It’s hard to come to any conclusions about what exactly was said by Merrick and Hill – though the blogger casts the impression of an angry Merrick out to attack Hill. But the Whistleblower provides little evidence to back up what s/he’s saying. He dimly references an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph, which simply attacks “some coaches” for trying to mask their team’s “deficiencies”.

But is that what Merrick was trying to do? To silence the critics? If so, that’s a futile road to travel for our Scottish coach.

Personally, I doubt whether this was Merrick’s intention. He has challenged his own team’s performances often enough. Maybe he doesn’t do it as much as some other coaches, but I don’t think he’s trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.

Instead, it seems more likely that Merrick merely made a point of sticking up for his team – perhaps a tad defensively (we don’t know). Is that so bad?

The Whistleblower sure does. S/he asks: “Should we let Ernie escape punishment?”

Punishment for what? For suggesting that Hill’s comments may have been incorrect? Surely a coach is allowed to defend his team’s performance! If anything, Merrick’s insistence on defending his team shows a strong belief in the squad – hardly an attribute one would want to castigate.

What about the Chinese media? I’ve searched through some P2P program guides for Chinese channels and come up with nothing. As far as I can tell, the game against Tianjin Teda will also not be on TV, be it Aussie or Chinese.

That said, if you know something I don’t, feel free to leave a comment and let the rest of us know how we can follow the game on Saturday night.

It is true that flares were thrown and 14 fans were ejected. But this was by no means the only newsworthy thing that happened at the game. For one, the Victory played a solid game of football against the reigning Victorian Premier League champions. But even more significant was the popularity of the contest. As Chadwick pointed out:

It is mid-season for South in the Victorian Premier League, and pre-season for Victory. There was nothing riding on the game. Remarkably, on a cold, wintry Melbourne evening, more than 7,000 spectators turned up to watch.

That astonishing fact is worth repeating: Over 7,000 fans came out to watch a practice match, mid-week, in Melbourne, in winter.

Adelaide United struggled to equal that for a vital Asian Champions League game. That so many eager football fans turned out says a lot for the sporting and football culture in Melbourne. It says a lot for the solid supporter base of South Melbourne, and it says a lot for the growing relevance and credibility of football in this country.

Negative, one-sided reporting is hardly a rarity at the Herald Sun. When it comes to football (of the soccer variety), they appear to have been pissed off a long time ago. Maybe it’s because the Age has been a sponsor of the Melbourne Victory since the first season. Maybe it’s something more sinister. In any case, it’s bad news for the FFA and the Victory as they work hard at changing Australians’ mindset about football.