31 Jan 2011

Victory deny they're the A-League's bully boys

3:03 pm on 31 January 2011

Melbourne Victory's stand-in skipper Adrian Leijer denies they are a dirty side and says their last match against Gold Coast was no more physical than any other.

Debate continues to rage whether the Victory are the bully-boys of the A-League after Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg and captain Michael Thwaite let rip after their side's 2-0 loss at AAMI Park on Sunday, saying their tactics were brutal and intimidatory.

It follows the universal condemnation of captain Kevin Muscat's shocking challenge on Melbourne Heart player Adrian Zahra a week earlier which left the midfielder needing knee surgery and Muscat's Australian career probably ended after an eight-match ban.

But Leijer, heavily name-checked by Bleiberg in his post-match tirade for some questionable tackling, denies the Victory deliberately set out to brutalise other teams.