Brebner to coach Victory

MELBOURNE Victory has appointed Grant Brebner interim head coach for the rest of the A-League season.

Brebner won two A-League championships as a Victory player and was working as an assistant coach to Carlos Salvachua, before the Spaniard returned to Europe in May.

W-League and academy coach Jeff Hopkins has been named A-League interim assistant coach.

Victory was sitting 10th and seven points outside the top six when the season was suspended, and has five regularseason matches to complete. It expects to return to training next week ahead of a planned mid-July season resumption.

“Grant and Jeff know our players well, and we want the transition to be as seamless as possible,” Victory chief executive Trent Jacobs said.

“Their priority will be to get the team to the fitness level required to perform, once the season resumes in mid-July.

“With respect to the search for our next A-League head coach, the recruitment process is progressing and remains on track. We will provide a further update in due course.

“It is not our intention for the successful candidate to be involved in the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, therefore they will be officially taking over in preparation for the commencement of the 2020-21 pre-season.”

The FFA has yet to formalise the return-to-play dates but Brebner said he was looking forward to resuming.

“It’s been a challenging few months, so it’s great to get back to work and start preparing to play,” he said.

“This season hasn’t unfolded as planned, but over the coming months the focus will be to enjoy what we do and play tough, attacking football, which is what our members and fans expect.”