Victory announced they had begun the process of searching for their next permanent Head Coach on Tuesday, around four months after the club parted ways with German Marco Kurz after just 13 games in charge of the club.

Even before the coronvirus crisis, the task facing whoever took up the Victory mantle was shaping to be daunting.

Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
In one of Real Madrid's most outstanding performances at the Camp Nou, Los Blancos beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Supercup. Real were leading 2-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute goal, but just before the final whistle, we sealed the win with this beautiful Marco Asensio strike.
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The club sit second-bottom of the A-League table and nearly 20 players – including Ola Toivonen, Lawrence Thomas, Tim Hoogland and Andrew Nabbout – come off contract at the end of the season (whenever that may be).

Victory Chief Executive Trent Jacobs said that while the club understands that ambiguity surrounds the current state of football, the club felt it was important to get the process started in order to find the best candidate – either domestic or foreign.

“We understand the uncertainty but from our perspective, we feel that time is of the essence, we want to secure the best coach and we want to have enough preparation time,” he told FTBL.

“As it stands at the moment we probably haven’t set the start date for the role but we recognise that there’s a lot of work ahead in developing our roster and shaping our program and while there’s uncertainty, we felt it was timely

“We understand the uncertainty around the world at the moment and the variations of the impact that COVID-19 is having in different parts of the world but certainly want to look at all of our options.

“From our perspective, when we look at the candidates that come to us, if we’re leaning to an international coach at that point in time we’ll work with the government and health authorities, look at all the regulations and liaise with immigration and legal to manage that process.

“But as it stands now, it remains completely dynamic and what it looks like in six to eight weeks, we don’t know. So, and I think what we will do is keep our options open and assess at a later point.”

A former assistant to both Kurz and Kevin Muscat, Carlos Salvachúa had taken over as interim boss following the departure of Kurz, and Jacobs confirmed that the Spaniard would be considered for the full-time role.

“We’ve had discussions with Carlos, who was contracted to the end of the season and he certainly intends to put his name forward and will certainly take part in the process,” he said.

The A-League has been suspended since March 24, with no official word from the FFA on when play is set to resume. 

Reports from ESPN, however, have pegged July 1 as the date that clubs are likely to return to training, with August 1 a likely resumption date of games being played in a centralised, hub location. Before then, issues such as player and staff welfare, broadcasting arrangements, and A-League player contracts – which had originally been set to end on May 31 – will all need to be settled.

One player who will not be returning though is Jakob Poulsen, who posted a farewell to Australia on his Instagram on Tuesday.

FTBL understands the Dane, who signed a one-year deal ahead of the 2019/20 season, told Victory he wants to retire and return home, and the club is happy to accept
"on compassionate grounds".

“I think the discussions over the course of May that we’ll be had with the FFA and league and the clubs and the PFA will certainly shape the next phase of sort of the football operations component and how we conclude the 2019/20 season," said Jacobs.

“It’s fair to say that they’re not resolved at this point in time but discussions are being had around setting up of training in that mid to late June window and moving towards concluding the remaining five rounds into finals.

“There’s much work to be done over the coming two to three weeks. But at the moment it still remains a little uncertain, there’s a lot of work to have our rosters ready to conclude the season.”

Jacobs also confirmed that, despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of football in Australia, that Victory’s W-League program remained a priority for the club heading forward.

“As it stands, going forward, our W-League is a very important part of our club and will continue to be so in the future,” Jacobs said.

“I’m not clear on when the program and the season will launch for 2021 but I can assure you that our women’s and the development of our girl's program in the future remains an integral part of what we’re about.”