Sydney FC are on the search for a new manager after announcing on Tuesday morning that they had parted ways with club legend Steve Corica.
The two-time premiership-winning coach departs his post after a successful five-year tenure at the club where he first started as a player in its inaugural season 19 years ago.
Corica’s position at the club had come under threat at the end of the 2021/22 season when Sydney failed to make the finals for the first time in five seasons before he produced an impressive turnaround the following season.
However, with three straight losses and no goals scored to kick off the 2023/24 season, the writing was on the wall for Corica.
Sydney FC legend Alex Brosque admitted whilst the timing of the decision came as a shock, it may have been an inevitable ending at some stage this season.
“I was shocked to be honest, I wonder if the decision that Melbourne City made last week… if that sort of thinking was behind it,” Brosque said on SEN’s The Global Game.
“To be fair, I do think that Corica has had an incredible five years, a couple of championships, premierships, I guess the unexpected part was that they are 0-3, that’s what leaves me scratching my head.
“They had such a good pre-season, (winning) the Australian Cup, they were scoring for fun this brand new side, and all of a sudden they’ve gone back to what we saw a lot (of) last year.
“(They’re) just struggling to crack open teams, struggling to create all that much and where that’s come from is beyond me.
“I understand that sometimes as players, as (a) coach things can just become a bit stale and I think that after five good years that he’s had there, I think the timing is right, there’s no point in dragging it out any further.”
Brosque also called out the current crop of Sydney players for their performances to start this season and not being up to the standards of the club.
“(Corica) has done a great job since taking over, he needs a new challenge for himself to test himself,” Brosque added.
“The players could do with a kick up the backside as well, I think they’re in part at fault to what’s happened, obviously a manager can only do so much.
“The players go out there and have to perform and they haven’t been, so they need to take a good look at themselves, over what they (have) put out over the last three weeks and understand that’s not good enough at this club.”
Corica played 106 games whilst coaching 179 matches across his 19-year span at the club, finishing up with five A-League Championships, four A-League premierships and two Australia Cups.