Esteban Quintas is the name on everyone’s lips, but not necessarily for the right reasons. Three lost Grand Finals, a recent string of poor results, and an unattractive football style has put pressure on the South head coach. But let’s pause for a second. It’s a long season and two poor months is not the end of the world.

First, a little bit of context. In 2017 South came 2^nd, then Chris Taylor left the club, and then in 2018 South came 10^th, avoiding the relegation play-off position by just two points. Midway through 2019, Esteban Quintas came in as head coach and things started to turn around.

The 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled early due to COVID lockdowns but every year since, South has found itself near the top of the table. We cannot understate how bad things were in 2018. On a results basis, there is no other way to say this – Esteban Quintas restored the club’s status as a power house of Victorian football and even brought the club national acclaim by guiding it to the Australia Cup Semi-Finals.

Of course there is more to the story. Despite good results and silverware (2x Premierships and a Dockerty Cup) many fans have not been won over by the coach. This is in part due to three consecutive Grand Final losses (including a 5-0 loss to Oakleigh and a 4-0 loss to Avondale) and by the team’s unattractive playing style.

In recent years South have been playing direct football with a focus on set plays and long throws. It can be hard to watch when we’re winning, but it’s worse to watch when we are losing. Couple this with our recent poor form, and some fans have had enough.

However, we must counter with a point. This season will be 11 months long, and we have only seen a handful of poor results. Quintas has plenty of time to change things up. He was awarded the 2024 coach of the year for a reason, let’s hope he can turn things around and deliver a more attractive playing style, an improvement in form and eventually a Grand Final victory.