Official Melbourne Victory Thread II [R]

el-capitano · Mar 13, 2011

Sacking a coach who has made three grand finals in six years, winning two and losing the other in a penalty shoot-out, on face value looks a harsh decision.

Advocates of Ernie Merrick, Melbourne Victory's dual championship-winning mentor who was dispatched on Saturday morning, would ask what more did he have to do to satisfy the club's new directors. A fifth-place finish and a finals berth this year was not that disastrous, surely.

Well, for a club like Victory, arguably the biggest team in the land, it clearly is not good enough.

Finishing fifth would not, if the board had sufficient faith in Merrick, have been enough to damn him with a year still left on his contract.

What did for the Scotsman was their conviction that he lacked the tactical smarts to take the team to the next level as the A-League rapidly evolves.

His methods - a reliance on a handful of clever, skilful forwards and attacking midfielders allowed to do their own thing with Kevin Muscat marshalling things at the back - were effective for the nascent competition.

But season six has seen the league reach new heights of performance and tactical evolution with Brisbane Roar's fluid, high-paced possession game setting new benchmarks. Victory just looked off the pace all year and never likely to consistently challenge the front-runners despite occasional glimpses of real class.
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http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-leagu...bourne-call-for-new-coach-20110313-1bt2h.html

zhuangzi · Mar 14, 2011

Yeah, hard to disagree with that. Being a persistant embarassment to the Asian Champions League didn't help either.

el-capitano · Apr 6, 2011

Rumour: Roy Keane to manage Melbourne Victory

Hachiko · Apr 6, 2011

el-capitano said: ↑

Rumour: Roy Keane to manage Melbourne Victory
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Qualifications?

el-capitano · Apr 6, 2011

Apart from what's in the link? Not much.

zhuangzi · Apr 8, 2011

Wuh

Hachiko · Apr 10, 2011

Littbarski...hmmmm...personally, I don't care where our next manager comes from. He can be from Planet Neptune and I could care less. As long as he brings one of this and one of this...

the man is legit.

Hachiko · Apr 18, 2011

We need trophies. And we are going to find someone who will get us that.

And speaking of which...from The Age...

The natives are getting restless. It's more than a month since Ernie Merrick was axed as Melbourne Victory coach, and still no successor has been appointed. Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro last night took the unusual step of telling the club's fans that although more than 70 applications had been received from both local and international candidates, the board was still some way off making a decision. But, Di Pietro revealed, Football Federation Australia technical director Han Berger would be part of the decision-making process. And in a move designed to quell fears that there was not enough football expertise on the board, Di Pietro reiterated that one of the men making the decision on the new coach would be Victory director Ian McLeod, a former chief executive of Scottish powerhouse Glasgow Celtic and a director of Premier League Fulham.
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Hachiko · Apr 18, 2011

Double-post. Better. Here's a bit of an old piece, going back to the need for the likes of Roy Keane...

Dwight Yorke, Franny Jeffers, Robbie Fowler - all decent enough players with just about enough juice left in the tank to ensure their journey to the other side of the world garnered some much-needed interest in the A-League.

But none of that triumvirate of marquee players is able to hold a candle to the man who has got all and sundry positively salivating at the prospect of him arriving on these shores to take the vacant manager's position at Melbourne Victory - Roy Keane.
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More...

el-capitano · Apr 28, 2011

AS Dwight Yorke has emerged as a shock candidate for the vacant coaching position at Melbourne Victory, it looks as though he will have to fight off competition for the role from former teammate Roy Keane.

The former Manchester United pair face fighting for the same job after Keane told sources he was ''very open'' to managing the two-time A-League champions.

Keane has been in Australia on holiday for the past month and is back in Sydney, where he is waiting to hear more from Victory about whether he could be the right fit as their manager.

The former Republic of Ireland captain was thought to be only vaguely interested when he first held talks with Melbourne more than a month ago, but now his interest has grown and he is discussing with his family the prospect of moving to Australia permanently.
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http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/keane-takes-on-yorke-in-victory-battle-20110427-1dwx4.html

Hachiko · Apr 28, 2011

el-capitano said: ↑

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/keane-takes-on-yorke-in-victory-battle-20110427-1dwx4.html
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And so the hunt continues...

ChaDuRi671 · May 28, 2011

Hey guys how is my favorite Aussie forward, Robbie Kruse, doing ? Also is it true that he has a bad temper?

RickChelsea · May 28, 2011

CoreanBoy671 said: ↑

Hey guys how is my favorite Aussie forward, Robbie Kruse, doing ? Also is it true that he has a bad temper?
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I think he's doing OK. Bad temper? Maybe. He used to be a bit of a 'nob' a couple years back getting into fights at nightclubs and shit. I think he's changed now.

zhuangzi · May 29, 2011

CoreanBoy671 said: ↑

Hey guys how is my favorite Aussie forward, Robbie Kruse, doing ? Also is it true that he has a bad temper?
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He's now at Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2. Bundesliga. I think he's just angry because he's got a very punchable face.

Hachiko · May 29, 2011

Veteran Melbourne Victory and former Socceroos goalkeeper Michael Petkovic has retired from football, while the Victorian club has also lost Marvin Angulo and Luke Pilkington from their roster.

Thirty-four-year-old Petkovic announced his retirement from professional football on Friday morning, bringing an end to a 16-year career that's seen him play more than 400 games for various clubs in Australia, Norway and predominantly Turkey.
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More...

epris · Jun 17, 2011

hate to admit it but im in love with the new victory kit by addidas... both home and away look absolutley sublime...

Hachiko · Jun 19, 2011

epris said: ↑

hate to admit it but im in love with the new victory kit by addidas... both home and away look absolutley sublime...
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Adidas = All day I dream about scoring.

Quicky · Jun 19, 2011

Looks like Durakovic is favourite to be Ernies replacement:

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1061419/Victory-knocked-back-Versleijen

After months of speculation on who will replace Merrick at Victory, the most successful club in the A-League, Versleijen claimed the club had reached a decision.

“I understand they’ve made a choice for a different coach,” he said.
It is believed Victory had drawn up a list of the final three candidates, including Versleijen, his national youth team assistant Gary van Egmond and the club’s caretaker coach Mehmet Durakovic.

Van Egmond, who coached Newcastle Jets to the A-League title in 2007-2008, ruled himself out of the race for the position, leaving Durakovic firmly in the frame for the full-time gig.

While Durakovic failed to guide Victory out of its AFC Champions League group during his time in charge, the club was undefeated in its last four games under him.
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http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1061419/Victory-knocked-back-Versleijen

Any news on potential signings?

epris · Jun 20, 2011

Hachiko said: ↑

Adidas = All day I dream about spelling.
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am i right?

Hachiko · Jun 21, 2011

epris said: ↑

am i right?
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Wrong, boyo. Shoo.

epris · Jun 22, 2011

Well i take it you don't have an opinion on the new kit then...

Hachiko · Jun 22, 2011

The new kit is nice. That's all I'm going to say.

Crimson Azure · Aug 2, 2011

Victory fan here so I might as well check into this thread.

Quicky · Aug 2, 2011

Welcome aboard mate. Great to have a new face.

el-capitano · Aug 22, 2011

Melbourne Victory admits it has some major salary cap restructuring to do in the wake of Harry Kewell's signing - and former A-League player of the year Carlos Hernandez may be the biggest victim.

Kewell's three-year deal - announced at the weekend - and coach Mehmet Durakovic's pledge to play him behind the strikers, could open the exit door for the Costa Rican.

Hernandez, voted the competition's best player two seasons ago, is already out of favour at Victory after returning late from an off-season trial with a United States club.

He was disciplined by Victory for that, missing the recent friendly against Celtic.

The 29-year-old has one year remaining on his contract and could find himself shopped around before the end of that, with the club now blessed with plenty of attacking talent.

As well as Kewell, exciting New Zealander Marco Rojas, Isaka Cernak and ex-Brisbane Roar star Jean Carlos Solorzano have joined in the off-season, adding to Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp.
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http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1069568/Kewell-deal-pressures-Hernandez