The 2021/22 Isuzu Ute A-League Men’s competition was destined to be a mess from the outset, and Perth Glory dealt with more uncertainty than most over how their campaign would play out.
Border restrictions, isolation, and last-minute fixture changes have been navigated and the players, staff and their families have sacrificed an enormous amount to get games played. A mixed bag of results could be forgiven during that period and hope remained for a run to the finals once back on home soil.
However, it hasn’t played out like that and three games at HBF Park so far in March have yielded one point, a single goal, and very questionable performances. Indeed, Glory have failed to score in 8 of their 15 games so far.
It was damning in the closing stages of Tuesday night’s contest against the Central Coast Mariners to hear a commentary team exasperated by Glory’s reluctance to take the game to their opponents and push for all three points.
Yes, they played well in the first half, but Bruno Fornaroli’s missed penalty summed up the season so far. Indeed, without his goals they would be even further adrift at the bottom of the ladder. The striker has netted seven times so far and played 90 minutes in the last nine fixtures while every other teammate has been rotated or rested.
The reliance on one player to get the goals is worrying but in fairness to coach Richard Garcia, his hands are tied to a certain extent with the limited availability of Daniel Sturridge through injury. The signing of the former England international was a real coup and marketing dream when it was announced but Sturridge has yet to do anything meaningful in a Glory shirt and is currently enduring another injury lay-off.
Thankfully for Glory, they only invested in his services in the short term, and it is hard to see the arrangement continuing beyond the expiration of his one-year contract.
The offseason recruitment has had mixed results. Brandon O’Neill returned home after spells at Sydney FC and in Asia, and it was a shrewd move to make him the new club captain. However, he now misses the rest of the campaign due to a shoulder injury sustained against the Sky Blues.
Jack Clisby is another who came back to Perth and while he is a solid squad player as defensive cover, Garcia has chosen to utilise him as a left winger to little or no effect. Brad Jones was unlucky to pick up an injury early on in his season and should remain first choice between the posts now that he’s fit again.
Aaron Calver came in and played very well at times, however he has now been sold, while Antonee Burke-Gilroy hit the ground running and looked fantastic. Although his form has dropped of late, at least he set some high standards, unlike Adrian Sardinero who has been a complete bust.
On paper, Sardinero looked to be the replacement for Diego Castro in the squad. So far, he has played 11 games, completed 90 minutes just once, and failed to register a single goal or assist. The Spaniard joined on a two-year deal so it will be interesting to see if there’s a mutual termination on the horizon over the next couple of months.
Pacifique Niyongabire, Darko Stanojević, Nick Fitzgerald and Mitchell Oxborrow were also picked up, but have contributed nothing of real note to date.
It was always going to be difficult for Glory to replace the title winning players that they lost – Chris Ikonomidis, Jason Geria, Jason Davidson, and Nicholas D’Agostino all play under ex-coach Tony Popovic at Melbourne Victory now, while Neil Kilkenny is pulling the strings for joint top of the table Western United having been deemed surplus to requirements at Glory.
The failure to re-sign Castro and then fill the void with a true playmaker has made Glory slow, predictable, and toothless in attack. Andy Keogh, the club’s leading goalscorer in the A-League era, has found himself playing as a number 10 or in the middle of the park rather than in the penalty box as Glory search for someone to unlock defences.
Youngsters Daniel Stynes and Giordano Colli have been given chances to assume the role of architect. Both are excellent players in the National Premier League and decent squad filler at professional level, however the reality is neither will ever come close to matching Diego Castro. Maybe that’s a little unfair to them given the benchmark set but at the same time, it’s no coincidence that a drop off in creativity has led to less goals being scored and a slide down the standings.
Indeed, Garcia’s style of play has irked fans even more in recent weeks with audible boos coming from those who have made an effort to turn out to the games at HBF Park. Attendances are already down for a number of reasons and the on field product isn’t helping matters at the moment.
Talk has emerged this week about Glory being up for sale with possible interest from an American consortium. Any stories around Tony Sage selling up must be taken with a pinch of salt given previous experiences, not least the utter shambles that was the Jim Aylward cryptocurrency affair from early 2020.
However, with Glory sitting rock bottom on the ladder and Sage losing money hand over fist (even more so in recent seasons with restrictions in place), now could be the perfect opportunity for a full reset of the club. The fans are fed up with false dawns under the current owner, sprinkled with the odd bit of success like Grand Final appearances in 2012 and 2019 and, of course, winning the regular season title under Popovic.
Glory have long been talked about as a club with huge potential in the A-League following their dominance towards the end of the old National Soccer League but another era like that one looks further away than ever before.
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