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"I won't walk away": Under-pressure Aloisi digs in at Roar

Wouldn't John Aloisi love to have John Aloisi in his squad. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
23rd January, 2018
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Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi says the club’s embarrassing AFC Champions League loss won’t be the catalyst for his resignation.

Aloisi’s men were upset 3-2 by unfancied Filipino champions Ceres-Negros, who are just two weeks into pre-season training, in Brisbane on Tuesday night.

But the real red-face moment came when Eric Bautheac was stranded on the sideline for more than five minutes without a shirt to wear after the No.22 fell off his jersey.

It left Brisbane with just ten men on the park in comical scenes that quickly spread around the world on social media.

Denied when attempting to return in the No.30, the Frenchman was finally allowed back on the field wearing a strategically taped-up No.77.

The Roar sit eighth with four wins and four draws from 17 starts in the A-League season, with the under-pressure coach blasting his players post-game for what he viewed as a complacent and unprofessional performance.

Aloisi has promised changes ahead of Saturday’s A-League trip to Central Coast, which may also include the person in charge of uniforms after the coach embarrassingly shifted the blame on the Bautheac slip-up post game.

“There’s always pressure on a coach … but I won’t walk away, I don’t give up,” he said.

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“If the people up above want something different and don’t think I’m the man to take them forward then they’ll make the call but I won’t walk.”

Aloisi shrugged when asked why there wasn’t a spare, correctly numbered shirt on hand.

“I don’t know, I don’t do the jerseys … what, do you want me to do everything?” he asked.

Change has already begun within the club after the surprise resignation of football director Craig Moore last week.

Aloisi says others could follow him if they don’t improve against the Mariners.

“They’ve got an opportunity now to turn it around with 10 remaining games, and we’ve still got finals to play for,” he said.

“It’s up to them if they want to be a Brisbane Roar player or they don’t … tonight was unacceptable, that’s not a Brisbane Roar player.”

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Corey Brown, who was last week linked with a move to Melbourne Victory, is expected to return after missing Tuesday’s clash with a tight hamstring.

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