Entries Tagged 'Steven Pace' ↓

The Melbourne Victory doesn’t seem to be having much luck attracting new players.

Nathan Burns has re-signed with Adelaide United; and indications are that Sasa Ognenovski will be heading over there too. The Queensland Roar defender already seems to be burning bridges with his current club: last week, he got in a fight with Roar goalkeeper Griffin McMaster. The conflict appears to have been about McMaster’s haircut…

Meanwhile, an article in The Age last week was talking up the possibilities of Melbourne signing Perth Glory’s Jamie Coyne. Earlier this week, that possibility was squashed, as Coyne re-signed with Perth.

Michael Thwaite has also just signed a deal with Norwegian team Brann Bergen (incidentally, Nathan Burns is over at Brann Bergen for a trial at the moment). The 24-year old Socceroo had been rumoured to be negotiating with Melbourne.

So, that leaves us with… Stuart Musialik. The Newcastle Jets are hoping he’ll stay at the club, and with the way the Jets keep on winning these days, I wouldn’t put it past them.

Where are these new recruits going to come from?

With Steven Pace joining Daniel Piorkowski and Ljubo Milicevic on the list of injured defenders – Pace has a broken leg – Melbourne’s defensive options are a huge worry. With Nathan Elasi bolstering our striking options, finding a few new defenders is taking top priority for Ernie Merrick and Gary Cole.

The Preston Lions must be patting themselves on the back. Steven Pace is their second player this year to pick up an A-League contract, after Isyan Erdogan joined Adelaide United at the start of the season.

Pace joins the Melbourne Victory as a replacement for defender Daniel Piorkowski, but he has played the majority of his career as a midfielder. The 24-year old was selected by Ernie Merrick years ago for a scholarship with the AIS, a stint he followed up with periods at South Melbourne and Essendon Royals, before joining the Preston Lions. Along with the move to Preston came a move to defence, which paid dividends: the Lions went on to become minor premiers and win the Grand Final in the Victorian Premier League. Pace was named 3rd Best and Fairest for the club.
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The Melbourne Victory has added Steven Pace to its ranks as a replacement for the injured Daniel Piorkowski.

The 24-year old defender signs over from the Preston Lions. In a 2-week trail with the Victory did, he obviously did enough to warrant his inclusion on the Victory payroll:

“Steven reads the game well, has excellent speed, good distribution and possesses great maturity.” (Ernie Merrick)

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