Some of you may have noticed that there was no
blog last week. The truth is I was that down and pissed off with what happened
at Melita. I was sick to my stomach to see us capitulate to a team that we should
be beating (with all due respect to Melita). Not to mention the other crap that
was swirling around the club and in particular this blog.
For the Record;
I will never apologise for caring about the club and its current status.
I will never feel guilty about giving my honest view about our match
performances.
I will give my opinion about any concerns I have about the club and its future.
The club’s official channels are so devoid of any content about the club that
this blog is one of the few places people can come and find out and read about
what’s going on. To find out how we’re doing and to find out who we are playing
next and where.
Onto today’s match against Bonnyrigg. It wasn’t that hard to manage, but we
were much better than last week against Parramatta. The defensive lapses of the
opening 6 rounds were still there but at a reduced rate and as the title
suggests, we were really unfortunate not to come away with the 3 points, which
were so badly needed by the Club.
The match was for the most part a tough midfield battle, with both sides not
willing to give an inch to the other, which was to be expected.
Bonnyrigg had some chances, but we created the bulk of them and also the better
of the chances, hit the woodwork, and we were foiled by Bonnyrigg’s goalkeeper
on numerous occasions.
We were the better side and should have come away with the victory, but at the
moment we are really struggling to score. The referee blew his whistle for full-time
and the score stayed at 0-0, the only positive was it was our first clean sheet
for the season.
So in mentioning our goal scoring problems, I found this comment coach Grant
Lee gave after the game very interesting:
“It’s been a little bit of our story so far this
season. We create chances but can’t find the net”
OK, so we are acknowledging this dilemma, but the best striker in the club
cannot get a run in 1st Grade, truly baffling.
We should be doing much better in the League than our current position shows. A
quick look at the squad shows names like Henderson, Gaitatzis, Stamatellis,
Triantis, Angel, Sorge, Fondyke and others; we should be doing much better and
I hope a string of victories are just around the corner.
In the interests of the Club Championship here are the results of the 3 Grades;
1st Grade drew 0-0, the 20’s won 2-1 and in the 18’s we lost 6-3.
Last Wednesday Night we were also in FFA Cup 5th Round Qualifying action
against North Shore Mariners (Formerly Northbridge FC). We were a class above
our opponents which was to be expected and qualified for the next round with a
comfortable 3-0 win.
Wednesday May 4th is the date of our 6th Round Qualifying
clash, against Illawarra Premier League side, Wollongong United. The game is
expected to be at Belmore Sports Ground with kick-off set for 7:30pm.
Our next match is in the League, against a fully committed and in-form Hakoah
Sydney City East side, this Saturday Night at Hensley Athletic Field
(Eastgardens) kick-off is at 7pm.
Monday, 25 April 2016
Monday, 11 April 2016
Where to Now? Sydney United 3-0 Sydney Olympic
Whenever Sydney Olympic plays anywhere, all
supporters believe that whoever the opponent, we will win, that is Sydney
Olympic to a tee, whoever, wherever, we will take on all comers. So when we
travelled to Edensor Park to take on one of the supposed “big guns” for this
season, no one batted an eyelid at this perceived “big challenge”. We were
going there, despite the depleted look of this season’s squad, with firm hopes
of getting the 3 points.
The 1st half can be best described as a half of missed opportunities. We created a string of very good chances and several 1 on 1 opportunities, but we missed every single one of them. Good goalkeeping from the opposition kept them in the game in that 1st half. Down the other end, a controversial penalty was given by the clown masquerading as a referee during the match. There was a supposed foul committed by one of our players in the box, the play continued and an opposition player had his shot which was well saved by Paul Henderson, advantage was given and taken, but the play was brought back for a penalty, laughable stuff. Penalty was taken, they scored and we were 1-0 down, this ended up being the score at the break. This trend of going behind in all of our matches so far bar one is not helping our cause this season. We were down 1-0, but you would have to think that the belief was still there for the players that the game was still very much up for grabs. We were well and truly in the match.
The 2nd half it was as if a totally different Sydney Olympic team had come out to play. We looked very lethargic and lazy in the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half; some poor defending resulted in us conceding another cheap goal to put us behind 2-0. Another dubious penalty call for the home team a few minutes later resulted in another goal conceded. We were down 3-0. The players as was to be expected dropped their heads a little bit at this point. We didn’t give up trying to score though and we did carve out a few chances late on, but it was not to be and it was not our day as we went down 3-0.
It is common knowledge that the team has gone through a big change over the last 6 months. Investment in the 1st Grade squad has been dramatically scaled back; very good players have left and have not been replaced. A gigantic risk is being taken by the Club.
At the very least there needs to be a good spirit in the squad and the desire to do well must also be paramount, belief, heart, spirit, desire etc. are things money cannot buy. I’m not sure any of those adjectives can be used to describe the majority of the 2nd half performance; especially when the score was still 1-0 and we were well in the contest.
Unfortunately a few players out there today are simply not good enough and not up to this level of football. It’s also come to light that a player was told he would be playing in the 20’s on the weekend, allegedly the player called in a day later saying he was sick and couldn’t play, now, you can only take the player at his word if he really was sick, but if there was anything sinister in this action, this type of attitude should be absolutely condemned.
In the 18’s we went down 2-1 and in the 20’s we managed to clinch a vital 2-1 win, thanks once again to Adrian Vranic who scored a double and even backed up to be a substitute in the 1st Grade game, even managing to get on the field in the last 10 minutes.
It’s time to cut the bullshit. Some players are fucking around and not committed, whilst a guy like Adrian Vranic is keeping his head down, working hard and doing all he can to help the club pick up valuable Club Championship points. Time for certain people to smarten up and realise he is needed in 1st Grade as his talent is being wasted in the 20’s. There are certain other players who should be the ones playing in the 20’s, starting with next weekend.
A quick re-cap of the FFA Cup qualifier from last Wednesday night, where we played West Pennant Hills-Cherrybrook. A win here was expected against an opponent several divisions below us. After a tight first 30 or so minutes of the game we did the job in the 2nd half to run away comfortable 7-0 winners. We will play the winner of North Shore Mariners and Normanhurst Eagles who play this week, in the next round.
Next weekend is a massive test for us as we go to Melita Stadium to take on a Parramatta FC side, who are also under the pump after expecting to be a real contender this year. We also owe them one for essentially de-railing our Minor Premiership chances last season at Belmore. The match is on Saturday night with kickoff at 7pm. It is a must win for Sydney Olympic.
The 1st half can be best described as a half of missed opportunities. We created a string of very good chances and several 1 on 1 opportunities, but we missed every single one of them. Good goalkeeping from the opposition kept them in the game in that 1st half. Down the other end, a controversial penalty was given by the clown masquerading as a referee during the match. There was a supposed foul committed by one of our players in the box, the play continued and an opposition player had his shot which was well saved by Paul Henderson, advantage was given and taken, but the play was brought back for a penalty, laughable stuff. Penalty was taken, they scored and we were 1-0 down, this ended up being the score at the break. This trend of going behind in all of our matches so far bar one is not helping our cause this season. We were down 1-0, but you would have to think that the belief was still there for the players that the game was still very much up for grabs. We were well and truly in the match.
The 2nd half it was as if a totally different Sydney Olympic team had come out to play. We looked very lethargic and lazy in the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half; some poor defending resulted in us conceding another cheap goal to put us behind 2-0. Another dubious penalty call for the home team a few minutes later resulted in another goal conceded. We were down 3-0. The players as was to be expected dropped their heads a little bit at this point. We didn’t give up trying to score though and we did carve out a few chances late on, but it was not to be and it was not our day as we went down 3-0.
It is common knowledge that the team has gone through a big change over the last 6 months. Investment in the 1st Grade squad has been dramatically scaled back; very good players have left and have not been replaced. A gigantic risk is being taken by the Club.
At the very least there needs to be a good spirit in the squad and the desire to do well must also be paramount, belief, heart, spirit, desire etc. are things money cannot buy. I’m not sure any of those adjectives can be used to describe the majority of the 2nd half performance; especially when the score was still 1-0 and we were well in the contest.
Unfortunately a few players out there today are simply not good enough and not up to this level of football. It’s also come to light that a player was told he would be playing in the 20’s on the weekend, allegedly the player called in a day later saying he was sick and couldn’t play, now, you can only take the player at his word if he really was sick, but if there was anything sinister in this action, this type of attitude should be absolutely condemned.
In the 18’s we went down 2-1 and in the 20’s we managed to clinch a vital 2-1 win, thanks once again to Adrian Vranic who scored a double and even backed up to be a substitute in the 1st Grade game, even managing to get on the field in the last 10 minutes.
It’s time to cut the bullshit. Some players are fucking around and not committed, whilst a guy like Adrian Vranic is keeping his head down, working hard and doing all he can to help the club pick up valuable Club Championship points. Time for certain people to smarten up and realise he is needed in 1st Grade as his talent is being wasted in the 20’s. There are certain other players who should be the ones playing in the 20’s, starting with next weekend.
A quick re-cap of the FFA Cup qualifier from last Wednesday night, where we played West Pennant Hills-Cherrybrook. A win here was expected against an opponent several divisions below us. After a tight first 30 or so minutes of the game we did the job in the 2nd half to run away comfortable 7-0 winners. We will play the winner of North Shore Mariners and Normanhurst Eagles who play this week, in the next round.
Next weekend is a massive test for us as we go to Melita Stadium to take on a Parramatta FC side, who are also under the pump after expecting to be a real contender this year. We also owe them one for essentially de-railing our Minor Premiership chances last season at Belmore. The match is on Saturday night with kickoff at 7pm. It is a must win for Sydney Olympic.
Monday, 4 April 2016
Breaking our Duck - Sutherland Sharks 1-2 Sydney Olympic
Down the years, playing Sutherland at Seymour Shaw Park has always been
difficult, and even though it has been widely publicised that the 2016 version
Sutherland Sharks are an inexperienced and young side, it still didn’t make the
match any less difficult. It was as tough a game as we’ve ever had there.
The 1st half saw Sutherland come out all guns blazing and as with last week our defense was put under severe pressure, we were under constant threat from the Sutherland attackers. Once again, Paul Henderson stood tall for Sydney Olympic and combined with some desperate defending we managed to keep the score at 0-0. After absorbing all that pressure, we then managed to carve out some chances of our own.
Around 10 minutes or so before half-time, William Angel picked-up a long goal-kick from Paul Henderson he took it to just outside the box and smashed his shot into the top corner to put us up 1-0 to the delight of the Sydney Olympic supporters, it was a fantastic finish. Will has been a fantastic player for us over the years, the only real criticism that can be levelled at a player like William Angel is he hasn’t been able to regularly hit the back of the net during his long association with the club and he does get himself into great positions to score. With our current team the way it is this year, we’re all hoping that someone like Will can step up and contribute more on the goal-scoring front this season, because without a recognised striker on the field, we’re going to need others to step up.
After the goal, Sutherland went right back on the attack and had a couple of chances to equalise before half-time, but fortunately for us it was not to be and we went to the break leading 1-0.
The 2nd half got underway and Sutherland went right back on the attack. Our defensive frailties were once more exposed, as we were punished for a sloppy attempt at a clearance and gifted Sutherland an easy goal bringing the score level at 1-1. The game settled into an end to end duel as both sides would create chances and pushed to find the winner. With 20 minutes remaining, a goal would come and it would come for Sydney Olympic, some good work again by William Angel who put in a dangerous looking cross which was not handled well by Sutherland’s keeper and it spilled to Chris Triantis who made no mistake from point-blank range to put us back in front 2-1. The goal signalled a further opening up of the game as Sutherland pushed hard for another equaliser leaving opportunities for us to kill the game off. In the end neither side was able to add to the goal tally and the score finished 2-1, we had secured our first victory of the 2016 season.
The 1st half saw Sutherland come out all guns blazing and as with last week our defense was put under severe pressure, we were under constant threat from the Sutherland attackers. Once again, Paul Henderson stood tall for Sydney Olympic and combined with some desperate defending we managed to keep the score at 0-0. After absorbing all that pressure, we then managed to carve out some chances of our own.
Around 10 minutes or so before half-time, William Angel picked-up a long goal-kick from Paul Henderson he took it to just outside the box and smashed his shot into the top corner to put us up 1-0 to the delight of the Sydney Olympic supporters, it was a fantastic finish. Will has been a fantastic player for us over the years, the only real criticism that can be levelled at a player like William Angel is he hasn’t been able to regularly hit the back of the net during his long association with the club and he does get himself into great positions to score. With our current team the way it is this year, we’re all hoping that someone like Will can step up and contribute more on the goal-scoring front this season, because without a recognised striker on the field, we’re going to need others to step up.
After the goal, Sutherland went right back on the attack and had a couple of chances to equalise before half-time, but fortunately for us it was not to be and we went to the break leading 1-0.
The 2nd half got underway and Sutherland went right back on the attack. Our defensive frailties were once more exposed, as we were punished for a sloppy attempt at a clearance and gifted Sutherland an easy goal bringing the score level at 1-1. The game settled into an end to end duel as both sides would create chances and pushed to find the winner. With 20 minutes remaining, a goal would come and it would come for Sydney Olympic, some good work again by William Angel who put in a dangerous looking cross which was not handled well by Sutherland’s keeper and it spilled to Chris Triantis who made no mistake from point-blank range to put us back in front 2-1. The goal signalled a further opening up of the game as Sutherland pushed hard for another equaliser leaving opportunities for us to kill the game off. In the end neither side was able to add to the goal tally and the score finished 2-1, we had secured our first victory of the 2016 season.
We were worthy of our victory, but this match once again highlighted our vulnerabilities in defense, something we must get right especially when we come up against the better teams. Also, playing without a recognised striker poses its own problems, like who is going to be the guy to score our goals this season, because at the moment we continue to rely on midfielders.
In the 20’s we finally got our first win there as well, Michael Gaitatzis and the very impressive Adrian Vranic helped the side come back after being down and win 3-2. But one can’t help thinking that if Vranic was given a proper sustained shot in 1st Grade he could help us win more games and our chances of having a more successful season would increase. The coaching staff have their own reasons for sticking him in the 20’s, I’m just not sure what any of those reasons are, maybe they’re hoping he can help the club in picking up valuable Club Championship points, but I digress. In the 18’s match we lost 3-1.
Next Sunday - 4pm - at Edensor Park, we have a huge League game against Sydney United, who did it easy this round beating Rockdale away 2-0. We must be switched on next week for what will be our toughest opponent of the season so far, a match we must be ready for.
But before that, we are in action this Wednesday Night, 6th of April, for an FFA Cup match against, West Pennant Hills-Cherrybrook. The match will be at Pennant Hills Oval No.3, Britannia Street, Pennant Hills - Kickoff is at 7:30pm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)