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No love lost between Ferguson and Coyne

13th November, 2011
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Tensions between Perth coach Ian Ferguson and former Glory captain Jamie Coyne remain at boiling point after the pair were involved in a heated exchange on Saturday night.

Several minutes after Sydney’s 1-0 win over Glory at nib Stadium, Coyne and Ferguson verbally abused each other before Sky Blues skipper Terry McFlynn ran in to ensure the situation didn’t get out of hand.

The spat stems back to Coyne’s axing from the Glory last season.

At the time, Coyne needed to play just one more match to trigger a clause in his contract that would have guaranteed him another year at the club.

But the 30-year-old was controversially overlooked for selection by Ferguson in the latter part of the season, forcing him to link up with Sydney at the end of the campaign.

Ferguson played down the animated exchange of words between the pair.

“That’s football mate. Heat of the moment stuff. Things get said. I’ll keep that private between me and Jamie Coyne,” Ferguson said.

“There was nothing in it. He said a couple of words, I said a couple of words. End of story.”

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McFlynn also refused to elaborate on the issue at hand.

“It’s something that’s a personal issue between them two. It’s not football related,” McFlynn said.

“At the end of the day emotions run high and we came here to get three points, and we got three points.

“Coyne’s been brilliant for us since he’s come here.

“His attitude, his professionalism – he’s fitted into the culture that we’ve created at the club.

“He turned in another performance that helped us get the result.”

Sydney had goalkeeper Liam Reddy to thank for securing the narrow win over Perth, with the talented gloveman pulling off a series of important second-half saves as the Glory threw everything at the Sky Blues.

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Mark Bridge’s strike in first-half stoppage time was enough to seal all three points, lifting Sydney into second spot on the table ahead of Saturday night’s clash with Central Coast at SFS.

Sydney, who have notched three wins and a draw from their past four games, will be bolstered by the return of Socceroos midfielder Brett Emerton against the Mariners.

In contrast, Perth could be without Travis Dodd for up to six games after the midfielder injured his hamstring in the dying stages of the loss to Sydney.

After a bright start to the season, Perth have now lost three games on the trot, and face daunting away tasks against Melbourne Victory and Brisbane over the next two weeks.

But Ferguson was buoyed by his team’s dominant second-half display against Sydney, and said the successful return of former Socceroo Mile Sterjovski was another positive.

Sterjovski, who was forced to start to the season in Glory’s youth team, gave Perth a much-needed spark when he was brought on against Sydney in the 56th minute.

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