Following on from South’s announcement of Sinisa Cohadzic as the club’s caretaker coach, we asked South fans if they were supportive or not of Cohadzic’s appointment.

From the 20 votes we received 60% voted yes, they were supportive of the appointment and he will keep us in the NPL. 40% voted no, we needed a bigger name.

That’s probably a fair assessment of the current atmosphere, one where most are giving Cohadzic the benefit of the doubt. He isn’t a big name but he has a history with the club and seemingly a lot of goodwill stemming from his 5 years as technical director.

One of the more positive fans takes on twitter explained that the club’s preference for (essentially) an internal promotion reflected well on our culture, and was a move against self-interest and club swapping that happens elsewhere in the league.

Voices on the NPL Victoria Podcast were less positive about the appointment, calling it a big risk and noting Cohadzic’s lack of senior football managing experience. Some fans echoed this sentiment with the appointment even being labelled as the club doing an ‘Uncle Buck’, that is, exhausting all other options and being left with the last pick.

In regards to the NPL Victoria Podcast, they were however glowingly positive about Cohadzic’s fashion game. Thankfully his form is true in this area with the coach donning an embroidered South Melbourne FC blazer at the Bentleigh game.

As well as locking in some nice drip since his appointment, Cohadzic has also won a game with South and we have also seen both Melbourne Knights and Port Melbourne part ways with their coaches. Have any of these activities changed public sentiment about Cohadzic’s appointment?

In regards to the game, not really, which is a good thing. South 2-1 extra time win against Bentleigh may have been a scrappy Cup win, but it seems no one is extrapolating too much from this game. The biggest issue about the performance is the injuries to Brennan and Marshall which will simply make Cohadzic’s job a little harder.

What about the NPL coaching movements? Well, neither Franjic nor Markovski would have been seen as potential South candidates, however this could open the door for rumoured candidates to face South in the NPL. Should De Amicis or Lozanovski step up at the Knights or Port they will face South in the next few weeks… the result of which will create some potentially headache inducing what-ifs.

Finally there is an understanding amongst supporters that this appointment is until the end of the season only, which helps swallow the fact that Cohadzic is not a big name. With the possibility of a big name arriving ahead of the Championship, fans appear to be ok with the Cohadzic appointment as long as he can help us avoid relegation.

So overall how has the appointment been received? Overall marginally positive with most fans reserving judgement until more football is played.

From us, we wish Sinisa all the best for the season!