Sydney FC star Rhyan Grant is discovering it “hard” being “in the middle” of the bitter feud between his ex-teammate Milos Ninkovic and Sky Blues coach Steve Corica.
Tensions boiled over final Saturday evening at CommBank Stadium when Ninkovic, now a Wanderers participant, entered Sydney FC’s dressing room following the Sky Blues’ 2-1 elimination closing over Western Sydney.
Footage was seen of Ninkovic congratulating Sydney gamers on their win earlier than being forcibly faraway from the room.
Post-match, Corica mentioned Sydney “had issues” with their former star playmaker, who defected to the Wanderers final 12 months following a dramatic falling out with the Sky Blues mentor, with the pair exchanging barbs publicly in regards to the causes for Ninkovic switching golf equipment.
“As someone that’s in the middle of it, being in between Milos and the club, it’s a little bit disappointing,” Grant mentioned on Wednesday,
“He’s still got a very good relationship with a lot of the players.
“Obviously, what he said in the media about the club and about ‘Bimbi’ (Corica) isn’t great.
“From my personal view, I didn’t really like it, but at the same time, I would take it at face value.
“He’s never done anything wrong by me, but in saying that, I think there’s a line there.
“Whether he wanted to come into the change room to generally wish us all the best or to rile up ‘Bimbi’, I suppose you could only ask him.
“It’s a difficult one. It’s a hard one to be in the middle of.”
Grant, who was nonetheless on the sphere when the incident occurred within the dressing room, mentioned Ninkovic had since messaged him.
“I didn’t get to see him after the game … but he did give me a message after just to wish me all the best.” he mentioned.
Grant was additionally concerned in a post-match incident with Wanderers import Amor Layouni that rapidly turned a melee in entrance of the Western Sydney bench.
“I didn’t plan to do it. It was just one of those things, with the pure excitement, the passion around the game, after a big win at their home ground, it just overtook me,” he mentioned.
“It’s probably not the best look but it was just one of those things. I didn’t have much control of … that’s probably the main reason I carried on like a pork chop.”
Grant mentioned it was important he and his Sydney teammates stored their feelings in test on Friday evening at Allianz Stadium within the first-leg of their semi-final towards premiers Melbourne City.
“Coming off the back of that, we need to bring ourselves back down a little bit,” he mentioned.
“We have to re-evaluate and go again this week and make sure we’re up for it but not get too carried away.
“We definitely have to approach it in a different way. There’s not as much emotional passion … but it’s still got to be a massive game and we can’t wait to play in front of our fans and get a good start to this two-legger.”
Sydney’s energetic supporter group, The Cove, can be on the match after boycotting final Friday evening’s recreation as a result of alleged “broken promises” made by the Australian Professional Leagues and Football Australia and stemming from the APL’s choice promote the grand closing internet hosting rights to the NSW authorities.
“They’re always our 12th man … so to have them back supporting us like they do, it’s going to make a big difference;” Grant mentioned.
Source: www.news.com.au
