I hate Melbourne Victory — and I love them for that

Are you a meerkat Stevo ??? I hope recognising the adv and comparing your post doesn’t say anything about my mentality ???. But ........ if you are “focused” elsewhere but not on your own preparations ........ are you still not “focused” ??? ....... grasshopper. ( testing your age here Stevo).

You are giving the alt facts mate. 2007-08 1860 Munich finished 11th *Bundesliga2 2008-09 1860 Munich finished 12th (Kurz sacked in Feb) *Bundelsiga2 2009-10 Kaiserslauten win the league (finished 7th year prior) *Bundesliga2 20010-11 Kaiserslauten finish 7th 2011-12 Kaiserslauten finish last (Kurz sacked in March) 2013 Hoffenheim last 10 matches in relegation battle, they stay up in a playoff. sacked 2013 Ingolstadt first 11 matches position 18 - sacked *Bundesliga2 2016 F.Dusseldorf last 7 matches, picked them up in the zone and finished 14th *Bundesliga2 Times that Kurz has been expected to win Kaiserslauten 2009-10, Ingolstadt 2013. Once it worked out, once it didn't. Times Kurz has been in a relegation battle Kaiserslauten 2011-12, Hoffenheim 2013, Ingolstadt 2013, F.Dusseldorf 2016. The FACT is, he's thought of in his homeland as a relgation battle specialist and is not accustomed to managing the "big dogs". That's not to say he won't thrive at Victory but it will require a new set of skills for him. Good luck.

I've included every player MV signed from Brisbane. A grand total of 7 players, the same number we signed from Perth Glory over 13 years. But, Perth fans don't go on & on about such an insignificant issue. And, as I said, I reckon Brisbane has signed as many players directly from MVFC. Get over it. This is professional football.

quality or rubbish is not at issue Nemesis, never said it was. MV signed them so they obviously thought they were quality. You haven't even included all I've given you, and I haven't checked the books, doubtless there's a few more. It's a running joke here - that Muscat's been signing Roar players, good or bad, just can't keep his hands off, and coaches too, most recent Drew Sherman from our academy to set up yours. It's not a problem, it's football, but I expect it will slow considerably now you have a new coach.

Lionheart - lets talk facts if we are going to discuss footballers. In the "glory years" not too many players could have been said to be graduates "out of the system", in fact not one player in the starting line up of the 2012 Grand Final team came through any "system", in fact only Steffanuto and Nichols could be said to be "locals" and they came from other clubs with Nichols the only one to be described as "young".If we jump forward 6 or 7 years we find not much has changed, for the first team still consists mainly of "imports", not only from Europe, but from various other areas in Australia. So in what has your claim got its basis,certainly not in the Roar top team and if we go to last year ,when due to injuries etc. many youngsters were used then the league position at the end of the season says it all. PS Don't ever lose your "tongue in cheek support" for the team , I only wish there were another 20,000 like you. Cheers jb.

Utter rubbish. I've just gone through the MVFC lists over 14 seasons. MVFC has had 122 players sign for the club over the past 13 years (obviously I've not included Yr 1 of ALeague). 7 (seven) players have come to MVFC from Brisbane: Akbari, Berisha, Brown, Donachie, Kruse, Nichols, Geria. Berisha & Kruse were quality. The rest were average to rubbish. I can't be bothered going through MVFC players who Brisbane Roar has signed, but my guess it's also about seven. MVFC has signed as many players from Perth Glory as Brisbane Roar: Djulbic, Vukovic, Rhys Williams, Caceres, Celeski, Makarounas, Velaphi.

Thanks Nemesis. I knew you'd pitch in. Brisbane didn't want Corey Brown either, he went down hill the day he started talking to MV, thinking he'd fit in well with good mates Donachie and White at the back at MV. Young Ingham wasn't recruited directly from Roar either, but he still counts as a former Roar junior, like Akbari, and the back line's complete. Not saying it's a bad thing that MV recruit Roar and former Roar players. Good on them. Drew Sherman will run a good academy for you, a big loss for Roar Academy in my opinion but time will tell. I expect he'll work out better than Rado, who was recruited by Muscat too, but another bad choice. Of course there've been moves the other way, Mulvey for one, and among all clubs, but the dust trail BR to MV is pretty thick.

MV has recruited a handful of Brisbane Roar youth over the years, that's it. If you're lumping Kosta Barbarouses & Berisha into that group, you're talking utter rubbish. Same with Robbie Kruse. It's a nonsense to suggest he was taken from Brisbane. Brisbane didn't want him. His career was over. MVFC resurrected Kruse's football career. Maybe, you can list all the Brisbane Roar youth that MVFC has recruited over 13 years and let's analyse this properly.

That’s a bit tough JB. Roar have been recruiting local boys and girls for years, many coming through the QAS and now they have a number who’ve spent a year or two at their academy. Many have been picked up by MV, White, Akbari, recently coming to mind. Not all have worked out but surely it says something about MV and their keenness to develop young local Victorians. Now that they have an academy assumedly that will change. PS JB, you should realise there’s a certain amount of tounge in cheek here. I just can’t be a pessimistic supporter I’m afraid.

Lionheart : You should be very careful when you make comments like the one above.Victory's top bosses have shown in recent weeks that all has not been well where it counts and they have acted accordingly. Your repeated comments on how they have secured players from Roar doesn't stand examination for in some people's minds it could also be regarded as rank ,bad, recruitment policy. Out of Berisha,Kruse,Nichols,Donnachie and Brown I would say that only Berisha and Kruse could be deemed successful bits of business.It could also be said that money was again a factor, especially in Berisha's case, for Kruse moved for different reasons. Of the recent transfers Donnachie didn't last too long but that is no surprise as he was apparently signed to replace the hole that was left in Victory's defence when the French international retired.The Frenchman was probably one of the best credentialled overseas player ever to grace the HAL. Donnachie had no chance. Brown, I will leave to your own thoughts. So you see, it really is the Victory recruitment policy that has to come under scrutiny and with the actions the management have taken it is going to be interesting to follow what will happen. To get back to your comment above. I think if what you say is correct about Victory using Roar as a feeder club then I feel it is the Roar management that has to be examined, not Victory's. Cheers jb.

"Only question about Kurz… His time in Germany was relegation battles." Alt-Fact. Fake news. Marco Kurz coached Kaiserslautern & they ended as Champions of Bundesliga2 and were promoted to Bundesliga 1.. In Bundesliga 1, Marco Kurz's team finished 7th, which is the club's highest finish in 20 years. He finished above big brand German clubs: Monchongladbach, Wolfsburg, Schalke, Stuttgart.

Good on them. They set the standard on and off field, and they recruit their best players from Roar and former Roar.

jb, you've correctly identified MVFC's revenue strength. But, unless you have details about their COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), you cannot assume bigger revenue equals bigger profit. It's possible a club, like Melbourne Knights in the A-League, playing in its own might end up making more profit on Match Day from 6,000 ticket sales plus catering, than MVFC might make from 20,000 paying fans at AAMI Park.

And as a Victory member it's kinda nice to be hated. Worst thing would to be insignificant. I take this article as a compliment. Thank You

If you hate the Victory now, wait for when the cap is scrapped, and the Victory spend double the average salary on players (as a minimum). Then we'll know we have joined the ranks of the world's soccer leagues! By the way, today is independence day for the A-League.

Mike- Love and hate, the two extremes of human emotion and oft time found when football team rivalries are in existence In the case of Victory it is not hard to work out why they are the biggest, (if not always the best), team in the HAL. Over the last 10 years Victory have managed to attract 3,113,632 fans away from their heaters and tv's to watch them play. This calculates roughly to a game average of 21,309 which using $25 as an average entry fee shows and income over the 10 years of $77,840,800. They have been the top drawing club for those last 10 years Compare that with the same calculations for the worst drawing teams in a 10 year sample of the HAL,an "honour" shared by 3 clubs,Wellington,CCM, and Gold Coast (who are long gone). The total attraction at this end of the competition is 818,811 giving a total income from gates at $20,470,275. I put it to you and others who are interested ,that this is a differential that could ,and should have only one outcome,the rich are getting richer and the poor remain poor. The discussion points emanating from these figures are debates we see often in these columns,"do we need a salary cap","or " do the big boys enjoy some benefits over the also rans", or"they can afford better players",or the latest about the " player/coach roundabout' Victory deserve their success,they continue to be the top attracting team in the country,generating much more working capital, and, despite that, still losing by horrendous scores in big games, to their arch rivals,Sydney FC. Result,instant action on all fronts, to again remain the "top dog". Cheers jb.

Stevo - in a way that has been the case but it might just be due to smaller numbers. When visiting for MV games I have found you can find refreshments all over the city and there will be groups of MV fans around to chat too...as long as you avoid the big meeting up points.....whereas that has not been the case playing MC although it could be to do with timeslots etc. Even inside the ground - (and we never have seats tucked away in the corner where visiting fans are housed) I have found it difficult to engage in conversations with those around the bay. There is usually my wife and I plus a friend and wife so we are not exactly looking hostile and threatening, nor loud.

Victory got Kurz because they want to win the league but let's be clear, he wasn't poached from United. United let him go because they want to be a nursery and sell youngsters at profit. Two different philosophies. Only question about Kurz... Has he ever coached a team that were the front runners? His time in Germany was relegation battles. It'll be interesting.

Victory home games, especially at AAMI, are must watch. The football is very watchable, and as Buddy says, the atmosphere is fantastic. Easily the biggest club in the country. Admire and hate. Summed up by Broxham; a loyal and underrated utility, who just when you think "I like this guy/team", hacks someone down/scores an offside winner", without recrimination . Muscat then has the gall to complain when they finally have a decsion go against them.