A-League: Melbourne Victory appoint former star Grant Brebner as interim coach
A two-time A-League title winner with Melbourne Victory has been appointed as the club’s interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Melbourne Victory
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Melbourne Victory championship winner Grant Brebner will be the club’s interim head coach for the rest of the A-League season.
Brebner, a dual championship winning player with Victory, takes over from Carlos Salvachua who chose to return to Europe when the season was suspended.
A date for the restart of the A League season is yet to be confirmed.
Having been at the Victory since 2006, Brebner had been an assistant to Salvachua and will be joined by the club’s W-League and Academy Head Coach, Jeff Hopkins, in taking charge of the men’s program
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The Victory squad will return to training next week in preparation for the planned resumption of the 2019/20 season commencing in mid-July.
Brebner said he was looking forward to getting the team ready for the resumption of the season.
“It’s obviously been a challenging few months, so it’s great to get back to work and start preparing to play football again,” Brebner said.
“This season hasn’t unfolded as planned, but over the coming months the focus for the team will be to enjoy what we do and play tough attacking football, which is what our members and fans expect.
“This was the philosophy drummed into me as a Victory player, and I really want our players to play with freedom and embrace the brand of football our club has been known for over the past 15 years.
“We have a great opportunity over the coming months to lay some strong foundations which the next head coach can then build on next season.”
Victory was struggling under Salvachua, languishing in 10th place with just five wins from 212 games when the A League season was suspended.
Captain Ola Toivonen has also left the club during the break, also choosing to return to Europe.
It’s unclear if Brebner is in the running to be the Victory head coach beyond this season.
Club CEO Trent Jacob said the recruitment process was ongoing.
“With respect to the search for our next A-League head coach, the recruitment process is progressing and remains on track. We will provide a further update in due course,” he said,
“It is not our intention for the successful candidate to be involved in the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, therefore they will be officially taking over in preparation for the commencement of the 2020/21 pre-season.”
Originally published as A-League: Melbourne Victory appoint former star Grant Brebner as interim coach