Tag Archives: 88.3

Gelding’s tips for 2 April 2011

The Gelding’s attention turns to Moonee Valley today. Although there is a huge race meeting in Sydney today featuring the running of the Golden Slipper, the Gelding will defer to the Sydney Colt’s selections below.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Moonee Valley

Race 2 Horse 2 – I’m Discreet
Race 3 Horse 2 – Mosha (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 4 Horse 1 – Psychologist (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 7 Horse 6 – Flat Chat
Race 8 Horse 3 – The Big Steel

You can hear the Gelding discuss racing with the Professor every Sunday on Sportzfan Radio at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM.  The Gelding’s segment is sponsored by the Great Western Hotel.

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Germany vs Australia – A cause for concern to a cause célèbre

“…..the blame no doubt lies with Pim Verbeek and the fearful, naive and nonsensical tactics he employed in that match. Further, Verbeek’s tactics against Germany disarmed the players of their unique and natural cultural qualities, that being their attacking, fighting spirit.  Put simply, he did not believe in the players…..(we need) to recruit a new custodian who, unlike Verbeek, understands and is able to harness the cultural qualities of Australia’s players and moreover, believes in them” – The F Word’s musings in a previous blog.

They say time heals all wounds. 

I agree.

But so too does self belief, a willingness to change and a desire to right the wrongs of the past.

When Australia took to the field against Germany at last year’s World Cup the team appeared bereft of ideas, spirit and passion.  The 4-0 drubbing always meant the Socceroos would need to play catch up football in their remaining two games to secure qualification to the knockout stages of the World Cup.  Despite restoring some pride against Ghana and Serbia, the mountain was insurmountable and early elimination confirmed. 

In recent months, the team, and new coach Holger Osieck, have appeared determined to make a point that they were better than their first-round exit at the World Cup.  First, an appearance at the final of the AFC Asian Cup in January and now an astonishing come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Germany in their own backyard. 

The world’s number three ranked side looked on course to replicate its 4-0 win in Durban as they dominated the first half with their speed, passing and movement on and off the ball and duly went ahead after 26 minutes. But Osieck’s spirited half time team talk sparked the turnaround.  He later told Fox Sports, “…I said (to the players) ‘you can do it’….I told them we are Australia, we are somebody and we don’t have to be afraid of them”.  The Australian players’ actions mirrored those words as they came out of the dressing-room for the second half with a changed approach and a determination to get back into the contest. Playing the ball on the ground and moving it about with short, crisp passing the Socceroos stunned the hosts with two goals in the 61st and 65th minute, first through David Carney and then a Luke Wilkshire penalty, to claim a first ever win over the European side.

Much will be made of the fact the game was a meaningless friendly and that Germany coach, Joachim Low made a host of changes to the side that beat Kazakhstan 4-0 in its Euro 2012 qualifier last weekend.  But given their stature, playing depth and superior head-to-head record, the Germans should have still comfortably beaten the Socceroos.  This was still a side that had Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger, all of whom started on that fateful day in Durban.  Finally, no country, regardless of the importance of the fixture would want to lose a game at home.

The surprising thing was that the overall performance of the Socceroos was not perfect. In truth, the Germans completely controlled the opening period and had the better of the contest until the Socceroos equalised.  Further, Mile Jedinak was yet again inefficient and unimaginative in the engine room and gave the ball away too easily, whilst Lucas Neill consistently overlooked the midfield by persistently hoofing the ball forward.

But the fact Australia managed to beat the three-time World champions without playing at its best is a clear indication of how far the team has come as a football nation.  The confidence sapped by Pim Verbeek’s complete lack of faith in the players has bounced back under Osieck and the players are beginning to rate themselves again. With the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign fast approaching, I have no doubt the national team is heading in the right direction.

Mark ‘The F Word’ Fiorenti

Gelding’s tips for 14 March 2011

The Gelding’s attention turns to Morphetville today with a holiday Monday race meeting. Time to start towards another long run of wins & places.

As always the tips are on an each way and all up basis.

Morphetville

Race 5 Horse 2 – Southern Speed (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 6 Horse 6 – Avenue
Race 8 Horse 3 – King Diamond
Race 9 Horse 10 – Obsequious

You can hear the Gelding discuss racing with the Professor every Sunday on Sportzfan Radio at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

Good luck & good punting!

The Gelding

Sportzfan Radio #193.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!13 March 2011 193.1 – To start the show the Panel wish Sportzfan Stan a Happy 90th Birthday. Stan says the secret of longevity for men is to have a healthy interest in the female sex. He may have done his dash with the ladies at the Tennis club. Stan leads off with a rant about another cyclist Franco Pellizotti being sanctioned for blood doping. Both he and the Gelding believe drug cheats should be banned for more than 2 years as the 2 year ban doesn’t seem to be deterring athletes from trying to illegally enhance their performance. The Panel then talk with Lynne Anderson from Repucom who released their 9th annual benchmarking report on valuing media exposure for sports sponsorship during the week.  AFL Clubs in front but NRL Clubs are closing the gap. The Gelding talks about his efforts at the track at Flemington having a successful day tipping 3 winners and a second from 5 selections. He talks about how good Black Caviar actually is and compares her with great horses of the past.  Undeniably broke the Gelding’s 23 race run with a placing or better. He almost awards an S-Hit ride for Michael Rodd’s effort on Undeniably. Mark Fiorenti talks soccer. He admits that although he has a twitter account he has yet to send a tweet. He discusses what he believes the reasons are behind Ernie Merrick’s sacking by the Melbourne Victory.

Sportzfan Radio #192.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!3 March 2011 192.1 – Sportzfan Stan has a problem that the benefits the AFL players are going to get under a new collective bargaining agreement will be better than our military personnel who risk their lives on a daily basis. He is not happy with it. Paul Dalligan provides a bottom to top assessment of the 2011 NRL season….Cronulla Sharks to finish on the bottom – Melbourne Storm to be top of the table  and beat St George in the Grand Final.  The Professor takes an opportunity to talk with Glenn Day from the Great Western Hotel, the sponsor of the show. He thinks Hawthorn will finish in the top four and that Buddy Franklin will kick 100 goals for the season. The Gelding talks about his great day at Flemington, tipping four firsts and a third from five selections.  He tells us he finished ‘about even’. Ha! Although the Gelding is a big fan of jockey, Brett Prebble, he awards him an S-Hit ride for his performance on Playing God. The Gelding also reviews the Sydney Colt’s selections at Warwick Farm.  The Professor takes Mark Fiorenti to task about his prediction skills after saying last week that Adelaide would beat Gold Coast 2-0.  He also discusses the Central Coast’s dour win against Gold Coast to get into the A League Grand Final.

SportzfanRadio #191.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!27 February 2011 191.1 – Daniel thinks it was a stupid idea for the AFL to draw Greater Western Sydney in the NAB Cup as yesterday’s game was a farce. Sportzfan Stan notices he has been moved away from Daniel after last week’s show. The Gelding says Carlton would have had a better practice game with the ‘possibles’ playing the ‘probables’. Daniel doesn’t understand why the AFL is expanding, he thought 16 was the prefect number. Sportzfan Stan says the increase is so the AFL can get more revenue. The Panel then discuss whether Andrew Demetriou’s payrise is appropriate and if Friday night matches should be shown live. Sportzfan Stan says 1.8 million people want to watch Better Homes & Gardens so the football should be delayed. Sean Callanan comes on to talk social media and enters the fray saying the AFL should get innovative and look for a partner that delivers an ability to watch the game on line. The NFL and NFLPA discussions on a new collective bargaining agreement are headed to social media with a hashtag of #NFLlockout. The MLB have an all access for all season I-phone/I-pad app called Major League at Bat which is good value at $18. AFL clubs have begun to use You Tube with a channel to release news and magazine type shows. The Gelding talks horse racing and Caulfield’s meeting where there were three Group One races including the Blue Diamond Stakes. He was successful picking three winners from four selections and awards Craig Williams the S-Hit ride of the day for his ride on Response. There is a discussion about the horse that the Professor and the Gelding have an interest in, Danish Rock, it should run a race by August at the earliest.  The Panel discuss who was the best James Bond and the Gelding says he always thinks of Sean Connery as James Bond and this follows on to whether ranking movies stars is a sport.  Daniel thinks it is.  The Panel then move on to talk cricket and the One Day World Cup and who should replace Doug Bollinger.

Gelding’s tips for 26 February 2011

The Gelding’s attention returns to his home track at Caulfield today where we will see some of the best horses in Australia racing.  Three Group One races including the Blue Diamond Stakes.

As always, the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Caulfield

Race 5 Horse 8 – More Joyous (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 6 Horse 1 – Catapulted
Race 7 Horse 1 – Sepoy
Race 8 Horse 2 – Heart of Dreams (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

You can hear the Gelding discuss racing with the Professor every Sunday on Sportzfan Radio at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

Good luck & good punting!

The Gelding

Sportzfan Radio #190.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!20 February 2011 190.2 – Mark Fiorenti talks about the headlines during the week ‘Soccer crowds worst of any code in Australia’ and wonders why these headlines have appeared at the start of the A League finals – he queries whether it is a conspiracy. He then looks at the finals already played and previews the Gold Coast United/Melbourne Victory game. On Kevin Muscat’s retirement he feels that Kevin’s passion sometimes led to some unfortunate consequences on the pitch. He did not expect Arsenal to beat Barcelona in the Champions League tie. Sportzfan Stan thinks Chelsea’s coach should be sacked as they have only won 6 of 19 games recently.  The Panel discuss the NBA All Star game and the voting that sees Yao Ming in the starting five even though he is injured and won’t play in the game.  Daniel says that the voting in the celebrity game was suspect as Scottie Pippen was clearly the MVP but Justin Bieber, who did nothing, got the nod as all the teenage girls voted for him.  He says if he had been Justin Bieber he would have handed the award to Pippen.  Daniel believes Blake Griffin will try to dunk over a car in the NBA dunk contest.  He still thinks Carmelo Anthony will end up with the New York Knicks even though Nets have improved their offer.  Paul Dalligan calls in from the golf course and talks rugby league and says Nathan Tinkler couldn’t offer any more to the Newcastle Knights.  There are also whispers that Kade Snowden and Wayne Bennett could be heading to the Knights.  Daniel picks up on a tweet from an Adelaide 36ers player who alleges that the accommodation arranged by the Perth Wildcats for visiting teams is sub standard.  The Gelding talks World Cup cricket and the selection of the one day team.  The Panel then talk with Sean Callanan on sports social media in particular the ICC banning any social media use by players and officials.  Sean says it is the case of another large sporting organisation not understanding the benefits of social media.  He believes that as long as there is a policy and guidelines, that should take care of any problems.

Sportzfan Radio #190.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!20 February 2011 190.1 – Sportzfan Stan makes his presence felt calling for the coach of the Wollongong Hawks Gordie McLeod to be sacked for losing 10 games of eleven. Phil Cleary comes on the show to talk about the VFL & Coburg. The club would have difficulties if the alignment with Richmond ceases at the end of this season. He says with some AFL teams fielding reserves teams it will make things hard for the non AFL clubs. He says it has been a disgraceful history starting with the abolition of the VFA. He says the VFA teams were bullied into changing the name and sold a lie about their future.  He says that the majority of the non AFL clubs would not be able to survive by themselves and a long term strategy should be developed to align each club with the community in their area.  Phil says he would be eminently well qualified to be on a Board running VFL football but he wouldn’t be asked because he wouldn’t bow to what the AFL wanted (we agree with Phil!).  The Gelding comes on to talk racing and talks about the retirement of SportzfanRadio’s own Typhoon Tracy.  He says the trainer Peter Moody didn’t call him to discuss what should be done with the horse.  The Gelding picked two winners and three fourths, one of the winners being Black Caviar.  The discussion then moves to the production meeting held at the Great Western Hotel (our sponsors).  We get a tweet for the Gelding asking if he is ‘light on for balls’.  Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer and says he also has trouble with twitter but he is going to try and get on it before the end of the year.