‘A statement of our ambition’: Brisbane Roar unveils new coach just days after the club suffers embarrassing 8-1 loss

Ben Cahn has been unveiled as the new Brisbane Roar coach following the club’s embarrassing 8-1 loss to Melbourne City in the A-League last week.

The news comes after former coach Ross Aloisi joined Kevin Muscat at Chinese club Shanghai Port as an assistant last month and Luciano Trani was brought in as the interim boss.

The seven-goal defeat away from home was the equal largest in competition history and prompted Brisbane’s chief executive Kaz Patafta to address the club’s members and fans on Monday. He described the loss as “inexcusable” and said “a meticulous review” had been conducted into the football department.

Cahn was announced later that day on a two-year contract and will make his coaching debut against Sydney FC at home on Saturday night, with Trani to stay on as his assistant.

“I’m delighted to have been given this opportunity. I’m very grateful to management and the owners for backing me and trusting me to help them take the club forward,” Cahn said.

“The new management have done a fantastic job in a short time in the face of a lot of adversity to stabilise the football club off the field and I’m very excited to work with them to help deliver their vision for taking the club into the future.

“I’m well aware that it’s a challenging time. The players have had to deal with a lot of disruption but it’s a great time to set the standards for the journey forwards and for everyone to stand up and give everything.

“It’s a strong playing group with a strong mentality and I’ve got every belief we can continue and build on the positive early season progress and give everything to compete at the top end of the league.”

The Roar is seventh after 10 matches but has plenty of time to turn it around under Cahn, who has