2 months ago
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Brisbane Roar’s former coach has taken aim at his old club after a fiery New Year’s Eve encounter in Gosford, which resulted in the Queenslanders going home with all three points and police reportedly getting involved in the players’ tunnel.
Current Roar coach Michael Valkanis was sent off in the first half of their 2-1 stoppage time win over the Central Coast Mariners, which led to an altercation in the players’ tunnel that his counterpart Warren Moon said was a “disgrace” from his old club.
In a sign the Ange Postecoglou “Roarcelona” days were consigned to the past, Valkanis defended his side’s new tough-and-rough style, insisting it was instilling a winners’ mentality to a club that has struggled for more than a decade to reach its former heights.
“We want to behave like winners and we train like winners and we find a way every single time together to work hard and to get three points and to bring out that Queensland spirit,” he said.
“Because if we have a look at the Queenslanders, that’s what they’re really all about.”
Mariners coach Moon, who was a foundation player for the Roar and coached the team between 2020 and 2023, had choice words for the Roar staff.
“What I witnessed tonight was a disgrace,” he told broadcaster Paramount+ in a post-match interview.
“... It was a time for cool heads, and the opposite happened, to the point where there was police in the tunnel during half-time.
“I’m quite bemused by it all, to be perfectly honest.”
Comment has been sought from NSW police.
Roar coach Michael Valkanis walks up the tunnel after receiving a second yellow card in Gosford on New Year’s Eve.Credit: Scott Gardiner/Getty Images
Valkanis was booked in first-half stoppage time for his behaviour on the sideline. When Valkanis sarcastically clapped at referee Alex King upon receiving his first yellow, he received his second, leading to red being shown.
After the match, he said he was surprised to see red.
“Sometimes I feel like it was a perfect chance to probably shut me up because I have voiced my opinion about the and about some decisions,” he said in a media conference.
“I’ve said it before that sometimes the referees feel good giving a card to me. That’s OK, it’s not going to stop who I am because the game’s about emotion. The game is about passion.
“And if you’re going to be a wet fish and not understand that while the game’s going on, what are you doing being part of it? Maybe we need more passion in this league.
“Maybe that’s what’s missing.”
Moon did not hold back on his former club, which he said he had been associated with “proudly” for more than 20 years.
“That was an embarrassment tonight, what happened before half-time and then half-time in the tunnel,” he said.
“... If someone gets sent off, they obviously have to vacate.
“I’m not going to go into the details, except to say I’m really disappointed with what I saw from the conduct of the opposition staff tonight.”
Moon said he was sure what he had seen would “come out in the wash-up”.
With Valkanis sent to the stands for the second half, Roar’s assistant coach, Borja Lema, took charge of the Queenslanders.
The match looked set to end in a 1-1 draw, until a pass from James O’Shea in the second minute of stoppage time found Justin Vidic at the far post, who headed the ball past ex-Socceroo goalkeeper, and honorary “Grey Wiggle”, Andrew Redmayne.
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