Mulvey sunk by leaking defence

Goal glut costs coach job

FOOTBALL: The fate of axed Mariners boss Mike Mulvey was sealed after the club conceded 13 goals in two games and players told the club hierarchy they had lost faith in his coaching strategy.

Mulvey was fired late on Saturday night after watching his side crash to an 8-2 loss at home to Wellington hours before, a result that followed a 5-3 defeat to Brisbane Roar at Central Coast Stadium eight days earlier.

Before Saturday’s game, club officials had met with a group of disillusioned members to map out the plans to address five years of horror performances.

The Mariners have finished eighth or 10th every year since last making the finals in 2013-14, and are now seeking their fifth coach in that period.

Chief executive Shaun Mielekamp told fans that everyone at the club had been put on notice that they had to justify their role for next season, whether on the playing staff or in the club offices.

But club officials had already been made aware that the playing staff had lost faith in Mulvey, and moved to fast track what was increasingly likely to be a parting of the ways at the end of the season.

Mulvey declined to comment when contacted by News Corp, but is expected to negotiate a settlement in the coming days.

His arrival last May as an experienced, title-winning coach had coincided with increased investment in the playing squad, including the recruitment of former Socceroo Tommy Oar and Aston Villa striker Ross McCormack.

But Oar has been injured for much of the season, while McCormack scored once in five games before Christmas and after returning to the UK to have an injury assessed, decided against returning.

At the time the club said the money saved on McCormack’s wages would be reinvested in another striker, but ultimately brought in only two teenagers on loan from Sheffield United and English journeyman midfielder Jem Karacan.

Some will also question whether the Usain Bolt experiment proved a distraction, though Mulvey always insisted publicly and privately that he supported the three-month trial that the Olympic sprinter was granted.

Club legend Jon Hutchinson is the favourite to take over from Mulvey but officials will wait until season’s end to name a new coach.