Sydney FC Chairman Andrew Kemeny has thrown his full support behind John Kosmina insisting the embattled coach will remain at the helm of the club next season.
Kemeny appointed Kosmina at the expense of Branko Culina 14 months ago after the Sky Blues made a shaky start to their 2007/08 campaign.
Speculation over the fiery coach’s future has been building over recent weeks as the glamour club tumbled out of top-four contention with four consecutive losses to remain only a mathematical chance of making the post season.
But Kosmina, who is contracted until the end of the 2009/10 campaign, appears safe for now.
“There’s just no question about John’s contract and I think it’s time the media stopped speculating about it, he will be here next year,” Kemeny said.
The chairman, however, was willing to concede the club’s disastrous run of losses has been a cause of great concern but reiterated his support for the coach.
“I think John is doing his best, he’s had a lot of handicaps, there’s an awful lot of players injured, some players are not in form unexpectedly so,” he explained.
“And some players are leaving at the end of the season therefore perhaps they’re not putting in 100 percent.”
Current Sydney FC board member and son-in-law of new majority stake holder David Traktovenko, Scott Barlow, echoed Kemeny’s sentiments.
“I’ve sat down with John and we’re both very clear on what the situation is,” Barlow, who is acting on behalf of Traktovenko, said.
“John’s contracted for next season, he has a two year contract with us, and there’s nothing at the moment that would change that situation and both John and I are comfortable with that situation.”
The new regime will assume control of the club in March.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC has aligned itself with Chinese powerhouse Shanghai Shenhua FC in a ‘sister-club’ relationship.
Under the agreement the clubs intend to stage a series of friendly fixtures in both countries in the coming months and will also strike up a player exchange program.
“This is probably the most exciting things that’s happened to us all season and we’re very much looking forward to a very mutually beneficial relationship in the long run,” Kemeny said.
Zhou Jun, president of Shanghai Shenhua, said the partnership would provide substantial benefits through exposure to enhanced coaching, sports medicine and sports science techniques.
