It’s a critical decision, one the club has been getting wrong for years. With Perth Glory already at a significant crossroads, not just this season but looking ahead to the next few, the club must get this next managerial appointment absolutely right.
That’s not hyperbole. It’s a statement of fact that speaks to the necessity of restoring credibility and rebuilding Perth Glory’s standing within Australian football.
Since Tony Popovic’s departure in 2020, the club has cycled through four managers: Richard Garcia, Ruben Zadkovich, Alen Stajcic, and most recently, David Zdrilic. Across 134 A-League games since the 2020/21 season, the Glory have won just 29 and conceded 266 goals.
Now, it would be unfair to place all the blame on those managers. However, what’s been evident for some time is that the club has lacked a figure capable of making a decisive, even seismic, impact. Someone able to elevate the team to the point where they can stand toe-to-toe with the league’s elite.
At its core, this goes beyond results. Results are simply an outcome. What’s been exceptionally evident time and again, in tandem with the poor results, has been the absence of a coherent footballing vision. For years now, the Glory have failed to articulate where they want to go from a football perspective. They’ve yet to answer the critical questions that others around them already have.
What is our style of play?
That’s a starting point, but the real work lies beneath the surface, in the lack of detail that’s been evident for what feels like an eternity:
- What do we want Perth Glory to look like on the ball?
- What do we want Perth Glory to look like off the ball?
- How do we want to transition between those two phases?
It’s not enough for a coach or executive to say, “We want to play attacking football.” So what? Every club says that.
David Zdrilic, for instance, arrived with an intent to play a style inspired by his time in Germany. But that vision never materialised within the context of the A-League; there was no proof of concept.
The club must now be ruthlessly specific about what kind of football identity it wants to cultivate. Because while there are flickers of promise within the current setup, there’s an unmistakable lack of balance. No consistent identity. No clarity around positional roles. No clear rationale for player recruitment or retention.
Whoever the next head coach is, their appointment must be grounded in a defined, specific, and sophisticated vision; one backed by evidence, reasoning, and conviction.
That’s something the current ownership group has yet to demonstrate. Keeping Zdrilic for as long as they did exposed a combination of naivety, poor judgment, and perhaps misplaced loyalty.
As the club approaches its 30th anniversary, I can’t help but think back to the NSL era, a time I never personally witnessed but deeply respect. Back then, Perth Glory didn’t need a polished tactical manifesto. They had an identity. They had purpose. And they went somewhere with it.
Under Ross Pelligra’s ownership, that same conviction has yet to emerge. Ambition has been spoken of, even hinted at, but few supporters have truly believed it. “Next year we’ll be better.” It’s a refrain that’s echoed through the club for years, a promise without proof, because there’s still no compelling vision grounded in real substance or structure. The rhetoric remains shallow. The foundation remains fragile.
The likes of Pelligra, Vice Chairman Jason Bontempo and Football Director Stan Lazaridis in particular, cannot afford to get this wrong nor can they make the decision on a whim. The members and fans must feel that the club is heading somewhere, not because the board says so, but because there is tangible evidence of progress on the pitch.
There’s no denying the need for an immediate lift; the club simply cannot afford to miss the finals for a sixth consecutive season. But short-term improvement alone isn’t enough. The next manager must implement a clear, coherent game model that not only delivers results now but establishes the foundation for genuine, sustained success.
The next few weeks will be revealing, and possibly defining, for Perth Glory’s future.
All images courtesy of Tom McCarthy.
