Ernie Merrick

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Personal information
Ernie Merrick
Full name	Ernest Merrick
Date of birth	January 3, 1953 (1953-01-03) (age 55)
Place of birth	Scotland
Playing position	Manager (former Defender)
Club information
Current club	Melbourne Victory
Youth clubs
	Sheelston Clyde
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1975-1978 1979-1984	Frankston City Doveton
Teams managed
1979-1984 1986 1987-1988 1989-1991 1992-2004 2005-present	Doveton (Asst.) Frankston Pines (Asst.) Preston Makedonia Sunshine George Cross VIS Melbourne Victory
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Ernest 'Ernie' Merrick (born 3 January 1953 in Scotland) Scottish-Australian, Ernie Merrick, is the current head coach for the Australian A-League football (soccer) team, Melbourne Victory.

1 Managerial Career
- 1.1 Melbourne Victory
  - 1.1.1 2005-2006 season
  - 1.1.2 2006-2007 season
2 Honours
- 2.1 Manager
3 External links

[edit] Managerial Career

[edit] Melbourne Victory

[edit] 2005-2006 season

In his first season at Melbourne Victory in 2005/06, the club failed to live up to its championship aspirations. With Socceroos Archie Thompson and Kevin Muscat in the squad, and the experience of 2 European internationals in Geoffrey Claeys and Richard Kitzbichler, expectations from the Melbourne fans were high. But they were left disappointed when the club finished the season 7th out of the 8 teams. After a promising start which saw them 1st after round 8, when they beat eventual champions Sydney FC 5-0, the team then won only 3 of the last 13 games. In this poor run of form, Melbourne endured a spell when they didn't score for 7 hours of football.

Indeed there was a vocal section of fans unhappy with the way Melbourne performed in the inaugural season under Merrick. Despite this supporter unrest the Melbourne Victory, Merrick retained his job.

[edit] 2006-2007 season

A second season of underachievement never eventuated. The Victory won the 2006-07 A-League Premiership, 12 points clear of second placed Adelaide United. Melbourne faced Adelaide in the A-League Grand Final at the Telstra Dome on February 18, winning the match 6-0 with Archie Thompson scoring an incredible five goals.

The 2007-2008 season was a return to the disappointment of Merrick's first year in charge however, with the team finishing outside the Top 4 spots and thus failing to progress to the Finals Series. This stark contrast in fortunes has been blamed by large sections of the supporters and the media on the loss of star playmaker, Fred, who joined MLS club DC United after the 2007 Grand Final, and Merrick's conservative approach to team tactics and selection.