It’s been a whirlwind couple of days for the Glory. A lot of people have commented on the decision to sack Richard Garcia, and now I want to put in my two cents worth.
I am not one to advocate for anyone’s sacking, let alone in the middle of a season. Especially in a season that’s been tougher on the Glory than most football teams in the world.
Saying that, I do believe there comes a time in a manager’s stint when they reach a point of no return, and that point had been reached by Richie.
I’m a Manchester United fan, and I had the same feeling with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Coincidentally, he was also sacked after a 4-1 loss.
Garcia should be remembered for giving young players experience at the top level. Josh Rawlins, Giordano Colli, Cameron Cook to name just a few. They are the positives of Garcia’s reign.
Ultimately, a poor run of form at HBF Park brought about his downfall. The results weren’t great, but our style of play was worse.
Our build-up play in attack has been infuriating for the most part. A lot of side-to-side passing, very few penetrating passes and even less goals to show for it. Since we returned home, we’ve had the majority of possession in each game and done very little productively with it.
Sadly, this isn’t just on Richard Garcia. Some blame has to be put on Glory’s upper management. I fully understand the reasoning and thinking behind securing Daniel Sturridge’s signature, but it hasn’t worked out and doesn’t look like changing.
Adrian Sardinero was meant to be the man who took the creative reigns off Diego Castro. He’s contributed a single assist in 12 appearances, playing 80 minutes or more in just three of them. Nowhere near good enough for an overseas player.
It seems like the Glory are stuck in the same rinse and repeat cycle. Reading what Tony Sage said about the search for a new manager, he appears content with the Glory making finals consistently.
Fans shouldn’t expect that and accept that. The ambition and goal should be to become champions. A culture shift needs to occur within the club, and maybe a change in ownership will bring it about.
Yes, a look toward the future needs to be a major priority. Let’s not forget though we are only just past the halfway point of the season. There is still plenty of time to salvage what’s been a very underwhelming season.
Ruben Zadkovich has a chance to make his mark. He’s done a good job with the Glory National Premier Leagues (NPL) side and achieved success in New South Wales with Broadmeadow Magic.
In all three seasons as manager over east, Zadkovich’s Magic ranked first for goals scored in the Northern NSW NPL. It looks good on paper, and it makes me quietly confident heading into the back half of the campaign.
He’s got a lot of work to do, that’s for sure. We’ve all seen the issues going forward; the most disappointing aspect against Brisbane was the defensive sloppiness, to give away four goals against the second worst attack in the league.
I’ve said before we should not be conceding any set-pieces. For the first goal, it’s unfathomable to me how Jay O’Shea is given so much time to cross the ball in and why Sardinero is the one marking the goal scorer, Juan Lescano.
If you’ve done your homework, you would know Lescano is good aerially. There is no good reason why one of Darryl Lachman or Jonathan Aspropotamitis wasn’t marking him specifically.
With the second goal, we get picked apart far too easily. It takes two passes from the halfway line to get past the forwards, beat the midfielders and split the defence. A scuffed shot gets past Brad Jones and Lescano gets the easiest goal of his career.
The penalty was dumb to give away. Jez Lofthouse is going away from goal yet Lachman sticks a leg out when there was no reason to. O’Shea did the rest from the spot.
Luke Ivanovic did well to get rid of Jack Clisby and get separation from Lachman to fire a shot into the far corner. The effort and desire completely dropped in the final 10 minutes, a sign the players had given up and lost faith.
The volley by Daniel Stynes was a good highlight for the fans who put themselves through 90 minutes of pain, and then Mitch Oxborrow got sent off in the final action of the game. Summed up the frustration of the evening.
Brisbane will be delighted with an excellent away win, no less than they deserved. Jay O’Shea and Rahmat Akbari played well in the heart of midfield and Tom Aldred made a lot of difference leading the backline.
Apart from the goal, the debut of Joshua Anasmo was a rare shining light on a dark night for the Glory. He looked lively and keen to get stuck in, unlike a lot of the attackers bar Bruno Fornaroli.
The Long-Distance Derby finally returns this Saturday afternoon. The Phoenix have lost their last two and will definitely want to bounce back into the finals positions. The Glory are winless in their last seven matches, but there’s no better time to return to the winners list than in a new manager’s first game in charge.
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