Nicholas Yallop blogs on the Melbourne Victory for BPL.

After all of the doomsday talk following Melbourne Victory's "plummet" to the bottom of the A-League (after three rounds) they did the job at an empty Skilled Park and picked up the three points against a depleted yet promising Gold Coast United outfit.

When I switched on the telly, I was shocked by what I saw: three bare empty stands at Skilled Park, thanks to fat cat owner Clive Palmer's crowd cap. The canny businessman may have found a way to conserve his seemingly infinite mining dollars, but he has also managed to further alienate Gold Coast's already dwindling fanbase. There were 3624 people there last Sunday, but nearly 7000 fans watched United's first home game when the cap wasn't in place.

Gold Coast fans seem to have a catch-22 with Palmer. Their team would not exist without him, but he treats them with contempt and plays by his own rules. The A-League powerbrokers don't like what Palmer's doing but they too appear to be powerless.

Palmer could at least have put the fans on the opposite end to the TV cameras to give the pretence that there were actually people there. Instead, all TV viewers could see behind the players was empty seats.

This situation is a real shame for the Gold Coast team as they have a great stadium, some quality young players and probably the A League's best player in Jason Culina, who had a fine game on Sunday. Unfortunately the team hasn't resonated with the locals and Palmer isn't doing them any favours.

Back to what happened on the pitch, and there may be a silver lining to Archie Thompson's injury after all. It has given Merrick the chance to finally experiment with some new options, namely Mate Dugandzic up front. It is great that the young Melburnian is being given a sustained stint in the team, which will do wonders for his development. He didn't have an outstanding game against Gold Coast, but he is quick, looks to have good skills and is slowly settling into his position.

It is also good to see Merrick is finally starting to show a bit of flexibility in his coaching, something he has certainly not shown in the past. This year a number of players that have been in and out of the team for the last couple of seasons are being given a decent run in the first team.

Surat Sukha has been given an opportunity to settle on the right week and is looking far more confident. Youngster Diogo Ferreira is showing promising signs, as is recently acquired Welshman Geoff Kellaway, who has looked particularly dangerous during his short stints on the field in the last couple of rounds.

Merrick has also shown a lot more faith in Evan Berger and Leigh Broxham, both of whom have just about played every minute of every game, and they are looking more comfortable on the ball and maturing quickly.

This is not the team of last year, or the year before. But Merrick is building a unit around the experience of Muscat, Vargas, Leijer, Brebner, Hernandez and Petkovic, and sprinkling youngsters around them. Results will undoubtedly be inconsistent, but the future starts here.

On a finishing note, there has been a lot of talk on this site and other media outlets about the current standard of officiating in the A-League. There have been some very ordinary decisions made in the opening rounds, particularly the penalty against Melbourne Heart in the dying moments of their game against Perth Glory last Sunday.

Heart was unlucky but the reaction to errors across the league has been extreme. Mistakes are made in every game and not just at A-League level, and not just by officials. This year's World Cup was littered with referee errors, as are leagues across the world. Australian referees are not the first to be duped by players simulating and they will not be the last.

There are a number of inexperienced referees officiating this year, and they have come under heavy criticism. But you can't play a game without officials and they have to start somewhere. Young referees should be supported with constructive feedback rather than berated. Perhaps some of their critics should have a crack and see how they go.