MVFC "Were Prepared to Boycott Finals"

MVFC "Were Prepared to Boycott Finals"

speculative now, but not surprised in hindsight


http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/victory-reveal-plan-to-shun-aleague-finals-20100216-o90l.html

Melbourne Victory have made the stunning admission that they would have considered boycotting the A-League finals had they won the Premiers' Plate on Sunday.

The injury-ravaged A-League defending champions entertained the idea to allow them to concentrate their meagre playing resources on the Asian Champions League and avoid the fixture pile-up which threatens to derail their campaigns on both fronts.

Sydney FC won the title by defeating Melbourne 2-0 at the SFS on Sunday, ensuring the plan never got off the ground because the Victory can qualify for the ACL only if they win the grand final.

But Victory chairman Geoff Lord, incensed at what he believes is unfair scheduling by Football Federation Australia, confirmed yesterday that the idea had been debated at the highest levels of the club before Sunday's showdown.

Lord is angry that his team, severely depleted by injuries, must face Sydney tomorrow, travel to Beijing this weekend, play an ACL match against Beijing Guoan next Tuesday (February 23), and return to Australia and then play Sydney in the second leg of the semi-finals on Sunday, March 7. They then must back up two days later and play Korean side Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma on March 9 at Etihad Stadium in the ACL.

With several key players missing through injury, Lord fears the Victory will not be able to do themselves justice, particularly in the short turnround between the second Sydney match and the first home ACL fixture.

''We might have pulled out of the Australian championships if we had won the Premiers' Plate,'' he said. ''I raised the idea in a tentative way with a number of people to see what the response was. But we would only have considered it if we had won the Premiers' Plate

''Why wouldn't the FFA play that second game against Sydney on Friday, March 5, to give us more time to prepare for the Asian Champions League game the following Tuesday?

''We are representing Australia and we want to do the best we can but we have a smashed-up squad, we have lost eight first-team players who have either left or are out through injury since the season started. It's impossible to do this. You can't go into Asia with half a side. ''It's a Herculean task and we can't do justice to both tournaments. This needs addressing for the future. It's not just Melbourne Victory, it's for all Australian teams. We have filed another request today for the date of that second game to be changed.''

Ugh. f**king Melbourne.
Bitch and moan.

They should really be focusing on winning the A-league instead of the ACL.
It seems like a bit of a "f**k you" to the A-league.


Plus, they wanted their away leg in Sydney to be moved somewhere closer.
Sydney won the title along with the rights to those fixtures.
Stefan2010-02-17 21:50:12

Geoff Lord should STFU!!!  C-Diddy2010-02-17 21:52:16

Maybe Mr. Lord can sign players to replace the ones he let go.

Maybe Mr Lord can make like a tree and PISS OFF!!!

ACL is important, that's why only the big boys are allowed to play in it.

$1 million prizemoney if you win it (the ACL), I can get his point in ways.

Maybe they should sign Nik Mrdja as injury cover... Ard Righ2010-02-18 16:14:01

Ifill.

Bring back Allsopp.

 

We'll play Ifill in goal, Mossy up front.

Can see their point regarding the Seognam and 2nd leg against Sydney. But they should have signed a couple more players in the January transfer window.

BOYCOTT THE FINALS NOW YOU W*NKERS!!!

Nah.

Tards.