I know! A Non-preview/review post! Well this isn't really a suprise. Victory have won only three games out of fourteen, and the loss on wednesday appears to have been the final straw. Word is that Kevin Muscat has been promoted from assistant to caretaker manager until a new coach is found.
In all fairness, it's not like nobody saw this coming. He had some big boots - Ernie Merrick's - and Durakovic was never likely to match Merrick's feat of securing two A-League titles. Having only been appointed six months ago, he pulled off one of the coups of the decade in bringing Harry Kewell to AAMI Park, but while the forward has only recently begun to find his feet, the rest of the strikeforce has been dire at best, and Durakovic's tendency to stick to the same formation - a 4-4-2 diamond - which just hasn't been working, has seen them slump to 8th in the league and with some tough fixtures coming up against Newcastle, Adelaide and Perth, the board are obviously keen to avoid the wooden spoon and try to salvage something.
Many in the media and in the club itself are not suprised to see English-born (hell yeah) prodigal son and local hero Muscat, who played 122 league matches for Victory, promoted from within. Many are hoping this will turn into a permenant appointment, but that remains to be seen.
Muscat earned 51 caps and scored 10 goals for the Socceroos through a career that took him to the Sunshine Coast, Heidelberg, and Melbourne, as well as stints with Wolves, Crystal Palace and Millwall in England and Rangers in Scotland. He joined Victory in 2005 and helped them to win the inaugural A-League season and has somewhat of a fiery reputation, being repeatedly fined, sent off and suspended throughout his career.
Whether he has what it takes to pull Victory out of their crisis remains to be seen, but all eyes will be firmly on the Victory when they play Newcastle on saturday.
If you have any feelings about the sacking, don't hesitate to leave a comment!
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