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Kossie makes a comeback, but is the new guard getting a chance?

John Kosmina at a press conference. AAP Images
Roar Guru
21st December, 2011
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Adelaide United’s implosion climaxed on the weekend with the return of experienced gaffer John Kosmina to the coaching ranks.

I wrote nearly a month ago about the belief that Adelaide was lurching from crisis to crisis under Rini Coolen. No one likes to see the demise of a football club, but the axing of Coolen on Sunday was hardly a surprise.

What was surprising was the appointment of former Adelaide United and Sydney FC coach Kosmina to the top job, and the demotion of Coolen to a youth team role. Surely it’s only a matter of time before Coolen reaches an agreement with the club and leaves for good.

There are few more polarising figures in Australian football than Alexander John Kosmina. The ex-Socceroo has been coaching for a long time, since taking on the Warringah Dolphins back in 1994, and I can remember him in charge of the Newcastle Breakers in the old NSL.

There wasn’t much success at the Breakers, though in fairness to Kossie the club had the resources of your average pub team. He then moved to the Brisbane Strikers, another largely unsuccessful stint, before his first appointment to Adelaide in 2003.

He led Adelaide into the formation of the A-League, taking them to a minor premiership in 2006 and a grand final in 2007, though it ended with a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Melbourne Victory. Kossie’s controversial time at Adelaide ended in 2007, and then he went on to assist Graham Arnold with the Socceroos at the Asian Cup, a tournament most national team fans would rather forget.

He came in to replace Branko Culina at Sydney FC in October 2007 and was then punted himself, after a poor 2008/2009 season, in January 2009.
Adelaide United have gone back to the future with their choice, and obviously the experienced Kossie as a born and bred Adelaide local should hopefully be able to inject some passion into a lacklustre squad.

Many would think that the 55-year old’s appointment is only an interim one. But you look around the competition and wonder, are the new brigade of Australian coaches getting a chance? After Culina was axed by the Jets, they turned to Gary van Egmond, a great local coach who was returning after a stint at the AIS.

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One of van Egmond’s decisions at Newcastle has been to bring in Arthur Papas as coach of the Jets’ youth side. Papas was previously in charge of the Oakleigh Cannons and was named Victorian Premier League coach of the year in 2011. He’s regarded as one of the most promising young coaches in the country, a part of a new guard that includes Olyroos boss Aurelio Vidmar, former Gold Coast United assistant Paul Okon, Melbourne Heart assistant coach Ante Milicic and Young Socceroos assistant coach Alistair Edwards.

With Ian Ferguson looking unsteady at Perth, Miron Bleiberg anchoring the table on the Gold Coast, and questions over Vítězslav Lavička’s long-term future at Sydney FC, is it time some of the new wave were given a chance?

Graham Arnold and Ange Postecoglou are leading the line successfully for the local faction at the Central Coast and Brisbane respectively, while Mehmet Durakovic may have turned the corner at Victory. Apprenticeships are needed, certainly, but it would encouraging to see some clubs look inside our own ranks next time they are choosing a coach.

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