Sydney contenders? ... Frank Farina and Ernie Merrick. Source: News Limited
Sydney FC's new coach will not be Alessandro Del Piero, despite the Italian's wealth of football experience, with the club set to pursue another domestic candidate to replace Ian Crook.
The Sky Blues were left in shock on Sunday by Crook's decision to stand down in the aftermath of Saturday's crushing 3-2 defeat to Melbourne Victory, a loss that came after Sydney were two goals ahead with 12 minutes left to play.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13 |
| 2 | Adelaide | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| 4 | Perth | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | Victory | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 9 |
| 6 | Heart | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | Western Sydney | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 7 |
| 8 | Sydney | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -7 | 6 |
| 9 | Wellington | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -2 | 5 |
| 10 | Brisbane | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
Club officials, including chairman Scott Barlow, CEO Tony Pignata and football director Gary Cole, will meet shortly to lay the terms for a search to find their seventh coach in eight years. They are seeking to make an appointment as quickly as possible.
While assistant Steve Corica will be in charge of the side for Friday night's trip to face Brisbane, Sydney will seek a more experienced figure for the long term, aware of the asphyxiating nature of the scrutiny and expectation that comes with the role, and which too quickly took its toll on Crook.
It's understood that Football Federation Australia would have considered giving Del Piero special dispensation to take the job despite his lack of qualifications, but that will not be an option Sydney pursue.
The club are adamant that he remains far too valuable as a player and on-field leader to be burdened with a managerial role, too, especially given that he has no formal coaching experience.
The planning process that sought a replacement for Vitezslav Lavicka earlier this year, conducted by then CEO Dirk Melton, identified a local candidate as the preferred option given the particular challenges of the local game.
The shortlist identified then was Graham Arnold, Ange Postecoglou and Ricki Herbert, and it's believed that the first reaction within the club is that a domestic option remains the optimum path.
Other candidates could include former Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick, who worked with Cole for years and has just left a role with the Hong Kong FA, former Gold Coast duo Miron Bleiberg and Mike Mulvey, and former Socceroos and Brisbane Roar head Frank Farina.
Herbert remains a possibility, not least because of the relationship Pignata forged with him while Wellington Phoenix CEO, but it's hard to see how he could reconcile his continued work as New Zealand coach with an abrupt departure from the club where so many of them play.
Arnold remains highly thought of, but the way his decision to remain at the Mariners was communicated by Sydney FC annoyed him at the time.
Pignata, though, may feel that he could approach Arnold with a clean slate, as his own appointment came a week after Crook's and he had no involvement in the previous negotiations with Arnold.
There would still be significant hurdles to overcome, as one of Arnold's key demands then was that Mariners fitness coach Andrew Clark had to accompany him.
Sydney have also signed a number of players and have almost a full roster, meaning Arnold would have little possibility of altering the squad for the rest of the season.
Farina lost his job at Brisbane in 2009 because of a drink driving charge, but that wouldn't necessarily be held against him.
He is also used to the intense scrutiny of coaching the Socceroos, and Sydney are well aware of the need to be sure their preferred candidate can handle that responsibility.
However, Farina's position is complicated by his having just taken on the role of technical adviser and coach mentor with the Oceania Football Confederation, having been coach of Papua New Guinea.
No comments:
Post a Comment