Melbourne Heart Fan Forum 2012/2013

In Attendance:

About 70 members

Chairman: Peter Sidwell

Coach: John Aloisi

Football Operations Manager: John Didulica (@Jdidulica)

GM Fan Engagement: David Lyon (@dave_lyon)

Peter Sidwell thanked us all for giving our own time to be there, and commenced proceedings with a powerpoint presentation. This covered: What we have achieved so far, where we think we are, and where we are going to be.

Achievements:

Having three Socceroos in the East Asian Cup.

Two Young Socceroos who have qualified for U-20 WC.

Transition of coaching staff.

Multiple international transfers.

In regards to losing players he said he’d be more worried if they had been lost to other A-League teams but this is not the trend. He’s still optimistic on Heart making finals if we have our full squad available. The problem has been that our top boys are the ones getting knocked off.

Sidwell made it perfectly clear that recruiting Grella was his call, and if he had to make that call again, he’d do it. It was done for the right reasons. He came cheaper than a youth player, to support his mate in the beginning of his coaching career.

Community:

Clinics for 60,000 young boys and girls.

City of Melbourne Award.

Heart spend $56,000 per year on the community for no immediate return which no other A-League club does.

They see this as a long-term generational plan and will be faithful to it despite great expense to the club. Heart are proud of these community efforts as a point of difference. We need to own Melbourne just as much as anybody else. We are a Melbourne team, not Geelong or Casey.

Matchday:

Attendance is up 10%

Membership is struggling with only an increase of 2%

We have a “sweetheart” deal with the FFA for memberships but this does not apply to walkups on game day so memberships are crucial.

Operations:

Long term sustainability. It costs $9.5 Million to run the club per year. New TV rights deal provides each club with $2.5 Million each year.

12 month (FFV Participation)

Young Talent

W-League team (planned soon, not next season but season after).

Westpac is a strong brand and will renew for another three years due to our community focus.

Infrastructure:

Upgrade of training surface (Stage I)

Support for infrastructure build (Stages II & III)

LaTrobe University are aiming to be the sports University of Australia and are the perfect partnership as ambition is something we both share. This is why we are located there. LaTrobe want to develop schools of excellence for football and other sports. E.g. John Aloisi School of Football, Michael Malthouse School of AFL.

Peter Sidwell said that the board get that the club belongs to the fans.

 

Following the presentation the floor was opened up to the fans for a Q&A session with the panel.

Question – I’m concerned Casey was dismissed as a home for Heart, as it’s a high growth area.

Sidwell – Wanted to clear up that we are a club of Melbourne not an outreach of Melbourne. That Heart is not ignoring Casey and will focus on big areas to the north, Casey and Wyndham. Sidwell’s comment was made based on the location of facilities in Melbourne.

 

Question – Will the club receive Friday night games next season?

Sidwell – Feels like we got a raw deal this season in terms of fixturing. We chose to host the Christmas eve Derby due to the family atmosphere. We will be negotiating for a better deal next season. Scott Munn (CEO) instrumental in negotiating this each year.

 

Question – Could Heart use gaming as a revenue spinner?

Sidwell – Any sports betting is handled only through the FFA. We have made a point of banning alcohol advertising in our stadium. Also admits a conflict of interest with his involvement in Intralot.

 

Question – I see Germano and Fred as very important players for the club, will their contracts be renewed?

Didulica – Germano’s contract will be extended (round of applause broke out). Due to Fred’s injury concerns we will wait until the end of the season and assess.

 

Question – How are our finances?

Sidwell – We’re close to balancing our books with the recent sale of some players. We just about have a sustainable model. We’re not poor, broke or rich, we’re OK.

 

Question – Can we move people to the east wing at AAMI as currently the perception on TV is that there are lots of empty seats which is not a good look. Can Fox Football show more of the Yarraside end?

Sidwell – We’ll work on incentives to encourage people to sit there.

 

Question – To be sustainable is good, but shouldn’t our ambition be silverware?

Aloisi – Of course this is what we are all striving for. I’ve sought success my entire career.

 

Question – In regards to losing players overseas

Sidwell – Behich was almost crying about this opportunity. We did try very hard to keep him for the remainder of the season. Sidwell said the money on offer was massive and it would be difficult for these young players and their families to turn down.

 

Question – How do you explain our inconsistency, where we can be good against the Victory and Roar, but not weaker clubs such as Sydney? Only the Mariners seem consistent.

Aloisi – CCM’s still have almost the same back four since year one of the A-League. They have a core of about five players to draw from where they can easily grind out results.

We haven’t always had a stable side. We lost three outfield players away with the Socceroos. We couldn’t plan for it as the East Asian Cup just appeared without warning. Aloisi reiterated this was not meant as an excuse. We then had no choice but to play those fatigued players on their return. He thinks the fade out particularly in away games was a personnel issue. Aloisi said he was happy with some of the football they’ve played away and we weren’t far away from a win. He wanted to point out that we haven’t really been smashed by opposition this season. Apart from three bad games, we don’t generally get outplayed.

 

Question – Directed at Aloisi wondering what his philosophy was.

Aloisi – We play great then players lose their shape. We’re a great counter attacking team, but this strategy changes depending on personnel. Top clubs in the A-League this season are also similar; it’s not just about a passing brand of football.

 

Question – A fan described the away trip against WSW, where the atmosphere was intimidating. He believes the players play for the fans first and then they play for the shirt.

Aloisi – We are top of the ladder in terms of home wins. Even the 7,000 at the last home game made for the best atmosphere ever, and there was no doubt from the players that the 12^th man got us over the line.

 

Question – Isn’t it hard to add fans when we aren’t successful?

Aloisi – If we got the players back that we’ve lost we could win silverware. From the inception of the club, Heart wanted to build the team around players like Marrone, Behich, Babalj, Hamill and Good. Grella was a massive loss as he was to be like a playing coach out there on the pitch.

 

Question – One fan mentioned how they were travelling to all the way games and after the WSW game recently – it felt like a slap in the face. Felt like the fans showed up but the players didn’t.

Aloisi – We can’t always play well, but we can work and fight and be in the face of the referees and opposition. He apologised for the losses and said that he doesn’t like the fans to see his emotions when Heart lose.

The mood of the forum became light hearted with fans suggesting that they want to see it! Aloisi responded (gestured a punching motion) by saying his hand won’t like it!

Fans became vocal, encouraging Aloisi to be more expressive, passionate.

Sidwell mentioned he had to write a letter to the FFA earlier this season to defend an outburst of passion from Didulica!

 

Question – In regards to the sudden loss of players internationally and not being able to give them a proper farewell.

Didulica – He gave the example of the phone call with Bursaspor happening Tuesday morning and then the flight on the same night. He tried to negotiate to keep Aziz for the derby (six hour call) with the guy at the other end saying “Are you crazy?” He said that Marrone, Grella and Behich will be granted proper farewells when they return for holidays.

Some other points of note:

Didulica mentioned that the new youth division two team would serve as a way to source ready-made replacements in the future when we lose players.

Standing in the three active area bays will remain for the rest of the home games this season. If we grow the numbers we could also expand upwards to the back row.

Not many A-League players are available to recruit this time of the year and if they are out of work there’s usually a good reason behind it.

The youth side has relocated games to Epping as the Northcote surface was dangerous.

Aloisi wants to stick to a 433 formation. He is concerned that changing this up would confuse the playing group and lead to more conceded goals.

Aloisi was justifiably defensive answering some queries from fans questioning his coaching decisions to date. These included formations, selections, away form, late game fade-outs.

There are no immediate plans for a marquee player this season, but Sidwell said he’d never rule it either in or out for the future.

Golgol Mebrahtu has been carrying OP for two years and we are committed to him long term. He’s not only creative as a dead ball specialist but has pace to burn.

Macallister is an important player even with Babalj back. He’s a great clubman and there’s no reason we can’t play all strikers, it’s a work in progress.

One highlight of the night was a young fan who prepared a written speech. He congratulated Heart for surviving while the other expansion clubs like the Fury and Gold Coast have not. He spoke of his frustration with our inconsistency and poor away record. He received a round of claps and his family looked rightfully proud.

Another highlight was one fan who just wanted to thank Aloisi for scoring “that goal” against Uruguay.

Thanks for reading this far!

The forum went for about three hours in total and I’d like to thank the club representatives for making themselves available to answer all of our questions. There are plans to hold them bi-annually and I recommend all Heart members to attend. I found it to be a very eye-opening experience and found out more about the club I love.

 

We are Melbourne and we will be the greatest team this city has seen!

Google+