Sydney FC name Talay as head coach

SYDNEY (Reuters): Sydney FC named Ufuk Talay as their new head coach on Wednesday, a day after sacking his former team mate at the club Steve Corica in the wake of their poor start to the A-League season.

Talay has been charged with reviving the fortunes of the five-times Australian champions, who lost their first three matches of the new campaign without scoring a goal.

“Ufuk is a talented and dynamic coach who will bring his positive, attacking style of football to Sydney FC,” club chairman Scott Barlow said in a news release.

“He has proven he is an astute tactician with excellent player management skills, and he has the ability to bring the best out of our young squad.

“As a former Sydney FC player and coach, Ufuk is well aware of the high expectations and targets we have at the club, and we believe he is the right man to achieve them.”

Talay was an assistant to Corica at Sydney FC before taking over at Wellington Phoenix in 2019 and leading the New Zealand club to their first top-three finish in the A-League in his first season in charge.

He enhanced his reputation for getting his team to play attractive, attacking football over three further seasons in charge despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 47-year-old left the New Zealand capital at the end of his contract in April and has since been working as an assistant to Australia coach Graham Arnold.

Talay, a former midfielder, has Turkish heritage and had a lengthy stint at Galatasaray during a playing career that included spells as Corica’s team mate at Marconi Stallions and in Sydney FC’s first three seasons of existence.

“I’m very happy to be coming back to Sydney FC for a third time, and I can’t wait to start working with the players tomorrow,” he said.

“I have won a championship as a player and as an assistant coach here, and now I want to do it as head coach.

“This is Australia’s most successful club, and it matches my own expectations of challenging for league titles every season.”