Melbourne Victory coach Jim Magilton believes his new side requires significant personnel changes to have any chance of getting close to reaching their lofty expectations.
Melbourne Victory coach Jim Magilton believes his new side requires significant personnel changes to have any chance of getting close to reaching their lofty expectations.
The Victory’s disappointing campaign continued with a 4-1 thrashing from fellow Hyundai A-League finals contenders Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Sunday, a game in which the visitors were comprehensively outplayed.
That result, which came after a first half onslaught where Perth scored three times, saw Melbourne drop to four points outside the top six.
Although they have a game in hand over every side above them, Victory will have to quickly reverse a slide which has seen them win just two of their past nine games to stay in the finals race.
But, after a game Magilton described as ‘very disappointing’ and a ‘reality check’, the new coach said that wouldn’t come easily.
“I was shocked,” he said. “We’ve learned painful lessons today.”
“This is a man’s game and unfortunately for us today, the men won. We’ve got into a bit of a rut and the sooner we can change personnel, the better.
“I think we need new faces. To change the mentality within the football club you need to change the mentality within the four rooms of the dressing room, the most important place in the club.”
Magilton said as well as needing to change the squad for next season, they may have to do ‘one or two things’ during the January transfer window.
“A new manager wants to bring new players in. There are a group of players there who have underachieved this year,” he said.
After Shane Smeltz and Mile Sterjovski each scored from the penalty spot in the first half and the New Zealand international added another from open play, things got much worse for the visitors following the break when Danny Allsopp received a straight red for a bad tackle.
Harry Kewell converted a penalty for the Victory before Andrezinho’s impressive goal restored the three-goal margin late in the game.
The game could not have gone much worse for Melbourne, but Magilton urged his players to put it behind them ahead of Thursday’s crucial game against sixth-placed Sydney.
“It’s gone, you learn from it and then you move on,” he said.
“To influence a group of players takes time. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
“It’s a big game (against Sydney) and in big games you need big players, you need people to stand up and be counted.”
