'It's officially a crisis' - Herald Sun

Mark Bosnich and Grant Brebner wonder how much of the blame Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi should take, after they remain without a win seven games into the season.

It's been a disastrous start to the campaign for Melbourne Heart. Source: Getty Images

IT'S officially a crisis at Melbourne Heart who are in as bad state as an A-League side has been in since the A-League's inception, aside from basket cases New Zealand Knights and Gold Coast.

At the other end of the table it's time to start taking Brisbane Roar seriously as a title contender after putting three past the impenetrable Western Sydney.

Full replay of Newcastle Jets' clash with Melbourne Heart at Hunter Stadium.

Bookmark this page and return at 12pm (EDT) to join David for his weekly Studs Up chat, a review of the A-League round and a chance to talk about Heart or any A-League issue.

Roar coach Mike Mulvey was in charge of Melbourne Victory's W-League side when John Aloisi started his Heart tenure and 18 months on their fortunes couldn't be of starker contrast.

Having scored just three goals this campaign, Heart would kill for a marksman and winner like Besart Berisha, whose determination and persistence led to Roar's first.

Round Seven of the A-League is in the bag, the Jets 3-1 win over Melbourne Heart completing what was a succcesful weekend for four of the five home teams. Here's our look at all the goals.

But the emergence of teenage sensation Kwame Yeboah is another reason Roar must be taken seriously.

In pre-season I felt Brisbane was short in depth to challenge but Yeboah's outrageously powerful right foot has netted him two of the best goals this season and stretches Mulvey's squad to 15 quality first XI options which, with a few decent substitute options, is just enough barring a horror run of injuries.

An Adam Taggart hat-trick has handed Newcastle a third consecutive win. The Jets defeated cellar-dwellers Melbourne Heart 3-1 at Hunter Stadium.

As for Heart, I touched on their plight in more depth today but Aloisi must now back himself in and make some changes.

First he must consider an alternative to the 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3-1 depending on how advanced the wingers are) formation because without Harry Kewell or Nick Kalmar they lack a player with the necessary smarts and ability to drift in between the lines to play that role.

John Aloisi speaks to the media after his side's loss to Melbourne Heart.

Couple that with the fact that Michael Mifsud struggles to play as the No. 9 and hence drifts wide and deep leaving a gaping hole upfront, it's no wonder Heart's scored just three times in seven games.

I disagree with former Victory midfielder Grant Brebner's sentiments on Shootout last night that Heart's squad isn't up to scratch.

I think they've assembled a decent squad but aside from Andrew Redmayne and perhaps Patrick Kisnorbo, not one of them is playing at or even close to his potential.

Even more reason for Aloisi to mix things up because the squad selections have been far too predictable for too long.

With Heart hosting Adelaide United on Sunday, the losing coach faces some serious scrutiny.