Melbourne Victory captain Roderick Miranda on the club’s transition to a new coach

Melbourne Victory have endured a challenging period on the pitch since head coach Patrick Kisnorbo resigned mid-season. Now, the skipper has opened up on the coaching transition.

Melbourne Victory captain Roderick Miranda has lifted the lid on the club’s difficult two-month period following the departure of manager Patrick Kisnorbo.

Victory won five of their opening seven games of the campaign, but have only managed two wins in nine since Kisnorbo’s shock exit.

Despite being fully supportive of assistant-turned-head-coach Arthur Diles, Miranda admits the transition stunted Victory’s early season progress.

“When we are in a bad period, sometimes changing the coach is a good boost for the players. But when you are in a good moment, changing the coach sometimes can break (the momentum) a little bit and that happened with us,” Miranda said.

Former Victory manager Patrick Kisnorbo. Picture: Getty Images

Current Victory manager Arthur Diles. Picture: Getty Images

“Even if he (Diles) was here before, every coach has his different ideas, a different approach to the game and it takes time of course.

“It was not maybe the best transition, it was a little bit short notice.”

Victory seemed to have regained their groove, securing back-to-back wins, before last weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Newcastle brought them crashing back down to earth.

The club sit sixth on a congested A-League Men table where just five points separate third from ninth spot.

Miranda hopes the Newcastle loss is just a bump on the road to Melbourne climbing back up the ladder and competing for silverware.

“It is a setback, but it doesn’t stop us to believe that we are now building a good period again under a new coach,” he said.

“Everybody in the club is really comfortable, believing that we can get back on track like the start of the season.

“The A-League is about momentum. We need two or three games to just go back to the top two or top three and everything is still possible, but we need to just make sure that each game is like a final for us.”

Roderick Miranda is confident that Victory can still compete for the title. Picture: Getty Images

In his second season leading the playing group, Miranda has no doubt that his squad is cohesive despite the campaign being an interrupted one off the field.

“To be honest, it’s a really easy group to handle,” he said.

“Everyone is really in tune, really respecting what Melbourne Victory represents to everybody, it’s been an easy job on that matter as captain.”

The likes of Bruno Fornaroli, Daniel Arzani and Reno Piscopo have been starting recent matches on the bench, highlighting the depth of talent at the club.

While pleased with the competitiveness at training for a place in the starting 11, Miranda is frustrated they haven’t been able to achieve more on the pitch.

“We have that in our minds that we should be much higher, especially if we look at the quality we have in our squad,” he said.

“It’s easy to find excuses … but we should have much more points.”

The quest to pick up those vital points continues on Friday night against Wellington at AAMI Park, where Victory are celebrating 20 seasons in the A-League.

Originally published as Melbourne Victory captain Roderick Miranda on the club’s transition to a new coach