Tony Ising was an integral part of the club’s beginnings in 2005. He is credited with coming up with the name "Melbourne Victory" and later becoming the club’s media manager.

The brand and communications expert left the A-League outfit in 2008 after three and a half years at Victory.

Ising remains a passionate supporter of the club and said the board must have strength in their convictions if they are to see the club through these turbulent times.

“It’s a great club, a beacon if you like, for football in this country," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“I hope the club can see through its course. It needs to bunker down and believe in the course they’ve set and be strong in times of adversity.

“If you look at season one at Victory, it didn’t go well and there was plenty of talk about the club.And of course everyone's got an opinion on Melbourne Victory.

“But in a way it was a rallying cry for the club and the supporters. There can be strength in adversity.

“Many were calling for Ernie’s [Merrick] head in the second season but they went on to have the most successful period of any club.”

The current Victory soap opera is a tale of sackings, talk of rifts and a team struggling to find its feet despite one of the best attacking arsenals in the A-League.

This week Victory sacked Francis Awaritefe after just months into his tenure in a newly created role of football director.

And last night star signing Harry Kewell reportedly sacked his personal manager Bernie Mandic after 17 years and has now hired his own personal club coach in Argentine Abel Balbo.

The team is struggling to find a winning formula which is putting a huge amount of pressure on rookie coach Mehmet Durakovic and club great, and now assistant coach, Kevin Muscat.

“I love the club but I don't want to add my dissent as I've been out of the game for a while. I hope they can see this through, they have to get it right,” Ising said of a club generally regarded as the biggest in the A-League.

But he added a parting shot at the board who took the decisions to hire the current football department.

“If stability was important to the board then they wouldn’t have got rid of the most successful football department in the league.”

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