Under Pressure?

With three losses in the last four games, is Adelaide United manager Rini Coolen under a little bit of pressure to revive his side's flagging fortunes?  In my humble opinion, not just yet.

Sure, the current state of play is not good reading but the circumstances surrounding the recent results must be taken into account before sticking the knife into the boss's back.  Our three losses have all come away from home.  The current run of games have seen the side play at home only twice in nearly two months.

One of those home games was a midweek game, in which they recorded a much needed win against Perth Glory before facing a rejuvenated Newcastle three days later.  The Jets proved their win against the Reds was not a fluke by running the top of the table Roar ragged and almost taking all three points off them.

United's injury list and the number of available players is frightening to say the least.  As it stands, the Reds have only one player available outside of a matchday squad of 15 from which to choose.  Coolen will be heartened by the recent acquisition of the club by the Gerard group (more on that later) and the prospect of being able to boost his squad depth heading towards the finals.

With a string of away games behind them (including this weeks match against the Heart) Adelaide will look forward to a nice run of home games in the second half of the season to try and keep themselves near the top of the table.  Or even better, on top.

The change of ownership last week was a welcome end to a saga that was threatening to derail a club that had done so well in its short history.  The FFA were getting a little antsy about having to maintain control of the club for too much longer and after a few failed attempts to get a buyer, the Gerard led group were able to negotiate a fair price for all concerned.

Rob Gerard is a shrewd businessman and already we have seen the broom come through the club and sweep out some of the "cobwebs" from the organization.  The ideas that the group have floated to reshape and revitalise the club are exciting and well worth getting behind.  Let's hope that this venture is successful for all involved and results in one of ths strongest sporting clubs in the country.

I hate to end this on a downer but in another piece of rotten luck in the last 18 months for Joe Costa has seen his surgically repaired knee give way in the NYL game with Perth Glory and require another knee reconstruction.

So sad for a young lad with enormous potential.  Let's hope his recovery goes well and he can get back on the park and show us what he can do.