Coach in Fornaroli furore
THE probability of Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce and their superstar player remaining at the club next season remain slim, after Bruno Fornaroli’s shock axing.
News Corp understands that Joyce opted to drop Fornaroli because of concerns around his skinfolds, but a loss to Newcastle on Sunday at AAMI Park (7pm kickoff) could pile pressure on the coach with the Uruguayan enjoying a cult following among the City faithful and his omis- sion coming after a stunning goal.
Joyce and Fornaroli, 31, are both out of contract at the end of the season and last Saturday’s 2-0 loss away to Brisbane Roar has turned the blowtorch on the Bundoora-based club, with the first-team squad returning to training today.
City refused to comment yesterday except that a number of factors were at play for the decision.
Fornaroli is City’s most marketable and highest paid player, believed to be earning around $1.5 million.
There were suggestions that Joyce was considering starting Fornaroli off the bench and Fox Sports commentator Mark Bosnich said his omission from the teamsheet raises questions.
“My question is, I’ve got no problem with any manager in the world deciding to pick a team that’s gonna win, but when you leave out one of your best players, why isn’t he on the bench?” Bosnich said.
Joyce was tight-lipped after the game, declaring he’d picked his best team.
“You’re just picking the team to win the game. You just look at the opposition, you look at us training, you evalu- ate everything and you pick a team to win the game. That’s it,’’ Joyce said.
“We’ve had two weeks to prepare. You watch the training, you talk to all the staff, you look at numbers in training and then you evaluate to pick a team to win.
“Like I said, you keep asking the same question, but you look at us, you look at the opposition, you look at the strengths and weaknesses, you look at us training, you decide on how you want to play and then you pick what you think’s the best team on the night to go and win a game.”
Tim Cahill, Neil Kilkenny, Fernando Brandan, Ross McCormack and Luke Brattan are among the high-profile players who’ve been dropped by Joyce in his 14-month City tenure.
Fornaroli has appeared to lack the fire in recent games that underpinned his two years at City, before a horror tackle led to a broken leg which saw him miss the bulk of last season. The Uruguayan returned to score six goals in 12 games last season.