“If you leave a place in a better condition then that’s the measure of a man, and clearly John van ‘t Schip’s delivery to this club is exactly that.”
That was how Melbourne Heart chairman Peter Sidwell summed up van’t Schip’s impact on the A-League’s youngest club when announcing the Dutchman’s departure yesterday afternoon.
Van’t Schip will see out the rest of his contract, which expires at the end of the season, before heading back to the Netherlands.
So how to assess this news?
While the Heart were hoping the 48-year-old would stay on for another season, for a club trying to pull themselves out of a large financial hole, the absence of van’t Schip’s massive salary won’t be a bad thing.
The issue now is finding a replacement.
The bookies have placed Ante Milicic as a firm favourite and with good reason.
He has been van’t Schip’s understudy at the Heart, has international experience with the Young Socceroos setup and brief head coach experience in the NSW Premier League.
Milicic also understands the club’s philosophies and backroom management structure – which will be key to whoever does eventually come in.
A promotion for the former Socceroo would also be a lot cheaper than bringing someone in from Europe or pinching a high profile coach from a rival A-League club.
However there will be questions about Milicic’s ability to become the face of the Heart in a similar way to which van’t Schip was able to, though I believe the ‘big personality’ criteria to be extremely over-rated in Australian football.
If Van’t Schip’s replacement comes from outside of the club you can be sure it will be someone with the pedigree and experience to match the Heart’s commitment to developing young players and playing a detailed possession based game.
The names of a number of former A-League coaches have already been mentioned but the majority of these do not seem realistic.
In the mean time the early announcement shouldn’t prevent players and staff from focusing on finishing the regular season strongly.
Having only taken two points from their last six games and with the final edition of the Melbourne derby due this weekend, van’t Schip and the Heart must turn things around now if their partnership is to end on a positive note.
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