Having seen their title defence fizzle out in disappointing circumstances, Melbourne Victory has welcomed back one of the men that played a part in their 2014-15 premiership/championship double.
Jean-Paul de Marigny will return to Kevin Muscat’s dugout, once more as an assistant coach having departed Victory after their double success a year ago for personal reasons.
He sought to return to Sydney and assumed a role with the Newcastle Jets, but de Marigny has headed back down south after just one season in the Hunter. His appointment has coincided with assistant coach Rado Vidosic departing Victory after one season as Muscat’s right-hand man.
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The former Marconi coach said he was grateful to be given the opportunity to return to Victory and was eager to restart life in Melbourne.
“Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory are the only clubs that I have worked for in the Hyundai A-League and I definitely have a passion for both,” de Marigny said.
“I leave Newcastle with a heavy heart, but the reality is that Donna and I want to restart the lives that we were forming when I was in Melbourne.
“I enjoyed working with Scott (Miller) and believe that he and his staff have set a good platform to work from next season.
“Now that I am in a position to return to Melbourne, I am extremely grateful to Kevin Muscat and the entire Melbourne Victory Football Club for offering me this opportunity.
“It was very difficult for me to leave Melbourne Victory after the success we achieved in the 2014-15 season, but I had family commitments I had to fulfil in Sydney and the club respected that.
“While there will be plenty of hard work to be done in the offseason, I am excited about the challenge and am looking forward to getting started.”
The excitement was shared by Muscat, who said both the coaching staff and playing group were excited to welcome de Marigny back into the fold.
“While it was hard to see Jean-Paul leave last year, we obviously respected his decision to return to Sydney,” he said.
“Jean-Paul was a key component of the success we achieved in the 2014-15 season, and the players and staff are excited to welcome him back.”
The changes to the coaching staff follow on from this to Victory’s playing squad across the past fortnight. Giancarlo Gallifuoco, Jesse Makarounas, Dylan Murnane and youth team captain Joey Katebian were all released.
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