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Agree that at the moment the clear local lead is Ali Edwards. BUT having him as assistant could be interesting - two men trying to coach the side...Me thinks that there would be strong "personality issues" between them. If the club is to hire an assistant then it would have to be someone that knows their stint will end along with JvS's stint. G Sibon has put his hand up on twitter so that may be a possibility. I am not sure what role Pantelides and Nus have at the club, and whether that is all that is required. Another option for an assistant is to get a successful youngish coach from the state leagues to be an assistant.

Although thy play different roles I would rather have Williams ahead of Kalmar or Hoffman. When he was playing in the midfield in place of Kewell he did OK certainly no worse than Kewell and he hasn't shanked a penalty this season. For me the team needs a good quality coach that can fit the pieces together. I will concede that he looked very good at NQF because everyone else was so poor so yes he did shine. And under JVS he did not flourish mainly because JVS's football is so rigid. However like the rest of the side, his performance has declined over the season.

Agree that O/S players need to be on the pitch every week and be a point of difference. Where I draw the distinction is the size/depth of the playing list. Basically the 23 player limit means that you get two sides + 1 extra in the A-League. The South American sides have anywhere from about 34 through to about 50. In effect three players for each position - even more if you consider that a player can play in more than one position. Hence non-performers can be dropped very easily. Also youth can be brought in cheaply. Here we can only promote players from the NYL if there is a vacancy in the seniors due to injuries/international duties. So although a coach may be able to assemble a quality side, players that are low in confidence can't be readily shunted aside. Mate Dugandzic was a much better player before the injury, so how does he get back to that good form? When Bielsa took over Athletic Bilbao they did not have the budget that the big clubs did but he did promote youth from within and had them playing as a cohesive unit very quickly. I am not sure whether he would be allowed to do that her in the A League.

I don't for one minute think that our owners are bold or ambitious enough to even approach Bielsa yet alone hire him and commit the funds, but I think that an appointment like that would be required to leap frog the other clubs and place us at the forefront of Australian club football, it all depends on our ambition. There is one other thing to consider as well with people like Bielsa and other O/S coaches. They are used to bringing in players within a budget. South American leagues do not have salary or player caps - just budgets. What we are actually saying to prospective coaches is that these are the caps and you have to work within these constraints. I am not sure how well they could cope with that. In my rather short affiliation with the A League I note that most O/S coaches have not won the either trophy (Sydney FC are the only team to have won honours with O/S coaches). This leads me to wonder whether they can work within such a constrained system. I also note that G Nus was quite surprised by these constraints. Bielsa, a very strict disciplinarian, likes to demote/promote players based on the fact that he does have other options. In a capped system he would be constrained. Having said that he has a very keen eye for spotting talented youth and the ability to develop them quickly. OTOH our players may not be hungry/desperate enough to meet his demands.

JVS wants a youth development job, this is where he will perform best. He may be a stop gap for now although I'd prefer a permanent coach if available. He'd probably also be good in JD's job although we'd then need someone to do the legal side. He's not a bold choice or even a wise choice for the permanent senior job I don't mind JVS as caretaker for the rest of the season. That would give the club (whomever may own it) time to be thorough with their search. FWIW They need to look at the youth development program in conjunction with the snior coaching position. So if JVS wants tobe the youth development coach/manager I would be happy. As for Bielsa his going rate is about $3M per season. he is also known as the "Madman" because he is simply mad. So when Gombau had a spat with the local media a few weeks back that would be an entree. If Sir Alec Ferguson threw a boot at Beckham that would be an hors d'oeuvre. And Bela you don't need to learn Spanish as I would quit my job and do it for a basic living wage to be the interpreter (I am already trilingual and will learn insanity on the job).