Aurelio Vidmar at a Melbourne City training session ahead of Friday's match against Sydney FC. Photo Credit: Melbourne City/Twitter
Melbourne City Football Club has welcomed new men’s head coach Aurelio Vidmar for the remainder of the 2023/24 season.
City started off their season with back to back losses, the first against Western United, and the second coming last week at the hands of Adelaide United, 6-0.
Heading into only the third round of the season, Melbourne City are at the bottom the ladder, still winless alongside four other clubs.
Vidmar kicked off his campaign as head coach on Monday after getting a call letting him know of his appointment. His contract is until the end of the season and there are no expectations past this year.
It’s been 13 years since Vidmar has coached in the A-Leagues, last doing so with Adelaide United, and he’s ready to return to the big stage.
“[Being honest] is part of the job, and probably might get a lot of discussions because I’m too honest,” he said.
“But that’s me, it’s part of my character. I’d rather be honest, there’s no crap and it’s clear and when it’s clear it’s pretty easy for everyone and I’m super consistent with that.
“You get a hell of a lot of experiences, and part of the coaching journey is experience. Where I was 10 or 13 years ago to where I am now is completely different.”
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Players current performances is what Vidmar will look at. He won’t look into what the experienced players bring from previous seasons to give everyone a chance to take the field.
“Resumes are just that, what they’ve done in the past means absolutely nothing, it’s what they’re doing now,” he said.
“Guys who haven’t had opportunities, it’s clear everyone has an equal opportunity and again performance. If they’re performing in training, then they got the opportunity to play.
“It’s pretty simple, it’s not rocket science.”
Captain Jamie Maclaren thanked now former coach Rado Vidosic for the support and effort he put towards the club in getting a championship.
“We understand coaches do depart before players, that’s what happens when bad results do occur,” he said.
“Us players hold a lot of responsibility for what’s just happened. We know we’ve obviously let Rado down in many ways, but we need to move on, we need to act better on the pitch.”
Maclaren also acknowledged the poor start to the season and wants a restart in the club’s mindset.
“Our season starts now,” he said.
“We’re so far off it, it’s now about seeing the character and you want to have a silver lining sort of thinking about it. Let’s see what we’re about and it starts tomorrow night.”
Melbourne City FC will open round three against Sydney FC on Friday night at AAMI Park. Both sides are fighting for their first win of the season.
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