Grant Brebner has committed himself 100 per cent to lifting Melbourne Victory out of their dismal slump but doubt surrounds his coaching tenure, with the suggestion the club’s board have already spoken to Tony Popovic.
Basement club Victory’s 4-1 thumping by Wellington in Wollongong on Wednesday was their fourth consecutive A-League loss and seventh from their last eight fixtures.
They were unable to finish some good first-half moves and Brebner said individual mistakes had again proved costly .
Fox Sports pundit and former Socceroo Robbie Slater tweeted on Wednesday that he’d heard the Victory board had already spoken to Popovic before last night’s game.
Former Socceroo defender Popovic steered Western Sydney Wanderers to the ACL title in 2014 and won a Premiers Plate with both Wanderers and Perth, but was on the losing side in three A-League grand finals.
He was sacked by Greek club Xanthi last month after a brief stint at the helm.
Scotsman Brebner, who was also a distinguished player for Victory, was adamant that he wouldn’t consider resigning.
“I do not shy away from the fact that I see this as the biggest football club in Australia and the expectation of this football club is to win football games and to win trophies,” Brebner said.
“We’re not in that situation at the moment, we’re in the situation we’re in.
“But I’ve been in a difficult situation as a player and now as the head coach and one thing I am committed to doing is making sure that I work 100 per cent, along with my staff, to get us out of it.”
If he remains in charge for Saturday’s away clash with ladder leaders Central Coast, Brebner won’t shirk from telling his players some hard truths about their shortcomings against Wellington.
“It’s not a case of just sticking the knife in and twisting it,” Brebner said
“They know what the coaching staff think of them as players and they’re professional footballers and we have to talk about the uncomfortableness of certain instances in that game and the individual mistakes we’ll talk about.”
Captain Leigh Broxham will be available for Saturday’s game after serving out a suspension.
Wellington, who jumped two places to eighth on the back of Wednesday’s win, will be looking build on a return of 10 points from their last five games.
They face Macarthur on Sunday in the second of four consecutive matches at their adopted home, Wollongong’s WIN Stadium.
Outstanding youngster Reno Piscopo will be monitored in the lead to that game, after coming off against Victory due to a tight calf.
ES 
EN 