Is Edwards on the way out at the Glory?

We'll said EDDIE ! We need to expose and eventually get rid of people such as Alistair Edwards who behave unprofessionally,incompetently and corruptly.And as for his sons, all they are doing is stopping far more talented and deserving young players the chance to develope by taking their spots in the team. The A-League is progressing nicely and people like Alistair Edwards just bring it down. Please do the right thing Tony Sage.

The "senior players" group seems to consist of Burns, Thwaite, McGarry, Vukovic and probably Smeltz... a number of younger players who are also been sidelined behind the "favourites" (Zahra, Harold, Cernak, O'Neill, Makeche) are probably also against the coach but that's purely speculation. The fact is, Ryan Edwards has played almost every game this season... most games I would say he has been at best serviceable and some quite poor, despite playing in a key position. The fact that a number of other players including now Burns have been left out despite being available for Ryan is the great concern. I would say Maclaren is the other who seems to play all the time even though for me Harold and Makeche have both shown more so far this season as forward options... proving that it might not just be nepotism but a general case of 'playing favourites' which happens to include his sons.

When everyone is following a law and out of the blue one individual makes the impossible happen for them only,while everyone eise is scratching their heads trying to understand HOW and WHY that happened........it' called POLITICS ! ! !

Certainly in the Wellington game his son Ryan did not stand out and even his dad realised that and subbed him after his stomp on the Wellington player, yet he walked straight back into the team. This is pure nepotism and one needs to ask just why he arranged for his son if he played/appeared in 5 Aleague games he would receive $35,000 bonus. I am sure all the other players would love to know that.

Well Ryan was picked for the U-20's in Turkey,he played a total of 0 minutes in three games.

Im not sure what you mean by upsetting the structure of the team,if Edwards is doing his job everyone in the squad should be able to come in and do their job.As far players that could come in?Oneill,Cernak haven't had a look in and due to the Edwards boys form definatley should have.De Silva has been injured but played very well for 45 minutes against Wellington and deserved more for that performance than a 5 minute cameo against Melbourne.The Wellington game you refer to I think players like Sciola,Zahra and Mcgarry were the ones that really stood out in the second half and got us that win.

Previous correspondents mention the 'senior players', as though they are the predominent members of the team, causing the issue to be aired so freely. Has anyone heard any comments from these so called players.( Please name them). The only senior member in my book who may have cause to comment is Thwaites, who because of his standing in the club I don't see as a rabble rouser. The rest of the team comprives of the odd, foreign import who are not really involved in the issue and younger players who are pressing for their opportunity. With long term injuries to players, Glory do not have a dearth of cover for the midfield so the coach decided, in his wisdom, to select the players he deemed best suit the occasion. Forget the fact they are his Sons we are talking about, who else can slot in the midfield positions without upsetting the structure of the team, can anyone with knowledge of the current crop of players enlighten me. A number of teams in the A League have (had) problems with coaches, especially if not winning matches and I don't think it fair to penalise Ali, as he has produced some decent results considering the reduced squad at his disposal. Also for the persons with short memories, the 'youthful team' came from behind to beat Wellington only the week before in a quite decent display, so the coaches arguement to keep a winning team had it's merits, ( before the stirrers came out of the woodwork). Please leave our coach to get on with his job as best he sees it.

Dylan, if someone brings your attention to an error you made, say thanks. Biting back at that point is terrible form. Cheers.

So how did Alistair manage to get his son to Reading, Did FFA approve and if so why or how?

Seems to me that two wrongs will never make a right ..... Some years ago, a team I was coaching was playing a team in a champion of champions match U 15, Frank Farina was still the Australian coach..... One of Frank's sons was playing for the other side ...... Frank dropped his son off and walked away and was chatting to other parents ... he came over to me and wished me luck ... he then went and sat in a small grand stand next to the field rather than stand on the side lines .... he watched the game in silence accept for the three goals one by my team and two for the other side ... Frank clapped each goal... He offered no advise to the coach and the parents told me he was the same each week,,, after the match I went over to him just to wish him luck ... we briefly chatted and it was obvious he was not going to interfere in any way ... I walked away with a lot of respect for the man... It appears AE by appointing his two sons is like a club coach .... he has a big question to answer if they are not top- draw... As for Burns he may be a dirty player ... but he has skill drive and a football brain... Burns is far from my fav player but I can see he is a decent player...

@ Taylor Made it's not only Jacob Burns who has stood up to Alistair Edwards,according to all the newspaper reports it's the whole senior players and leadership team Thwaite etc. They can't all be wrong can they? Especially given that Alistair has a past that is littered with political behavior when it comes to his own kids. Which brings me to the second point, the only long term vision Edwards has concerns the advancement of his 2 sons and not the club. Otherwise why didn't he select his best run on team based on ability, past achievements and experience. Professional footballers are, in most cases, very disciplined individuals,so you can only imagine how serious the situation was for all the senior players to confront and question this coach.

It seems Alistair Edwards has let down the fans,the club and the whole of the A-League with his corrupt behaviour of choosing not one but both of his undeserving sons over far more qualified and experienced players such as club captain Jacop Burns. It's not the only time he has acted unethically and corruptly. I vividly remember a few years ago when he was a youth coach,one of his sons I think it was Ryan who was 16/17 years old at the time, was allowed to go over. seas and join Reading. What is wrong with that you may ask? Well at the time FFA had an iron clad rule that specified that no Australian youth player could leave before reaching 18 years of age. At the same time, Terry Antonis as a14 year old had won a 4 year contract with Everton but our ruling body put a stop to that killing Antonis' football dream. This shows what an unethical and heavily political individual Alistair Edwards is,bending the rules to unfairly advantage his son from within while employed by FFA. Tony Sage as leader and owner of Perth Glory you must step in and deal with this issue. It seems to me, Sage has to choose between relieving either Alistair Edwards or both his sons Ryan and Cameron. Better still none of the three deserve to be kept. They played their hand,they got caught out and now they must fall on their swords and pay the price. No A-League club deserve such people representing and making a living out of Australian Football. Jacob Burns as club captain and all the other senior squad members who stood up to Edwards by challenging and questioning the coaches' behaviour should be congratulated. Alastair obviously thought he was still being employed by Football Federation Australia as a youth coach. Shame on you Alistair!

Mate, it is certainly not that simple in football. It is called "loosing the dressing room". There is a really good film out there on Brian Clough who lost the dressing room at Leeds in the 60's and was fired even though he was considered the best manager in England at the time. More recently Ruud Gulit lost the dressing room at Newcastle United and despite taking them to the FA cup final was fired when he benched Alan Shearer in a power tussle and then lost that game. It was rumoured that Rafael Benitez lost the dressing room at Liverpool before he was fired too when he sold Alonso and then blamed Steven Gerrards lack of form for the bad results.

A coach from the second tier with week to week club experience would have made more sense....the fact that he'd coached the women's team could have been what pushed him over the line with SBS's PC unionists ;)

Alistair Edwards is just another phoney who has been pumped up by his media mates at SBS without the background to have ever warranted such a position. How was a job given to this guy when his only previous coaching experiences were: 1- Womens youth football 2 - AUS U17 team Not to mention that same AUS U17 team got thumped 5-1 by Iran and yet no one heard boo about it and the next thing he is given an A-League position? Oh actually sorry I made a mistake he was Assistant to the AUS U20 team but resigned when the Dutch coach refused to pick his sons and subsequently got his mates at SBS to target the Dutch coach. Is a conniving person and deserves everything he is getting!

It was a deliberate tactic to reduce the game to a defensive line and an attacking line to take Melbourne's probing midfield play out of the game, but it largely didn't work because Ryan Edwards didn't offer enough either in defence or going forward as one of only two centre-midfielders. If we'd played the same tactic with, for example, Liam Miller and Jacob Burns as the midfielders... it may have worked. Of course we don't have a Miller in the side anymore but Ali Edwards chose this squad and he chooses to persist with his son as a starter. This one error of judgement is doing serious damage to all the other good work he has done putting together a side that was a shambles for years under Mitch and Fergie.

The most disappointing aspect of Glory's performance was that they seemed to be out to limit the damage. 10 men behind the ball, on their own 18 for most of the game. Even when chasing the game they sat in when not in possession. They needed to look to win the ball higher, particularly as pointed out by other comments, they struggled to play through midfield. Not sure what Edwards was thinking? Possibly, "how have I got 2 children only 5 months apart" :D Only joking Daniel, a good article I thought

No, I did say that Ryan was a decent player, but his father made a political error, which was in keeping with the discussion.

Please do not sack Ali Edwards over this. Burns must go. The performances of the team are suffering due to many factors, and the presence of Ali's two sons makes an easy target for people to point the finger at. True - They are not the best players on the team, but neither are they the worst. I agree that Edwards should be looking at other options, but I don't think Burns would have made any difference on friday as the qualities that the team lacked were composure in front of goal, flair and creativity - none of which are qualities for which Burns is renowned. It's not Burn's place to comment on team selection, as it is not his team to select. He is a passionate player in the twilight of his career who is refusing to smell the roses. The problem for Sage is now political. If he supports Edwards it appears that he also supports the sons (which I don't think he actually cares about, but he knows the fans are crazy over it). If he backs Burns we lose a manager who I believe truly has a long term vision for the club.

Not one, but two sons... Juggling various hats is one thing, but in team sport your kids are going to have to be shining talents and a clear cut above everyone else on the park to leave the nepotism charge back in the sheds. Perth aren't winning, so for some it is an easy call to make against the coach. To me not using your captain as a third substitute (or anyone else for that matter) sounds like a clear message: I'm the boss, don't forget it. Ali Edwards had Perth playing well end of last season. The potential is there, but getting back there sounds like a long road from this point.