Perth Glory striker Shane Smeltz says there's never been a better time to play Brisbane Roar. Picture: Justin Benson-cooper Source: PerthNow
PERTH Glory star Shane Smeltz has warned the already battered Brisbane Roar they are in for further pain at Suncorp Stadium on Friday Night in the anticipated grand final rematch.
"It's an opportunity to get at them and hurt them," Smeltz said ahead of the latest chapter of the Roar-Glory rivalry.
"It's clear to see they are not the consistent team they have been in the past.
"This is as good a time as any to get them ... we don't fear them."
The Roar are in a mess, having sacked Rado Vidosic as the club's head coach on Tuesday less than seven months after appointing him as master mentor Ange Postecoglou's replacement.
With their bid for a hat-trick of A-League championships in tatters following just three wins in 11 matches this season, the Roar have turned to former Gold Coast United coach Mike Mulvey, who only a few months ago was not considered good enough to be part of Vidosic's coaching staff.
Smeltz had sympathy for Vidosic, Postecoglou's former right-hand man, saying it was always difficult for an assistant to step up to a head coach role at the same club.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 26 |
| 2 | Adelaide | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 25 |
| 3 | Victory | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | -3 | 17 |
| 4 | Western Sydney | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16 |
| 5 | Perth | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | -8 | 13 |
| 7 | Wellington | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 12 |
| 8 | Heart | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 12 |
| 9 | Brisbane | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Sydney | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -11 | 10 |
"I had the same situation when I was playing in Turkey as well. It's hard for coaches to come and do that, let alone replacing a coach that has been so successful," said Smeltz, who has been hardly surprised by the Roar's struggles this season.
"It was always going to be a tough challenge. I'm not really surprised by the way they're going.
"I didn't expect them to do as well as they have in the past two seasons, simply because of the change they had at the club. It is a big change.
"Looking from the outside, you can clearly see that it's had some influence on the football club."
Roar skipper Matt Smith, who said Brisbane's under-achieving playing squad had to take responsibility for Vidosic's demise, wasn't interested in buying into Perth's belief that his side was ripe for the picking.
"I don't really care what Perth think," the Socceroos defender said. "We've never really focused on the other team. We know what we need to do.
"We've been far from our best consistently over the course of the season."
"We have to be made accountable (for Vidosic's axing), but we have the opportunity to turn it around."
Tonight's meeting is the second between the teams since last season's grand final, won 2-1 by the Roar after a controversial stoppage-time penalty earned and scored by star Brisbane striker Besart Berisha.
The Albanian international striker was targeted by Glory fans in Perth's 1-0 win over the Roar in October's round 1 clash at Patersons Stadium.
But much to Smeltz's disappointment, Berisha has little chance of recovering from a shoulder injury in time for tonight's clash.
"The boys will be hoping he's playing because we want to play Brisbane's best team. We enjoy playing against them," Smeltz said.
No comments:
Post a Comment