Marked for Daniel Ferguson
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melbourne Victory this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Daniel Ferguson is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 15 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Melbourne Victory training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jack Duncan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Melbourne Victory's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Melbourne Victory has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melbourne Victory this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Melbourne Victory training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jack Duncan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Jack Duncan
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
A mark of 7.66, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Market1 Nov 2027
No place for Santos in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Santos has his answer from Melbourne Victory; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2027
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Melbourne Victory are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Keegan Jelacic was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Melbourne Victory training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Genreau is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Oct 2027
1‑2 to Western Sydney Wanderers, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Molina
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market25 Oct 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Joel Knight has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market25 Oct 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Ferguson has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.