Things are looking good for the Roar again this year.  I predict at least a 4th place finish.   I base this prediction on the infallible sub007 proclamation principle -  the last 2 seasons sub007 has proclaimed what a crap team Brisbane and we've finished 4th and 4th.  BTW, professional football is played on a football field not paper. 

That is literally my point. 

How is it one sided?  The Brisbane team on paper and on the pitch has consistently performed to a provable standard (4th) over two full seasons of football.  The fact is the standard is consistently and empirically above your assessment. This would suggest that your assessment is consistently wrong and the "paper" you keep referring to may find a better use in your WC.   

How many of your players make our XI?

Aldred (only because Elsey left), Brown, and Steinmann that’s it.

Delianov
Lopez Aldred, Jakobsen Brown
Isaias Steinmann
Halloran Mauk Goodwin
Yengi

Have to laugh. You slag off on your coach, yet you still believe in the has been Jakobsen. He's passed his best, and is the weak link in your back line. Similarly Halloran  isn't the player to write home about. I am not confident about our chances this year, hope we do well. We have at least tried to improve across the park. Our youngsters will get a decent run this year too, which will be worth watching.

Jakobsen has been fantastic, Timotheou is who I’m worried about. Halloran while sometimes inconstant still walks into the Brisbane team.

At least both teams will gives them kids plenty of opportunities.

support your team mate!

every chance you get you're hammering your own coach, why?

also your statement about players who would make a combined XI is miles off, the whole brisbane back 4 would comfortably make a combined XI between adelaide and brisbane

not much is expected from either adelaide or brisbane this upcoming season, some talented players in both squads, but theres also huge gaps.

would not be surprised to see both teams miss the 6 or make the 6 - tough season for both clubs coming up though

For the last 2 years you've been dead wrong in your pre-season assessments of Brisbane and Adelaide.  Even as recently as last week-end, your assessment was utterly and completely wrong, but I guess if keep repeating the same line, eventually you may get it right - even a broken clock is right twice a day.  

I’m supporting the players but not supporting the coach or the owners.

There is absolutely no way a guy who captained Espanyol and played over 250 La Liga games is getting dropped over Neville or Hingert while Jakobsen has been a standout for a number of seasons and has made the team of the year on multiple occasions.

good little player

Let’s face it, neither Brisbane or Adelaide have the goods really to run top 2 when you look at MC and SFC.
However I think I’d rather be backing Brisbane than Adelaide. 

There is no way Mauk starts over Oshea. Jakobsen is past it, he will still have a games where he quality shines through but there were games last season where he completely lost it for you and they will become more and more common, i would take Trewin over him this season. 

Delianov is the better keeper, right now thanks to more games played but it is not like he is Redders/Young/Theo who would walk over Freke into the first team. It would be a good contest between 2 up and coming keepers. 

Isaias, Lopez goodwin sure they are easilly better on paper than what we have (in that formation). Halloran and Yengi are like delianov better players but it is not like they are Ninko or Alf who walk in, Akbari is becoming a very good player and is younger so it is a difficult choice, and parsons/Lescano could be better than Yengi 

Mauk scored more goals than any other midfielder in the comp last season while playing with a cracked fibula (so basically playing on a broken leg). Would not be surprised if he scores around 10 goals this season and gets a move overseas

Jakobsen was not lost last season. In the games, we conceded a lot of goals, he wasn’t playing and George Timotheou was at fault for a lot of the goals so you either didn’t watch us play much or just made that up.

Halloran won our club champion award so he is absolutely a walk in while Yengi hasn’t played much yet, is still Australia’s best U23 striker and has all the tools to be a future Socceroo. 

well there was this game where Jokobsen had an absolute shocker, weak and getting drawn out of his line and out of position https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6rD7GWox8&ab_channel=StAUnMatch, this game where he got out jumped by a 5'7" DWH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhKN1jr61t8&ab_channel=MyFootball and again getting drawn out of his line and jogging back all game if i remember correctly. again out of his line for goal 2 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhNqsedB_Mg&ab_channel=StAUnMatch he gets drawn out of position again for the first goal here and shown again in the 87th min highlight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Gicn-pU3s&ab_channel=MyFootball 

and this is just from scraping the highlights of your losses last season. he gets drawn out of his line way too easily and doesn't recover quick enough anymore. 

Yeah, but what does sub's magical "paper" have to say?

Sounds a lot like Kristensen for us the last season or two he played.

A real quality player who knew where he wanted to be, knew where he should be, but did not have the legs to get there anymore.

Good players on paper can receive too much credit for experience and prior quality because the paper always looks backwards at what they have done. Nothing beats watching players in pre-season to work out what paper needs to be used for something else, who still has it, and what a team is building like.

From memory (should have written it down on paper :( ) our pre-season last year showed great promise, but with an over-arching concern that we weren't aiming the ball at the goal consistently enough for the chances we were creating - and our season showed that same pattern. Regardless of my possibly faulty memory; that we are putting shots on goal this pre-season says we are a better attacking unit going into the season this time round.

Brisbane just lost 3-2 to NPL Allstars with a full team, absent Lescano and Aldred.
Defence looking a bit suspect.

Ouch. Thanks for the update.

Aldred out does hurt us in defence, but conceding 3 is a lot worse than only scoring 2 against an NPL side.

We were cruising undefeated during preseason,then lose 3-2 in our last game against an NPL team after beating AU,is hard to fathom.It really rings alarm bells going into the first game against MC.

Our defence all of a sudden looks paper thin,depth wise.
No Young or Gillesphey to make those last gasp saves .If Aldred is not playing regularly then we will really struggle.
Then there is our attack ,which in the second half against the NPL Allstars couldnt score.

If we call it "the loss we needed to have" heading into the serious stuff then everything is OK...

Wasn't it the NPL Allstars we played the other week too and beat? NPL Select side or something? I may have lost my marbles.

I'm picking City to win 3-0 game 1 

Last week was the the BRFC Invitational side made up of (mostly) QNPL players. This week was the NPL All stars made up of... more QNPL players . First two goals for the All stars were scored by players from Roar's NPL team.
Seems pre-season opponents hard to come by.

Thanks for clarifying that. I was scratching my head.

Not quite as bad to concede goals to your own youth players (as a supporter - worse as a senior defender). They had a lot to prove to the senior side and would have been playing for senior contracts in their heads.

Yes it was NPL All Stars and they were decent. I don’t really know the players but there was some quality players there and they obviously had something to prove.
it was a good game and it could be said that some Roar players pulled out of the odd 50/50 which they otherwise might make.
Preservation or instructions from Moon, who knows but I don’t mind that, rather that than an injury before the season starts.
Aldred was there and didn’t look like he was walking freely so that’s alarming if he’s still a ways off.

Anyone gotten their members pack/card yet? 

Nope - just the email saying "cards will be posted before first home game".

How are we feeling for tomorrow night?

I would be happy with a draw first up against city, I have city pegged for premiers again as by far and away the best team so as long as we are competitive I'm ok with that.

My Guess for our first up starting side is

                 Freke
     Neville Aldred Trewin
Hingert                        Brown
         Steinmann O'Shea
                 Akbari
    Ivanovic       Mileusnic

as an outside observer I'll be curious how Ivanovic performs being a regular start up player finally.
Obviously couldn't break through all the experienced ol SFC players for he looked so promising early on, now his chance.

I dont think members packs will be posted they usually do it pick up at the first couple of home games. cards, who knows i dont think i have ever actually gotten my card before about the 3rd home game.