I reckon it'll go to Ola

anyone know what the score with the phoenix friendly was? and why it wasnt released?

Reported as 1-1. 

Who the fuck knows! 

Ola Toivonen appointed Victory captain

Melbourne Victory today announced that Swedish striker Ola Toivonen will captain the club for the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season.

Toivonen becomes the first international captain of Melbourne Victory and just the fifth captain overall since the club’s inception in 2005, replacing Carl Valeri who held the position between 2015-2019.

Fellow teammates Leigh Broxham, Thomas Deng, Tim Hoogland and Jakob Poulsen will join Toivonen in the leadership group that was jointly selected by the players and coaches.

Melbourne Victory Chairman, Anthony Di Pietro praised the selection of Toivonen to lead the club through the next chapter.

“This is an exciting and significant appointment for our club,” said Di Pietro.

“We all know how much class and experience Ola possesses as a player, which was part of the decision, but this role sets the standards both on-and-off the pitch for our club."

“Both last year and in the pre-season, Ola has led from the front and proved he is a leader – we are confident he will continue to do that and make us proud as the fifth captain of Melbourne Victory."

“On behalf of the club, I congratulate Ola on his appointment and look forward to seeing him lead with passion this season.”

Toivonen made 26 appearances across all competitions for Melbourne Victory last season for a return of 17 goals, 15 of which were netted in the A-League and led to the striker being awarded the TAC Victoria Golden Boot at the 2019 Victory Medal awards night.

Commenting on his appointment, Toivonen was humbled to be chosen by his peers.

“Firstly, I want to thank the players and coaches for selecting me to captain Melbourne Victory this season,” said Toivonen.

“It’s an honour to have been chosen to lead this club, I loved my first season here and am very proud to now be in this position."

“I am passionate about achieving success and together with the support of the leadership group in Leigh, Jakob, Tim and Tommy to drive the team to a good place."

“We have put together a tremendous group of players and we are all looking forward to Round 1 next week.”

Melbourne Victory Head Coach, Marco Kurz was also pleased with the selected leadership group headed by Toivonen.

“Ola will be a fantastic captain of this club, his experience on-and-off the pitch will be invaluable for our team but the support around him in the leadership group is also really important,” said Kurz.

“I was very happy to see Leigh, Thomas, Tim and Jakob selected in the leadership group to work alongside Ola."

“We wanted a balanced leadership team that blended experience, together with some of our younger/up-and-coming players, which we have within the mix of players selected. I am confident the group will go from strength to strength in their new roles.”

Toivonen will lead the team in Victory’s opening match of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season on Saturday, October 12 against Melbourne City at Marvel Stadium.

Great stuff

Love this selection and yes, Ola is a class act.

Any City of Maribyrnong residents who want to have a say on the Victory Academy proposal for Footscray Park, voting is now open to select representatives for the Community Advisory Panel. 
You have to prove you are a City of Maribyrnong resident to vote. Go here https://www.yourcityyourvoice.com.au/footscray-park-community-advisory-group-voting-now-open

Voting closes 5pm on October 9th.
There's a wide range of pro, anti and no-position stated nominees (25 for 5 positions) including Adam Rimington from the FVS podcast and Kerry Harris, former board member of the Australian Women's Soccer Association.

On paper Kurz has done a pretty good job here. 

 

Roux and Brown though :(

So it his confirmation that Troisi is gone? Or had I missed that announcement previously haha.

-PB

Really surprised Troisi didn't sign with another HAL side. There would have definitely been some reasonable offers.

Has troisi even signed with anyone?

got membership pack today. Gold member and they are so lame. The scarfs are so crap. 

I don't mind Storm Roux at all. Wouldn't be my first choice for starting 11 but totally fine as a squad player.

I can't see Roux or Brown getting much game time this season. As long as Traore is fit, Brown won't get a look in. Roux will be competing against  Deng and Broxham for a starting spot.

Nope he hasnt signed with anyone . Which is strange. And yes the membership packs leave a lot to be desired 

Basha is yet to arrive in Australia. WTF is going on there?


i still think he'll eventually sign with AU.

agree re membership packs. the scarves are $0.50 china-made trash. they should be giving caps anyway in a summer league. and the gold colouring isn't very exciting. Just keep it navy blue and white.  

Agreed that caps are a better member gift, although I'm not too fussed on getting any gifts at all if I'm honest. Just give me my card and fixture magnet and I'm a happy camper.

I agree. There should be a 'no shit' checkbox on the membership form for people that throw all this junk in a drawer never to be seen again. The scarves mean that 'stand by me' looks better, but it's summer, I really don't need a scarf.

My mate and I have started the tradition of buying the championship scarves when we win them, so I've collected a few of those now. Much nicer scarves and have a bit more meaning to me and my mate. That'll do me!

Good idea. I'll have to remember that for next time.

According to twitter, Basha is having Visa issues and can’t get into the country.

With Kruse out and Athiu called up, I genuinely don't know what we'll do up front Nabbout gets picked. If Deng gets called up, with Basha already out, that throws our back-line and midfield into disarray too. 

Another opening day loss coming up. 

Back will be fine with Traore, Donachie, Hoogland, Broxham, Roux and Brown all available. 
Midfield and front third will see some younger players get an opportunity. Kamsoba has been a gun in pre-season so he should be fine.

Yeah, I was wondering who would be the third attacker - Dobras maybe? Then you've got to find someone to fill in that 10. This could all be academic though when hopefully neither of them get picked.

Ola captain is good. Also he has a mouth on him so hopefully the refs give him a bit more leeway as captain this season.

Cant understand the complaints with scarfs. Yes they’re crap quality but better than anything else to wear to show colours, helps with waving after a goal too. Last decent membership scarf was at least 3-4 seasons ago. Gold member pen is reasonable quality though! And I don’t think they’ll ever get rid of the fridge magnet again after that horrible decision a while back

#bringbackthekeychain
I had a little collection of them starting - when they (inevitably) fell to pieces, I was able to blu-tak the token part in a row across the top of my computer screen. 
Not enough to make much of a row though :(
 

Apparently these fixtures have been changed according to the MV website. Not sure what they were before, but these are the updated details:

Home fixtures

RD	DATE	HOME	AWAY	VENUE	Kick-Off (Local)	Kick-Off (AEDT / AEST)
10	Saturday, 14 December 2019	Melbourne Victory	Wellington Phoenix	AAMI Park	05:00PM	05:00PM
13	Sunday,  5 January 2020	Melbourne Victory	Newcastle Jets	AAMI Park	06:30PM	06:30PM
26	Saturday,  4 April 2020	Melbourne Victory	Central Coast Mariners	AAMI Park	05:00PM	05:00PM

Away Fixtures

RD	DATE	HOME	AWAY	VENUE	Kick-Off (Local)	Kick-Off (AEDT / AEST)
11	Saturday, 21 December 2019	Melbourne City FC	Melbourne Victory	AAMI Park	05:00PM	05:00PM
14	Sunday, 12 January 2020	Central Coast Mariners	Melbourne Victory	Central Coast Stadium	06:00PM	06:00PM

That 5pm Christmas derby is great. I can get home by 10pm rather than 12.30am.

R10 and R26 have simply been changed from 5:15pm to 5:00pm to ensure the ABC coverage ends by 7pm (which will end up being a 5:07 kick-off as we know). 

R11 has been moved from 7:30pm to 5:00pm so it can be shown on FTA. 

R13 has been changed from 4:00pm Sunday to 6:30pm Sunday. This makes no sense as it doesn't impact the Saturday FTA game (my guess is that it’s a request from Foxtel).

R14 has been changed from 4:00pm Sunday to 6:00pm Sunday. This makes no sense as it doesn't impact the Saturday FTA game (my guess is that it’s a request from Foxtel). It also makes impossible for travelling Victory fans to FIFO on the day.

Glad I hadn't booked CCM away.

Robbie Kruse fitness update

Melbourne Victory attacker Robbie Kruse has been ruled out of Saturday's Round 1 clash with Melbourne City due to injury.

Kruse has been working to overcome a persistent hamstring injury that restricted his participation throughout pre-season, however, the decision was made to rule him out early this week.

General Manager Football Operations, Paul Trimboli, said the club will take a cautious and considered approach and won’t rush Kruse back given the length of the season.

“Robbie has been working tirelessly to overcome a hamstring issue and get his body ready, however at this stage, we still have some work to do with him,” Trimboli said.

“As well as recovering from the injury, Robbie needs time to improve his fitness and ensure he is 100% ready for the intensity that is demanded in the A-League."

“Given the nature of his injury and the length of the season, we won’t be taking any risks and will treat his comeback cautiously.”