Mehmet Durakovic appointed Victory coach

today in the Age, Michael Lynch offers a positive perspective on the new coaching appointments at the Victory: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/new-breed-takes-over-in-aleague-20110624-1gjmn.html#ixzz1QCjwAu20

Fuss, The problem isn't that you are one-eyed, it's just that you wear a Victory eye patch everywhere you go! :p

Interesting move... we all said both GA & Ange were poor decisions until they were in charge....IMO lets trust the club on this one... time will prove them right or wrong...

Agree, Fuss, Mehmet was a wonderful player. I really do wish him well. I just don't think he was the right appointment, and I hope to be proven wrong. We will have to agree to differ on Victory in the ACL under Durakovic. I wasn't seeing what you were seeing. I must say that Ange having retired in 93 and coaching in 96 is in fact what I was saying. A very short time frame. With Mehmet it is how many years?

Yes robbie SLater is right he is a football man but so is Francis Awaritiefe and paul trimboli football men. They may not have the knowledge of just how tough ti is to be a football manager, despite being football men. It will be a massive challenge i don;t no fi franny or Trimmers have any sports admin or football manager exerince a big step up and it may tests Mehmets patience franny's lack of experience, , he has some coaching experience already, abliet quite ordinary, but still has alittle. He wa sone hell of defender during his time for the socceroos ,he gave it everything form vague memory inthat 1993 WCQualfiers V Diego Maradonna led Argentina series. we really gave them a scare that was a nasty leg for the Argies bet they were relieved to get thorugh that, there were as we no rumours that they took drugs during the series, and paul wade said what a compliment to us, and he is right. it is a big risk for the Victory, maybe Aussie Guss should apply he would get the job hands down MV would love to have Aussie Guss as head coach.

Hi Rob ... yes, on re-reading, I was a bit off-the-mark saying it was a "terrible start"! As you and Realfootball probably know, I tend to get a bit one-eyed ... actually, "blind optimism" is more accurate, when it comes to anything to do with MVFC. ;-) To be honest, I was hoping for a "high-profile name" but I simply loved Durakovic as a footballer - elegant and always composed when others were panicking.

I agree getting Roy Keane as coach and Harry Kewell was obviously too expensive for MV Awaritefe already talking of bringing a "Barcelona-esque mentality" to Victory shows his inexperience IMO

Les responded: @MickLynch_Age Robbie should have done some research. Appt result of months of negotiation, due diligence etc, professionally done by MVFC.

ON this very same issue, Michael Lynch tweeted to Les: @lesmurraySBS Robbie's outburst off beam I think. If Franny hired as a coach then his lack of coaching badges an issue. But this diff job [agree with Lynchy, doesn't make sense what Robbie said, it's not a coaching position]

I came across a tweet somewhere where Robbie Slater was really slating this decision by the Victory.

I really like Trimboli as a special comments person, I wish him all the best with his new position.

This isn't really the sort of selection decision to make your average Victory fan do back flips down the corridor. Durakovic's main rivlas were van Egmond and Versleien. We can only guess that the next level of coaching options is just far, far to expensive. I don't buy this argument that MV is saving their pennies for Harry. I swapped a stack of tweets on this very subject with @victoryblog. Given the likely structure of Harry's deal, should he agree to go to the Victory, it doesn't make a lot of sense that you would try and save a bit of coin on the coaching position to pay for it, unless of course, the next level of candidates are priced way, way out of the ball park.

Fuss, Normally I think that you are a good poster on here - you have excellent football knowledge and you do back up what you say with real examples (if only all posts were as good as yours in that regard). However, to try to throw Ange's record when he took over at Roar into this is unwarrented. He inherited a team that was so much a rabble that about half the squad, including its most experienced players, left. Add to that the Farina debacle that you can hardly compare the situation that Ange inherited to that which Mehmet gained when put into the hot seat. As for the "terrible" start to the season just gone - are you kidding? two wins, 3 draws and a loss is hardly terrible - solid, average, nothing spectacular, yes, all those adjectives are perfectly ok, but terrible is an absolutely absurd word to use. I agree that we have to wait and see how he backs up this season, but take the hyperbole down a few notches. For the record, I am looking forward to seeing what Durakovic can do this season with Melbourne V. I am surprised that they picked him - it seems the whole "searching the globe for the right fit" thing was a marketing ploy, and appears somewhat farcical given they gave the job to the interim manager anyway. Instead of carrying on like they did, they should have just said, "we like how you went about things in the ACL, here's a two year contract. Prove yourself a worthy replacement for Merrick".

Realfootball I, too, saw all the ACL games and, additionally, I was actually in attendance at all the home matches - including the match against Gamba, where the Gamba manager agreed MVFC were a far better organised under Durakovic compared to Merrick. I've now attended 9 ACL games, which would be equal to or more than any other person in Australia, so I've got a reasonable idea of the ACL standard. And, having attended 80+ HAL games, I've got a reasonable idea of the HAL standard. I was following the ACL very closely, so I can tell you that MVFC were a vastly different team under Mehm. We created numerous opportunities against Gamba and easily beat Tianjin at a time when Tianjin were unbeaten in the ACL. With 1 match to play, MVFC were only 2 points behind Gamba and could still qualify for the knock-out. And, your information appears to be wrong about Ange ... Ange retired from football in 1993 and did not manage Sth Melbourne until 1996. Ange's first year in the HAL was unimpressive - W:5, D:3, L:9 and his team finished 2nd last. Even last season, Ange's opening games were terrible: 2 x 1-0 wins, 3 draws and a loss. Ange is being treated as some sort of super-manager, but let's see how he backs up this year. So far, only Ernie Merrick has been able to get his team to 2 consecutive Grand Finals ... lets see if Ange can do the same. History indicates Ange and Brisbane Roar will FAIL this year.

Just as an aside Roar have appointed Paul Trimboli as General Manager of Football. As an analyst on Fox always appeared to have good insight regarding football. Voice sometimes grated, we dont know whos paying him yet,but hey nothings perfect. http://au.fourfourtwo.com/News/207222,roar-appoint-trimboli-as-gm.aspx

This is a very debatable view, Fuss. I know you are protective of Victory, but do try to retain some objective balance. You should know that the ACL results were absolutely neither here nor there. Durakovic simply didn't have enough time to make an impact. What's more, I saw the games I can state categorically that I did not see a lift in the standards of the team's play, nor any real suggestion of tactical innovation. Mehmet simply took over Ernie's team. In the time available, there was nothing more he could do. His lack of success at the youth level is much more telling. He has a track record, but it is both limited and underwhelming. Support his appointment, by all means, but don't try to turn it into a fairy tale. I still say that it is a disappointing appointment for club with the Victory's status and aspirations. This is not a club that should be rolling the dice on an untried first time coach. South Melbourne were in the NSL and Postecoglou had only just retired from, I believe, captaining the champion team and was more than 12 years younger than Durakovic is now. A much closer parallel, in fact, is Pepe Guardiola. Comparing Ange and Mehmet is nonsensical.

Yeah because Merrick's lack of a track record proved to be an impendiment to Melbourne winning 4 trophies.

Will Francis Awaritefe have to give up hs SBS media job with Les and Fozz, Dave,and Mariana Rudan, and the SBS team.

I think this says they are getting H Kewell, otherwise money would've been spent on higher profile manager.

In my opinion, Mehm's record as a football player is far superior to Ange Postecoglou and, prior to coaching Sth Melbourne in the NSL, I don't think Ange had any "track record anywhere" either. At that time South Melbourne were, perhaps, the biggest and most glamorous football club in Australia ... sound familiar?! Mehm's management record as a manager in the ACL was: 1W, 3D, 1L ... and the ACL is a much much harder competition than the HAL - the teams are technically better, tactically more astute and the playing conditions are more challenging.