Sydney FC striker Yairo Yao vents his frustation after his side's latest loss - against Adelaide United on Friday night. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
SYDNEY FC chief executive Tony Pignata insists the club won't be rushed into a panic coaching appointment despite a fourth straight loss that has left the club rooted to the bottom of the A-League.
Yet another late goal cost Sydney a share of the spoils on Friday night as they went down 2-1 to John Kosmina's Adelaide, although the point would have flattered Sydney.
Though it's widely accepted at Sydney FC that the players are drained of all confidence and in need of a circuit-breaker, Pignata said the club would take "as long as is needed" to choose a successor to Ian Crook, painfully aware of the magnitude of the appointment.
Caretaker coach Steve Corica will continue to take training this week, having made clear he is not interested in the job full-time so early in his post-playing career.
"Friday night was very disappointing, there's no getting away from that, but we can't let that bounce us into appointing someone just for the sake of speed," Pignata said yesterday.
"As the chairman Scott Barlow made clear at the weekend, we have a list of names and we'll continue to work through that.
"Hopefully that means we can move sooner rather than later but equally we'll take as long as is needed to get whoever we consider to be the right candidate."
It's understood that the list of names Sydney is considering includes both local and foreign options, with former Southampton and Celtic boss Gordon Strachan among those to have expressed interest in becoming the club's seventh coach in eight years.
Strachan's situation is complicated by the fact he is also favourite to become Scotland coach after the departure of Craig Levein, and he is also reported to be in Southampton's sights for a dramatic return to St Marys if Nigel Adkins becomes the latest English Premier League casualty.
Sydney officials were relieved to see a crowd of just over 13,000 on Friday, given the team's run of form, but there is also recognition that the attraction of seeing Alessandro Del Piero can't be allowed to dissipate.
Sydney have a home game on Sunday night against Melbourne Heart, followed by a trip to Wellington - where they lost 2-0 on the opening day of the season - and the second Sydney derby. All three are currently within four points of Sydney, and Pignata conceded they were key games if the team was not to lose touch with the top six.
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