Mehmet must go

A MESSAGE FROM FRONTLINE: We will be staging a protest against Mehmet at the next home game.

If Mem is fair dinkum about saving his skin and our season, he could do worse(b/c frankly, he has!) than give Jeggo and the young No.27 Retre permanent 1st-team spots. His penalty shootout-miss aside, Paulo Retre was an absolute breath of fresh air for Victory vs. the Galaxy last night - didn't let the occasion get to him, good vision, touch and composure...how he hasn't been given a run all season is, frankly, beyond me.

Sounds like sound thinking to me, apaway.

It's funny how following a MV loss, people (mainly fans from other teams) comment that "Melbourne Victory need to take a good hard look at themselves", "Melbourne Victory played like rubbish", "the coach is too inexperienced/isn't up for it/whatever" (the list goes on), but as soon as someone suggests we do something about it, the comments are all "he needs more time", "the team is improving", "it's all Harry's fault" etc.

Mehmet didn't choose his squad. Let us see what he does in the January window. We need to balance our team. Swap some forwards for midfielders and defenders, then give Mehmet 3-5 games then make a judgement. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.

In the 5 victory games I've managed to catch on TV, I keep asking myself what exactly is the cause of the Victory's failings. There has been a lot of speculation about peripheral matters such as Kewell, his hiring of a personal coach that really don't go any way to explaining the lack of cohesion of the team. For me there are some clear issues that point to a coach who is lacking some of the skills required to coach a team to play the technical style of footbal that he wants. Yes the team can knock around with "short sharp passes", but passing and possession in itself is not a goal of football, the Victory seem to lack a coherent game plan, instead they knock it round till they can find someone who can use some individual brilliance to open up the opposition defence. Their transition from defence to attack and attack to defence is woeful. The Victory vs Glory game was probably the best example of this. Victory would defend compactly and upon winning the ball would remain compact and not move off the ball. Instead they relied on finding Archie on the counter (the only player working to find space). On losing the ball the Victory were so slow to press the player on the ball and instead seemed to decide on dropping slowly back behind the ball. Glory played on the counter in the second half and this enabled them to snatch 2 goals back when you would have thought Victory should have walked away with 3 points. Lastly their intensity, seems to be too low and that for me is a clear sign that their training isn't good enough. Train as you play is the old saying, so if they're struggling to play with intensity then you'd have to question what they're doing at training (the same issues have surfaced at Adelaide with Coolens coaching techniques). I like you was a big fan of Durakovic, I just think that maybe he needs to step down and gain more experience as a coach before he steps back up to an A-league job. Victory should bite the bullet and make a change now because a small bunch of teams are starting to find some very good form playing some very good football.

yep mehmet out, you had your chance now goodbye!

Not quite what I said, Johnno. Kewell himself is not putting the pressure on Mehmet. And don't feel sorry for any coach who has a player of Kewell's calibre at his disposal. Kewell is not a burden; the expectation his signing brings is.

I agree Yes coaches are given to much credit and blame, Yes he should go. Forget the excuses 9 rounds down 7th place with that squad is not good enough. Its vital to make the top 2 to have a reasonable chance at the title and the ACL. Also don't forget that the ACL campaign after Merrick left was not great either, lets hope the season is not over before he is dismissed

Johnno, You have made your point regarding Kewell already. Though i take this with a grain of salt because the article is about Durakovic and his ability as a coach. What you are talking about is not relelvant. On your point has anyone seen one iota of evidence that Kewell is creating a problem in the dressing room? If so, please write it here. I think too many people must watch ACA and go to work the next morning believing immigrants are taking over the country and the sky is falling etc. From what i can see he quietly goes about his business, got rid of his troublesome manager, wants to gain extra technical coaching to improve himself and seems to fit in well with the boys.

Mehmet is ultimately responsible for the total performance of the team. We may be able to keep the ball however we still rely on individuals too much ie Hernandez goal and Thompson in general. The defence is a shambles. They are not playing as a unit with any distinctive style. That is Mehm's fault

Kewell is already undermining Mehmet and team spirit, by hiring his own personal coach , not good. That's why i think Kewell must go, plus like you said apaway the burden and pressure he is putting on a coach like the standard of Mehmet . I really feel sorry for Mehmet drowning under the burden of Harry Kewell apaway. Not to mention his continuing fitness issues. DO you really honestly think everyone Kewell will se out his 3 year deal he is 33 now, and wife is form UK. He will be like 35 ,36 when deal expires.

As soon as MVFC signed Harry Kewell, Mehmet Durakovic's job became just about the hardest one in the league. Not because Kewell is difficult to manage - in fact, most signs suggest exactly the opposite. But the sheer weight of expectation that now rests on the shoulders of a relatively inexperienced coach was always going to be very heavy. Add to that the fact that the club's every move was sure to be scrutinised like no other (a rarity in club football in Australia), and soon enough you had the coach answering questions about a lot more than just his formation, tactics or players. My personal view on sacking coaches is that it should only happen if it is absolutely clear the coach has "lost the dressing room" and there is someone better who is ready to step into the role immediately, who can quickly fix the preceived issues. In MVFC's case, I'm still to be convicned that either of those things apply.

I'd argue the Victory look a lot more cohesive now than they did two weeks ago. The real problem seems to be a string of defensive errors. Last week, a terrible tackle by Vargas puts the team a man down and forces Ferreira to centre-half, where he concdes a bad penalty. Then Fabio falls over allowing an easy goal. This week, Rojas fails to clear the ball and in his panic gives away a dumb penalty. Second goal was mostly good work by the Jets, but the third one a terrible error by Cernak. None of those goals really came from sustained periods of eleven-on-eleven pressure, so I don't really see how Mehmet can be blamed for any of them. I'm confident that if we continue as we are the mistakes will stop and the team will start to win consistently.