Entries from October 2007 ↓

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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I remember a game at Telstra Dome earlier this season as an overweight mid-40s bloke with a packet of chips shouted: “Lay off the KFC, Carlos!”

At the time, it was a common sentiment, obviously fed by early reports in the media that Carlos Hernandez, arguably the Melbourne Victory’s most exciting new prospect, was overweight when he arrived from the Costa Rica. Nevermind the fact that he was one of Costa Rica’s leading scorers in the build-up to the World Cup in Germany. Nevermind that he could pull off long-range strikes like this. Such feats are easily forgotten when you can reduce a player down to one simple phrase: “He’s fat.”
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Melbourne Victory 0, Newcastle Jets 2 (our report)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGSxG3Rob-o[/youtube]

A disappointing night, no doubt about that. Melbourne got off to a cracking start, with some dangerous attacking play that looked to really be setting us up for a good night. Unfortunately, it just didn’t last. Newcastle’s first goal from the free kick was made possible after Adam Griffiths pushed Allsopp to the ground to get a better view of the ball. Interesting that that went unnoticed. A lot went unnoticed tonight it seemed. Continue reading →

There is absolutely nothing separating the Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets as they meet tonight for their second clash of the season. Both teams are sitting on 14 points (a tantalising 3 behind first placed Central Coast Mariners) and both have won 3, lost 1 and drawn 5.

When they met in Round 5, Melbourne went down 2 goals in a “woeful” first half. But thanks to goals from Archie Thompson and Adrian Caceres, they were able to pull back and come out with a draw.

Tonight, I hope that a surging Melbourne Victory can pull of their third win in a row at Telstra Dome. And with the return of Kevin Muscat (who ushers Kaz Patafta out of the squad), Ernie Merrick has more or less a full squad to pick from. Ljubo Milicevic has still not recovered from a knee injury, so he won’t be in the squad, despite having had his suspension lifted earlier this week.

Last Sunday’s game against the Perth Glory was, as far as I’m concerned, Melbourne’s finest so far. To be more precise, the first half was the best 45 minutes we’ve seen Melbourne play. After a dismal performance the week before, Grant Brebner’s return seemed to solidify the squad. But it made me wonder whether Brebner’s improved presence had something to do with Muscat’s absence. Are the two midfielders choking each others’ style?

Jets coach Gary van Egmond has to do without star-signing Mario Jardel, but enjoys the return of Adam Griffiths. Newcastle have only picked up a single win in their last 5, while they have lost 1 and drawn the rest. They will understandably be looking to pick up their second consecutive win at Telstra Dome (they beat Melbourne 1-0 last year in the teams’ only game at the Dome).

As always, it’s a tough one to predict. But, being the eternal optimist I am, I’m tipping a solid showing from Melbourne:

My tip: Melbourne Victory 3, Newcastle Jets 1

Your tip?

Melbourne Victory 2, Perth Glory 1 (our report)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cQA3v78lIE[/youtube]

Turns out I was wrong about David Mitchell replacing Branko Culina as Sydney FC’s coach. John Kosmina was today unveiled as the new man for the job.

Ah, we just can’t get away from Kosmina, can we?

Unfortunately for Sydney and Kosmina, the FFA has insisted that the former Adelaide United coach serve out his five-game touchline ban, of which he has only served one match so far. That was against the Melbourne Victory in the Grand Final. Now it looks like Kosmina will again be directing his team from the grandstand at Telstra Dome when the Victory host Sydney on the 10th of November.

Suffice it to say that that news forced a chuckle:)

Ljubo Milicevic has been invited back to training, but his future with the Melbourne Victory is still looking doubtful.

An article in The Advertiser today, titled “Ljubo up for grabs”, once again suggests that Ljubo could join Adelaide United in November, as a replacement for Angelo Costanzo, who picked up an injury in the clash with the Victory two weeks ago. It doesn’t look like it would be a long-term affair, as Milicevic seems to be eyeing a return to Europe in January.

Some interesting news from other A-League clubs over the weekend:

• Branko Culina has been fired by Sydney FC. David Mitchell, who is currently the Perth Glory’s assistant coach, appears to be the most likely candidate to replace Culina. (The World Game)
• John Aloisi has been signed by the Central Coast Mariners. This is after negotiations with Sydney FC, Wellington Phoenix (where he could have played alongside the wrong… err… Ross Aloisi), Queensland Roar and Adelaide United. But, I hear you wonder, how can Central Coast afford a player like Aloisi without breaking the salary cap? The Football Tragic explains.

Melbourne’s season finally started to look up last night, after a strong performance against Perth Glory. After last week’s abysmal display against Adelaide and the off-field drama’s that followed, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

It was all about the first half for Melbourne. And the man that really shone was Carlos Hernandez. Finally, we saw a game from him that showed his class. It all culminated in that one beautiful moment, when he combined brilliantly with Archie to set himself up for a goal. Lob, backheel, return pass.. and bam – a magnificent goal from what was still a tricky angle. This will have to be a confidence booster for the Costa Rican, something he seems to have been lacking in previous matches. And it will be a confidence booster for Victory fans, who have desperately lacked something to be excited about in midfield. Continue reading →