Melbourne Heart today announced that former Socceroo John Aloisi will take over from John van‘t Schip, for the next three seasons, as head coach.

Aloisi coached the National Youth League (NYL) side last term, his first appointment since retiring from the game. And like cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory - who appointed Mehmet Durakovic at the start of the last campaign - Heart have appointed a rookie coach. Durakovic, although, didn’t work out.

But does that mean Heart have set up Aloisi to fail like Durakovic?

No. And here's why. 

Aloisi has the honour of working with some of the top coaches in the world. The 36-year-old worked alongside van‘t Schip as assistant and NYL boss in the season that has just gone and learnt aplenty.

The former Socceroo sees the Dutchman as a calm character on the football pitch, and will continue the philosophy that Heart set up under JvS' tutelage. 

Man management skills are very important for tacticians and Aloisi, while playing under Terry Venables in the Australian National Team, gained the necessary requirements.

The 2006 World Cup hero was also lucky enough to play under Javier Aguirre and former Socceroos’ coach Guus Hiddink, which the South Australian has experienced and taken in their techniques.

He also informed reporters today that Ante Milicic will be staying on as his assistant, a partnership which could be made in heaven. Aloisi and Milicic, another former Socceroo, are also good friends off the pitch, which in an important factor in a successful side.

But with Sydney FC and the new West Sydney franchise without coaches, Milicic could be lured to his home town.

But the main difference between Durakovic and Aloisi is that at Victory, Durakovic had high expectations after signing Harry Kewell, Marco Rojas and Jean-Carlos Solorzano, whereas on the red side of Melbourne, Aloisi does not.

MHFC want to challenge for the A-League title and demand to be a successful club, like the other nine sides in the Hyundai A-League. However, the media and the public don’t expect Heart, under Aloisi's "hot Italian blood" temperament (as the former striker put it) to go all the way, which was expected with Victory.

All coaches of any club are under severe amounts of pressure and expectations are a major contributor. But if the press and fans don’t expect Aloisi’s side to go all the way. They may just have a chance as the underdogs.

Debut coaches don’t normally have the same authority in the change rooms like seasoned campaigners; however Aloisi’s aura from his playing days will ensure the playing group follows his instructions.

Compared to the other finalist this past season, Heart didn’t score quite as many goals as they should have. But Aloisi, who scored 27 goals in 55 games for the Socceroos, should be able to change that. The former Cremonese and Osasuna striker will be able to pass on his experience of playing in the big three leagues (the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A) to improve the effectiveness of the forwards.