Brisbane Roar manager Rado Vidosic has again questioned why his team was forced to travel to Perth for a grand final rematch against the Glory.
Brisbane Roar manager Rado Vidosic has again questioned why his team was forced to travel to Perth for a grand final rematch against the Glory.
The Roar last year defeated Perth in a controversial Hyundai A-League championship decider before a packed Suncorp Stadium but were beaten 1-0 at Patersons Stadium after an 88th-minute Billy Mehmet header.
Vidosic said the champions deserved to play in front of a home crowd in the rematch.
“You win the grand final and then you have to go away, so I don’t understand why we could not play at home,” Vidosic said.
“There should be some kind of reward.
“We host the grand final, there was 53,000 people and then your first game is the longest trip and to someone who was really keen to do the damage.”
The Roar had the majority of the possession in the first half with 59 percent, but that number was neutralised by Perth in the second half.
Both teams struggled to take advantage of the few opportunities they had in front of goal.
Vidosic said he felt his team created the better of the chances.
“(I’m) disappointed with the result, but I’m quite pleased with the way we performed,” he said.
“I think they scored a goal against the run of play and similar against Mariners. We had the ball and we gave the ball away.
“Players are still not 100 percent fit, I think Perth Glory had probably at least one month maybe even two months more training sessions than us.”
The man who created the controversy of last year’s decider Besart Berisha was at the centre of a number of hard challenges and confrontations with Glory players.
The Albanian went into referee Ben Williams’ book when he clashed with Dean Heffernan late in the first half.
Vidosic said he did not feel the attention Berisha received was anything untoward.
“It’s normal treatment, I don’t think it was anything serious,” he said.
“I think he played very good, unfortunately just couldn’t get in a better situation to score a goal.
“I think he handled it very well. I think the game was fair, I don’t think there was anything negative in the game.
“I think supporters were great, supporting the club fantastically.”
Brisbane will face their former manager Ange Postecoglou, who led them to back-to-back A-League titles, when they play Melbourne Victory in Brisbane next weekend.
“Usually teams from Queensland when they travel back from Perth the following weekend struggle a bit,” Vidosic said.
“We were the same in the past, we struggled the next weekend so hopefully we can refresh our players and make sure they are ready for that game.”
