SYDNEY FC chief executive Tony Pignata moved quickly yesterday to downplay suggestions of panic within the organisation, but admitted everyone at the club is under enormous pressure to bounce back after Saturday night's humiliating 7-2 loss to Central Coast.
The Sky Blues were understandably still reeling less than 24 hours after the Mariners inflicted one of the worst beatings in their history, sending shock waves from top to bottom and putting coach Ian Crook under the spotlight.
Pignata said it was a result that had placed even greater importance and emphasis on Saturday's game against arch-rival Melbourne Victory at Sydney's Allianz Stadium.
"The pressure is on everyone, there is no doubt about that," Pignata said. "It is a massive game . . . for us. They don't come any bigger than Melbourne Victory.
"But, there is no panic stations. It is only round six coming up and we are still up there. It is a tight league; you win a couple and you are right back in it.
"We are absolutely gutted by the result, but we have to cop what happened against the Mariners on the chin, move forward, get back to training and work even harder.
"It is a bitter pill for sure, but we made sure we apologised to as many fans as possible who turned up. They have been fantastic and given great support and they did not deserve to see that."
The Australian understands the Sydney FC board could be prepared to take drastic action if there were a repeat of Saturday's night's capitulation to the Mariners.
It is believed the board already expressed its concerns to the coaching staff after the first-round loss to Wellington Phoenix and after the loss to Newcastle Jets the following week.
Following subsequent successive wins over Western Sydney and last week against Perth Glory there were hopes that the tide had turned for the Sky Blues, but they were given a wake-up call by Graham Arnold's well-drilled team.
Rumours flew around social media that Crook, who was handed the job after Arnold turned down an offer at the last minute to go to Sydney, could be on his way out if Sydney lose to Victory and that Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero could take over as player-coach. Pignata, who would not be drawn on the coaching situation, laughed them off.
"That's social media for you . . . when you are hot you are hot when you are not you are not," he said. "I have had a lot of tweets and the haters will always hate, but we have also received a lot of great support."
Crook would not discuss the possible ramifications for him, but came out swinging over suggestions his players lacked heart and did not try against the Mariners after they went 4-2 down.
"It pisses me off when the moment you get beat like that the armchair experts come out and say the players lacked heart and courage," an angry Crook told The Australian.
"That is a total cop-out. Yeah, the decision-making was not great, but they never did not show heart. Once it got to four or five maybe the confidence was gone but they never stopped trying. Never."
Crook refused to blame the fact his side was missing as many as eight players -- Del Piero, Pascal Bosschaart, Adam Griffiths, Jason Culina, Fabio, Joel Chianese, Nathan Sherlock (injured) and Terry Antonis (international duty) -- but admitted they would make a difference once available.
A game behind closed doors on Tuesday could determine who will play against the Victory.
"Jason, Pascal, Adam and Nathan will hopefully get through OK . . . if they do, they will certainly be in the mix for Saturday," Crook said. "Ale won't play on Tuesday, but his hamstring seems OK and I am expecting him to play on Saturday."
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