Already this season has seen power shift at half the clubs in the A-League with the earlier departures of Perth Glory’s Ian Ferguson (sacked), Adelaide United’s John Kosmina (resigned), Brisbane Roar’s Rado Vidosic (relocated) and Ian Crook (resigned).

The rapid fire turnover has marked one of the most turbulent and demanding periods for A-League bosses.

The on-field standard may be on the up but so is the pressure.

In saying his goodbyes to the Sky Blues last November Crook said: "I just felt that it started to affect me and probably my health. I haven't enjoyed it for a few weeks if the truth be known. I feel like it's been a burden, a constant burden."

Earlier this year the Reds settled a lawsuit with former boss Rini Coolen whose parting shot was to call for a professional managers’ organisation, along the lines of the players union. The idea was backed by Professional Footballers Australia president Simon Colosimo.

Of the top 10 longest serving coaches in the Aussie topflight only two remain at the helm – Central Coast Mariners Graham Arnold and Melbourne Victory’s Ange Postecoglou, the latter earning his stripes with Brisbane Roar.

More than 40 coaches have filed through A-League clubs since the domestic comp was launched.

So who made the 100+ club, who's still there, and what names have been largely forgotten in the constant pruning at the top of the tree?

The list below is based on continuous A-League games at a club and does not include ACL campaigns (because of the ambiguity over who exactly was supposed to be in charge for some games) or pre-season matches.

Some coaches appear more than once. The dates in brackets refer to the first and last match led by the coach.

 

100+ CLUB

Ricki Herbert (Phoenix) 154 games (26 Aug 07 – 24 Feb 13)

Ernie Merrick (Victory) 151 games (28 Aug 05 – 20 Feb 11)

Lawrie McKinna (Mariners) 120 games (26 Aug 05 – 12 Feb 2010)

 

75-100 GAMES

Vitezslav Lavicka (Sydney) 89 games (8 Aug 09 – 30 Mar 12)

Graham Arnold (Mariners) 86 ongoing (5 Aug 10 – )

Ange Postecoglou (Brisbane Roar) 79 games (25 Oct 09 – 22 April 12)

Miron Bleiberg (Gold Coast) 77 games (Aug 2007 – 12 Feb 12)

 

50-75 GAMES

Aurelio Vidmar (Adelaide United) 73 games (25 Aug 07 - 12 Feb 10)

Ian Ferguson (Glory) 71 games (15 Oct 10 – 9 Feb 13)

David Mitchell (Glory) 68 games (9 Nov 07 – 3 Oct 10)

Frank Farina (Brisbane Roar) 67 games (17 Nov 06 – 11 Oct 09)

Gary van Egmond (Jets) 63 games (14 Oct 06 – 25 Jan 09)

Branko Culina (Jets) 59 games (9 Aug 09 – 13 Feb 11)

John Van’t Schip (Heart) 58 games (5 Aug 10 – 1 April 12)

 

25-50 GAMES

John Kosmina (Adelaide United) 49 games (26 Aug 05 until 18 Feb 07)

Gary Van Egmond (Jets) 46 games (30 Oct 11 – )

Rini Coolen (Adelaide United) 43 games (6 August 2010 until 16 December 2011)

John Kosmina (Sydney) 35 games (28 Oct 07 – 25 Jan 09)

John Kosmina (Adelaide United) 34 games (22 Dec 11 - Jan 2013)

Miron Bleiberg (Brisbane Roar) 33 games (28 Aug 05 - 11 Nov 06)

Ron Smith (Glory) 32 games (26 Aug 06 – 2 Nov 07)

Ian Ferguson (Fury) 27 games (8 Aug 2009 – 13 Feb 2010)

Franz Straka (Fury) 27 games (6 Aug 2010 – 13 Feb 2011)

 

10-25 GAMES

Pierre Littbarski (Sydney) 24 games (28 Aug 05 – 5 Mar 06)

Terry Butcher (Sydney) 23 games (27 Aug 06 – 2 Feb 07)

Richard Mooney (Jets) 23 games (26 Aug 05 – 17 Feb 06)

John Aloisi (Heart) 22 games (5 Oct - )

Ange Postecoglou (Victory) 22 games (5 Oct - )

Tony Popovic (Wanderers) 22 games (6 Oct 12 - )

John Adshead (Knights) 21 games (28 Aug 05 – 4 Feb 06)

Steve McMahon (Glory) 15 games (26 Aug 05 – 4 Dec 05)

Mehmet Durakovic (Victory) 14 games (8 Oct 11 - 4 Jan 12)

Frank Farina (Sydney) 14 games (2 Dec 12 - )

Jim Magilton (Victory) 12 games (13 Jan 12 – 24 March 12)

Paul Nevin (Knights) 12 games (Aug 06 – Nov 06)

Mike Mulvey (Brisbane Roar) 11 games (21 Dec 12 - )

Rado Vidosic (Brisbane Roar) 11 games (7 Oct 12 - 15 Dec 12)

 

U10s CLUB

Branko Culina (Sydney) 9 games (24 Aug 07 – 20 Oct 07)

Nick Theodorakopoulos (Jets) 7 games (27 Aug 06 – 8 Oct 06)

Ian Crook (Sydney) 6 games (6 Oct 12 – 10 Nov 12)

Mike Mulvey – caretaker (Gold Coast) 6 games (17 Feb 2012 – 25 Mar 12)

Alan Vest – interim (Glory) 6 games (29 Dec 05 – 05 Feb 06)

Ricki Herbert - caretaker (Knights) 5 Games (Dec 06 – Jan 07)

Barry Simmonds - interim (Knights) 4 games (Nov 06)

Michael Valkanis - interim (Adelaide United) 4 games (3 Feb 13 - )

Craig Deans - interim (Jets) 3 games (8 Oct 11 – 23 Oct 11)

Steve Corica – interim (Sydney) 2 games (16 Nov 12 – 23 Nov 12)

Alistair Edwards - interim (Glory) 2 games (16 Feb 13)

Stuart Munro – stand-in (Glory) 1 game (6 Feb 11)

Kevin Muscat – stand-in (Victory) 1 game (7 Jan 12)

Rado Vidosic – stand-in (Roar) 1 game (17 Oct 09)

Chris Greenacre – interim (Phoenix) 0 games (first anticipated 27 Feb 12)

*Tom Sermanni – (Gold Coast) 0 games (Mar 2012)
*Handed the reins by FFA but replaced by Mike Mulvey before coaching a match

Figures for existing clubs are taken from the Hyundai Media Guide 2012/13 and updated.