"It’s good for me – but it's not so good for you". These are the words that Football Federation Association chief executive David Gallop said to Matildas coach Alen Stajcic in November last year when a new board was installed.
Months before that, an FFA board member warned Stajcic that powerful forces within the game wanted him sacked and replaced with a female coach. "They're out to get you," he was told.
In the dark: Sacked coach Alen Stajcic has not been made aware of any specific allegations.Credit: Brendan Esposito
Last Friday, the predictions came true, at least in part, when Stajcic – one of the most successful coaches in the team’s history – had his contract torn up five months out from the World Cup following two surveys allegedly painting a "toxic culture" within the national women’s team.
According to numerous sources, Stajcic’s messy departure has exposed the tangled web that exists around one of Australian sport's most loved sides.
They talk of a divided team environment, riddled with cliques, made even more complex by the fact that some players have been in relationships with each other. They talk of some players thriving under Stajcic’s demanding coaching style while others have complained about a "bullying" culture in which they were "scared to make a mistake".
And they talk about the coach being undermined by a "witchhunt" that has been underway for many months to push him out of his job. All of this has happened against the backdrop of a successful team that should be genuine contenders at the World Cup in France in June.
Heather Reid: 'To suggest that I have orchestrated his demise and that I’ve influenced the board members is an insult.'Credit: Jeffrey Chan
On Tuesday, there was plenty of finger-pointing, leaked reports, spats on Twitter and revelations on strongly worded blogs about Stajcic’s demise and how it had been handled by head office. Whoever at FFA thought sacking the coach and revealing only vague details about the reasons was a good idea should consider a career change.
Stajcic had no idea when contacted last Thursday by a reporter that he was about to be sacked. He was given scant detail by Gallop on Friday about what was revealed in the Professional Footballers Association and Our Watch reports and even less at a meeting on Saturday.
In other words, the Matildas coach has been sacked — but he still doesn’t entirely know why.
One of the key figures in the saga is FFA director Heather Reid, who was part of the new board installed in November at the insistence of FIFA. She angrily denied to the Herald that she is one of the people behind the plot to oust Stajcic.
"It's absolutely not correct," she fumed. "It's so far from the truth. I have no grudge against Alen Stajcic. To suggest that I have orchestrated his demise and that I’ve influenced the board members is an insult. Not to me, but the whole board.
"I suggest that it's an ugly mess that some people in the media want to push against women of influence. Certain people in the game want to ruin the reputation of pioneers like myself and [former director] Moya Dodd and hard-working people like [FFA head of women’s football] Emma Highwood just to shift the blame somewhere else."
For his part, Stajcic and his family are crushed by the events of the last few days. The mere mention of Our Watch, an organisation that deals with domestic violence around women and children, paints all sorts of pictures. The body released a statement on Tuesday saying it had made no recommendations about individuals in its report to the FFA.
It's understood Stajcic will pursue the matter legally and is also keeping an eye out for defamatory comments as select football experts make accusations about a culture of homophobia, bullying and fat-shaming within his former side.
Explaining a mess: David Gallop addresses the media in Sydney after meeting Matildas players to discuss Alen Stajcic's suddenly sacking. Credit: AAP
There are also claims flying about relating to FFA board members leaking sensitive information to sections of the media to further discredit the coach. Ugly stuff.
The obvious question is this: what's he done? Nobody really seems to know. Because the FFA have told him they will pay out his nine-month notice period, they are under no obligation to tell him, or anyone for that matter, the reasons why.
It argues that the media should concentrate on why Stajcic was sacked, not who was responsible for it. But that’s difficult when it is not divulging much publicly in the name of "confidentiality".
"It's a pity that there aren’t more parents and players prepared to speak up about some of his behaviour," Reid said. "If people knew the actual facts, they would be shocked. I can refer you to some people who were involved with the Green and Gold Army who were in Jordan for the Asian Cup and talked to parents and heard their concerns about the welfare of their daughters. And talk to players about their situation in the team.
"The whole thing is getting extremely ugly by pointing the finger at certain women who have had a large positive impact on the game while people won’t look in the mirror or their own backyard."
Whether Stajcic oversaw a "toxic culture", as the FFA keeps saying, depends on who you talk to.
While more than a dozen players took to social media to say they were shocked about his sacking and didn’t want to see him go, it’s understood that some of the same players were critical of him in interviews with the FFA.
There's no doubt that Stajcic drove the team hard in the pursuit of success. Some players thrived in the professional environment, others felt he went too hard. Elite sporting teams are not for the faint-hearted, regardless of gender. Perhaps the claims around body image point to the problem.
Stajcic introduced skinfolds to the playing group but these stopped amid accusations of "fat shaming". Only the team doctor can now talk to the players about weight issues. Some would argue skinfolds are part and parcel of most elite sporting teams.
It is also understood that Stajcic struggled to deal with the complexities of several players within the team having relationships with each other.
The search is now on for a replacement. Reid has removed herself from the selection process given the accusations directed at her in the last few days.
"But I won't remove myself when a recommendation about a new coach comes to the board," she says. "That’s my right as a board member. It will be an open process to replace him. Whether it's a female is irrelevant. Men in the media are saying that. They are setting FFA up to fail. If the preferred candidate is a woman, they will rub their hands together and say, 'well, this is what they wanted'.
If people knew the actual facts, they would be shocked.
Heather Reid
"I'm sitting in semi-retirement on the Sunshine Coast, being accused of all this rubbish. Women have agendas and blokes can have opinions. We want the best for the team. That's all."
Finding a replacement is one thing but there is more still to play out in this story. Serious questions are being asked about the way FFA has handled Stajcic's axing.
"Are we done?" Gallop said at a media conference on Monday before being called back to answer more questions.
No. Far from it.