“This club is not in crisis,” claimed Melbourne Victory chief executive Richard Wilson on Tuesday after the announcement that technical director Francis Awaritefe had parted ways with the club.
But here’s the thing: the football director should be the most important role at any football club. If he leaves just four months after he is appointed than your club is indeed in something of a crisis.
If that’s not enough, the continuing pressure on Mehmet Durakovic has been amplified by the latest developments out of the Harry Kewell camp.
With former Argentina international Abel Balbo set to become Kewell’s “personal mentor” and reports long time agent Bernie Mandic has split with the Socceroos superstar, a sense of uncertainty has gripped the Victory.
So what’s going on at the A-League’s self-proclaimed biggest club?
Personally, I worry a litany of errors and missteps have been made due to a lack of experience and football knowledge at management level.
Earlier this year Victory’s still relatively new board trumpeted the announcement of head coach Mehmet Durakovic plus assistants Kevin Muscat and Steve Mautone as a home-grown managerial team of the future. So far this hope has yet to materialize.
Coupled with Awaritefe finding his way in his first role as director of football, there’s just too much inexperience across the board.
Then you have the sheer weight of character and influence that came with Kewell and Mandic’s arrival. It has seemed to me for a while that the Victory hoped to treat the 33-year-old just like everyone else in the squad, while Mandic had other ideas.
Now Victory must both manage to return a sense of calmness to the club and also continue the search for Awaritefe’s replacement. Though in the long-term, the latter option is be far the most important issue.
There’s a line to be drawn between what’s happening at AAMI Park and enlightening comments this week from legendary Italian coach Arrigo Sacchi about the state of the Italian national team.
“When you build a skyscraper, you make really strong foundations – if you don’t make the foundations you will never see the skyscraper,” Sacchi told The Guardian.
“If you build a shed, you don’t need those foundations but it will never be an important building… in the end the national team is only ever the last beneficiary of whatever work has been done at the outset. If something starts badly, it will not end well.”
The new Victory board has got off to a very shaky start, but it’s not too late to rescue their blue and white revolution.
TomC
Guest
Well then it seems I'm the one who shouldn't be making assumptions about people I don't know! Still, it was a pretty nasty post, Lucan. And yes, RF, my memory was playing tricks on me. Nonetheless, it's completely untrue to say he was a second tier journeyman at best. He certainly had other options available to him. Muscat has become the whipping boy for football fans in this country who get a visceral thrill from anonymously picking on football players on internet forums. I am genuinely worried that his achievements, and by extension the MV's achievements, will be played down in years to come because of this constant criticism. I think the VIctory and Muscat have set a legacy worth defending.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
there is a likely to be a touch of schadenfreude doing the rounds
Roger
Guest
Yep.
Lucan
Guest
TomC, you asked me a question and I gave you an answer. Seem that isn't good enough for you, so cards on the table, I was school friends with some of his family and have met him numerous times. I've seen him play football at Bergers, at South, MV, and numerous times for the 'Roos and the national youth sides. I was a foundation member at MV, and even saw Muscat in social settings outside of football.
Roger
Guest
Ha! Nice.
Roger
Guest
Honestly, can we go one day without a bad new story about MV? Seriously, it's like people are taking pleasure in any kind of misfortune for MV, and want to play it up as much as possible.
Midfielder
Guest
Trust Harry.... I do ... he will help turn it around...
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Yeh - but they are playing rubbish
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
So let me get this right......... Melbourne Victory aren't dominating so everyone is panicking? They are 3 points off second place. Slow, deep breaths people.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
The question has to be asked. Some have suggested that it was done to save money, but in all honesty, it seems at odds with everything Di Pietro had been saying since he took over. If there is any truth in that statement, then he has badly misjudged things.
Realfootball
Guest
I still find it bizarre that they appointed Durakovic in the first place. He had nothing in his CV to suggest he could do the job. He wasn't even successful with the youth team. What on earth were the board thinking? That they would save money on their coach? Sadly, this seems to be the case. Del Pietro should go with him. I really do feel for the guy - he is so out of his depth, it is painful to watch.
Realfootball
Guest
Sorry Tom, he didn't captain Millwall in that cup final. He was injured, sadly for him.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Fair enough - but with the Board setting out a plan to make the Victory even bigger and more successful than it has already been (which is quite ambitious I might add), I find it hard to believe that the board would have left the most critical of all appointments entirely to the CEO. In fact, after all the bluster we heard during the off-season, how did the Board react when the decision came through that they were giving the most important job in the club to their youth coach? Yeh, fine, no worries, good choice....
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I'm backing up TomC here. In those championship winning teams, Muscat was a colussus for the club on and off the field. The Ernie/Muskie partnership was critical to their success - anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about. Sure, Muskie occasionally rubbed people up the wrong way, even weeded some out of the club (like Ljubo), some might say his influence was too great, maybe, but it's precisely that influence and leadership that delivered two doubles to Melbourne, and nearly a third championship.
Axelv
Guest
Victory might be the biggest club, but self proclaiming it is arrogance, everyone knows Barcelona is the best team in the world but I don't recall them telling everyone about it.
TomC
Guest
What, you met him for five minutes and watched him from afar at a VPL game? Oh yeah, sounds like you're totally in a position to psychoanalyse the bloke. He captained Millwall in the FA Cup final months before he signed with the Victory. He was comfortably the Victory's best player in season 1, in the top handful for the next four seasons (including two doubles). He certainly played at least one season too long, but there's no doubt he was a very talented footballer. And as the long-term captain of the A-league's most successful club, with 51 national team caps there's no doubt he has contributed a lot to the sport in this country. Personally, I don't like his public persona. I don't like the way he goes about things. I doubt he's having a positive influence on the club at the moment. But the way people just make these sweeping assumptions about him, or revise his history to make it seem like he was a talentless hack, is just ridiculous.
trent
Guest
Not sure how Kewell can be blamed for Victory's woes. I blame the blundering manager and the board that installed him. We've all seen his interviews and press conferences - can you imagine Mehmet fronting the board and convincing them he's the best man for the job? Did alarm bells not ring at the time? I cringe for my club every time that man's on camera. The other issue is an ageing list with a number of players not up to scratch. Pondeljak was finished years ago and is simply not good enough, so why pick him? Celeski seems to have lost his mojo and Kemp also hasn't been the same since his knee injury. All three should go and free up some cash and squad positions. Broxham and Brebner can stay but are not good enough as midfield lynchpins in a title chasing team, they're merely squad members or back ups. We need at least one quality midfielder to link the defence and attack. Rojas' form on Sunday was worrying as he seems to be affected by the goings-on at the club. Instead of leaving him on the bench, start him, along with Solorzano and a few youngsters such as Jeggo, Diogo, Franjic and Foschini. These young blokes will be hungry and keen to perform, unlike the team that started last Sunday.
CrossIT
Guest
Well to be honest Di Pietro isn't really the problem, yes the buck stops at him, but he's done very well securing huge sponsorship dollars, securing the funds to sign Kewell, and put on some great events like the Kewell shirt preso and from all reports he's a driving force behind the new TV rights deal. Its the Chief Executives job to hire/interview/research the staff, and frankly, Richard Wilson should be looked at very closely.
Luke
Guest
Bring in a Dutch coach. Problem solved.
Luke
Guest
From the outside, things look pretty bad at the club. Given the events of the past day, the Victory board should make all the changes they feel necessary now, rather than dragging on this perception of crisis. Can't wait to see MV v GCU on the weekend. Despite their poor performance, their is always a sense of drama whenever they play - whether it be due to on-field or off-field issues. Ratings should be interesting.