What do Perth SC and Chelsea have in common? Apart from both playing in blue, it would appear that both clubs have expectations that seem a little unrealistic.
News that the club parted company with coach Ronnie Campbell today has stunned many in local football circles. The team is due to play Sorrento in the Cup Final next weekend – a trophy they have not won since 2005 – and are sitting second in the league at the moment and almost definitely assured of a finals berth. The chance to win two trophies is just around the corner.
Many believed whoever took over from Graham Normanton would be grasping a poisoned chalice and it would appear that they could have been right.
Campbell, was hampered in trying to stamp his own mark on a team, as most of the ageing squad had already been committed to contracts for this season. In fact he was only able to bring in three new faces. Jason dos Santos was just finding the back of the net and looking an inspired signing when he injured his knee and then Dean Applegren was injured as well. Adam Bachiller has been outstanding, and young players like Vlad Naumovski were beginning to show their potential.
The club has suffered a great deal of injury woes this season with nine first teamers missing at the current time, and Campbell was forced to blood some youngsters who at the present time are not quite ready mentally for first team football.
What was sad and foolhardy, and hindsight is as they say perfect vision, was the fact that the club would not allow Ronnie to appoint his own assistant coach. Ronnie Campbell and Willie Kelly are what Brian Clough and Peter Taylor were at Nottingham Forest and Derby County, and to dredge up an alleged incident that supposedly occurred thirty years ago was both short sighted and detrimental.
Ronnie Campbell has always been a gentleman, and a man with high morals; he refused to talk to several State League clubs about coaching positions while they still had a coach in their employ. He did not deserve to suffer the fate he has today, he deserved to be allowed to see out the season and possibly win the success hungry club two trophies.
Ronnie we wish you luck in the future and hope to see you on the touchlines again very soon.
