I’m usually not one to brag but I said it time and time again during pre-season. Mehmet Durakovic’s lack of experience is a real concern. Now, seven weeks into the new season we’re seeing the results of that. Admittedly, if we wanted Harry Kewell we had to settle for a manager who would demand less cash. Durakovic was that cheaper option but while we’ve saved money, in return its cost us dearly in competition points.

Could we have possibly gotten someone with a bit more experience for about the same amount of money? Possibly. With supposedly over seventy applicants for the vacant position I doubt many of them would have been as unseasoned as Durakovic, but the former Youth coach was the easy option. Mehmet was available at the right price, he knew most of the players and had done fairly well in his Asian Champions League stint.

For many people he had done enough in the ACL to warrant a chance to prove himself in the A-League. While I do agree we looked much better after he took over I think a lot of that came down to the fact that it was just something different. As we all know things were growing stale under Ernie Merrick and the introduction of Durakovic acted as the breath of fresh air that was so desperately needed at the time. Its not uncommon in football for a team to lift when a new manager is brought in but the euphoria of that never lasts for long.

There are a lot of reasons why we’re in the position we’re in. As I wrote about in this blog the management of the playing squad has been poorly handled and we’re paying the price for that. Despite those issues though Durakovic still has a pretty decent team at his disposal yet he’s been unable to get them to click.

Poor results aside, we’re not even playing half-decent football. Although Mehmet’s desired playing style is an ambitious one we haven’t seen any evidence of the team even trying to play that way. We may not have the midfield capable of executing the possession game but Mehmet’s line-up and formation choices don’t lend themselves to that particular style anyway.

I’ve said before that the players themselves have to take some of the blame as well for our poor form this season but it always comes back to the coach. After all, he’s the one calling the shots. Individuals may play badly but if the coach is getting his tactics wrong he’s not giving his players every chance of success. Yesterday’s draw with Perth was proof of that. We failed to take advantage of the extra man on the pitch and let the opposition back into the game. When your 2-0 up against ten men, especially at home, you should never lose your lead.

Mehm’s inexperience is also showing off the pitch. His post-match press conferences are becoming all too predictable and full of cliche’s. I’m sick of hearing his excuses every week.

We need to get that momentum going and the consistency. Once we get that, we’ll be alright. I am concerned. We just need to get the three points at home.

I’m really positive that once we get all the players back and we get a bit of luck, we’ll start getting results.

We’ve heard it all before. “Once this happens”, “once that happens”. How long do we have to wait? Its not a question of luck or the players we have available on match day, its the system itself. Its just not working. The sooner Durakovic admits that the better. But to be honest, I don’t think he has the capacity to see that. This is the best Mehm can do and its nowhere near A-League level.

The big question is what will the Board do about it? I can’t see them openly admitting they made a mistake and I don’t think they have the guts to call time on Mehmet’s tenure. Not yet anyway. Even if they did they’d probably just replace him with Kevin Muscat which would be completely pointless. If Durakovic is deemed too inexperienced then why replace him with someone equally unqualified? A great player he may have been but its still very early days in his coaching career.

The way we’re going at the moment, we won’t make the Finals, its as simple as that. Something must change. The next five weeks will define our season. If improvements aren’t made, both in terms of results and performances we can kiss this season goodbye.