My questions and Gareth's answers:
1) How much of the decision to adjust the playing style was down to Ricki, and how much of it was from Welnix? Who was the first to suggest that a new playing style was needed?
When doing a strategic overview of all issues around the future of the club, and ways to ensure its viability long term, the issue of on-field performance – which is at the core of the product offering came up. There is a wide range of issues that pertain to that – for example marquees, youth, coaches, player contract terms, playing style. Rather than deal with each of those in isolation we backed off and asked the question - where we are aiming for in terms of average finishing position – is 4th or 6th satisfactory? The consensus was no.
The next question in the stream of logic is what do we need to improve that? We ruled out buying marquee players very early in that discussion as it isn’t seen as a lasting solution and only a lasting solution can steer the club to robust financial health. If we get our fundamentals right then yes success begets success and marquees become a sensible activity. When the question of playing style arose there was a consensus that the A League in general is developing its styles as the standard of football improves and we need to stay abreast of that. So style development toward a more possession-oriented game was discussed and agreed.
The Football committee comprises some of the owners, Noah Hickey and Mark Chote from our Advisory Group, and Ricki. Decisions are reached by consensus. Your question of how much came from who is impossible to answer, the issues are discussed and the consensus reached, sometimes immediately sometimes after chewing it over for months. That’s the nature of business.
2) How was this decision communicated to the players? Were they involved in the process or was it forced on them after Ricki and Welnix had finished deciding that a new playing style is needed?
I can’t answer this question as it is Ricki’s domain as coach. But given it’s been an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process and will continue to be I would doubt very much whether the coach suddenly pronounced that “from tomorrow morning we’re changing”. That isn’t and never has been what this is about.
3) Why was it decided to change the playing style in the middle of the season, when our previous playing style looked like it was going to get us into our fourth straight playoffs, from which we would just need to win three games in a row to win the Championship?
It wasn’t. That is a conclusion the press has managed to leap to all by itself. My words to Tony Veitch were – I don’t know if anyone has noticed by the style has been changing – I was referring to this year compared to previous. So your conclusion that we have been playing as per a previous style this year at all is erroneous.
4) In hindsight, do you think it would have been wiser to adjust the playing style in the coming off-season, when Ricki would have time to recruit players to suit this new style?
The adjustment is an evolutionary thing and will take a number of years, it hasn’t just been foisted on anyone. This is where the popular conclusion based on the somewhat fertile imaginations of a few gossip columnists trying to create news, has come from.