get relegated. Shocking, considering how strong they looked in the lead-up to the season, but also highlights that without a good striker or coach: it all means nothing.

Markovski is a  fat grub and both he and  and his team play like a pack of c#nts.... dirty grubby fouls and tackles aimed at hurting opponents... Shit club, crap food, shit fans, shit ground  fuck Avondale and anyone associated with them. BTW anyone still harping on about ethnicity, this is how  I biased a Greek Australian ref is 
https://mobile.twitter.com/dmaikousis/status/1393469597496475650

Great tackle perfectly timed play on for me. 

Disgraceful non penalty decision, took the man out, no contact with the ball, ref in perfect position. Should be dropped for that mistake.

Clear dive by the SM player should have been a yellow card 

Lol get your eyes checked. SM player dived onto his own shoulder which forced him out of the game?

He needs to learn how to roll when he dives these injuries are avoidable. BTW I have 20/20. Try looking out of both eyes and you might see want I see. 

Look at how his right leg is taken out, calling it a dive is disgraceful.

the blokes clearly trolling. You can change your nickname and photo but your username still remains.

Just taking the piss. 100% pen let hope that ref doesn't get anywhere near the HAL 

Well done again South....
https://twitter.com/smfc/status/1393791498794127361

https://mobile.twitter.com/smfc/status/1405109306287038470
NPL vic back from its small covid coma no crowds this week, let's hope we can get to a f#cking live game soon..........

Hey PIFA, had to get your re-evaluation on Danny Clark after tonight (when you get a chance to watch stream) ..... You can have him at Knights... easy swap for Albano 👍
Thankfully couldn't attend because of lockdown ..... 3 weeks of no training is no excuse our boys were rusty as f#ck but so were Port and check out Duggan's winner ...... goal, of the season contender,  not often you get such a decent scissorbastard in NPL... well done.
https://mobile.twitter.com/joshparish_/status/1405842792849362946
Our lot couldn't score in a brothel with a fistful of $100 notes.

Its very clear our players have lost confidence with the coaches constant chopping and changing, whilst other teams have largely settled on their best 11s our coach is confusing them by throwing the team around and sticking with a negative gameplan.

Clarke is a liability, offers very little, he should have been swapped for Gerrie, instead the coach takes off our forward, this is just after we've fallen behind. Its laughable.

Esteban has been found out, hes not going to grind out those lucky results anymore, a cup exit looms to the plucky eastern lions midweek and Altona's performance against Oakleigh was enough to suggest they can open their account against South next weekend.

480 minutes without an open play goal is unforgiveable, not doing anything about our injury situation is unforgiveable, this boring game plan is unfirgiveable. His job is on the line right now, anything short of 2 wins coming up should see him sacked, if he wants even a remote chance of that you would suggest he finally relegates Clarke to the bench where he belongs, Adams need to sit it out as well..neither of those two will be in our next titke winning team, its time to bring Djiba and Gerrie back into the fold as starters at least.

Meanwhile our U21s put 6 in the back of the net today and our WNPL beat Bayside 10 - 0!!!! Throw Melina Ayres up top for the seniors she'll  bang a few in every week.
Everyone was content enough to let Esteban get his super defensive plan in action this year as I suppose we where all sick of leaking like a sieve over the last 3-4   season and sitting top 11 rounds in with a great defensive record was nice and all  but enough now.... At 0-1 down and chasing the game at home, against a fairly average Port who had decided to sit back and park the bus ... Esteban takes off Bates for a defender from the U21s (Murphy) IN THE 89th min?????? WTF was that for?