I’m increasingly annoyed and perturbed at the incessant criticism of Andrew Durante by a small minority on what he did or didn’t do for the Phoenix on and off the field over the last few years. In particular what he endured in last year’s A-league season.
Ive never met the man but as a non Wellingtonian and massive supporter of the Pheonix, I have nothing but admiration for his leadership.
Some time ago I was tempted to burst into print about this issue .What I’m very passionate about is leadership,and I trust with this post any lingering doubt about the man’s mana can be put to bed.
Obviously it’s my speculation but the more I think about all of the known events and the actions of the players, the outline I give goes some way to explaining what I believe happened. We will never know I guess totally what went down.
I put forward the following theory and refer back to the dark days prior to last Christmas:
Most professional teams (Im sure the Pheonix had this ) have a group of senior players who provide ideas and suggestions on how the team should perform . I don’t want to guess who the group consisted of, suffice say to Dura and Dario were key leaders in this forum.
I believe that late last year, maybe as early as November, Kalezic became increasingly insecure with the advice he was receiving from the group and Rado’s support of it most of the time. Up until this point, I’d say until late November, we could see a much improved game coming consistently from the team and we thought we are onto a winning and successful formula.
However Kalezic over time got the pricker more and more with Rado because he, Kalezic, wanted to play a completely different game, and with Rado appearing to side with the players, there was also a clash of philosophy. This should have been resolved right at the start of the season. It probably became very personal as well. With Kalezic feeling isolated, he took the step of having Rado fired and with him went Dario.
Also and crucially, out the door went the senior players group, with Kalezic now exercising total control
Burnsie, then the East Europeans before they arrived, pre-Christmas had probably been spun a yarn how progressive the club was and how they would be part of the senior players group. With the departure of Rado, the entire atmosphere of the team changed and if you note at a high level, the performance of these new players, then the less experienced players ,changed dramatically over a few short weeks compared with pre-Christmas. There was no fight, the body language was dreadful, and the attitude was downright poor.
And who kept the ship afloat? My bet is that it was Dura.
He became almost the sole medium of communication between the coach and the players, because the players had lost respect for the coach. He played a critical role in trying to boost morale as high as he could and also tried to concentrate on his football. No wonder he had some pretty average games with that burden of responsibility!
Kalezic made increasingly ill-considered decisions and selections and tried to cover his tracks with very little consistency,chopping players about, and with no overall plan. Remember the excuses?
By the end of the season Dura would have been exhausted. His leadership efforts to keep the team going would have been extremely taxing and it was no wonder he was considering giving it away.
That’s my take on the season. I have no special or inside knowledge but the events, the public statements, and what we saw on TV kind of support my views.
Let’s look forward to a new season with a new broom.