When I heard that Adelaide United coach Rini Coolen had been replaced by former manager John Kosmina, I was stunned. I could only ask, what did the Reds’ club board do that for? Did Kossie just happen to be walking down Manton Street at the right moment and someone called him over to?
Was there nobody else running any other state league club in all of South Australia who would be suited to the role? Is Kosmina really the only guy United considered to lead the Reds back up the ladder?
Do Adelaide’s fans deserve better? Not brasher, but better? For its modest population as a capital city (by Australian standards), United is – perhaps surprisingly – a club with a decent A-League record, and an enviable Asian Champions League involvement.
Four-time entrants – the most of any A-League team. That’s something for Reds fans to be proud of. And that’s not mentioning the Club World Cup appearance in 2008.
This is the lineage that Kosmina has, admittedly, been a part of. And the one he re-enters. He’d better not blow his second chance, as he hasn’t even been the United coach with the best win-loss ratio. That honour belongs to the deposed Coolen.
On the raw data, Coolen has actually had the most success of United’s three bosses during the A-League era. He’s overseen a 50-50 record while at the helm (16 wins from 32 games). Better than Kosmina (44.18 percent, 38 wins from 86 games) and his successor Aurelio Vidmar (39.25 with 42 wins from 107 games).
How about that? It kind of makes the public want to ask what’s more important – consistency or class? The bare numbers speak for themselves.
However, most seem pleased to hear that Kossie is back.
As of mid-Tuesday afternoon, a poll on the Advertiser’s website listed 72 per cent of respondents feeling that reinstating Kossie has been a good idea. I voted no myself. It’s not that he hasn’t got the ability to generate some interest in the city or the team. It’s not that he hasn’t had previous degrees of success with the club. It’s just that it feels like such a retrograde step. The club should be looking to the future, not the past.
According to Michael Lynch in The Age on Tuesday, even former sparring partner and now Melbourne Victory assistant coach Kevin Muscat wished Kossie well.
“He’s a big character, a well-known figure and he will get in there and shake things up…he will galvanise them,” Muscat said.
For Kosmina, the plan is simple enough. “The team has to tighten up at the back and stop conceding goals.”
Whether you agree with his appointment or not, you can’t get a clearer footballing philosophy than that. All Kossie has to do now is get the players to implement it.
On Monday, Kosmina told the Adelaide Advertiser’s Val Migliacco that “maybe his first chance was cut too short” and it was “a challenge that [he] couldn’t knock back”.
However, Migliacco’s own analysis on Monday of Kosmina’s return appeared as unconvincing as the man’s own pledge of a passionate comeback that would get the fans back onside at Hindmarsh. Migliacco reckoned that all Adelaide supporters wanted was a hint of hope from Coolen’s lips, regardless of whether the team won or lost each week. “Winning and losing is secondary”, said Migliacco.
With the greatest respect to Val, I beg to differ. Surely winning and losing – the results on the ladder itself – is the most important thing to fans? And isn’t a lack of victory really the reason why most coaches get the shoulder-tap and door-direction-point in a professional sporting club?
Presumably Manchester United hasn’t stuck with Sir Alex Ferguson because of his gee-whiz-wow personality in front of media conferences. No, it’s because he’s generally been successful over a considerable period of time.
To be honest, I couldn’t really care less if the next permanent Adelaide coach comes across as dull as dishwashing water on television if the team he manages actually plays other sides off the park and puts wins on the board.
Maybe they need to bring back Big Red (and his female counterpart Ruby Roo)? He seemed to shoot fairly well at half time, from memory, when I previously attended United matches.
So, Kosmina in the dugout, Big Red up front … and Ruby could start in goal. After admitting during the week that he and the rest of the team were scared against Gold Coast last week, perhaps keeper Eugene Galekovic could do with a rest.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
It was not too long ago that it was no guarantee that the best youth talents from South Australia would make their A-League debuts…
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
Mathew Leckie played a pivotal part in Melbourne City claiming an 8-nil win; playing a role in several of his team's goals.
A 10-man Macarthur FC have scored twice in the final 10 minutes and goalkeeper Filip Kurto saved an added-time penalty to defeat Adelaide United…
Clubs have cited regulations claiming players who decline national team call-ups ought to be prevented from featuring at a domestic level.
The loser of the Sydney Derby will be under immense pressure entering the final three matches of the season.
