Aurelio Vidmar secures permanent Melbourne City deal

Vidmar was thrust into the City hotseat just two games into the A-League Men season following the ruthless sacking of Rado Vidosic.

The 57-year-old Vidmar initially took the job on an interim basis with City announcing on Wednesday he would remain head coach until the end of the 2025/26 season.

"The importance of stability to our ambition of constant improvement cannot be understated," City's director of football Michael Petrillo said in a statement.

"Our success on the pitch in recent years has been the product of a City approach that has a stable, talented and ambitious football department at its core.

"Aurelio is a firm believer in the way we want to play football and is committed to instilling the high standards and behaviours that we expect.

"He lives and breathes the footballing methodology and philosophy of the club."

Vidmar steered City through one of their most turbulent seasons to date, snatching a top-six finish on the last day of the season.

The club fell at the first stage of the finals series, losing in a penalty shootout loss in a elimination-final defeat to Melbourne Victory.

It is the first time City have failed to reach a grand final since 2019 and Vidmar is eager to get the club back to that point on a regular basis.

"From the moment I joined Melbourne City, my goal has been clear - to get us back to where we should be," Vidmar said.

"We'll do that by getting the small things right and driving high standards every day; we've already made strong progress in this regard, but there's still much work to be done.

"Day one of pre-season can't come soon enough.

"I'm excited for the challenges ahead and can't wait to show our fans what we can do next season."

Vidmar's backroom team of Raffaele Napoli, Scott Jamieson and Sander Krabbendam have all been given new one-season deals.

Australian Associated Press