Ranked! Every A-League coach based on this season's performance

Even for the funhouse-mirror world of football coaching, the A-League was a rollercoaster in 2018/19.

All your favourite characters featured; there were giants slain and giant slayers, triumphant returns and prodigal beginnings, those who were over before they began and, of course, a few desperados hanging on til-the-death.

In our annual rankings, FTBL attempts to sort the deserving from the deserters...

12. MIKE MULVEY 

It ain't easy being yellow and navy, the song should have sung.

Not even a former A-League Championship winning coach could refloat the sinking Mariners, as Mulvey slumped to 17 losses and a 4.5% win percentage in 22 matches that must have felt like a lifetime. 

They certainly did for Gosfordians. 

First, combine player fallouts, a Usain Bolt fiasco, a plethora of untimely injuries, horrific defensive decision-making and an inane habit of coughing up losses from winning positions.

Then add a pinch of unstable finances, depressing crowd figures and absent backroom staff.

Finally garnish with Matt Simon as the sole striker and you truly have a recipe for disaster.

11. DARREN DAVIES

The former long-term Melbourne Victory assistant and Socceroos staffer is renowned for being one of the nicest blokes in football, but how does that saying about nice guys go again?

After many tipped Brisbane to be among the league leaders at the beginning of the season (probably those same blokes who tipped the Mariners to make finals), Davies must have sat in disbelief at the monumental mess he inherited from John Aloisi.

His first couple of matches in charge showed glimpses of hardy Welsh-fight to them, but after Melbourne Victory thumped Brissie 5-0 at home the wheels began to fall off...then they careened into other cars and burst into flame.

Perhaps the worst ranking isn't reserved for Davies at all, but the Brisbane Roar hierarchy (surely not the Bakries!) who seemed a little sadistic in allowing a clearly struggling Davies to flounder in the coaching role for 18 matches before eventually appointing Robbie Fowler.

Here's hoping this isn't the last we see of Davies. After all, what happens in Bris Vegas, stays in Bris Vegas...right?

10. JOHN ALOISI

The coveted 10th worst coach of the season award may have gone to Markus Babbel were it not for the Western Sydney Wanderers gaffer's face-saving fightback.

But unfortunately for Aloisi, especially given the Socceroo legend's strong previous season, he remained a prime candidate.

The former striker only won once in nine matches before succumbing to a 4-1 thrashing from Wellington Phoenix and understandably calling it quits.

Aloisi's declining fortunes at the Roar make for dismal reading: a 51% winning percentage in his first season quickly soured to just 11% in his final campaign.

We doubt it's the last we'll hear of Aloisi though. After all, we wake up to 'ALOISI SCOREESSS' every morning.

9. ERNIE MERRICK

Merrick was our coach of the season last year, a fairly flattering suggestion given Graham Arnold and Kevin Muscat's respective accomplishments, if you ask us. 

But we in the media love to build them up just to tear them back down again, so he takes the ninth-placed gong this time around. However, if there's one thing that rings true about Godfather Ernie, it's just when you think that he's out, he pulls you back in.

From the highs of Melbourne Victory's dominance to the lows of Wellington Phoenix and back again, Merrick's coaching career has been a rollercoaster of itself and this season was one of the scary parts.

We're not saying he isn't a fitting gruff ol' foreman to supervise a Newcastle rebuild, staggeringly soon after making the Grand Final, albeit. But it was a little unsettling watching such a well-drilled outfit descend so quickly into periods of disorganised chaos. 

Merrick's shoot-first, focus-on-tactics later approach turned a side renowned for their dazzling counter-attacking finesse into a slightly series of repetitive slogfests.

It also turned a banging MacDonald Jones Stadium back into Thursday nights at Eltham Library. For the sake of that wicked atmosphere, here's hoping the hunted can become the Hunter once again. 

8. MARKUS BABBEL

Okay, we're prepared to eat our hats a little on this one if the German legend finishes below Merrick's men again next season, but despite the 11 point gap between the Wanderers and Jets suggesting otherwise, we think Babbel had a better campaign.

It couldn't have been easy in his first season Down Under to remedy rambunctious stars and a disorganised squad still reeling from Tony Popovic's departure.

Not to mention tackling a challenge the Wanderers had never faced before: a cavernous atmosphere at ANZ Stadium.

Honourable mentions for the shards of glass and concrete wickets at Spotless Stadium but the less said about that the better.

What is worth mentioning is that Babbel's unique man-management focus on denigrating his players at every opportunity, for the most part, backfired badly.

But then something shifted in Wanderland, four wins and two draws from his final 10 games probably saving his coaching career. With a fresh-faced squad and a fresh-surfaced stadium next season, Babbel may be able to justify our (limited) faith in him. 

If not, we can just chalk the extra points down to those purple sweaters.

8. ALEN STAJCIC

When Stajcic was rolled out as the new Mariners coach, it beggared belief.

Firstly, if the allegations weren't to be believed, why was a coach who had been so successful at the pinnacle of women's football now taking a job at the Mariners?

Secondly, if the allegations were to be believed, if the Mariners were dealing with a crushing cultural problem, what was appointing Stajcic a few weeks out from the season's end going to do?

Fix it, turns out.

While Staj presided over some mixed performances to round out the Mariners' worst season on record, a thrilling debut win over Newcastle Jets, a series of tight defensive performances and a battering of the Wanderers to end the campaign signalled a miraculous shift in a club many thought were on the brink.

Where they go from here is anyone's guess. But perhaps no one should be surprised if the turnaround continues, after all, we're dealing with one of the highest pedigreed coaches in the competition.

Maybe the Mariners had to turn to the women's game to finally find their man.

7. WARREN JOYCE

One of the least-liked coaches in the competition by the time he was quietly shown the door, the stoic-yet-smiley City gaffer had a rough ride at Melbourne City.

The Australian figurehead of a polarising and somewhat faceless organisation - which has largely underwhelmed an Australian public crying out for marquee substance - Joyce was never going to get it easy.

But the former Manchester United staffer's sideways, sideways, backwards approach and habit of kicking out the club's best players left him little move to manoeuvre.

If his testy press conferences were anything to go by, it's likely that by the end he couldn't wait to get back to rainy nights at Old Trafford.

Saving Joyce from a tougher ranking were City's moments of tactical astuteness to rival any club in the league. But they were such an unpredictable club under the Englishman's two-year reign that they could be smashing Perth Glory one moment and losing to the Mariners the next.

Ultimately however, not even unpredictability could make Joyce's side fun to watch.

5. MARK RUDAN 

While Rudes' sudden surge in the coaching stocks may be a little overblown, the former Sydney United coach takes out fifth position on this list after a startling debut season.

He took a Wellington side that under Darije Kalezic didn't even look like they wanted to be in the competition and proved that Kiwis can kick a ball as well as the rest of us.

After an expectedly tough start to life across the ditch, his professional coaching debut quickly became a rollicking, mesmerising rise to finals contention.

Their mid-season record was among the best in the league, all kicked off by a thumping 3-1 win against Sydney at Kogorah, which arguably sprung the Champions into life.

The best part was the fiery, attractive football the Nix played along the way, born from Rudan's resurgence of fading lights like David Williams, Steven Taylor and Alex Rufer.

Of course, it all got a tad derailed by the Watergate-quality coverup of his Western United move. Next season will be the real test for Rudan.

But he may have single-handedly carved out greater opportunities for NPL coaches this season and that's worth getting excited about.

4. KEVIN MUSCAT

Season	Club managed		GM	W	D	L	W %	D %	L %	GS	GC

2018-19

Melbourne Victory

29

16

5

8

55.17%

17.24%

27.59%

54

39

This season will live long in the memory as the last for the single-greatest influence on any A-League club.

What Kevin Muscat did for the A-League giants was indescribable and he will continue to be commended for his achievements for many years to come. Bit of a stinker to end on though, huh?

It's not that Victory didn't have a strong season, they were clearly a level above the competition below them and rivalled Perth Glory for both goals and attacking chances throughout the season.

But that 6-1 loss was a remarkably limp end for such a gnarly Aussie battler.

There were also the Asian Champions League thumpings to take into consideration and while it's hard to justify leaving a season after winning the Championship, you get the feeling maybe Muscat's time was up.

Here's hoping he can get his mojo back. Well, at least some of it.

3. MARCO KURZ

You know that dream where you get sweet, sweet revenge on someone who wronged you? Or that feeling three hours after an argument when you come up with the perfect comeback?

Kurz had that feeling, but #irl. Like, totally.

Adelaide United's unseen new owners took a leaf out of the Leicester City playbook when they sacked their overperforming coach mid-way through a very decent season.

After coming from the Bundesliga just to get the sack from an underfunded, overperforming team in Radelaide, many other coaches would tell their bosses where to stick it and steal all the office stationary they could fit in their pockets.

Not Kurz, though. He took a combative Adelaide side on an amazing undefeated run, turning the likes of George Blackwood into matchwinners in the process, won the club a home final and then went within a Liam Reddy penalty-miss of the most unlikely Grand Final appearance in A-League history.

And while there were a few rumours abounding that the Reds players weren't exactly enamoured with Kurz's hardline metholodology, they tried to send him off with a bang, didn't they?

If that isn't revenge-dream worthy, we don't know what is. 

It'll be a very sad day for the A-League if the fiery German has said goodbye to our shores forever, with his exploits in the City of Churches worthy of the rocking atmosphere they created at Hindmarsh. 

Although a few fourth officials will probably breathe a welcome sigh of relief.

2. TONY POPOVIC

Tony, Tony, Tony...

It would be almost understandable if every blogger, journalist and mis-spelling YouTube commenter deriding A-League finals after Perth Glory's loss was secretly Popovic, hammering away at his keyboard through the tears while scoffing down pints of Ben & Jerrys. 

Three times the bridesmaid, never the bride. You'd think at this point the former Aussie centreback would be getting pretty sick of weddings, wouldn't you?

But in all seriousness, for a coach who had a phenomenal season and is clearly a step above when it comes to training methodology, man management and general tactical proficiency, the Big Dances are becoming a serious problem.

Is it nerves for Australia's man of steel? Perhaps at the risk of sounding ungrateful, we should instead focus on the man's incredible achievements this season in the West.

Single-handedly shifting Perth Glory's culture in a matter of months, commanding an incredible recruitment drive and playing fantastic football that culminated in 56,000 West Australians taking a day off from the mines and caviar to attend an A-League match.

Kudos Tony, better luck next time.

13. STEVE CORICA

Preeetty daaamn impressive pulling off an A-League Championship in your debut season, including a 6-1 thrashing of your biggest rival and a Grand Final heartbreaker for West Sydney's spiritual creator.

But dropping the trophy's rubbing it in a bit, surely?

In truth, Corica could prove a turning point in the A-League's history.

Sydney share the A-League Premiership and Championship records with Melbourne Victory, they share the stable ownership, funding and marquee status, but with Alex Brosque's retirement, they now lack that fiery figurehead that galvanises fans.

Steve Corica, the quiet, studious coach affectionately known as ‘Bimbi’, couldn’t be any further from Muscat’s demeanour.

The old English Championship abounds with stories of a virulent Muscat protecting his then-teammate Corica at Wolverhampton from booing or jeering fans. For every sinew of aggression Muscat encompasses, Corica is equally calm and measured.

But what they do share is loyalty and dedication. Corica, too, is a foundation player at Sydney. He also delivered two Championships as captain, including raising the inaugural trophy as goalscorer in the first ever A-League Grand Final.

He is similarly woven into the Sky Blues’ fabric, also choosing the slow, steady route; gradually progressing through the ranks at Sydney over eight years in youth, assistant and caretaker coaching roles before seizing the ultimate opportunity.

Now he’s endearing himself to his club’s fans just like Muscat.

If there is one thing the A-League learned over the past two campaigns, it’s that the big-two’s dominance is sort-of infallible. The A-League is a tale of two cities, but so far, Melbourne has always had the upper hand.

Yet as one legend departs, another is born.