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Opinion
Never before has a more perfect David versus Goliath situation been set up to decide an A-League championship.
There is something poetic and almost charming about the match-up that awaits us, with a team blessed with endless resources and finances, up against another run on a shoestring budget and inspired by a local community.
The narrative is one to savour, yet Melbourne City captain Scott Jamieson has done little favour to his team and its chances of victory in the decider this Saturday night, by labelling the premiers as the alpha males in the contest.
With much of the A-League community riding the Mariner wave and hoping for a second championship for the club that always punches well above its weight, Jamieson has fired a cold broadside early in grand final week.
“If we have to take down Bambi, so be it. I could not care less”, he said.
Nice one Scott. Them’s fighting words. But why on earth would you galvanise the entire A-League community in their support of the Mariners and the hope that the annoying have’s are humbled and sent packing by the league’s most traditional have nots.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
What a rather curious approach from the captain of a team that failed dismally in last season’s decider when defeated by Western United and a group that has so far managed just a lone A-League championship in 2021, despite being the cream of the crop across the last four seasons.
As a result, every A-League fan, aside from those supporting Melbourne City, will be riding the yellow wave and hoping the men from the New South Wales Central Coast find a way to deny the most dominant team in the A-League for the third time in four seasons.
Jamieson has rather perfectly set up a rocking CommBank Stadium triumph for Nick Montgomery’s men, filled to the brim with fans determined to see the little engine that could win its second A-League championship.
Melbourne City are owned and controlled by the City Football Group; the global football investment powerhouse that has just secured another EPL title with Manchester City.
It is the Citizens’ fifth championship in six years in England and if you do not already hate everything CFG stand for, expect to do so in the future as the dominance continues in the short term under Pep Guardiola, and his best and most expensive club squad in world football.
The growing prostitution of English football rips further integrity from what was once one of the purest leagues in the world, with CFG’s little brother in Melbourne threatening to become a similar force on the domestic front.
Melbourne City’s finances and the comment made by Jamieson are everything that real and egalitarian football fans should loath and fight against.
A dominant Melbourne City threatens to erode much of what made the A-League competition unique, quirky and mostly unpredictable, yet pleasingly, the team has been unable to get the job done across recent seasons, bar the 2021 victory over Sydney FC in the grand final.
Jamieson’s comment has potentially set them up for failure yet again and another stumble at the final hurdle will have plenty of Australian football fans cock-a-hoop on Saturday night.
Should the Mariners use the assured crowd support to their advantage and decapitate the City charge, the A-League will be in celebratory mode and Jamieson will likely be lamenting the red rag he held before the Central Coast bull.
Surely a more prudent approach would have been demanded by the media arm of the club; to comment more respectfully and cite the excellent play of the upcoming opponent? Instead, Jamieson has labelled the Mariners as the cute, innocent and inoffensive Bambi-like participant in the contest.
Well, I for one will be cheering on Bambi and hoping for an embarrassing loss for the club that perennially contends yet has found it somewhat difficult to conquer the A-League mountain on a consistent basis.
If Scott Jamieson thinks he is coming to Sydney to face Bambi, he is way off the mark. Melbourne City will be up against a brilliant Mariners team, backed by a raucous crowd and driven by a spirit and passion that has risen to the occasion time after time this season.
Any neutral fan supporting Melbourne City lacks a heart and is completely missing what is at stake in this grand final. It is Bambi’s turn, they deserve it and football always looks a lot healthier when the little guy is toppling the ogre.
C’mon you mighty Mariners. Australian football needs this story and there has never been a more perfect team to deliver it.