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Melbourne Victory are fuming at the red card handed out to Danny Allsopp in Saturday night’s 1-0 grand final win over Adelaide and will lodge an official appeal.
Allsopp, who coach Ernie Merrick revealed had played in the decider with a fractured cheekbone, was sent off for head-butting Adelaide defender Robert Cornthwaite in the 64th minute of the match at Telstra Dome.
But both the star striker and Merrick are furious at the decision and believe Allsopp’s reputation has been badly damaged.
“There’s a couple of things that you guys don’t know yet,” Merrick told reporters on Monday.
“First of all our culture is one that’s been set by the playing group and the coaching staff and it’s very much one of respect, discipline and mental toughness.
“We actually played the grand final with quite a few injuries and one of those injuries was a fractured cheekbone, which is what Danny Allsopp had.
“On top of that he is extremely disappointed about his reputation being sullied.
“… No-one yet knows why he was sent off.
“We’ve reviewed the footage and we’ll certainly be appealing because Danny Allsopp is not that type of player.”
Adelaide were also unhappy that striker Cristiano was sent off by referee Matthew Breeze in the 10th minute of the grand final after elbowing Melbourne defender Rody Vargas in the head as they challenged for a high ball.
Allsopp will now head into camp for the Socceroos’ Asian Cup qualifying clash against Kuwait in Canberra on Thursday.
Merrick said he could not reveal the details of Allsopp’s appeal, which would be lodged shortly with the FFA.
“We’re very disappointed that occurred and we’re going to do something about it,” said Merrick.
“We’re not worried about him missing games here, there or anywhere – we’re worried about his reputation and he’s really bitterly disappointed by it.”
Meanwhile, Merrick said the next step for the Victory was to re-sign the players who had helped the team dominate this season.
“There’s some tough ones to re-sign there because the salary cap makes a big hindrance – everyone wants to be remunerated as they should be,” Merrick said.
“Players become targets of other A-League and overseas clubs.”
Merrick said retaining Costa Rican international midfielder Carlos Hernandez would be difficult.
Hernandez’s two-year loan deal from LD Alajualense has run out and the Costa Rican club is seeking a transfer fee of around $1 million for Hernandez.
“People seem to think it’s just the transfer fee – the transfer fee is outside of the salary cap,” said Merrick.
“It’s actually inside the salary cap that it becomes a problem and we already have a marquee senior player (Archie Thompson).”
Merrick was also confident that captain and veteran defender Kevin Muscat would play on for one more season.
“My gut feeling is that Kevin Muscat will sign for another year,” he said.
“He’s getting better. Everyone may forget that Kevin played every minute of every game this year.
“And I don’t know if he’s injured because he refuses to tell me and the physios and medical staff are sworn to secrecy.
“His performances on-field have only been not only technical and skilful and strategic but his leadership on-field has been exceptional.”
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