Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou is hoping for a record crowd for Saturday’s derby with Melbourne Heart, and is likely to include teenage right-back Scott Galloway in his starting XI.
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou is hoping for a record crowd for Saturday’s derby with Melbourne Heart, and is likely to include teenage right-back Scott Galloway in his starting XI.
Galloway, 17, is all but assured of taking the place of suspended defender Diogo Ferreira, while big numbers are expected though the Etihad Stadium turnstiles at the weekend.
But if Postecoglou was worried about the youngster – who only debuted in the National Youth League side recently – performing on the big stage, he wasn’t showing it at his press conference on Friday.
“I don’t think age has got anything to do with it,” Postecoglou said.
“I’ve seen 30-year-olds crumble on the big stage. At the end of the day, he (Galloway) plays for Melbourne Victory – we can’t find a game we’re going to play in front of 3000 people for him.
“So if he wants to be a Melbourne Victory player, that means playing in front of big crowds, big games, and I’m really confident he’ll play well.”
Postecoglou said he hoped Victory could set another record in terms of A-League crowd figures, with the boys in blue featuring in seven of the top-10 highest attendances, with the other three on the list being grand finals.
Victory were involved in the highest-ever A-League attendance recorded, when they thrashed Adelaide United in the 2006-07 grand final (55,436), with the home-and-away record of 50,333 – Victory’s hosting of Sydney FC in 2006 – a more reasonable target for Saturday’s derby.
“I love big crowds. If we keep breaking records, it’s great – it’s great for the code, it’s great for our football club so it is important,” Postecoglou said.
“If we were playing in the state in front of 5000 people, I’d be pretty disappointed so hopefully we do get a record crowd.
“The signs are really good. We had a great weekend last week, sold out AAMI Park, and everyone that turned up left pretty satisfied with what they saw in terms of the spectacle, with it being a derby tomorrow, everyone back (from) holidays, back at schools, I’m hoping we do break the record.”
With nine matches remaining in the home-and-away season, Postecoglou said he was hoping his side could be poised for a shot at the Premiers Plate at the end of February, as they sit five points shy of Central Coast in the standings.
“Even if we get through this month, I wouldn’t want to limp into the finals … what we have done is we’ve created a real good foundation for ourselves to have a good shot at finishing first, and also a good shot at playing in the grand final, which is obviously our objective,” he said.
“We’re in second spot … if we get through this period and we’re still in good shape, it’ll mean those last five games we can really focus in on having some good form.”
