So Harry Kewell is back in the A-League a year after leaving the Victory to return to England due to health issues surrounding the family of his wife.
After finding out that his injury hit years in England made him lose popularity with the majority of clubs, he disappeared into relative obscurity.
After a short stint in the Middle East, Kewell has returned to Melbourne, but not with The Victory.
He has found himself with their rival and little brother the Melbourne Heart. In my mind this is a fantastic move for him and the beleaguered Heart.
As far as expansion teams go, the Heart have fared well. Keep in mind however that when comparing them to Gold Coast United and the North Queensland Fury, the bar has not been set so high.
Many people feel that besides the derbies against the Victory, they bring nothing to the league.
There are also some who feel that they would’ve been better served as a team in located in Geelong as opposed to central Melbourne, an area monopolised by Victory.
This has all been compounded by a mediocre season where they failed to make the finals.
Enter Harry Kewell, possibly the greatest player to ever play for the Socceroos and a national sporting icon.
I believe he may be the player to give the Heart a place in Australia’s footballing landscape.
While he may not have the marquee pull he had two seasons ago (the arrival of Del Piero and Heskey put paid to that) he will still increase Heart’s average attendance, hopefully pushing them over the magic 10,000 mark.
Marketing wise he can give Melbourne Heart that X Factor that will get them noticed.
Thats not to take away from the impact he can still make on the park.
John Aloisi has already mentioned that he may make Kewell the captain of an inexperienced outfit, and after the departures of Fred, Clint Bolton, Matt Thompson and the expected departure of Richard Garcia, he would be an obvious choice.
While never having regularly captained a side before in my opinion he has shown himself to be a fantastic leader and would be a fantastic guide for the younger players (David Williams and Mate Dugandžić in particular).
Having already started pre season training with Melbourne Heart, he will have three months to get fit before the season starts.
He never had that kind of pre season with the Victory, despite being out of the game for a year, he could be one of the few players to genuinely benefit from such a long pre season.
A fit Harry Kewell, even at 34 would still be a star player in the A-League and could well propel the Heart into the finals.
This A-League season could very well be Harry Kewell’s season. We can only hope.
Stevo
Guest
Agree. Victory were given 'Melbourne on a plate' and an anti-competitive 5 year free kick to soak up as many supporters as possible. But looking forward, we need our Board to be ambitious, within sensible targets, and have a plan to win trophies not just be praised for our community engagement. Winning brings fans in immediately and then the rirvalry intensifies bringing more interest, and so it builds. Can't wait for the opening round.
Mxjosh
Roar Rookie
The problem is Heart have to work a lot harder than the Victory ever did to gain a strong foothold in Melbourne. I'm not necesarily suggesting they should've been located in Geelong I'm just saying that they haven't really done anything to give themselves a true identity for fans to connect with beyond the "Support us if you hate Victory". A championship win would go along way to help create that identity and I think Harry Kewel -provided he stays fit and lasts more than a season- can also help.
pete4
Guest
I think until the Heart win a Championship it'll be difficult for them to compete off the park with the Victory. Don't agree with the Geelong idea (besides maybe playing an annual match there). Melbourne is certainly big enough to host 2 clubs
mahonjt
Guest
They are a 'match made in heven' - but not for the positive reasons Scott Munn hopes. They are indeed a perfect match.