Blog

Position: 8th

Change in position from 2010/11: ↓ 3

Win-draw-loss record: 6-11-10
(35 goals scored, 43 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Carlos Hernandez (10)

Average attendance: 19,208

With all the pre-season hype surrounding the Victory, with Harry Kewell’s arrival and the formation of a ‘deadly’ forward structure, it’s fair to say that Victory fans’ hopes were high leading into week 1 against Sydney FC. But looking back, it was an underwhelming and unacceptable season from the biggest drawing club in the league. Since the departure of Ernie Merrick during last season’s Asian Champions League, Melbourne have headed downhill. Onto the third full-time manager in the space of a year, the Victory finished the season in 8th place, far below the expectations that the public and the media placed on them before the season started.

35 goals from such a potent and deep forward list ranked 7th among A-League teams for goals scored. 43 goals put the Victory ranked 2nd worst for goals conceded. And without … Continue Reading

When the full details of the Mustafa Amini-Central Coast-Borussia Dortmund deal were fleshed out in the media last week, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, the structure of the transfer that the Mariners and Dortmund agreed on was nothing short of brilliant. But it begs the question – have young Australian players been moving to European clubs from the local leagues in the ‘wrong’ way?

I should elaborate – it’s not that I don’t want our best talent to play their football overseas, as the ultimate aim is developing them to a good enough level to play for the national team. And the last thing A-League clubs want to be doing is projecting a negative image about their willingness to help their players realise their own individual European footballing dreams.

But it seems over the last few years, many young players have been leaving Australia prematurely.

Now, I should say that this isn’t always the case. Former … Continue Reading