THERE is a saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder and for many Melbourne Victory fans, it sure does ring true. Our team fails to deliver at home more often than not, yet while away on the road they are almost unbeatable.

Melbourne have only lost one away game so far this season and more often than not, have probably played better away than they have at home. Did us fans say something wrong? Are we not worthy of your love? Or is your love unable to be spread amongst 20,000 people? Does absence really make your heart grow fonder for us?

Away from home, there have been wins against Perth, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Adelaide, Brisbane and North Queensland. Whilst at home we have had to endure heavy losses against Sydney and Central Coast (x2), boring draws against Newcastle and Wellington, with wins against Adelaide (that's a given) and Brisbane sprinkled amongst them.

This is in stark contrast to our efforts last season where only twice in the whole season did us fans have to endure the ignominy of losing at home and after Round 9 didn't see our team drop any points whatsoever. Whilst away from home, our efforts weren't even worthy finding an illegal internet stream (except against Adelaide - but that's a given), not that I condone that sort of thing. 

I wouldn't necessarily put down Saturday's performance as one of our best away from home it certainly was pleasing to see the team bounce back from the ordinary display of our last home game. Also worthy of note is the fact Merrick was willing to shake things up a bit, with probably the biggest point being the promotion of Mitchell Langerak in place of Glen Moss.

It may or may not be a coincidence that with Langerak between the posts, we kept a clean sheet for the first time since Round Seven. It must be said that we probably have Ben Williams to thank for that along with Roar's inability to really to test the Melbourne goalmouth with their slow motion attacking efforts. We may need to see Langerak in front of his home crowd before we can truly judge.

Is it too much to ask that same effort for next week's clash against "Brazil at home, Real Madrid away" because I am not sure how long we can handle this long distance love affair.

Neil is doing Movember again this year and his Mo is certainly better than that of Sergio van Djik. You can donate to this worthy cause at http://au.movember.com/mospace/58313/