Perth Glory CEO Anthony Radich said the club will look to appoint an experienced, “well-credentialed” head coach who can deliver a “clearer playing style” after the departure of David Zdrilic from the role.
Glory announced that Zdrilic was relieved of his duties as head coach of the club’s Isuzu UTE A-League side on Tuesday night, just two rounds into the second season of his three-year deal at HBF Park.
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Zdrilic’s side lost 4-0 to reigning champions Melbourne City in Round 2 and sit at the bottom of the Isuzu UTE A-League table with one point on the board from two games.
Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at Sam Kerr Football Centre, Glory CEO Radich set Perth’s Round 5 clash with Newcastle Jets on November 23 as a rough estimate for the new permanent head coach’s first game at the helm, with the assistant staff set to take charge while the search continues.
Here’s every word Radich said in Wednesday’s media conference, which you can watch in full below.
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Key moments from Glory CEO Anthony Radich’s press conference
On Zdrilic’s departure
“The board over the last few days have met to discussing the outcome of the weekend and performance there, where it ultimately got to yesterday was the decision was made that in terms of the expect expectation from the board, in terms of where they expect the club to be at in terms of improvement and progression just hasn’t been to where they expected, and unfortunately, looking forward, they felt with that rate of progression at the state it was was best to make the move,” Radich said.
“Players were notified last night. The captains were spoken to in advance. I sent out a communication. Things transpired pretty quickly. We contemplated whether to go through with the game this week, on Friday, with David in charge or not. So the decision was made pretty quickly, yeah, and David was notified yesterday also and advised.”
On whether the club’s win-loss ratio under Zdrilic was a factor
“Not specifically in terms of win-loss ratio,” Radich said.
“Our hopes for this year, given the squad we assembled over the offseason and have put together that finals football was very much our goal, and still is. And they (the board) just felt, in terms of the way we’ve started, and what they could see out on the field that we went on that path to finals football and the way we were playing, and therefore wanted to make the move.”
On potential head coach targets
“I won’t go into revealing who we’ve spoken to at this point,” Radich said. “But discussions are underway with a number of candidates.
“So we’re looking at high-quality candidates, well-credentialed candidates. Our real focus is delivering a coach that’s going to play with a clearer playing style, a clear identity, someone that can get the best out of this squad and ensure that we’re playing a high level of football consistently, which has been our issue, and someone that’s able to inspire and motivate both the players and the fans.”
On the timing of the decision
“I think the board felt last year, and the decision they made to keep David on was that perhaps with the squad that he had at his disposal last year probably wasn’t to the level that he deserved, or he didn’t have that level of input into that team,” Radich said.
“So they’ve invested in the off-season to bring in a more experienced group and a higher-quality squad. And the ownership have invested significantly in terms of facilities, in terms of additional support staff, and obviously building that squad recruitment-wise. So that was the basis for going into this season.
“And then what they’ve seen in the preseason, and then what they saw on the weekend, from a from a competitive point of view, I think, was probably the most disappointing thing, and they felt that they couldn’t see a path forward.”
Bidding farewell to Zdrilic
“We went for an inexperienced coach from a head coach point of view,” Radich said.
“Like I said, it was a bold, ambitious move by the ownership, they’ve come in and they are bold in what they do and how they operate, and it hasn’t worked here, but now it gives us the opportunity to reset and go after that highly experienced, more credentialed coach.
“I’ve spoken with David. And naturally, he’s disappointed, as he would be, but David in his time at the club, has always acted with dignity in class, and he received that news in the same fashion.
“And I would like to go on record and say: David as an individual, just a first class person, and worked his absolute backside off of the club. Tremendous work ethic. In terms of his character, he’s exceptional.”
Timeline set for new head coach appointment
“Obviously we would like to do it sooner rather than later, but we are canvassing candidates just to see where they’re at, whether they’re available, whether there’s interest in the role, and what the criteria and the conditions might be,” Radich said.
“We go into another home game next week, and then there’s a little bit of a break. So I would hope we’re coming out of that break (against Newcastle on November 23) and we’ve got a new coach in place.”
