No love lost between rival A League coaches Kevin Muscat and Graham Arnold

THE war of words between Kevin Muscat and Graham Arnold has continued, with Arnold claiming Muscat’s admonishment of him was a diversion tactic.

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC at AAMI Park, 27 February, Melbourne Australia. Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat and Sydney FC's coach Graham Arnold after the match. Picture : George Salpigtidis

SYDNEY FC boss Graham Arnold has fired back in a growing war of words with Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat, as the tension of the A-League finals race intensifies.

Conceding that his side’s hopes of finishing the top two were now remote after Saturday night’s 3-0 loss to Melbourne City, Arnold said his side’s careless concession of points earlier in the season was hurting them now with just five rounds to go.

Scornful of Muscat’s claims that Arnold pressured Football Federation Australia into banning Victory winger Kosta Barbarouses, the Sky Blues head coach accused Muscat of “deflecting” attention away from his own side.

Sydney look increasingly likely to be in a three-way fight with Perth and Victory for the last two finals positions, with the testiness of two of the coaches involved hinting at the stakes in play.

“I made the tackle, did I?” Arnold said in response to Muscat’s diatribe in which he accused the Sydney boss of influencing the A-League’s match review panel that banned Barbarouses for two games for a tackle on Sydney’s Milos Ninkovic last weekend.

“It should have been a red card. Muscat is just deflecting attention away from his own team, and you blokes (the media) fall for it every time.

“FFA have never listened to me, except when they fine me, so why should they now? For once they got the right decision.”

Arnold has bigger issues to worry about after a defeat that extends to seven the number of games since Sydney last won in the A-League, with Perth able to knock them out of the top six with a win over Newcastle today (Monday).

Three of the Sky Blues’ last five games are at home, and Arnold said three victories at Allianz Stadium were essential to secure a place in the top four and a home final.

“We’re still challenging for the top four,” Arnold said. “I knew this period of the last few months of the season would be heavy due to the Asian Champions League.

“That’s why I was disappointed with the points we threw away earlier in the season. We would have hoped for another four or five points, so now we have to do it the hard way.

“It’s a test of character for everyone — we have no injuries (apart from captain Alex Brosque), the suspensions are out of the way, and we have five games to go.

“We have three of them at home — win those and we’re probably in the top four. There’s nothing between us, Perth and the top teams. You saw Perth beat Brisbane 6-3, then Brisbane beat the Wanderers on Friday night.”

Brosque should get the results of a second opinion on his hamstring injury today, still holding out hope that his season may not be over despite suffering the same injury three times since December.

Originally published as No love lost between rival A League coaches Kevin Muscat and Graham Arnold