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Melbourne City will be coming into the A-League next season all guns blazing, make no mistake about it.
The rebranding of the club, which until now has been a basket case, is the massive shot in the arm they needed, and this should be and probably will be its resurrection.
You’d think it’ll give their membership and sponsorship departments a good workout in the coming months as they build up to Round 1.
On the playing front, they’ve sorted out their coach and let go of many players, obviously to free up space and cash. Orlando Engelaar is still thought to be 50-50 on whether he stays or goes.
He’s been great for them, and a great asset if they can keep him around. They’ve already signed Aaron Mooy and Connor Chapman, and are reportedly about to sign James Brown.
A big international marquee name will surely follow, along with probably a Josh Kennedy or Marco Bresciano. I guess you get my drift, City will mean business next season.
And what of Victory, the best supported club in the land? Or are they? Do they have a plan on how to combat the new kids on the block? But firstly, do they actually have their own backyard in order?
I’m not so sure.
On the field coach Kevin Muscat has actually done really well, especially after being thrown into the deep end after a few games this season. For that he deserves much credit.
But as the season has now come to a close, Tom Rogic has gone back to Celtic, James Troisi back to Italy. Adama Traore, who won the Victory Medal, has decided to try his luck in Europe. He is definitely good enough, but it’s a massive blow for Victory.
The good news is Besart Berisha comes in for next season, and Guilherme Finkler, Archie Thompson and Adrian Leijer will all stay, as they’ve all re-signed. But a couple of big holes need to be filled, particularly at centre back and left back.
But its off the field where I think the Victory is most vulnerable against the noisy neighbours of City across town. They’ve had a terrible year in the stands, with the ongoing battle against the Northern Terrace, which still hasn’t been resolved.
Now I don’t know all the ins and outs of that scenario, but it seems to me that something’s gotta give, and fast. Otherwise the threat of losing many members and supporters to the other side becomes very real.
The NT has boycotted their usual spot right behind the goals all season, as they obviously think the conditions that they have been set are way too strong. Whereas on the club’s side, they need to appease the police, stadium management, and other shareholders, by putting these measures in place. I can see both sides of the argument.
On one hand the fans don’t want to be treated like animals in a cage, they want to be able to bring mates along to their area for certain matches, and they don’t want to have to scan their tickets twice at the venue. This would also help to recruit new members to their group, and potentially help attract new fans to the code overall.
The club thinks the fans should self-police against the minority of idiots that are at the games, but this still hasn’t happened to this day. We can safely say we’re at an impasse in the club’s history and many general fans like myself are getting a bit sick of it all. I would never turn away from my club because of this, but others might.
They need to sort out this mess ASAP, one way or another, otherwise they’ll be giving City a massive free kick. And sadly for Victory, I don’t think they’ll need one.
Our biggest competitor is coming into the market, and we’ve had almost 10 years to get it right, you’d think we would’ve sorted it out by now.
The author is a nine-year Melbourne Victory member. He sits on the wings as a passionate member and is not part of any supporter group.
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