Whether he is the one to lead the Glory to future success or not, Ruben Zadkovich has been given the task of rebuilding one of the most depleted Perth Glory sides in recent history.
It came to no real surprise to the Glory faithful on Thursday when Zadkovich was announced by the club as the Head Coach for the next two seasons.
Owner Tony Sage quickly shut down any potential talk of the Glory going after a top level manager not long after former head coach, Richard Garcia was sacked, despite word of high profile coach Sven-Göran Eriksson and former Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke being linked with the job.
“Financially, the club is on its knees. I’ve never shied away from telling people that,” said Sage.
“Popa (Popovic) was fantastic for the club but do we need to go high profile again? No, we don’t.”
So with all signs pointing towards the then interim manager getting the gig full time, it was abundantly clear that he would need support of some sort.
In a complete reshuffle, the Glory implemented a brand new footballing department that has featured the likes of former Glory head coaches Mich d’Avray (Techincal Consultant) and Kenny Lowe (Academy Director) returning to the club.
To add further experience to aid the 36-year-old, the Glory have also brought in former Wolverhampton Wanderers, Millwall and Portsmouth assistant Joe Gallen as the Senior Assistant Coach to Ruben Zadkovich.
Chris Coyne has remained as an assistant while also taking over as head coach of the Academy side.
Andy Keogh, who retired at the conclusion of last season, was appointed as Head of Recruitment.
Now while these appointments have looked promising on paper, understandably the decision to appoint Zadkovich has split opinions amongst the fan base.
The Far Post Perth conducted a poll on Twitter that received just under 200 votes, wanting to know whether the Glory fans were happy with all of the new appointments.
38.2% voted with the option “Wait and see”, 28.7% voted “No”, 16.3% voted “Yes”, while the remaining 16.9% voted “Just show me the results”.
Now while this poll is by no means a complete representation of the fans’ thoughts as to whether they were happy with the appointments, it’s not exactly a complete vote of confidence.
Understandably, the situation with the Glory’s finances has forced the club’s hand in a sense to prioritise player acquisitions over appointing a top-level coach.
But, upon reflection, there is no one better to take on the job at this moment than Zadkovich.
He understands the budget restraints better than anyone else and he also would know what the current crop of players are capable of.
As a result, this has seen the departures of a few players including Nick Fitzgerald, Jonathan Aspropotamitis, Osama Malik, Darko Stanojevic and Daniel Sturridge.
Clearly, no surprises with Sturridge leaving given he was about as useful as a concrete parachute.
Despite all the hype surrounding his move to Australia, the Englishman only managed a total of 138 minutes played and 0 goals scored.
Ultimately, the job for Ruben Zadkovich is quite clear; get the right players into the team.
There has been potential with this Perth Glory side over the last few years, despite two years without finals.
Glimpses have been seen here and there, particularly with how the young players such as Callum Timmins, Luke Bodnar, Josh Rawlins and Daniel Stynes have integrated with the first team.
It’s critical that particularly with the visa players, Zadkovich and his team can identify players who first of all don’t have a ridiculous injury history, with Sturridge and Sebastian Langkamp coming to mind as two players who massively underperformed as a result.
Getting a replacement for Diego Castro has been long overdue, with the Glory creating only 16 big chances throughout the season, the worst in the competition.
The Spanish Maestro was prolific during his time with Perth Glory and it was a big surprise to see the club not go out and find a suitable candidate to fulfil that creative attacking midfielder role.
Ruben Zadkovich also needs to insure that he can implement a style of play that is consistent but also benefits the strengths of the team.
The former Newcastle Jets captain had alluded over his tenure as interim manager that he wanted to implement a specific game-plan for the Glory but was unable to due to certain circumstances.
“The style I want them to play, I can honestly tell you, they’re not ready for it yet,” he said.
“To play that type of football and that style of football – you have to be conditioned to play it.
“I like my teams to play with a resilience and mentality that empowers them in difficult situations and big moments.
“I want my teams to play an upbeat, dynamic, powerful, energetic, attacking, up-tempo, aggressive, disciplined and structured style of football.”
It’s a unique brand of football, however, it is one that should it come to fruition, the Glory faithful would get behind.
Whether Ruben Zadkovich can steer this team to the finals next season or the season after, all depends on how he is supported by the club in the off-season.
I’ve brought it back again to recruitment but it let the club down big time last season and it was one of the many reasons why Perth Glory finished dead last.
Already, the club have signed Stefan Colakovski (Melbourne City) and been linked with Matthew Hatch (Central Coast Mariners) so it’s clear the focus is youth.
But supplementing that youth with experience and quality will also need to be a priority.
It will be a massive challenge for Zadkovich and this new football department, so the pressure is well and truly on the club to earn back the faith and trust of the many members and fans who feel let down by the club from last season.
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