Well, well, well... Perth Glory have surprised all of us with a mid-season dumping of David Mitchell, who moves into a scout-orientated role as former Rangers man Ian Ferguson takes the reins. It’s hard to imagine that a little over 10 years ago - less in Ferguson’s case - both these men were still in their playing careers; such is the way we have grown accustomed to them in their coaching roles.

Now, is this a good move? Well, that’s the million dollar question. Opinion is split pretty much right down the middle amongst Glory fans, and this appointment could really go either way; so let’s sit down and have a look at both sides of the argument. 

Think Positive!

Well, thank god that’s over. Towards the end of his reign it became clear that David Mitchell had little knowledge of how to manage his squad, let alone kick it back into gear after several straight losses. The team had been not only returning poor results, but these coupled with abysmal performances on the park had Glory fans tearing their hair out - especially when you consider the quality that this side possesses. It was the sacking that had to happen.

Luckily, we’ve got a more than able replacement to take over in the meantime. Ian Ferguson took a distinctly average-looking North Queensland Fury squad and nearly had them qualify for the finals last year. Now that he’s got a better group of players to work with, he should be able to step up and guide Perth to a finals berth with comfort. Fergie is also a coach who has shown he can get 110% effort out of his troops - something that Mitchell appeared to be struggling with in the last few weeks. Add in a no-nonsense attacking brand of football and Glory could finally start playing the way their fans expect them to.

On the Mitchell front, the move upstairs will benefit both the club and the individual. Mitchell has shown he has a knack for acquiring talented ‘unknowns’ and big name signings - and if he can continue to do that with no ill feeling, it’s a bonus for the club. We retain all his best qualities while cutting out some of his weaknesses. Mitch still gets paid, Perth still get access to his contacts around the world, and any players with an attachment to him are safe in the knowledge that he’s still hanging around.

Even if it goes all wrong we’re still safe in the knowledge that Tony Sage and his men are probably already looking at European-based replacements for Ferguson and/or Mitchell. After all, they’ve been signed on to the end of next year - no change to Ferguson’s existing contract, and giving Mitchell one season of pure “directorial” activity. If Mitchell’s acquisitions fail to fire, he can be out of there with no fuss for 2012/2013. Plus I have no doubt that Sage would have no qualms ditching an underperforming Ferguson at the end of this season, with an “oh look I just happened to find a quality coaching alternative in the meantime” signing.

Ah, Crap - Not This $#!% Again...

Will somebody rid my club of this Tartan Mafia? Please? Rangers striker David Mitchell is replaced by Rangers striker Ian ‘Fergu-HUN’ and we’re back to square one. Assistant replaces manager. Worked so well for us after Ron Smith, didn’t it? David Mitchell took us to the dizzying heights of fifth! The talent we sign will take us far and wide across the globe - so expect signings from exotic places like Strood, Mansfield, Ayr, Dundee, and maybe even the cultural capital of the world, Glasgow. Just call us Northern Spirit 2.0!

Honestly though - the club’s coaching record in the A-League is diabolical. English coach, English coach, Scottish coach, Scottish coach... lots of variety there! Let’s go for somewhere exotic next, hmm? What about Wales? It’s little wonder the default go-to plan for Glory teams seems to be “get stuck in” and “pump it long” when they can’t execute their normal strategy (whatever that is). 

Ferguson will fail just like every one-dimensional UK hack before him has. He’ll go out there and tell his boys to play hard and get it forward whilst staying tight at the back, hoping that pace and physicality will win the game. Meanwhile, Branko Culina, Franz Straka and Rini Coolen will be calmly telling their troops how transparent this Glory lineup is, identifying exactly where their weak points lie and how best to exploit them. Their teams will then go out, actually pass the ball around, look for an opening, and score. Glory meanwhile will approach every game the same way and assume that grit and graft will win them the game.

Worse still, chairman Sage will let Ferguson have his chance to fail - twice. Because we’re all such nice people at Glory, we’ll give you two or three cracks at mediocrity before you’re finally shown the door. Which means that even if we do get a good coach in the season after, they’ll have to deal with “Fergell’s” badly assembled squad. Just cut your bloody losses and get on with it, for god’s sake!

The Future

Right, so - bipolar opinions aside - what does the future hold for Perth Glory in the Mitchell-less (sort of) era? I suspect little will change at first, as Ferguson slowly adjusts to the new role. What I would hope he will then do is stop this game of favourites that one could argue goes on atthe Glory - where the likes of Pellegrino, Sterjovski, Jamie Coyne, Burns, et al. seem to be able to play every week regardless of form. That will hopefully mean giving a go to a few of the younger lads, which Ferguson should realise from his Fury experience doesn’t always mean a less composed performance.

In a way, this is new ground for Glory in the A-League; Steve McMahon was hated when he was sacked, Ron Smith was booed and protested against, but David Mitchell seems to have fallen on his sword as to his own accord. At the most, he was given a gentle shove - but even then, the discontent felt before his departure lacked the vigour of his predecessors. Perhaps this indicates that the Glory ownership structure is learning lessons from the past; or maybe it simply signals that Mitchell was given the chance to dig his own grave (and read his own eulogy, as it were).

Perth still have a reasonably strong squad, and their start to the season hasn’t been a total disaster. They were, after all, on top of the table for a few weeks. But Ferguson needs to knock some heads together to bring the lads back to their best form - and it’s been all to apparent that in past weeks Glory have been far from that. 

Will his style differ from his fellow ex-’ger? It’s hard to say. The Fury squad he had last year, compared to the Glory squad at his disposal, are like chalk and cheese. Does he have the acumen to take Perth into the league’s upper echelon? Only time will tell.

There’s a fork in the road before the club, and there are only two ways to go from here. Will this somewhat unexpected resignation be a positive, or a negative? Let’s hear your thoughts below.