Heart Problems – 2012/13 Season Review

The screech of the final whistle sounded around Bluetongue Stadium, greeted by the cheers of 8,000 Central Coast Mariners fans. Melbourne Heart’s 2012/13 campaign was officially over. Although realistically it had been over for several weeks. It was a somber way to end the season. A 2-1 loss at the home of the league’s second best team doesn’t sound so bad for a team in the midst of a battle for the wooden spoon; however you only had to look slightly deeper to see the turmoil taking place at Melbourne Heart.

The 2012/13 season was, in short, a failure on and off the pitch for the Heart. The lowest finish in the club’s short history, continued poor attendances, reported financial difficulties and increasing angst amongst the members had caused Heart to go backwards in their development this season.

The clubs on field issues were obvious from the start. Having signed the untried, untested John Aloisi as manager at the start of the season to replace the club’s first and only manager John van’t Schip, was a move made to try and increase interest in the club. Socceroo hero John Aloisi managing the club where he finished his decorated playing career was a people interest story waiting to happen. However it did not come to pass. Less people were interested in Aloisi than first thought, and the risk of signing a manager with no experience showed itself. Aloisi struggled in his role as gaffer at the club. His squad selection and game tactics were widely criticised for their lack of flexibility. Whenever Heart found themselves in a losing position, Aloisi was unable to change his tactics to swing the momentum back towards Melbourne.

Heart were the only club in the A League this season not to gain a single point after going behind. His squad selection also left much to be desired. Constantly choosing to play out of form players and leaving potential game changers such as Golgol Mebrahtu on the bench. Unfortunately from the outside looking in, it looks as though John Aloisi tries too hard to be the “nice guy” manager. Consistently starting former teammates and friends such as Simon Colosimo and Jason Hoffman despite their lack of form.

However the blame for Heart’s on field troubles cannot be placed only upon John Aloisi. A major issue facing Heart is the club’s transfer policy. Several of the club’s hugely talented youth from last season left for very low amounts of money. Curtis Good left for England, Brendan Hamill left for Korea, Eli Babalj left for Serbia (he later returned but only towards the end of the season), Aziz Behich left for Turkey, Michael Marrone left for China, and Craig Goodwin left for New South Wales to join the Newcastle Jets. Most of these players were expected to move overseas to bigger and better things, but the departure of Craig Goodwin baffled most Heart supporters.

The young boy from Adelaide showed incredible potential in the handful of games he played for the club last season, and yet for some reason he was not kept in Melbourne. It wasn’t as though the Jets offered an enormous, lucrative contract to the young star, they simply offered him what was deemed to be fair. Enough to make a living from. Melbourne Heart on the other hand offered him an incredibly small contract for barely any money. They clearly were not trying very hard to keep Goodwin. That decision backfired in a huge way, with Craig Goodwin becoming one of the outstanding players in not only the Newcastle team, but the entire A League.

The players that Melbourne recruited to cover the loss of so many players were okay. Not good, not bad, but okay. Patrick Gerhardt was stellar despite the fact he was played out of position all season. Josip Tadic proved to be effective throughout an injury effected season. Golgol Mebrahtu showed all of the flair and talent that he was said to have. Richard Garcia was without a doubt the high point of Melbourne Heart’s season, an absolute revelation on the wing in the absence of the injured Mate Dugandzic. Garcia was easily Heart’s best player this season. Dylan Macallister was disappointing to say the least. Despite scoring for fun in preseason, he struggled to perform in the season proper.

Melbourne Heart showed very little heart at points this season. Particularly in away games. The club’s dismal record outside of Melbourne continuing for the entirety of the season. When they conceded, Heart appeared to almost give up. Their work rate in most games was well below par.

Unfortunately season 2012/13 was not only a failure on the field. Off field issues became very obvious and caused a lot of frustration and uncertainty amongst Heart’s fan base. Poor crowd figures haunted the club again this season. Attendances of 6,000 people every week in a market of over 3 million people is not a good look for the club.

So what do we do? What do Melbourne Heart do for the future?

In my opinion, John Aloisi has to be shown the door. The experiment of placing him as manager has failed, so the club should simply cut their losses and invest in a more experienced manager. Aloisi is not the only person that needs to go. A massive player clean out needs to take place. Older players need to go to make room for talented youth. With Bolton retiring, Colosimo, Thompson, Hoffman, Macallister, Fred and Williams all need to leave the club. To replace them, Heart need to bring in several talented players.

But most importantly of all Melbourne Heart need a marquee. A big name marquee. Not only to improve the club’s performance on the field, but to bring in crowds. You only have to look as far a Sydney FC to see the huge “Del Piero Effect” caused by a big name marquee. Huge increases in crowds and memberships have come about due to Del Piero appearing in the sky blue. With rumours of Andrea Pirlo considering a move to the A League, Melbourne Heart need to make a big move for the Italian superstar, or at least a player like him.

2012/13 has been a nightmare for Heart and drastic changes need to be made to ensure the club’s survival. The “new club” excuse has run out. It’s time for Melbourne’s red and white to get their act together.