Western Sydney Wanderers in no rush to appoint replacement for Markus Babbel
It’s been two years of failure since Tony Popovic walked out on the Wanderers, and they’re in no hurry to rush in a replacement for Markus Babbel and potentially get it wrong again.
Western Sydney Wanderers
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Western Sydney will not accelerate the hunt for a new coach, with interim boss Jean Paul de Marigny likely to be in charge for the derby against Sydney FC on February 8.
With chairman Paul Lederer overseas until Thursday, club officials will wait for his return before designing the criteria to choose a replacement for Markus Babbel.
The shock around the club at the German’s departure was accentuated by an interview Babbel did with a German newspaper in which he denigrated the standard of football in Australia – though he did praise the club for the manner of his departure.
The club hierarchy is well aware it has a diminishing window to salvage the season, despite Lederer’s optimistic words about reaching the finals as he axed Babbel in the wake of a run of one win in 11 games.
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But in the absence of an immediately obvious candidate, a review process is expected to be undertaken to identify what kind of coach is seen as the right fit to end more than two years of failure since Tony Popovic quit in October 2017.
Western Sydney have a bye this weekend and then travel to face the Mariners – below them on the table but only by one point currently – on February 2, before facing league leaders Sydney FC in the derby on February 8.
The goodwill extended towards Babbel diminished a little following his comments in an interview with Sport1 in Germany, in which he said that the A-League’s “football level is poor … now I can say it without being punished for it”.
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Babbel defended his coaching record and slated the standard of refereeing in Australia, as well as mounting a fierce defence of assistant Jean Paul de Marigny, who reports had accused of undermining him.
Babbel revealed the highly charged nature of the moment he was dismissed by Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas.
“He couldn't really look me in the eye,” Babbel said. “I had to calm him down and just said, ‘John, don't worry. I know how it works. At some point you have to pull the rip cord.
“When I said goodbye, I felt a lot of emotions. I noticed that I left footprints. It wasn't just a business relationship, it was more.”