Coach: More Players To Leave Phoenix
Despite all the upheaval, Kalezic said the club, players and coaches were all united to try and turn their season around. Leading that charge will be club captain Andrew Durante, who quipped on Friday that he had plenty of experience in dealing with the u
Rado Vidosic, Dario Vidosic and Gui Finkler may not be the last players or coaches departing the Wellington Phoenix this year.
The father-son coach-player Vidosic duo left the club on Wednesday, 12 days after attacking midfielder Finkler also departed.
Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic did not rule out more people joining them over the next week and a half.
“I will ask every player to January 1 if somebody [has] another opinion to the club’s philosophy that we have now at the Wellington Phoenix,” Kalezic said in his pre-match press conference yesterday.
“Everyone will have a chance now to give an answer to January 1 about that and take his conclusions and then we will see what will happen, if somebody is going to have a different opinion or wants to leave the club.”
Fijian winger Roy Krishna is still injured and misses today’s home clash against Sydney FC.
Kalezic said they were close to announcing an import player to replace Finkler, while they were already closing in on an assistant coach replacement for Rado Vidosic. When asked about the reason for Rado Vidosic’s resignation, Kalezic would not elaborate further than what the club has already said, but did say the issues had been ongoing. “The club will never break contract with nobody if something happens only in the short-term. It happened [over a] longer time.
“Simply different way of thinking. Not only with me, but with all of us. Like the club said, it’s like an unlucky marriage and nothing more than that.
“Only from my side I can say honestly from my heart I wish Rado all the best in his career. With his football knowledge, with his professionalism, I believe he will find a new club and continue his football career.”
Despite all the upheaval, Kalezic said the club, players and coaches were all united to try and turn their season around. Leading that charge will be club captain Andrew Durante, who quipped on Friday that he had plenty of experience in dealing with the ups and downs that football can bring.
“I’ve had a lot of experience doing it, that’s one thing the Phoenix have given me, a lot of experience in difficult situations,” he said with a hint of a laugh, before reverting back to a serious tone.
“For me and other senior leadership group players, we have a huge responsibility to make sure it’s a happy environment and we all understand why these issues are happening and why we’re not winning games, especially in tumultuous times like this, it needs to be upbeat, it needs to be as positive as you can be. And we have been, it’s actually been a good week of training.”
They will need all the training they can get with Sydney in town. They have won five games in a row to sit top of the A-League ladder on 28 points and arrive with almost a fullstrength squad.
The Phoenix have not won in five games and sit bottom on six points, but at least welcome back Durante and midfielder Michael McGlinchey to the squad.
Kalezic said they were both fit enough to start if selected. $100. -