Gold Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg has kept up the war of words with likely finals rivals Melbourne Victory.
After his side were beaten 2-0 at AAMI Park last Sunday, Bleiberg took a pot-shot at the Victory for playing dirty despite the fact that Gold Coast committed six more fouls.
Victory coach Ernie Merrick and acting captain Adrian Leijer came out and defended their club, saying that Bleiberg was only trying to rile Melbourne and bring attention to them from the referee fraternity as a first-week finals clash looks increasingly likely to occur.
On Wednesday night, Gold Coast were unlucky to draw 0-0 with Adelaide United and after the match, Bleiberg came out and said that he had been able to curb the ways of perennial bad boy Steve Pantelidis, suggesting that the Victory should do the same with some of their players.
"He won the man of the match (last night), showing you can take a serial offender and reprimand him and talk to him and explain to him and send him to a psychologist," Bleiberg said yesterday.
"So you turn (the situation) and take the best out of it.
"I still see my neighbours from the south and have they reprimanded any of their offenders? I'll wait and see.
"That's maybe the difference."
Surely it's a ploy from the outspoken Gold Coast coach as his comments do not match the stats which show the Victory have out-fouled their opponents in no more than 10 of their 29 league games this season and on five of those occasions where they did commit more fouls than their opponents, it was by one.