In the wake of the game ending in a 1-1 draw, Thompson posted a tweet that read:
It wasn't clear whether Thompson was merely referring to the result or the fact he didn't get on the field but when one Victory fan replied:
Thompson replied:
Another fan suggested to Thompson that "after your twitter outrage tonight your going to hit the papers. Need to be better than that. Not professional". Thompson replied: "and wouldn't u rather players be passionate about what they do than not darling".
The same fan then tweeted: "love your passion arch! But any disagreement with the coach should be done behind close doors. Not a good look". Thompson replied: "back the gaffer (coach Kevin Muscat) 101%" and "no disagreement mate.."
Another fan tweeted:
To which Thompson replied:
That reply was accompanied by a winking icon.
Thompson likes to stay in touch with fans and has been known to have a bit of fun on Twitter, sometimes by being ambiguous or with a little stirring.
He reminded fans of this when one tweeted: "Hi , full respect to you, champ. However, I'd advise against you RT fan tweets criticising KM for not putting you on. Next week".
Thompson responded: "and if u don't know me by now after ten seasons, u take my banter with a grain of salt.."
In subsequent tweets, Thompson made his position clear by saying, "I back my coach back my teammates we all just want to contribute" and:
The latter tweet was favorited by Thompson's team-mate Nick Ansell.
Thompson is Victory's greatest-ever player and a massive fan favourite. He came off the bench to a huge reception a week earlier to make his 200th A-League appearance in the 3-2 loss to Wellington Phoenix.
Muscat was downcast after that game at the fact Victory wasn't able to mark the occasion with a win for Thompson.
The two played together in two championship-winning Victory teams and are understood to have a very good relationship.
As a coach, Muscat would naturally expect any player - let alone a player of Thompson's stature - who sat on the bench and didn't get a run to not be happy about it. He would surely be disappointed otherwise.
Thompson, 36, is contracted until the end of the season at Victory. It is not clear if the club intends re-signing him but Thompson said in an interview in November that he wants to play on beyond this season.
"Everyone talks about ‘you should be retiring’ but I don’t want to be pushed, I want to do it myself," he said.
"I don’t want to go out too early. I feel like I can play still a couple of good years and at a good level.
"I want to end my career at Melbourne Victory. If I can keep performing and showing my worth (then I’ll stay). I want to stay as long as possible."
Muscat only made two changes during the game against Perth and they both involved injured defenders leaving the field.
He explained at the post-match media conference that apart from those forced changes he had otherwise left the team intact because "I was very pleased with the way we were going".
