Never A Dull Moment...

As a Melbourne Victory fan you can never really complain about there being ever a dull moment and this past week has been no exception with it being somewhat of a roller coaster ride of emotions.

The week started off on a low note with the news that everyone expected as Kevin Muscat copped two weeks for his errant elbow to Jason Culina's face. No real complaints here apart from those aimed at Muscat for doing such a stupid thing with only two weeks to go before the finals.

Things got better after that with Victory's announcement of the ticketing arrangements for the ACL and the revealing of the strip for this year's campaign. Revealing, being the operative word as Archie Thompson paraded in front of the new kits in only his shorts. Not sure if that was exactly necessary.

As for the new kits I have to admit that I am a bit of fan and rather like the double 'V'. My only gripe is that I would like to see the 'V' on future Victory shirts to be a bit more like the one that adorns the Velez Sarsfield shirt. Now all I have to do now is find the cash for one. And also some for that new Socceroos jersey whilst I am it.

Then on Thursday we got the news that the Archie Thompson injury was worse than first thought and that definitely put a dampener on any confidence of making it back-to-back Premiers' Plates. Thompson's absence combined with the suspension of Muscat painted a bleak outlook for the next couple of weeks.

Then it was Friday and with it came the somewhat surprising news that we had somehow had managed to sign Nik Mrdja on a six month deal outside of the transfer window. I wasn't sure how to take this and to be honest I was a little surprised/concerned that Melbourne had gone down this route. Others will cry foul and probably with some justification. On a slightly different note, Thompson's injury and Mrdja's signing does highlight the fact that Merrick, Cole and Co. need to  seriously look for a striker in the off season.

And then to the game itself and 15 minutes in, we saw Matthew Kemp become the latest Victory player go down with an injury. You call almost hear a collective groan ring out around the stadium. What had we done to deserve this run of luck? Had someone made a deal with the devil and now it was coming back to haunt us at the end of the season, right when it mattered most?

The night however ended on a high note thanks mostly to the efforts of one Carlos Hernandez as he tormented the Fury defence, and especially Justin Pasfield. Right when we needed him the most, he stepped up to the plate and we hardly missed Muscat or Thompson at all. Now all we need is a repeat performance next week against Sydney. Also inspiring was the Victory hierarchy's decision to make Adrian Leijer the captain for the night. He led by example all night and looks set to have the job in the bag once Muscat hangs up his studs.

And then this topsy-turvy week came to end on Sunday with the outside hope that both Sydney and Gold Coast would drop the necessary points for Melborne to claim the Premiership a week early. However it wasn't to be as Perth try as they might could not do the necessary damage (who would have thought Aloisi would score twice in a game?) and after Wellington took all three points against Gold Coast it means it all comes down to next week. The FFA's fixturing guy must be patting him or herself on the back with the genius of having Sydney host Melbourne in the final game of the final round of the season. It should be awesome and I can't wait.