Victory believes - and expects - success will follow after giving Diles full-time role.
Finally, it’s official. Arthur Diles is the tenth permanent coach in Melbourne Victory ALM history, announced on an 18-month deal on Friday. And silverware, as it is for any Victory coach, is expected
Finally, it’s official. Arthur Diles is the tenth permanent coach of Melbourne Victory’s A-League Men side, signing an 18-month deal that will take him through to the end of the 2025-26 season. And silverware, like it is for any Victory coach, is the expectation.
For weeks, Diles has been forced to conduct an awkward dance every time he stood in front of a microphone. Nominally, the 42-year-old was still an interim and, with the club otherwise silent, that was the role he needed to play, describing his situation as “week to week”. But with every passing day, as it became clear Victory wasn’t conducting any kind of in-depth search to find a replacement for Patrick Kisnorbo following his shock walkout, let alone a patented A-League Global Search™, it was increasingly apparent what was coming – to the extent that supporter podcast For Vuck’s Sake reported a fortnight ago that an 18-month deal was imminent.
Diles has frequently used the phrase “the show goes on” since Kisnorbo’s exit and that’s now well and truly the case. The sideshow that had sprung up surrounding his status has left town, allowing all and sundry to turn their attention back to the marquee event: the A-League giants seeking to win their first A-League Men title since 2018 and end a premiership drought that will this year hit ten years.
“It is a heavy responsibility,” Diles told AAP and JDL Media. “But it's also heavy here for any staff member. Once you're part of this club, everything's heavy. The expectation is that you have to win every match and you have to win a certain way. That expectation is there. But when you're in a club like this and you've got the support that you have here in terms of staff and the people around you -- and obviously a good team -- then that gives you the confidence to know that you can do well and be successful.
“I know it's a big job, it's a massive club, and it's a massive privilege and honour. It's something I'm looking forward to and really happy about.”
Despite the recent lean run of form, there is the belief at Victory that the foundations are still in place to “knock on the door” this season. The club came within seconds of winning a fifth men’s title in last season’s grand final and there was enough belief in the squad assembled this campaign that a gamble on Kisnorbo’s title-winning pedigree was undertaken – even if that one did end up going bust in rather spectacular fashion. And with Diles having worked as an assistant under Tony Popovic during the run to last year’s decider and then remaining in place as Kisnorbo came in, the club concluded that, given their situation, continuity was the most likely path to success.
“When you normally appoint a new coach, you’re not perhaps where we were positioned and doing as well as we were doing when we lost our head coach in Patrick,” Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie told AAP and JDL Media. “Normally, when you're looking [for a new coach], you're looking at how you either shake things up -- you bring somebody in to make a change -- or you want to do something different.
“We weren't in that situation. We actually wanted somebody who could steer the ship, keep consistency, who knew the club, knew the players, and was giving us our best chance of success this year because of all of those metrics together. So while we did go through a process – [director of football John Didulica], myself, the board and internally – around what we would look at for candidates, when we stood back and looked at what we wanted for a club and our best chance of success, that was Arthur.”
Inevitably, however, there will be scepticism, both from the Victory faithful and football observers more broadly. And it will be justified, too.
Because while goals from Nikos Vergos and Bruno Fornaroli may have secured a 2-0 win over bitter foes Sydney last week, this was preceded by a six-game winless run to begin Diles’ stint as interim. Moving back into sixth on the table with that win over the Sky Blues, Victory had gone from third on the table, within a game of its summit, to falling out of the playoff places during this stretch and conceded 13 goals, compared to the four they shipped during the seven games of Kisnorbo’s tenure.
“Ultimately, all coaches, in any sport, are judged by their win and loss ratio and their record,” Carnegie said. “Our fans want to see good, exciting football, but ultimately they want to see wins as well.
“We still thought of the back of [the winless run] and think now that Arthur can deliver the success that we want.
“But if you also look separate to that. Whilst we wanted consistency across our program with appointing Arthur [as interim], if you think losing your coach nine weeks in, after a long pre-season and then into a successful start to the season isn't going to have some disruption, that's crazy. We had to allow a natural kind of settling within what we were doing with the program.
“We also knew that in that initial period in which Arthur was coach, he also didn't have the support that you would normally have for a head coach, because he'd stepped up from assistant to head so we needed to fill that gap. And we also had a gap with our analyst [departing with Kisnorbo]. So now we've got that team in place.
“We're confident that we broke a little bit of a dry spell that we didn't want to see in the Sydney game. And we're confident that Arthur's got the tools to bring the team forward.”
Inevitably, there will also exist scepticism surrounding just how much Victory’s financial position played into the decision, both because that’s a question asked as a matter of course whenever a club goes internal with its coaching roles and also due to the circumstances currently confronting the club.
Actively seeking investment in the wake of 777 Partners collapse, Victory recorded an AU$9.87 million loss in its 2023-24 financials, a report which also included the note that "a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on [Victory's] ability to continue as a going concern," should plans to increase cash reserves or secure additional capital "not materialise".
Both Carnegie and Didulica, however, pushed back on finances playing a key factor in the decision, saying that there was nothing preventing Victory from going to market beyond their belief in Diles.
“I think people are always going to ask that question,” said Carnegie. “But if I circle back to the reasons why we appointed Arthur, it was that consistency and approach.
“It was someone that's been here that saw us get to a grand final last year in the A-League Men, saw us get to the final of the Australian Cup, who helped the coaching department and [Didulica] recruit for the season, and who helped settle the new game style that we have brought into play this year.
“None of that has to do with money. That's to do with Arthur's experience at the club, and that's the sort of metrics that we thought would set us up for the best likelihood for success.”
Starting with Perth Glory on Saturday evening, the opening weeks of Diles’ tenure as permanent coach will likely prove telling ones. Placed in charge of a short-handed coaching staff in the wake of Kisnorbo’s sudden departure — premiership-winning Rockdale Ilinden boss Nick Stavroulakis has come on board as Diles’ assistant — his stint as interim featured a murderer’s row of games in which Victory was effectively playing a title contender or rival, or both, every week.
In the weeks ahead, however, they will face the sides currently sitting eighth through 13th on the A-League Men table, as well as host a Melbourne Derby. Six points off second and eight off top, the form guide suggests that, if Victory are to be genuine title contenders this season, then the coming slate of games should put them in good stead to close the gap on Adelaide and Auckland atop the table.
And titles, ultimately, are still how success is measured at AAMI Park.
“I wouldn't judge Arthur any differently to any other coach,” said Carnegie. “And ultimately, trophies and wins are what coaches in football or any sport get judged by. Whether that was Tony [Popovic], PK [Kisnorbo] or Arthur, they're all going to be judged by those same metrics, both internally and by our fans.
“That's a big part of why some people would never want to go into coaching because ultimately, all that rests with you.
“Just because Arthur stepped in in less than desirable circumstances, doesn't change our expectations around success.
“We're still expecting trophies and we still want to see wins, and that's the same regardless of who the coach is at Melbourne Victory. That's our expectation. That's probably how we make sure the fans feel reassured as they start to see us climb up the ladder.”