Robbie Slater: The FFA must fix the mess they have made by sacking Alen Stajcic

The Sunday Telegraph’s Robbie Slater has as simple message for the FFA: admit you made a mistake sacking Matildas head coach Alen Stajcic and fix it.

Former Matildas coach Alen Stajcic speaks after being sacked by the FFA during a press conference at North Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello

• The man most likely to replace Stajcic
• Inquiry looms over Stajcic sacking

On January 19, when Football Federation Australia made the incredulous move to sack Alen Stajcic, I wrote that unless there was a smoking gun the Matildas coach must be reinstated.

One month later the governing body has still not produced any damning evidence of Stajcic’s role in the alleged “workplace issues around the culture” chief executive David Gallop cited.

And it’s still not too late to give Australia’s most successful Matildas head coach his job back.

So my message to the board is this: admit you made a mistake and fix it.

CEO of the Football Federation of Australia David Gallop. Picture: AAP Image

Stajcic has the support of the Australian public, football fans and, most importantly, the majority of Matildas players.

Would it be unprecedented? Maybe. That doesn’t mean it can’t be a first.

In my opinion, this would be applauded by the Australian public and prove you have recognised the error and made the required move to right what has been an incredible injustice.

Because, let’s face it, this whole sorry saga has been calamitous, and it could not have occurred at a worse possible time.

The World Cup is now less than four months away and the Cup of Nations less than two weeks.

All talk should have been about preparations leading into France this June, in what was rightly judged as our best genuine chance at a tilt for the World Cup trophy.

Sure, we’re somewhat dark horses, but we boast some of the best players in the world in this current squad, players who had been thriving under the tutelage of Stajcic, the only Australian-born head coach to have won a match at a World Cup and somebody who has given his heart and soul to women’s football since long before it was trendy.

That man has been dismissed for a reason still clear to no one.

A decision hidden behind two surveys, run by two organisations that have both have publicly come out and said they did not recommend this form of action be taken.

Alen Stajcic is the only Australian-born head coach to have won a match at a World Cup. Picture: Getty Images

It was hard not to be moved by Stajcic’s press conference, a display of raw emotion that revealed just how big a toll this has taken on his family and his own reputation.

This is regrettable, and in my opinion, unforgivable.

Also heavily damaged throughout this process has been the reputation of FFA and its board.

That’s why I implore them to make the right decision, put this month behind them and show there is enough leadership and justice to lead this game into the future.

However this pans out, a new permanent coach should not be appointed before a full independent review to lay bare every detail of the process that led to Stajcic’s axing.

The job is now something of a poisoned chalice for any new coach given how successful the team has been under Stajcic these past four years.

There’s a feeling within the game that the only way to properly clear his name and reputation is to be reinstated. He still wants the job, give it to him.

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