Three of the most influential figures at Melbourne Victory, players Harry Kewell and Archie Thompson and Managing Director Richard Wilson, are all adamant that current coach Mehmet Durakovic is the right man to lead the club out of the wilderness, despite an underwhelming start to his coaching tenure.
Three of the most influential figures at Melbourne Victory, players Harry Kewell and Archie Thompson and Managing Director Richard Wilson, are all adamant that current coach Mehmet Durakovic is the right man to lead the club out of the wilderness, despite an underwhelming start to his coaching tenure.
Victory have just one win and eight points from their first seven games, their lowest return ever at this stage of a season.
But despite suggestions that Durakovic’s tenure may be under threat after some bold prognostications from the club pre-season, there is unanimous support for the former Socceroo to turn things around.
Kewell, whose arrival at the club has delivered untold publicity but also plenty of expectation, is adamant that the right ingredients exist to turn things around, and that his former national teammate is well qualified to get the job done.
“All the players are behind the coaching staff,” he said.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen a lot of talent in this side. There’s a lot of great young players playing as well as experience as well.”
“It’s only a matter of time. The great thing about football there are games just around the corner to correct it and I’m sure we will correct it.”
Thompson, who has been at the club every year since their inception, said the blame for the current run of form, which has included four consecutive draws at home, had to be shared by the players.
“Our jobs to obviously go out there and train and perform well on the weekend and it’s up to the coaches who plays and who doesn’t,” he said,
“When results don’t go the way they should, then obviously the finger is going to be pointed at the coaches and the players have to show a bit of responsibility to and say we are not playing the football we know we can play. It’s not all down to the coaches. It’s down to the players who go out on the pitch.”
Thompson, who has not only been the club’s best player, but also the most outspoken player during their current slump, said the playing group needed to lift their standards.
“I feel like that the players are going out there but are not playing for the club and not showing that they want to be here. We have high expectations at this club and they aren’t being fulfilled,” he said.
He also said the fact that Victory had only lost one game so far was not a reflection of the poor quality of football being played.
“We need to win games. It’s disappointing because I know the players that we have got and the experience that we have. We should be a lot further up the table. We are only three points off top four and the thing is we need to start scoring goals and winning games,” he said.
“The football that we’ve been playing, it isn’t at the level we expect of Melbourne Victory. I don’t mind if we lose games if we play some decent football.”
Wilson, who oversaw the surprise departure of Football Director Francis Awaritefe on Tuesday, said that departure had nothing to with on-field performance and Durakovic still had the full backing of the club’s hierarchy.
“We understand things need to improve. That’s coming from everyone, not just the coaching staff, but the players and the club itself. We are obviously not where we’d like to be, we’d like to be further advanced, but we are not panicking,” Wilson said.
“Mehmet is going to be given every opportunity, in this coaching structure, to succeed. That’s the board’s vision from the appointment s that we made in June and we are looking forward to achieving the results that we all want.”
