Melbourne City: Season 2018/19

[MistahCampoy]

https://www.goal.com/en-au/news/melbourne-citys-victory-like-scarf-trolled-by-a-league-fans/ua33ib2bp5ih11ozyaa9xakdl

They know how to pick em 

[tardotz]

6 hours ago, Edinburgh said:

Huh?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1043461225832144&id=288767427968198

[tardotz]

6 minutes ago, tardotz said:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1043461225832144&id=288767427968198

Or https://www.goal.com/en-au/news/melbourne-citys-active-support-to-retire-after-derby/we16bde6mgu31jdo0vafpgpe9

[Sithslayer1991]

On 17/12/2018 at 12:58 PM, tardotz said:

So this week is the last week for City's "active" group. I know it wasn't much but still a pity to see the authorities drive another group out. Soon there will be no active groups left.

Hmmm I think although it is an influencing factor with authorities, I think there is a bigger issue with the club and its engagement to Melbourne fans, and when not enough people come its hard to run things in the active group. I would be worried if I were them with West Melbourne comming in and feeling lucky they play in Geelong for a few seasons before hitting Melbourne.

[mack]

There's reports that Joyce was nearly sacked this week but was given a last chance with the derby this weekend.

[MartinTyler]

35 minutes ago, mack said:

There's reports that Joyce was nearly sacked this week but was given a last chance with the derby this weekend.

Sacking postponed until Sunday morning then?

[LeeMarvin]

1 hour ago, mack said:

There's reports that Joyce was nearly sacked this week but was given a last chance with the derby this weekend.

I wonder how much of their issues are his fault.  He just oversees the colony according to orders from HQ back in London doesn't he?

[mack]

City boss Joyce fighting to avoid the axe

Besieged Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce is fighting for his job, with club chiefs weighing up their options as they prepare for Saturday’s Melbourne derby.

Last Friday’s horror loss to Newcastle Jets has set off alarm bells with City Football Group and has prompted internal meetings about Joyce’s future.

It’s understood that City chiefs contemplated pulling the trigger this week, but it appears that Joyce will lead his under-performing team into action against second-place Melbourne Victory at Marvel Stadium.

A heavy loss or unconvincing display could spell the end of Joyce’s whose City contract expires at the end of this A-League season in May.

City chiefs are understood to have earmarked assistant coach, former Socceroo Tony Vidmar, as the caretaker should Joyce depart.

It is unclear whether banished striker Bruno Fornaroli would be welcomed back to the fold if Vidmar was to take over.

Club chiefs set Joyce, a former Wigan Athletic and Manchester United youth team coach, a goal of finishing inside the top three and/or qualify for the Asian Champions League.

However the style of play is at the core of City chiefs’ discontent, more so than the results – although they sit precariously in fifth spot – along with the poor crowds and fan discontent.

A woeful run of one win in seven games has seen seventh-place Newcastle Jets draw to within six points of City.

Joyce has twice come close to facing the axe at City – just over a year ago when the club was in the midst of a disastrous run, before Daniel Arzani almost single-handedly reignited their season.

He was under immense pressure earlier this season, after the Round 3 home horror show to Sydney FC.

While results have improved since, a section of City fans have continued to campaign for Joyce’s sacking, claiming that the mystery suspension of Fornaroli is part of a trend that has claimed fellow fan favourites Tim Cahill, Fernando Brandan and Neil Kilkenny.

Joyce joined chief executive Scott Munn and captain Scott Jamieson at a fan engagement event last week and was well received, but the manner of the Jets loss has again heaped pressure on the coach.

[Edinburgh]

To me, the appointment of Joyce has never seemed to sit within my perception of the type of coach City would want.

[Hughesy]

Joyce is the least of their problems. It’s unbelievable to think that whilst they probably have (access to) the deepest pockets of any sporting club in Australia, they’re also one of, if not the most stagnant. 

I know it’s the subject of much humour but in all honesty, they’ve got hardly any fans and aren’t gaining any whatsoever. The discontent amongst those they do have and lack of connection absolutely reeks. They’ve got no identity or point of difference to their rivals who dwarf them multiple times over. They simply aren’t and haven’t grown since entering the competition. What’s worse is that they don’t seem to care - they’ve got all the gear but no idea. They’re like the classic case of the rich man who has everything but is completely miserable.  

If the City group pulled the pin on them right now, they’d be screwed because they represent nothing and as such hold very little value within Australian football. It’s actually kind of sad because I don’t see a way out of this position they’re in, other than relocating. Interesting times ahead for this mob.

[LeeMarvin]

I am going to go early and make a big call:  Melbourne City and Western United will end up merging eventually.

[Edinburgh]

26 minutes ago, LeeMarvin said:

I am going to go early and make a big call:  Melbourne City and Western United will end up merging eventually.

I doubt it. From City's  perspective, the City part of the name is critical and would be diminished by merging with the west. From the western perspective the opposite applies. And then there's the franchise structure and FFA .......

A relocation is more likely. 

[LeeMarvin]

8 minutes ago, Edinburgh said:

I doubt it. From City's  perspective, the City part of the name is critical and would be diminished by merging with the west. From the western perspective the opposite applies. And then there's the franchise structure and FFA .......

A relocation is more likely. 

Good points.  In any case I can't see them both surviving, especially with Victory so well entrenched in Melbourne.  Canberra City has a nice ring to it.

[Carns]

If (and hopefully when) Canberra come in it must be Canberra United. They've already got women's and youth teams competing.

[Davo]

Yeah they don't really have an excuse for sucking so much off the field. They could have super cheap ticket prices and memberships, spend up on an advertising campaign bigger than any sporting team of any code in the country and have proper name grabbing marquees, and the expense would be less than the rounding error on the CFG balance sheet. Then once they've got some momentum they can start to worry about being profitable (if they're even interested in that).

[Edinburgh]

14 minutes ago, Davo said:

Yeah they don't really have an excuse for sucking so much off the field. They could have super cheap ticket prices and memberships, spend up on an advertising campaign bigger than any sporting team of any code in the country and have proper name grabbing marquees, and the expense would be less than the rounding error on the CFG balance sheet. Then once they've got some momentum they can start to worry about being profitable (if they're even interested in that).

And what you say is probably how the FFA looked at it when jumping at accepting them as the new owners. The truth is more along the lines of CFG getting what they can out of the FFA. The only strong evidence of CFG contributing to the game in Australia is their efforts in the W League.

[Zelinsky]

City appear to be doing something right in the youth department. Of Australia's AFC U19 squad last year, seven are currently playing for City, five for WSW, with the rest of the HAL clubs almost (Smurfs) or totally (VIC) absent.

And that's were the good news stops.

Only two of their senior players are actually from Melbourne (Galokovic, Good). The rest is a colorful group of mercenaries, journeymen, and gold diggers. The only player City fans (if there is such a thing) are getting excited about (Fornaroli) is in the wilderness. Add to that an empty stadium, the few active supporters they had walking away, and it's all quite bleak.

By now the figured that appointing a youth level coach for their senior team was not the best idea, and so the story continues for them. Right now we don't look that crash hot either, but that is bound to change within months. We appear to be heading in the right direction, while City seem to be looking down a dark tunnel. A change of name and colors, and turning into a Manchester City lookalike, is not enough to forge an identity and to attract people.

Football supporters in Australia need to be forever grateful for the City group's contribution bringing down the Lowys, without them it would not have happened. But beyond that I really don't care much what they do or don't do.

 

[LeeMarvin]

Haven't they achieved the distinction of becoming league leaders in sideways and backwards passing though?

[sonar]

Re Heart/Melb City........With AFL being the dominant sport in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne and the members of those clubs in those cities rarely or never being members of other sports ( football ) you have to wonder at the logic of putting two football teams in those cities where the potential for growth is lower than say Sydney, where people are quite happy to support the Eels, Panthers , Dragons or Swans etc and also support an A league club.

I would of thought the better option for City was to put them ( especially in Victoria ) into a large regional centre, tap into the local football in the region that has been forgotten by the AFL and grow your support base there.Be a one team town. There would be more international exposure for the region which in the long term would be to the benefit of all.

Edited February 21, 2019 by sonar

[Carns]

I honestly believe it is because Heart never established themselves as a unique entity. All they ever were was "not Victory". At least in Sydney there is an obvious and well established east/west divide, with decades of history - both sociologically and in a sporting sense.

People in Melbourne are happy supporting sports outside of AFL (they also have a strong membership culture thanks to AFL), but a franchise that stands for nothing really is not appealing to anyone. Look at the South Sydney Expansion bid, a catch all grab at nothing. At least SWS is a defined area (and huge growth area).

[Hughesy]

15 minutes ago, sonar said:

Re Heart/Melb City........With AFL being the dominant sport in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne and the members of those clubs in those cities rarely or never being members of other sports ( football ) you have to wonder at the logic of putting two football teams in those cities where the potential for growth is lower than say Sydney, where people are quite happy to support the Eels, Panthers , Dragons or Swans etc and also support an A league club.

I would of thought the better option for City was to put them ( especially in Victoria ) into a large regional centre, tap into the local football in the region that has been forgotten by the AFL and grow your support base there.Be a one team town. There would be more international exposure for the region which in the long term would be to the benefit of all.

Not only did they put them in the same city, they literally play in the same ******* stadium as the already well established, undisputed biggest club in the A-League (by a mile). It would have been like having WSW play out of Moore Park... Every decision made about this club throughout its history has been questionable.

 

51 minutes ago, FCB said:

City appear to be doing something right in the youth department. Of Australia's AFC U19 squad last year, seven are currently playing for City, five for WSW, with the rest of the HAL clubs almost (Smurfs) or totally (VIC) absent.

And that's were the good news stops.

Only two of their senior players are actually from Melbourne (Galokovic, Good). The rest is a colorful group of mercenaries, journeymen, and gold diggers. The only player City fans (if there is such a thing) are getting excited about (Fornaroli) is in the wilderness. Add to that an empty stadium, the few active supporters they had walking away, and it's all quite bleak.

By now the figured that appointing a youth level coach for their senior team was not the best idea, and so the story continues for them. Right now we don't look that crash hot either, but that is bound to change within months. We appear to be heading in the right direction, while City seem to be looking down a dark tunnel. A change of name and colors, and turning into a Manchester City lookalike, is not enough to forge an identity and to attract people.

Football supporters in Australia need to be forever grateful for the City group's contribution bringing down the Lowys, without them it would not have happened. But beyond that I really don't care much what they do or don't do.

 

I wont ever be grateful to them for anything. They're simply using Australia for their own gain and obsession with world domination and them co-ordinating that for their sake just so happened to benefit us too. They couldn't give two shits about the development of the A-League and Australian football. 

[mack]

Heart should have been forced to play outside at another stadium. It's ridiculous that a new team coming up against the biggest team in the league at that point were allowed to play at the same stadium.

[Carns]

20 minutes ago, hughsey said:

They couldn't give two shits about the development of the A-League and Australian football. 

They're only interested in farming as many of the best Australian youth talent as possible. Mooy paid for the purchase of the club and Arzani will (if he reaches potential) will pay for much/all of the academy.

[LeeMarvin]

31 minutes ago, Carns said:

I honestly believe it is because Heart never established themselves as a unique entity. All they ever were was "not Victory". At least in Sydney there is an obvious and well established east/west divide, with decades of history - both sociologically and in a sporting sense.

People in Melbourne are happy supporting sports outside of AFL (they also have a strong membership culture thanks to AFL), but a franchise that stands for nothing really is not appealing to anyone. Look at the South Sydney Expansion bid, a catch all grab at nothing. At least SWS is a defined area (and huge growth area).

I can tell you from having previously lived in Melbourne for about 10 years that there is an East/West and possibly North divide there as well, it is just that it hasn't been tapped in to effectively.  Perhaps the hope was that the City brand would appeal to the Eurosnob demographic, as Victory already had cornered the parochial patriotic Melbournians city wide.

Edited February 21, 2019 by LeeMarvin
Spelling

[Edinburgh]

2 hours ago, sonar said:

Re Heart/Melb City........With AFL being the dominant sport in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne and the members of those clubs in those cities rarely or never being members of other sports ( football ) you have to wonder at the logic of putting two football teams in those cities where the potential for growth is lower than say Sydney, where people are quite happy to support the Eels, Panthers , Dragons or Swans etc and also support an A league club.

I would of thought the better option for City was to put them ( especially in Victoria ) into a large regional centre, tap into the local football in the region that has been forgotten by the AFL and grow your support base there.Be a one team town. There would be more international exposure for the region which in the long term would be to the benefit of all.

Mildura City?

I agree the 2nd vic team should have been regional. City group were never going to buy such a franchise though.

[sonar]

4 minutes ago, Edinburgh said:

Mildura City?

I agree the 2nd vic team should have been regional. City group were never going to buy such a franchise though.

Even Geelong...which isn't really regional would of been a better option.

[Sithslayer1991]

Do you think $ity would ever relocate to say to South East Melbourne? They would have to build a new stadium and of course have a forum with the current membership to see if that is even possible. But do you think they ever would?

[Edinburgh]

8 minutes ago, sonar said:

Even Geelong...which isn't really regional would of been a better option.

Geelong doesn't start with an M

[Edinburgh]

7 minutes ago, Sithslayer1991 said:

Do you think $ity would ever relocate to say to South East Melbourne? They would have to build a new stadium and of course have a forum with the current membership to see if that is even possible. But do you think they ever would?

Not if it involves moving out of the city

[Davo]

City Football Group buy Chinese club Sichuan Jiuniu

Also.