Grant Brebner and Warren Moon may be some of the league’s newest coaches, but their respective situations could not be any more different.
Moon, a highly regarded coach among NPL Queensland circles, was appointed Brisbane’s permanent boss following the departure of Robbie Fowler and remains in the hunt for a top-two finish with three matches remaining.
Brebner’s Victory, meanwhile, sits tenth and lacking several key players who have either left the club or unavailable due to injury.
Lawrence Thomas became the latest player to part ways with the club after agreeing terms with Danish club SonderjyskE.
The Victory fan-favourite departs after 151 appearances and several pieces of silverware, with reserve goalkeeper Matthew Acton set to take the reigns for the remainder of the season.
But interim boss Grant Brebner says he is not dwelling on what could have been, instead focusing on the players available.
”In this short time frame we won’t be looking to bring in anybody with the last remaining four games,’’ Brebner said.
”We’ll trust our two goalkeepers to take us through this period. Matt Acton will take the gloves and Matthew Sutton…he’s a fantastic goalkeeper who came through the youth team ranks. If I had to use him, as I’ve shown with other players, I wouldn’t hesitate throwing a youngster in there.
”Is it demoralising [to see so many players leave]? Yes you can argue that it was. But I don’t see it, because I see what we’ve done this season and the points we’ve taken and the performances we’ve put out there with, arguably, all those players at hand.
”I don’t dwell on that, I believe we have a group of players who should be performing. If they perform they’ll play and if they don’t they won’t play. That’s what they need to remind themselves everyday otherwise someone else will come in.’’
The Victory kicked off its restart with several new faces – including Aaron Anderson and Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio who made their debuts – with Brebner confirming more changes to the line-up ahead of Wednesday’s match.
”There’ll be two changes tomorrow night, I won’t go into too much detail, but there will be two another two players coming in from the bench,’’ Brebner said.
”I’m not just going to play kids, I don’t want anyone to think it’s the easy option. If there’s a senior player that deserves to play he’ll play, but if the youngsters are showing they want to train better and are showing more hunger and enthusiasm then they’ll play.’’
Featured Image – Melbourne Victory FC
