Sergio Cirio says he never feared coach Josep Gombau would leave Adelaide United for Yokohama F. Marinos, with the club desperate to deliver on their potential and turn early-season form into some silverware.
In a huge boost for the Reds and their fans Gombau confirmed on the weekend he would at least see out the season in charge, despite interest in his services by J-League club Yokohama F. Marinos.
Gombau has done a superb job since joining the club at the start of last season and Cirio was his first signing as part of his Reds revolution.
Unbeaten and flying in the Hyundai A-League and hosting the final of the Westfield FFA Cup next month, Cirio believes the entire squad and their boss feel they have some unfinished business in the City of Churches.
“I think the coach is really happy here,” Cirio told www.a-league.com.au .
“I don’t know if the interest of Japan was true or not but it doesn’t matter really now.
“We are just thinking of the next game. We are in the final of the FFA Cup, are doing well in the league so we have more important things on our plate to worry about.
“The first thing for us is to improve from last season and I think we are doing very well. We have the final in a couple of weeks but we need to think game by game.
“We are all together in this. The best thing for us is to improve from last season so we can be in the finals at home, that will be a good result for us and give us a good chance [to go all the way].”
Boost for Reds ahead of Victory Blockbuster
While Gombau’s future has been a hot topic at the club, Reds officials will be hoping they can secure the in-from Cirio to a new deal soon.
The Spaniard has been superb throughout this season, scoring eight-times in all competitions, the same number he scored throughout the entire 2013/14 campaign.
He is off-contract at the end of the current season and while admitting he is in no rush to sort out his future, Cirio says he is loving life in Adelaide.
“I’m very happy here but that’s something my manager is talking about with the club,” said Cirio, who has earned the nickname ‘The Tank’ since joining the club.
“I don’t want to think about these things because [on Friday] we have a very important game. I just want to think in this.
“I’m very comfortable here. All my team-mates look after me and they help me a lot with the things to know the city and to know the best places.
“We have a really good atmosphere inside the change room and on the field everybody knows what he needs to do and I think that is very important to get the results.”
Asked about the clash against one of their main rivals, Cirio said: “We know for our supporters the game against Melbourne Victory are very important.
“You saw we couldn’t beat them in the first game at Adelaide Oval but this time we have to prepare the game better, we have to play stronger, control their counter-attacks and that’s what we’ll do.
“We have to defend well because they have a lot of good players in attack, they are very dangerous when they get the ball and go forward fast so we have to be very careful with this.”
Adelaide have been boosted for this clash with the return from injury of both play-maker Marcelo Carrusca and striker Bruce Djite.
