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Under-fire Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic faces a crucial 72 hours which is set to shape the A-League club’s future direction.
Durakovic is scheduled to front his regular weekly media conference on Friday after a week of crisis for the club.
Amid whispers of a boardroom faction agitating to have him sacked, Durakovic must also pull together his troops for Sunday’s clash with Gold Coast United – a match which looks increasingly likely to determine his personal fate.
The Victory have looked clueless and rudderless under Durakovic’s coaching.
The nadir of their indifferent season was a tepid 2-2 draw with 10-man Perth Glory last weekend.
Afterwards, the team was jeered off Etihad Stadium.
And Durakovic had to endure mocking chants of “Ernie Merrick’s blue and white army” late in the match from sections of supporters – referencing his sacked predecessor.
While Victory managing director Richard Wilson backed Durakovic this week, defeat against Gold Coast could well swing the boardroom support needed to have him sacked.
Former Socceroos captain Craig Moore said Durakovic needed to stamp his authority on the team immediately, and target big-name players in getting the squad to play his way.
“A football dressing-room is like a schoolyard – if there’s a group, you go for the noisiest one,” Moore told Football Australia’s website.
“As a manager, there’s no better way to set a standard than going for the so-called biggest player.
“That makes the squad stand up and think: `He’s deadly serious and I don’t want to be on the end of that.’ That’s man management.”
One significant development to help Durakovic may have been star player Harry Kewell’s decision to part company with long-time agent Bernie Mandic.
Mandic, the architect of Kewell’s many club contracts including the revenue-sharing arrangement struck with the Victory, had been fingered as a source of behind-the-scenes unrest at the club.
But there’s been plenty of other worries as well.
This week the Victory sacked football director Francis Awaritefe.
And they bizarrely rubber-stamped Kewell’s decision to appoint his own personal coach, ex-Argentine international Abel Balbo, as Durakovic struggles for traction.
Kewell remains in doubt for the Gold Coast match at AAMI Park with a hamstring injury.
Yet despite playing below their best, the Victory remain unbeaten in their past five matches and just a win from second place.
The team had the day off on Thursday and resume training on Friday.
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