ONE moment you’re paddling about in the shallows, the next you find yourself smack bang in the middle of the deep end. And there’s no floatation device within reach.

 

So it was with the beginning of Aurelio Vidmar's coaching adventure. After a wonderful on-field career, which included 44 caps for Australia, he accepted the position of assistant coach of the Reds under John Kosmina. Given that Kosmina was a larger than life character, the role of assistant was largely one of quietly working in the background. Basically Vidmar spent the first two seasons of the A-League learning the caper, flying under the radar, and bobbing up only when needed - such as to prevent Kosmina from choking Kevin Muscat. We all have our regrets.

Vidmar was appointed head coach of the Reds for season three - after the team imploded in the A-League grand final of 2007. It was a brave decision by the club but also a risky one. At 40 years of age he was, in coaching terms, still very young. As distinguished as his playing career was, it was never going to guarantee that he'd be a success as a coach.

His first season in charge proved just how difficult things can be. The team finished a disappointing 6th and missed the finals for the first time. An unsuccessful Asian Champions League campaign followed and as a result there were calls for him to be forcibly removed from the pool. Rightly, wiser heads prevailed.    

Vidmar learnt from his early challenges and season 2008/09 was a watershed (can you swim in a watershed?) one for the club. Some wise recruiting decisions (Ognenovski being the standout), an honourable A-League grand final loss to Melbourne and a brave run through the minefield that is the ACL competition all enhanced Vidmar's growing reputation. He was rightfully awarded coach of the year.

Fast forward to this season however, which of course is the focus of the moment, and that butterfly stroke is not looking anywhere near as stylish as it did last year. Fans have sprayed abuse at him, journalists have questioned just where the buck stops and esteemed FourFourTwo Adelaide United bloggers (hi Stephen) have written "you've lost the team and you're just treading water". Ouch.

Assessing the ability (or otherwise) of any coach is not a straight-forward exercise - there are a myriad of other factors that come into play. Things such as injuries, club finances, internal politics and even luck all play a role in determining how a team comes together. Over time though, all coaches are ultimately judged on team performances. That's the reality.

When I try to make judgement on Vidmar as a coach I'm left with unanswered questions. Is he a great man-manager? Is he a leader of men? Does he have the ability to inspire? Can he develop and teach? Does he have an insightful eye for talent? Is he a strategist? Does he have the ability to think quickly and out-coach? Can he instruct to a game plan of attacking, attractive football?

Some of those questions I'd answer in the affirmative but others, well, the jury is still out. In truth he probably does tread water at times, catching breath as it were. Really we should expect nothing less, in light of the club's decision to appoint someone so young. He's still learning and he will make mistakes.

The remaining matches of this A-League season and then the ACL competition may well be pivotal in deciding Vidmar's coaching future. My fellow FourFourTwo Adelaide United blogger also recently wrote, when referring to Vidmar, "we believe in you". It's a nice sentiment but I can't in all honestly echo the same thought.

All I can say is that I'm keeping an open mind, and hoping like hell he proves to be an outstanding coach. Time will tell whether he sinks or swims.