after the advice from hippy_ kitty lol, i have decided to join this thread, well me personally i am very new to the Australian game as i didnt really follow the NSL when it was happening

Muscat set for Victory debut
July 28, 2005

SOCCEROO defender Kevin Muscat is expected to make his A-League Pre-season Cup debut this Saturday when the Melbourne Victory host Perth at Olympic Park.

But Sydney FC captain Mark Rudan is still weeks away from making his comeback, with the former Australian youth international eyeing a return in his side's opening game of the A-League competition on August 28.

Melbourne skipper Muscat, who was rested from the Victory's 1-1 draw with Newcastle last weekend, is expected to be named at right-back by coach Ernie Merrick tomorrow.

His inclusion will be a major boost for the side as it vies for a spot in the competition semi-finals.

All four teams in group A of the tournament secured a point in the first of three rounds last week, with Adelaide United also earning a 2-2 draw against Perth Glory.

Sydney FC and the Central Coast Mariners by contrast have steamed ahead in group B and look near certainties to play in the semi-finals.

The Mariners downed Queensland Roar 3-1 in Gosford last weekend, while Sydney FC also comfortably cruised past an underdone New Zealand Knights outfit 3-1.

The two finalists from the Australian Club World Championship qualifiers in May face-off in Gosford again on Saturday with Sydney FC keen to increase its 16-game unbeaten streak.

Sydney FC beat the Mariners 1-0 in the final, and like that game, will again be without towering defender Rudan this weekend.

The 29-year-old has been plagued by groin problems for the past three months, missing the club's triumphs in both the Australian and Oceania legs of the Club World Championship.
With the A-League less than a month away, Rudan said he was desperate to avoid a recurrence, and was concentrating on just getting fit for the first round of the season.

"It's tough (missing games), but I've sort of got over that now, I'm just looking forward to my comeback," Rudan said.

"We don't want to put a date on it. I think this pre-season competition to me won't be a realistic one in terms of coming back.

"I think the 28th of August, the first game against the Melbourne Victory, is what we're looking at realistically."

Socceroo forward David Zdrilic, nursing a lower back injury, is also expected to be unavailable for Sydney FC, with Saso Petrovski again partnering Dwight Yorke up front.

The former Manchester United striker scored on debut for his new club against the Knights, but was upstaged by Petrovski who bagged a double.

The Mariners' Nick Mrdja scored a hat-trick against the Roar and will pose the biggest threat to Sydney's unbeaten streak.

Former German youth international Andre Gumprecht and fellow midfielder Matthew Osman have been passed fit for the Mariners after the pair missed last weekend's win.

Adelaide open the second round of the Cup tomorrow night when it hosts the Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Jets defender Jade North signalled his side's intention for the game and competition when he said: "We want five games, and to get five games you've got to get the points to go all the way (to the final)."

Adelaide today confirmed its 20th and final signing with promising 18-year-old midfielder Tony Hatzis joining the club.

The New Zealand Knights host Queensland Roar at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday night.

Knights coach John Adshead is considering four changes to his line-up, but insists they will be made primarily to give his full squad as much match time as possible.

Young goalkeeper Glen Moss, defenders Frank van Eijs and Noah Hickey, and midfielder Xiaobin Zhang, are all expected to come into the starting side.

AAP

next player: Kristian Sarkies, this kid is siiiiick, all i have to say is watch this space.

gooner_always.
wats urs??

Mariners magic sinks Victory
August 12, 2005

Victory 1 Mariners 3
CENTRAL COAST Mariners powered into the second final in their short history with an impressive A-League pre-season semi-final win over Melbourne Victory at Olympic Park tonight.

Two goals to Tom Pondeljak and one to Damien Brown put the Mariners into the pre-season final next weekend, where they meet the winner of Sunday's semi-final between Sydney FC and Perth Glory.

The Mariners also made the final of the Australian Club World Championship qualifiers in May which they lost to Sydney FC.

Central Coast dominated tonight's match but had to fight back from a goal down after Victory defender Mark Byrnes rose to head home Kristian Sarkies' pinpoint freekick in the 31st minute.

Then Mariners winger Brown, who was outstanding down the left flank all night, earned a penalty eight minutes later when Kevin Muscat raised his studs in a challenge.

Pondeljak made no mistake from the penalty spot for a 1-1 halftime scoreline.

Predictably it was Brown and Pondeljak who combined for the Mariners' second goal early in the second half.

Their delightful exchange of passes on the edge of the penalty box sliced open the defence and allowed Pondeljak to slot home to make it 2-1.

Socceroos striker Archie Thompson had two excellent second-half chances for the Victory – his second in the 65th minute hitting the post with Mariners keeper John Crawley beaten.

The Victory were made to pay less than 60 seconds later when Brown scored the visitors' third after their midfield again unlocked Melbourne's defence with some swift, short passing.
Byrnes was sent off in the 73rd minute after an incident in which Mariners striker Nick Mrdja was left prone on the ground clutching his face.

It means Byrnes will be suspended for the Victory's first A-League regular season match in a fortnight.

AAP

Not yet bedazzled by Yorke
By Ray Gatt
August 23, 2005

MELBOURNE Victory coach Ernie Merrick admitted yesterday he was both concerned and excited by the prospect of import Dwight Yorke tearing apart defences in the competition.

But he will not be intimidated by the presence of the former English Premier League superstar and vowed not to employ man-marking tactics on Yorke when Victory plays Sydney FC in its opening match of the landmark season at Aussie Stadium on Sunday.

"As far as I am concerned, Dwight Yorke's presence in the A-League is one of the best things to happen to club football in this country for many years," Merrick said.

"He is exciting, charismatic and is going to be huge for the competition.

"I think it will be especially good for the younger players. They'll be able to gauge themselves against him.

"It is a great challenge for them and they will lift for sure."

Despite the hype around the Trinidad and Tobago international and former Manchester United striker, the laid-back Merrick is confident his defence can handle Yorke.

"I'm not changing my playing system just for him," Merrick said. "The system has worked fine for us so far ... we have only lost once in about 14 matches, so why change?

"It will just be a matter of whoever is near him at the time will pick him up.

"If he moves out to the right, he'll be in (Australia hard man) Kevin Muscat territory. If he hangs around in the centre then (former Belgium international) Geoffrey Claeys will look after him."
With former Joeys (Australia Under-17s) and Young Socceroos (Under-19s) defender Mark Byrnes suspended, Merrick has yet to decide who will fill the other centreback role next to Claeys - Adrian Leijer or Daniel Piorkowski.

"Leijer probably has the inside running at the moment, but I won't decide until later in the week," the Scotsman said. "If Adrian plays he won't be overawed by having to face up to Yorke."

He has also to decide on the left-side fullback role with Simon Storey, Carl Recchia and Chris Tadrosse all in the mix.

Merrick, who coached Preston and Sunshine George Cross in the old National Soccer League in the 1980s, is excited by the squad he has assembled at Victory - one based largely on youth.

While he is not well known outside Victoria, Merrick is a well-credentialled coach who has had much success in youth development. He headed the soccer program at the VIS for many years.

He has been instrumental in the careers of players such as former Socceroos and NSL stalwarts Paul Trimboli and John Markovski, Muscat and Socceroo Vince Grella, who now plays in the Serie A in Italy.

Melbourne's strength is the experience Muscat and Claeys bring to the defence, an exciting midfield revolving around Kristian Sarkies, Vince Lia, Andy Vlahos, Michael Ferrante and former Austrian international Richard Kitzbichler.

Up front, Socceroo Archie Thompson and Daniel Allsopp, who spent a number of seasons in the lower leagues in England, will provide a potent attack.

The Australian

Baby forces Victory to wait
By Peter Desira
August 25, 2005

ARCHIE Thompson remained Melbourne Victory's only concern as the team yesterday embraced the underdog tag for Sunday's away match to Sydney FC, its opening match of the A-League season.

"Archie's wife still hasn't had the baby yet, and if it arrives on Sunday, he won't be there for the game. Family comes first," Victory coach Ernie Merrick said.

Thompson hasn't missed a training session and is expecting to play. But having dropped out of an Australia training camp in the Netherlands to remain in Melbourne, he will stay home if wife Emmy goes into labour on match day.

"We're sure it's getting closer, but there's no joy yet," Thompson said. "But I'm also very excited about the first game. It's the start of the competition and a very important match versus Sydney."

Victory is certain to delay naming its side until match day, but Merrick made it clear the side would be playing attacking football.

"Sydney went 17 matches unbeaten, and there's no doubt we'll be the underdog," Merrick said.

"But that doesn't bother me. We will be going there playing attacking football and going for a win. We won't be going to away matches looking for a draw."

Victory will be without stopper Mark Byrnes, who was suspended after being sent off in the semi-final of the pre-season cup.

Byrnes had been flagged as the defender to look after Sydney star Dwight Yorke, but Merrick indicated yesterday the side wouldn't have a man-marker designated for the A-League's biggest name.

"We won't have a specific marker (for Yorke). What we have been working on is a specific formation to go into the game with," Merrick said.
Young Socceroo Adrian Leijer is likely to take over Byrne's spot in the backline.

Victory will train at Olympic Park this morning, a session likely to resolve the goalkeeping choice. Merrick is understood to have told Eugene Galekovic and Michael Theoklitos they will be rotated every two weeks, regardless of form.

There is no indication of who will be in goal on Sunday.

Sydney will be at full strength, having regained Yorke after he played for Trinidad in a World Cup qualifier against the US, and Saso Petrovski, who has returned from Socceroo duty.

Herald Sun

who is going to the first gae in bling bling town ill be watching it at me mates

Victory pushes venue switch
By Peter Desira
September 6, 2005

MELBOURNE Victory was last night desperately trying to switch Friday's A-League fixture from Adelaide to Melbourne - with strong support from Adelaide United.

Victory takes on Adelaide in round three but the fixture will get buried this week with the city hosting the Adelaide-Port AFL semi-final at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.

"There's no AFL in Melbourne this weekend and we're trying to get it swapped over to Olympic Park," Victory chairman Geoff Lord said yesterday.

Surprisingly, the move got a good reception from Adelaide United chief executive Michael Petrillo.

"It's not a bad suggestion," Petrillo said. "If it's decided early in the week, it shouldn't be much drama to organise.

"We're also up against the Royal Adelaide Show, which brings in 7000 people.

"The (AFL) football the next day is definitely going to affect the attendance so it would be a good time to switch it.

"Melbourne could take advantage of its big crowd from Sunday and we could swap the return to be played here later in the season."

The big hurdle to be faced in the next 24 hours will be Foxtel, which is scheduled to televise the game live.

A-League operations manager Matt Carroll was involved in meetings late last night and was unavailable for comment.
But the league was describing a switch as a "big call" because it would involving re-scheduling many resources.

Lord insisted the switch made sense and said Victory could attract another capacity crowd at Olympic Park, after Sunday's sellout for the 2-2 draw against Perth Glory.

"We've got to think outside the square a bit. It makes sense if the two clubs want it," Lord said.

Victory will regain striker Archie Thompson, who returns home after today's World Cup qualifier against the Solomon Islands in Honiara.

Adelaide had 11,020 fans for its first home game. It had expected to fill the 16,000-capacity Hindmarsh Stadium.

Herald Sun