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There is a buzz in Macedonia Park. Perth’s season is slowly but surely gaining confidence and the results – however hard fought for – are coming.
The genesis of the 2022-23 season featured a series of unfortunate events for the Glory. Home matches were moved to Macedonia Park whilst HBF Park commenced renovation. Dressing room drama resulted in the dramatic exit of Bruno Fornaroli, inflicting further damage upon a squad already lacking depth and experience.
Questions raged as to how and where the goals would emerge.
And, ultimately, the managerial inexperience of Ruben Zadkovich was too obvious to dismiss as a potential risk in Perth’s season ahead.
And yet despite the trials and pessimism that have plagued the Glory, Zadkovich has delivered a respectable managerial performance in the face of tremendous adversity. Currently enjoying a four-game unbeaten streak and sitting three points shy of the top four, Perth’s relentless style of football finally seems to be coming to fruition.
Glory fans deserve to be pleasantly surprised and enjoy the season for what it has been: courageous. With the exception of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of ladder-leaders Melbourne City in November, the Glory, even in defeat, find a way to grind out tight affairs.
Most excitedly, this transfer window has provided Glory fans welcomed news: the arrival of Socceroo Adam Taggart. Returning from Asia, he proved the difference in last week’s win against the Melbourne Victory, scoring two goals off the bench. Taggart, combined with the Williams’ brothers, will be weaponised by Zadkovich and utilised as the main source for goal-scoring.
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Another promising addition to this window is the experienced Jordan Elsey. A defender most A-League fans are familiar with, Elsey provides Zadkovich a physical and confident centre-back who brings silverware experience in both league and cup campaigns.
Finally, there’s the development of the manager himself. Zadkovich, the A-League’s youngest manager at 36, is responsible for some players even older than himself. Yet the impression gathered by the Glory players’ positivity and Macedonia Park’s crowd energy suggests a unity that can only derive from a leader who values the quality of togetherness.
Tactics aside, Zadkovich deserves plaudit for maintaining the players’ self-belief and determination, particularly following the club’s ugly fallout with Fornaroli.
From a wider Australian football perspective, Zadkovich’s emergence as a young and devoted football manager is encouraging.
Arriving on the professional scene as a young manager can be fraught with danger. A mentally draining job, to fail terribly can be a borderline traumatic experience and hamper development or, even worse, see one permanently depart from the game we love.
For Zadkovich – and the Glory – a curious future awaits.
