Former Sydney FC captain Alex Brosque believes sacking Carl Robinson as Western Sydney coach so soon into the A-League Men’s season would only set the Wanderers back further.
Robinson is under immense pressure after his off-season recruitment drive has yielded just one win in five games to start the league campaign.
The Wanderers also suffered the ignominy of an FFA Cup loss to part-timers APIA Leichhardt, with a rotated team after vowing to take the competition seriously.
The club has come under attack with their former A-League Women coach Dean Heffernan labelling the Wanderers’ set-up as “the most toxic environment I’ve seen in 20 years of football” after last weekend’s defeat to Central Coast.
Western Sydney face a crucial clash on Boxing Day against Newcastle, the club Robinson left last year to join the Wanderers.
But Brosque says regardless of the result, sacking the Welshman would not cure the Wanderers’ ills.
“The board needs to come out in support of him,” Brosque told AAP from the Jack Newton Classic in the Hunter Valley.
“I know that can be the kiss of death for a coach, but if the players know he’s not going anywhere then they will lift.
“They need to show patience and if players think he’s in the firing line then you might not get 100 per cent out of them.
“If they know he’s going to be there until the end, they’re not going to want to waste a year of their career.
“I’d still give Carl until the end of the season, but if not then I think the club needs to find someone with heart and passion.”
The Wanderers have been searching for the right formula since they parted ways with their inaugural coach Tony Popovic in 2017.
During his five-year reign the Wanderers won the the Premiers’ Plate, made three league grand finals and won Asian Champions League.
The club have since had four full-time coaches, with Robinson the latest who seems unable to fix the malaise that has set in at one of the league’s biggest clubs.
“I think the early success under Popovic became a given for the fans,” Brosque said.
“These four or five years have not been good enough. I feel they’re suffering from the hangover of that success.
“They don’t seem to be on the right path. At the moment there’s a lot of individuals out there and they don’t look like a team.”
