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Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Jacob Burns, comparing the Glory skipper to renowned England hard nut Vinnie Jones after United’s upset 1-0 A-League victory at nib Stadium on Sunday.
Burns and Gold Coast midfielder Zenon Caravella were locked in a running battle throughout the game, with Caravella hitting the turf on numerous occasions much to the anger of the 10,450 fans on hand.
Jason Culina’s 23rd-minute strike was enough to secure Gold Coast’s first win of the season and after the match a jovial Bleiberg insinuated Burns may have unleashed some Jones-like tactics to upset Caravella.
“By the way Jacob Burns becomes a bit like Vinnie Jones,” Bleiberg said in his trademark half-joking manner.
“Did you notice what’s happened during the game?
“Remember what Vinnie Jones is famous for. I don’t want to mention it.”
Jones, whose playing career included stints at Chelsea and Leeds, was renowned for his roughhouse tactics and dirty tackles.
But it is the image of him grabbing Newcastle’s Paul Gascoigne by the testicles that he is most remembered for.
When Bleiberg was asked whether he was referring to that incident in his assessment of Burns, he said with a smile: “Ask Zenon, he’s still complaining.”
It was unclear whether Bleiberg was serious in his comments or merely throwing the cat among the pigeons, as he is well known for doing.
Bleiberg was in a good mood following his team’s first win of the season, which lifts Gold Coast to seventh on the table.
Culina could have easily scored a hat-trick but blasted high from close range in the first half and also had a goal ruled off-side in the second half in what proved to be a tight call.
Bleiberg praised the effort of new signing Bruce Djite, who showed plenty of promise in his first game back in Australia since his doomed stint in Turkey.
“Sometimes as a coach when you lose you start to give excuses,” Bleiberg said.
“My excuse against Melbourne Victory is we didn’t have a forward line, we just had to play some kids.
“And here comes Bruce Djite, trained for a week, hadn’t played for four months, he wasn’t even fit.
“But the moment you have someone who looks like a centre forward and you surround him with a team like you have – I think Gold Coast will have something to say in the A-League (as the season progresses).”
Perth’s first loss of the season dropped them to second spot on the ladder, three points adrift of surprise packets Adelaide.
“Obviously losing your undefeated record and losing at home is very disappointing,” Glory coach Dave Mitchell said.
“But we didn’t deserve to win in the end.
“The players were probably not at the races, that’s the most concerning point.”
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