Ising releases fiery outburst

With just one round to play in the inaugural Hyundai A-League season, Melbourne Victory media manager Tony Ising has launched a scathing attack on the anti-football press, when speaking to James Willoughby yesterday.

There are football haters out there. The Age’s Greg Baum is a fine example. Not only did he drag the game through the mud, he also attempted to make connections with the game and the racial fights in Cronulla.

The Sunday Mail’s Kevin Naughton is another anti-football journalist. In an article titled ‘World Game needs a little respect to win us over’ he commenced his story with the words: ‘What a pity the Socceroos won their way into the World Cup.’

What a pity. Somehow, I don’t think the 8.5 million people watching (according to a Roy Morgan poll) thought it was a pity. He said the dramatic victory was a threat to a society which was ‘delightfully free of the nationalistic and ugly fervour associated with the so-called world game’.

Naughton. You idiot.

Melbourne Victory media manager Tony Ising has had enough, and had this to say to SportsAustralia.com in wake of more negative press.

“I’ve had enough of all this anti-football stuff. The articles from various media sources which dared to question the passion and loyalty from our supporters are completely false” Ising said.

“This is yet another pathetic attempt by sections of the media to try and remove the egg off their face after the constant predictions of crowd failure were proved untrue”.

“Ever since round one, the media have been predicting our demise and they have been proven wrong every single week. Our passionate and loyal supporters have stuck with the club in unprecedented numbers despite a string of poor results. They have sat through four games without a win or a goal and they keep coming back” he said.

Ising’s comments came after a wide range of sources in the media made comment that the fans would turn away in the droves throughout the season.

“The tactic of questioning the loyalty of our fans to satisfy one’s own agenda is nothing short of pathetic. MVFC has had to endure slurs and barbs all season from the media and with one game remaining I’d like to call on the football press to make a public apology not only to the club, but to the fans”.

“The agenda has changed onto attack on the fans, and the club will stick by the fans, like the fans have stuck by the club. They are the best fans in the league and will continue to turn up, week in, week out” he said.

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