Soccer: Victory sack coach Durakovic

Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic has been sacked. Photo / Getty Images

Melbourne Victory have sacked coach Mehmet Durakovic just a day before their home A-League clash with Newcastle Jets.

Club chairman Anthony Di Pietro announced the sacking at a media conference on Friday, saying that assistant coach Kevin Muscat would take over as caretaker coach for Saturday's game.

But Di Pietro said Muscat was not a candidate to take over as head coach and an appointment was imminent and could be announced within the next 24 hours.

"We gave Mehmet every opportunity to achieve success this season but we found we were inconsistent and without direction," said Di Pietro.

He said Durakovic's position had been under review and the decision to axe him was not taken rashly.

Durakovic was sacked after a spluttering start which has yielded just three wins along with six draws and five losses.

The team has failed to gel despite a star-studded line-up including the acquisition of Harry Kewell and it is languishing in eighth spot on the 10-team ladder after three successive losses.

Durakovic, the former youth team coach, was only appointed fulltime in June after a stint as caretaker following the board sacking of longtime coach Ernie Merrick in March.

Under Durakovic, the Victory were competitive against the lower-ranked sides and struggled against the pace-setting teams.

- AAP