Melbourne Victory Managing Director Richard Wilson is adamant that the club is heading in the right direction both on and off the field, despite a tough start to the Hyundai A-League season.
Melbourne Victory Managing Director Richard Wilson is adamant that the club is heading in the right direction both on and off the field, despite a tough start to the Hyundai A-League season.
Victory has recorded just five draws and a win from its opening seven matches for the season, a return Wilson admits is below par, while Football Director Francis Awaritefe has departed the club.
But the club’s management are still steadfast in their belief that the current structure is the right way forward and that newly appointed coach Mehmet Durakovic can lead the team back to the sort of form expected by the Victory’s legion of fans.
“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.
“The players will come together, there is a game on Sunday, we get the chance to get the result we need, but this club is not in crisis.”
“Memhet 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.”
Wilson said that wholesale changes in the football department since the last Hyundai A-League season were always going to mean things were going to take time to settle in.
“Because of the size of the club, and where we sit in Australian football and the success we’ve had along the way, there’s an expectation. There’s been changes and it’s very important to allow those changes to become effective,” he said.
“The fans obviously want to see better results, of course, but we’ve been through this and it’s a new structure and it’s part of the regeneration of this club. It’s about taking this club from where it was, on a vision going forward. All of the changes we’ve made are for the future of this club.”
Wilson said Awaritefe’s departure had nothing to do with the team’s slow start to the season, with his role primarily concerned with development for the future.
“This is not team performance related, and it’s a decision we’ve been working through with Francis. In the end, Francis decided it wasn’t for him. We can’t help the timing,” he said.
“We had a chat with Francis, who had been appointed as our Football Director, and he felt that newly created position wasn’t the right one for him. It’s a significantly different role from the role Gary Cole had historically.”
“It is about developing our whole youth strategy. We will be going to the market and finding a replacement who can achieve all those objectives for us.”