Dear Anthony Di Pietro, Richard Wilson, Ian Robson, Melbourne Victory Board members, coaching staff and players,

Well, I’ve hit rock bottom as a supporter of this club. I’d really prefer not to be writing to you right now but there comes a point where enough is enough.

Before I begin, I’d like to go into how I originally started supporting Victory back in 2004.

When the news of a new league was being thrown around I was excited as any eight years old could be. You could imagine my delight when I opened up the paper a few months later once the Victory were created and saw that they were offering a free junior membership as a means to promote the new club. From the moment I lay eyes on that ad, I was a Victory fan for life. My first game I attended was the 5-0 demolition job of Sydney FC on a warm afternoon at Olympic Park. Ever since then I’ve remained an inaugural member of this great club and it’s my passion for Victory and football to succeed in Melbourne that has prompted me to write to you today, the key stakeholders of Melbourne Victory.

If that 5-0 win in Season 1 was a one of the highlights of this clubs nine year history, the past 14 days has seen the famous blue & white V trodden on and left for dead. You could argue that the players had an excuse last week due to the glaring omissions from the U/22 tournament in Asia but I truly thought that coming home to play our greatest rival on Australia Day would spark the boys in blue. How wrong I was. I’ve never left a Victory game early and that didn’t change on Sunday but as I left Etihad after the 90 minutes I felt sick. Sick that a once proud club had its coloured lowered in front of over 24,000 fans and prompted many fans to leave as early as half time.

For many reasons Season 9 has been the worst for fans of this club. Here are the reasons why:

The NT situation

The corporate rhetoric of ‘Like No Other’ has been pumped through social media since the start of the season but the way the administration of this club has treated its most loyal fans this season has left me disgusted. From the outset when the three restrictions were thrust upon the NTC without any consultation, the way the Victory admin has approached active support has left me bewildered. While behind the scenes Victory has tried to play the PR game, releasing statements painting the NTC as the enemy, the attitude to control a group that thrives on organic growth astounds me every time I think about it. While I understand that active support provides a unique challenge to those that have previously worked in other sports, to my knowledge the club has made no effort to compromise with the NTC and work out a model that benefits active support and its natural growth in the future. The fact that our loyal fans have been forced to abandon the home ends at AAMI Park and Etihad Stadium is a sad indictment on those who use active support to promote an ‘atmosphere like no other’ but behind the scenes seek to undermine the very fans that keep thousands coming back.

While I understand that FFA are pushing the HEM (Home End Membership) model strongly, I urge you to look at Western Sydney Wanderers and how they have worked around it to ensure that the RBB are given all the concessions that any active supporter group needs. Their HEM membership doesn’t have a specific seat and rather a bay, allowing free movement within bays and subsequently allowing the best possible atmosphere at every home game. Back in season 1 anyone was welcome on the terraces and this in turn led to the NT becomes the envy of any sporting club in Australia. It is sad that in Season 9, the Victory admin seem hell-bent on stifling this support and instead of allowing non-members access and free reign within the bays, strict reserved seating has been implemented which helps no one and is simple counterproductive. This attitude was summed up in a recent member e-mail in regards to our ACL game in Geelong, which stated that active support members were to be given access to NT bays at a later stage. The NT isn’t an area that you buy a membership into and rather an area where everyone is welcome. Not everyone can afford an active membership and it is criminal to suggest that they are any less entitled to join active support compared to those who are lucky enough to have a piece of plastic in their hands. The bitter feud has basically become an ‘us vs them’ situation where both sides are more intent to winning rather than working together. I believe that the NTC has the best interests of the club at heart and I urge you to sit down with them and find a solution as soon as possible.

On Australia Day Sydney FC’s away fans were treated better than the home ones. The away Cove was given a megaphone, flags, banners and free-reign of their terrace, ‘privileges’ that the NTC have been fighting for. It is a sad world in which away fans are treated better that our very own. What a shame.

I can’t help but think the dire atmosphere that has greeted Victory players at home this year has contributed to a drop in home form this season. The fact that we’ve been out sung by WSW and Sydney FC fans at our own ground is downright embarrassing. I can only hope in future weeks and months that you finally see the light and allow the NTC to continue to support the club as they would like to; free of any restrictions. After all, the NT wants nothing more than to see the club succeed.

Ange

The whole situation has left an extremely bitter taste in my mouth. Over the past two years to the clubs credit, they headhunted Ange from Brisbane and gave him free reign to build his own squad. While I appreciate that FFA were set on a local coach for the Socceroos, the measly compensation we received after he left doesn’t even begin to cover the loss that he was. I and many Victory fans were disappointed that the club didn’t go into bat for fans and members, appearing to let the FFA take our most prized asset for a pittance. We essentially built our future success around him and the way the FFA were able to sneak up and take him under our noses still enrages me to this day. A club vs country debate is always a tough one but from the outside is appears as if we let him go far too easily, instead of fighting for our prized asset. Ange was contracted to the club and while I appreciate that it was an awaked situation for the club to be in, the end result was disappointing. It was an uncomfortable period for all and has led to club legend Kevin Muscat being thrown to the deep end.

Muscat

I’m extremely disappointed that many fans are calling for Muscat’s head so early into his tenure but after two deplorable results in a row, even I had to question if he is truly ready to be a manager of this football club. I truly thought that the Victory board had learn from the tumultuous Durakovic/Magiltion era but the ease in which Muscat was given the reigns and the subsequent three year deal leaves little margin for error. Personally, I would have liked Muscat to serve an apprenticeship away from Melbourne Victory and given a new challenge in a less comforting environment. He has simply got too comfortable at this club and if he perhaps was given time away from the club, when he eventually returned, Muscat would have grown as a coach. I have no doubt that one day he will be a brilliant manager but one needs to question the decision-making process that the Victory board went through after Ange’s departure.

Nevertheless, what done is done and ultimately we are left in a precarious predicament. No one expected to lose Ange so quickly but the lack of plan B when it all went south was extremely concerning as a fan of this club. From the outside it looks like the club put all the eggs in one basket and when that invariably fell over, panic ensured on all levels. At the moment it seems as if Muscat is still living in the ghost of Ange, seemingly hamstrung by a style of football that isn’t his. While he has tried to tweak the style since he became manager, his lack of a tangible plan B when things aren’t going our way in a game situation is deeply concerning. What has been even more concerning for me as a fan is the seemingly lack of accountability of performances and the ‘boys club’ that seemingly exists. For me, players are being played on reputation rather than form and that is a dangerous precedent to set at a football club.

Personally I would have given Muscat an interim role until the end of the season and allowed him to show his credentials over a short period of time. It is sad that a club legend is being treated so harshly. I am still fully supportive of Kevin being our manager but I implore him to stamp his foot on the style and make his mark on the squad. After all, Ange is no longer there and it is imperative that we move on as a football club.

Recruiting

Over the past few weeks our top-heavy squad has come back to bite us. While the ambitious signing of Besart Berisha next season is no doubt a good one, the acquisition of Pablo Contreras has ultimately been a failure. I can’t help but think that the reported $900,000 we’re paying him this season could have been used more effectively. While I appreciate that the club aggressively chased Miccoli and Karagounis in the off-season, the marquee spot could have no doubt been used better. There is no doubt that we have some supremely talented footballers at this club but time after time our lack of defensive options has cost us football games. The likes of Geria, Galloway, Ansell and Murnane are only youngsters and the lack of support down back by more senior figures has been left a lot to be desired.

Attitude

For me, the attitude and lack of fight and motivation across the park in Wellington as well as on Sunday was deplorable. There is a certain prestige that comes with playing in front of 23,000 fans a week but for me, certain players seem to think they can put on the shirt and the points are won. Time after time opposition footballers have simply worked harder on the pitch and thus beaten our players that have simply been found out on the biggest stage. This represents a subtle arrogance that seemingly exists within all factions of the club. From players to coaches to administrators, I fell as if many key figures take their position for granted and in doing so let down so many people. It’s extremely frustrating week after week seeing our players get beaten by pure work rate rather than skill. The game on Sunday was simply another example of that. The lack of motivation that exists amongst players at the moment is bewildering and with so much to play for in the months to come something needs to be done. I have no doubt that the players are hurting at the moment but it is vital that a sense a leadership is shown in the weeks to come. I don’t expect to win every game. What I do expect is the 11 out on the pitch to be motivated fully and all have their eyes set on a common goal each and every week.

Being treated like a customer

I understand that the club is ultimately a franchise in which members and fans buy into but this season I and many other loyal Victory fans have felt as if they’ve been treated like customers rather than fans of a football club. The fact that it seems as if the Victory board are happy to take the money of fans yet fail to address key issues directly with them is concerning as a long-time member. I know of many people who won’t be renewing next season as a result of the toxic stench that surrounds Melbourne Victory at the moment and while you’ve got me as a fan for life, many others will walk away unless the business attitude towards footballing issues changes. After all, this isn’t a business but rather a football club and I’d expect that all stakeholders are treated as fans, rather than customers.

I’m proud to have supported this game since its inception but this season has left a bitter taste in my mouth. From the toxic atmosphere that has permeated our home games to the beyond frustrating home losses to WSW, Newcastle, Brisbane and Sydney, Season nine has been a constant narrative of disappointment. I urge you, the key stakeholders of Melbourne Victory to hold a fan forum at some point in the next few weeks, allowing the fans to have their say in order to arrest this downward trend.

Over 24,000 fans still attended the game on Sunday despite the morgue-like atmosphere and a 5-0 battering the week before-hand. It was even more disappointing to see fans leaving as early at half time, seemingly fed up with the lack of accountability at all levels this season. We are lucky to have some of the most passionate fans in the league and as Muscat said post-game, we are a proud club and to see the mighty blue & white dragged through the mud over the past 14 days is horrifying as a fan.

I really hope that I get a response from one or more of you as I really do care for this club. Players didn’t want to be there in the second half on Sunday and you’ve got to wonder if the lack of reaction on the weekend points to a bigger problem. On Monday very little in the way of an apology was offered to the 24,000 fans that attended and the silence was most definitely deafening. The least I would have expected in the wake of our worst 14 days in the club’s history is a message e-mailed to all members and posted on social media sites from the head coach and on behalf of the players, outlining how the past two weeks has been an utterly disgrace. The silence was enough to convince me that there is something truly wrong at the club.

I was lost for words for the first time in years and I am at a loss to explain why we were so bad on the weekend. I NEVER want to feel like that as a fan again and it was almost surreal to see our once proud club being beaten up so badly by one of our greatest rivals on our own turf. I attend AFL matches as well and in my 10 or so years of attending sporting events I have never left a game feeling so disconnected and disillusioned with my chosen club. The pure lack of response after the game in Wellington kept playing through my mind on the way home. I truly hope that the club bounces back in Perth next week. If our worst ever loss at home isn’t enough to prompt some degree of change, nothing ever will.

My final point is this. Melbourne Heart will no longer be shambles on all levels in the years to come and if things don’t change, we won’t be number one for much longer. There is still time to change and if all stakeholders work together, we can get this club back up to its former glories.

Yours in football,

Laurence Rosen

Foundation member of Melbourne Victory

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This piece has been e-mailed to all key stakeholders. I await a response.

Follow me on Twitter at @LaurenceRosen