Headline news
Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has adopted the 'prevention is better than cure' policy by cracking the whip to ensure no player in his championship-winning squad thinks he is untouchable heading into the new campaign.
Asked what was the main point that Muscat had driven home during the first two months of the pre-season, Victory and Olyroos defender Jason Geria told The Warm-up: "His message is pretty much that if you're going to get complacent you're not going to be playing."
"You can't get comfortable and develop a false sense of security because of what we did last season and think you're guaranteed a spot. Everyone has to train hard and work hard and show they want to play and then show they deserve to be starting in games," Geria said.
"It makes training more intense and more competitive with players fighting for positions. The standard of training is high and players get better from that."
It won't surprise anyone that Geria said the always direct Muscat hasn't experienced any difficulty in getting his point across and everyone in the squad knows exactly where they stand.
Muscat has accentuated his point by adding several younger players to the squad, including teenage defender Thomas Deng, to keep the heat on the established players.
"He keeps everyone on their toes and everyone knows they're fighting for their position," Geria said.
"There's good competition and if you get an opportunity and you play well it doesn't matter who it is, they'll stay there. It makes you have to perform every day at training, which is good."
What did you do on your holidays?
While Western Sydney Wanderers striker Brendon Santalab had to do some rehabilitation and training during the off-season, after missing most of last campaign through two shoulder surgeries, he still managed to fit in an overseas trip.
"I needed to get a head-start with training after missing a lot of last season," he told The Warm-up.
"But I was still lucky enough to pop over to Croatia with my girlfriend, Stephanie. Mum and dad are Croatian and I'd been there before, but it was Steph's first time."
"It was nice and relaxing to go over there with her. To be back where my parents were born is always good. We've got relatives in Zagreb and I went and saw them. Stephanie loved Croatia. We'll definitely be putting that on the list to go back."
"I managed to achieve a nice balance between training and a holiday, so I'm feeling fresh. The rehab on my shoulder went well and I'm back playing. I'm grateful the club physio and medical staff worked with me during the holidays and got me back to where I am now."
Doctor Football
Introducing football's ultimate agony aunt, the man who will try to solve all of your problems - whether you're an A-League player, a Socceroos or Matildas international, or just a weekend hacker who is too slow and struggling for breath in the over 35s. He's got no degrees, but he aims to please.
Dear Doctor Football,
Every month, usually around the 15th, I get this recurring nightmare. My pay doesn't arrive in my account on time and I've got all these bills and the mortage to look after and for days I'm waiting and nothing happens. I wake up screaming, with my pyjamas soaked in sweat. What should I do?
Battler, Brisbane.
Dear Battler,
We often dream about things we really want to happen - even if the prospect seems horrendous at the time. You obviously have a secret desire to become a Brisbane Roar player. My advice to you is that now is a good time to ring the club - it has a vacancy with Luke Brattan leaving.
The word
Ante Covic's contract with Perth Glory didn't begin until 1 September, so he was able to spend a longer off-season with his family before leaving them behind in Sydney to go to the other side of the continent and continue his playing career, after being cut by Western Sydney Wanderers.
That must be tough to handle for all involved, but 40 year-old Covic explained he had moved his two children, Emelie and Christopher, around too many times in the past and that it was best for them to stay put now, while he gets back as often as he can to visit them and his wife, Linda.
"It's going to be difficult, especially for the kids," Covic said.
"It's the second time I've had to leave them behind. But I talked to them about it - they've moved around their whole lives and it wouldn't have been good for them to have to do it out of the blue again."
"I was looking at my daughter a few days before I left and I was thinking 'she's nine years old and she's lived in five different cities and nine different houses'. The kids know it's dad's job and they're real troopers about it," he said.
"My wife has got a job now, so it's not going to be easy, but we have to try to make it work. The trick is to keep the kids active and entertained with their parents living apart for a while."
"I've said numerous times that if I thought physically or mentally the game had gone past me, I'd look at retiring, but that isn't the case."
"Even though I've had a long career, a football player's career is ultimately a short one compared to others, so you've got to make the most of it."
Dedication
While the Socceroos are back in town for a World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on Thursday night, hopefully someone in the camp bought a birthday cake and arranged for a belated celebration for coach Ange Postecoglou, who turned 50 on 27 August.
The Warm-up reckons Postecoglou would be a Rolling Stones man, so to mark Ange reaching the half-century - we bring you one of its absolute classics, 'Satisfaction', which was recorded and released in the year he was born.
"Cause I try and I try and I try and I try, I can't get no, I can't get no. . . "
