Despite the A-League season finding itself on the back burner due to the Asian Cup break, the Corner Flag is celebrating the ten and five year anniversaries of Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart/City respectively with a range of top ten/fives for each club.
It was a monstrous task assimilating a list of the players that have failed to live up to expectations placed on them by the active Melbourne Victory support. Over the years, there have been a number of high profile international players that have reached our shores that have failed to light up our league. Think the Brazilian influence in the form of Ney Fabiano and Leandro Love, highly touted striker Sutee Suksomkit or Costa Rican’s Marvin Angulo and Jean Carlos Solorzano.
Victory have also seen their fair share of highly touted youngsters that have come bearing the weight of not only the Melbourne support, but also that of the nation, with plenty coming through carrying the tag of the Socceroos next hero. These are the Tom Rogic’s, the Francesco Stella’s or even to a lesser extent the Tando Velaphi’s and Evan Berger’s who all failed to spark in their stints in Melbourne. But these names are just a handful that didn’t crack the top 10, and without further ado, here they are.
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Number Ten: Theo Markelis
Nationality: Australian
Age when signed: 20
Appearances: 5 (0 goals)
Years: 2012-13
Melbourne Victory supporters thought they had a real gem on their hands when Young Socceroos forward Theo Markelis announced his arrival in the A-League ahead of the 2012-13 season. The youngster came with international pedigree, having previously plied his trade at Valencia in the Liga BBVA and also the lower leagues of Italy, but never got the chance to string together a series of games in his year-long stint at the club. He was duly released in July 2013, after totalling five games under Ange Postecoglou. He is currently on the books of Greek Superleague side Veria F.C. having also spent some time coaching in the NPL 1 last season with Brunswick City.
Number Nine: Julius Davies
Nationality: Australian
Age when signed: 17
Appearances: 2 (0 goals)
Years: 2012-13
Oh the fabled Julius Davies… Much like Markelis, the arrival of the young winger – who notably spent time in the Bayern Munich youth system – was met with its fair share of fan fare. Again, much like Markelis, the youngster failed to fire, with attitude problems rumoured to be at the heart of his failed stint in Melbourne. He was released to Brisbane Roar in January 2013, where he added another two appearances to his A-League tally before moving overseas to the Romanian top flight. With time on his side, hopefully there’s still a chance for the tricky forward to forge a respectable career for himself.
Number Eight: Joe Keenan
Nationality: English
Age when signed: 24
Appearances: 12 (0 goals)
Years: 2006-07
Foundation coach Ernie Merrick was full of praise for former Chelsea FC full-back Joe Keenan who arrived in Melbourne after a stint in the Eredivisie with Willem II Tilburg. He complimented the Englishman on his technical ability, his speed and attacking play, none of which was well demonstrated in his short stay in the A-League. Instead, Keenan failed to hold onto a regular first team place, and was released to Scottish side Hibernian at seasons end.
Number Seven: Claudinho
Nationality: Brazilian
Age when signed: 24
Appearances: 5 (1 goals)
Years: 2006-07
He came to Melbourne as one of three Brazilians in the 2006-07 season – alongside Alessandro and Fred – and his love affair Down Under got off to the perfect start, as he scored on debut against Adelaide United. However, it was a downhill journey from there as the highly touted South American failed to deliver on the expectation, eventually being outshone by his compatriots. Homesickness was apparently to blame for what was basically a no show in his Melbourne Victory career and his contract was torn up – I’d like to imagine quite literally – at the end of the season.
Number Six: Pablo Contreras
Nationality: Chilean
Age when signed: 35
Appearances: 20 (0 goals)
Years: 2013-14
It might seem a little harsh having the cult hero – albeit in the same mould as Leandro Love – so high on the list, given the more assured performances he put on towards the latter stages of the 2013-14 season and in the ACL, but due to his Marquee status – and the high-profile players the club turned down to eventually sign the Chilean – he’ll go down as one of the biggest disappointment’s the club has seen. Rash in the tackle and prone (read: thrives on) making silly decisions, the centre-half lost the faith of the supporters early with a number of sub-par showings and never truly earned their respect back. Retired at the end of the 2013-14 season to the collective sadness of everyone who wasn’t a Victory supporter.