Kosmina resigns from Adelaide

FOXSPORTS.com.au
February 22, 2007 JOHN Kosmina today resigned as Adelaide United's coach after a tumultuous reign at the A-League runner-up and a week of controversy.

Kosmina tended his letter to the Reds board this morning, and made a statement this afternoon at Hindmarsh Stadium, the club's home ground.

He will be replaced by Aurelio Vidmar, the club's assistant, in the interim, but the full-time position will be advertised.

Ross Aloisi, who like Kosmina found trouble after this week after blaming the match officials for Adelaide's 6-0 defeat to Melbourne Victory in the A-League grand final on Sunday, was stood down as Reds captain.

He has been replaced by Angelo Costanzo.

Kosmina's decision comes off the back of Sunday's hammering against Victory, after which Aloisi and two teammates, Carl Veart and Michael Valkanis, were cited by Football Federation Australia for criticism of the referee, Mark Shield, and his assistants.

Valkanis faces his hearing tonight.

Kosmina was also in trouble a week prior to the grand final for verbally abusing the referee in the Reds' preliminary final victory against Newcastle Jets.

The now ex-coach called the official a "f---ing cheat" after his side won a penalty shootout to make the showpiece game at Telstra Dome, and was forced to watch the grand final from the stands after being handed a five-match sideline ban by the FFA.

Kosmina also served a ban earlier this season for a physical altercation with Kevin Muscat, when he grabbed the Victory skipper by the throat on the sidelines after being knocked off his seat accidentally by Muscat as he chased a ball into touch.

"The past few weeks have been harrowing for a lot of people," Kosmina said today.

"After a lot of soul-searching I am resigning as head coach of Adelaide United."

Kosmina said he would not be answering any questions today, before leaving the press conference in the hands of club chief executive Michael Petrillo.

But before that, he acknowledged his behaviour as a coach had, at times, been questionable.

"There have been times where my actions have got me into trouble and caused grief for a number of people, myself included," he said.

"For now I'm going to take some time out. For me a big part of life is about learning from your mistakes and I've learned a lot from mine."

Kosmina, 50, who was capped 60 times for Australia, said he would now spend more time with his family.

"I have five children that need me to invest a lot more emotional energy in them," he said.

"In conclusion, I'd like to wish the club and especially the players every success for the future."

Petrillo thanked Kosmina for his efforts, before announcing Vidmar would be the man that coaches Adelaide through its upcoming Asian Champions League campaign.

Nutcase. Both Aussie teams are really going to struggle in the ACL starting in March.

Yeah, I agree with that. I'm just hoping Culina is able to sort out a decent style of play, results are reasonable and we don't embarrass ourselves. As for Adelaide it'll be destabilising, but Vidmar should make for a relatively seamless transition, just so long as the players get on with it.

Hearing rumours linking Kossie with Sydney, but the noises from the Sydney squad are encouraging regarding Branko and it's clear they respond better to the less confrontational style of management. I hope Culina can do enough to get the job full-time ahead of expensive imports and certainly ahead of Kossie who if nothing else is proving to be a PR liability - we don't need that at Sydney with the dramas we've had.