A FEW months back everyone was talking about a recession, but that has gone by the wayside as everyone (well, most of Melbourne anyway) is now talking about succession.
First it was that other code, and one of their teams announcing their coaching succession plan, which was then quickly and more importantly followed by talk of a similar plan for Melbourne Victory with Kevin Muscat one day taking over from current coach, Ernie Merrick.
So with all this succession talk I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and put forward what kind of succession plans I would like to see come to fruition.
First up, I would like to see Melbourne Victory appear in successive finals campaigns for the first time in our short history. And with six out of the ten teams making the finals this time around I can't see this being too much of a problem.
Secondly, a repeat of last year's form by Danny Allsopp would be much appreciated. Much has been made of the fact that when Allsopp regularly finds the back of the net, Melbourne are is to be found near the top of the table. Although to be fair to Allsopp, a return of seven goals in Season Three wasn't really that bad - I mean John Aloisi would kill for that kind of return.
One of the keys to Melbourne's success last season was the solidity of the back line and the fact that both Vargas and Muscat played all of Melbourne's 24 games for the season. That means for the first time in his A-League career, Kevin Muscat failed to pick up a red card.
Many opposition fans would argue however that he was probably very lucky to achieve this feat. Therefore, a second successive season without a red card would be much appreciated and would certainly drive those opposition fans mad and do much for our finals chances.
There is nothing better than seeing your closest rivals miss the finals and it would be every Melbourne fan's dream to see Sydney FC miss yet another finals series. To make it a great season, knocking off Adelaide for a Premiership and in a Grand Final for the second successive season would also be fantastic. Although to be honest, I think Adelaide may very well struggle to make it to the last match of the season this time round.
And as for that Merrick-Muscat succession plan, I would very much like Muscat to follow the path of former A-League and NSL stalwart, Ante Milicic and take a role with either a VPL or NSWPL (if they would have him) and gain some experience that way.
It has paid dividends for Milicic in his role at Sydney United and now with the Young Socceroos. I am of the opinion that Muscat should follow a similar path, instead of jumping straight into an A-League role. And anyway, I think Merrick wants to hold onto his role for a few years yet and to be honest is improving year-to-year as a coach.
