Torn over Mike Mulvey’s sacking, Brisbane Roar star Thomas Broich says he is still trying to get his head right for Saturday night’s A-League clash with Perth Glory days after the coach’s poorly handled departure.
Even interim coach Frans Thijssen on Friday seemed surprised by championship winning mentor Mulvey’s dumping just six games into their title defence as they prepared to take on the ladder leaders at Suncorp Stadium.
Mulvey was sacked on Sunday for straying too far from the Roar’s “philosophy”.
But Broich believed the Roar were on the right track under Mulvey despite sitting third-last with a 1-5 record.
“I actually thought we were working pretty hard on the right stuff,” he said.
“I always had a good feeling going into games – we just could not produce the results.
“Whether this is the right step or not I don’t know but personally I find it very sad.
“He picked us up when we were rock bottom and he took us back up again and made us champions again – I am really grateful for that.”
Broich denied rumours of a team fallout with Mulvey but asked if the players should have been consulted before the coach’s sacking, Broich said: “That’s not up to me.
“I would like to think I am a big part of this club but when it comes to decision making the players are not involved.
“It’s completely up to the board.”
Broich said they had kept it simple at training in the four days under Thijssen’s control in order to get their mind back onto the job.
“It was quite turbulent for several days but we have to focus on the game tomorrow,” he said.
“It is about getting in the right head space, dig in and get those three points.”
Former Dutch international Thijssen hinted championship winning coaches in Europe would have been given more time than Mulvey to turn their season around.
“If Frank de Boer of (Dutch giants) Ajax wins the league and loses five games then he has a bit of credit,” he said.
“But as a coach and you don’t get results and your team is not playing well and you don’t see improvement then it is normal that a club makes a decision.”
Asked what he had been able to do with the team in four days, Thijssen said: “It would be silly for me to change the team and make big changes.
“For me the important thing is that the situation with the old coach is settled.
“There’s a rule in Holland with coaches, that you don’t sit on his chair until things are solved with the ex-coach.”
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