Kosmina walks away amid trust issues

Kosmina walks away from Adelaide United amid trust issues

Adelaide United

John Kosmina has always had a combustible streak, but the impulsive former Socceroos striker squarely laid the blame for him leaving Adelaide United for the second time at the door of the club's management.

The official line from the Reds chairman Greg Griffin was complete surprise at Kosmina's sudden departing, confirmed in an email to the club hierarchy following Friday night's 3-1 loss to Central Coast and falling out with assistant coach Michael Valkanis.

But Kosmina's description of events suggested that he had felt fruitless in his attempts to reinstill the culture he developed a decade before since taking over from Rini Coolen 13 months ago.

"I believed the club had some sort of direction," Kosmina's resignation statement read. "However, apart from survival, I can see no clear direction. There is no vision.

"Decision-making at management level is reactive and impulsive at best, and there is no consistency in managerial procedure."

Those 13 months have arguably delivered greater on-field success than many outsiders might have predicted.

Adelaide have retained a top four spot all season and remain in contention despite the weekend's 3-1 loss to the Mariners.

Indeed, some of the team's performances this year might have led to some degree of reminiscing about 'Kossie's Adelaide', who were so proficient during the first two seasons of the inaugural league, including claiming the Premiership in 2006.

There was a bullishness about the Reds in those opening A-League seasons that implied a strong bond among players and between players and the coach.

But Kosmina's remarriage to the Reds, after a brief and unhappy affair with Sydney FC in between, has been an unsettling reunion, in no small part because the 56-year-old simply feels undermined by the political machinations at the club.

"I was more than aware … that many of those [cultural] principles had been eroded over time. But I was prepared to give it a shot just the same," Kosmina recalled about his decision to rejoin the club in December 2011.

"I felt we could be successful.

"[But] there is far too much whispering in corridors and around corners.

"I simply cannot, and will not, work in an environment which otherwise lacks trust."

The same, of course, could be said for some of Adelaide's recently departed players. Sergio van Dijk and Zenon Carevella, for example, were shown the door by Kosmina during the January transfer window after reports of tension behind the scenes.

Kosmina also turned on Valkanis after the loss to the Mariners, claiming Adelaide's inaugural captain was after his job after being handed a two-year contract extension while Kosmina's own negotiations for a new more lucrative deal was frozen until next month's board meeting.

"It was very disappointing because I've known him for so long," Valkanis told reporters about the incident.

"I expected that he wouldn't believe such a thing."

The latest reports from Queensland suggest that Kosmina could reappear as Brisbane Roar's new head coach before the start of next season, a decision that would be certain to polarise opinion at the reigning champions, who appointed Mike Mulvey mid-season to replace Rado Vidosic.

Kosmina's relationship with the Roar has been rocky since the inception of the league, notably when Miron Bleiberg was coach, while he also managed the Brisbane Strikers in the former NSL between 1999 and 2003.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com


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