Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Joel Porter Porter from Sandgroper to the Big V Diegos: "The City of Churches - Adelaide, is a long way from the Knights stadium Sunshine, commonly known as the Gold Coast of the western suburbs in Melbourne. You are a Croweater, born and bred so you and the Knights are an unlikely partnership. What factors conspired to bring you to sunny Sunshine and the Melbourne Knights?" Porter: "A couple of years ago I was playing in South Australia with West Adelaide. Unfortunately as everyone knows, they liquidated and went out of business. Vlado Vanis, Knight's coach, approached me and came over to watch a couple of games after hearing good reports from his contacts. I guess he was pretty happy with what he saw and signed me up." Soft Sombrero Moment March 2001
Diegos: "You've become a goal machine at the Knights, with nine goals already this season. As we all know there are not too many goal machines in Australia nowadays, so it's surprising that you escaped the astute eye of Zoran Matic at Adelaide Force. Why didn't the Force snap you up?" Porter: "That's a complicated story. My manager and I tried to join Adelaide Force but Zoran didn't like my style of play so I was forced to look elsewhere." Diegos: "A Diego tip on revenge. Now every time you score a goal you should lift your shirt and reveal a t-shirt saying 'That one's for you Zoran' just to remind him of the mistake he made." Porter: "I should get something like that shouldn't I? I don't know about revenge but it would get everyone talking in the City of Churches, wouldn't it?" Soft Sombrero Moment March 2001
Diegos: "Last week, Adelaide based shopping centre magnate, Con Makris declared that he believes that his proposed club, the South Coast Eagles, currently vying for a position in next season's competition, could do 'a Perth Glory' over there in the land of the Croweater. Given that Adelaide Force, the only NSL team in South Australia presently, can only draw 3,000 - 4,000 spectators, do Con's comments perhaps show that he's been to one too many of his shopping centre pantomimes?" Porter: "I think Adelaide can easily sustain a second NSL team. The Hindmarsh stadium is a fantastic facility and the grass roots support of the game in the state proves the potential. I don't think that Con is in any type of fantasyland. I believe with the right type of promotion, team and outlook, a new team can definitely get crowds of around 15,000 - 20,000." Soft Sombrero Moment March 2001
Diegos: "It seems your coach, the very likeable Vlado Vanis is under more pressure than any other coach in the history of world footy. There's speculation about his future just about every time the team loses. You've personally saved him on nine occasions this season. Being the emotional man he is, has he shown his appreciation with hugs and kisses or just some more hard training sessions?" Porter: "Not quite the hugs and kisses that's for sure. After losing to Sydney Olympic last week in disappointing fashion, I think that we'll probably have a couple of hard sessions this week. Having said that, I don't think that Vlado was too disappointed with our effort, it's just that nothing went right for us on the night." Diegos: "A lot has been made of Vlado's penchant for hard pre-season training.
Does Vlado drive the team as hard as reports make out?" Porter: "Not really. I think he has a soft spot that he doesn't like people to know about. Our pre-season this year went for 13 weeks, that's probably one of the longest in NSL history. Other than that during the week we have a couple of hard sessions but it's really not too bad." Soft Sombrero Moment March 2001
Diegos: "The recruiting of experienced campaigners, 'Stabber' Marth, 'Lube Job' Lapsansky and 'Hand Up' Horvat, was met with mixed reactions by the pundits when Carlton went out of business. After a couple of early hiccups, it appears that they've now gelled in well. What has their arrival done for the younger player's confidence and Knight's finals chances?" Porter: "I think the three of them have been really good for the team. Without them earlier in the season, when we went behind in a game, we tended to panic. Now we've proved that we can fight back and win games coming from behind. Their general presence around the club is probably the biggest plus." Soft Sombrero Moment March 2001
Diegos: "You've celebrated many of your goals this season by running to the Mark Viduka Stand at Knight's Stadium and accepting the accolades and messages of love from the appreciative Knight's crowd. Do you ever dream that one day they'll be a 'Joel Porter Stand' at Knights stadium?" Porter: "I don't know about a Joel Porter Stand but I definitely dream about going overseas and trying my luck. I'd like to see whether I do have the talent to play for Leeds or anyone else in the English Premier league." Soft Sombrero Moment March 2001 |