Asian Cup 2015: Ange Postecoglou’s ascension to top Socceroos job endured many pitfalls
ANGE Postecoglou’s iron-clad self-belief was forged seven years ago and just eight kilometres from where the Socceroos face their date with destiny on Friday night.
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ANGE Postecoglou’s iron-clad self-belief was forged seven years ago and just eight kilometres from where the Socceroos face their date with destiny on Friday night.
A football pariah at the time, Postecoglou was desperate to stay involved in the game and — in contrast to some “academy” salesmen who take hundreds of dollars from starstruck parents — ran free clinics for talented kids at Kooyong Park.
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His wife, Georgia, carried the clip board as Ange did the coaching.
It was grassroots football at its purest, run by a man who’d won two Australian domestic titles and coached at three FIFA youth World Cups.
“I wanted to coach again but my reputation wasn’t great at the time,’’ Postecoglou said.
“People ignored everything I’d done in the game and focused on one or two isolated things.
“They said I’d failed at national youth level, and in Australia people are brutal about that. If a coach is perceived to have failed that’s it, where if you look at all the great coaches in the world they’ve had failures.
“Because I missed the bridge from the NSL to A-League everything I did in the NSL — four years for two championships and a semi-final — got wiped.
“I put a junior program together and knocked on some doors to paint a picture. It needed time and commitment from people and there wasn’t enough people investing.
“Psychologically it kept my spirits up.’’
Postecoglou’s downfall started with an infamous 2007 on-air slanging match with SBS analyst Craig Foster in which he was wiped as a failure despite 11 years of experience.
But Postecoglou leveraged his time coaching Australian youth teams to create the V-Elite program, which was based on France’s famed Clairefontaine academy.
The program ran in 2007-2008 and Postecoglou combined it with Fox Sports commentary commitments.
Though only running for a year, some of the program’s products include Melbourne Victory’s Jordan Brown, Young Socceroo Peter Skapetis (Stoke) and Matildas duo Ash Brown and Steph Catley.
“Considering what he’d done it was almost sad seeing Ange in this public park, with his wife alongside him taking kids’ names on a clipboard,’’ one parent recalled.
Postecoglou’s stocks couldn’t be higher right now, but the South Melbourne legend and former Socceroos left-back hasn’t forgotten the lean, lonely years.
“I remember the people that turned their back on me and didn’t really want to know me at the time,’’ he said.
“When I got the Socceroos job, that’s the main reason I changed my phone number, because the messages I got when I through were unbelievable (from) people who weren’t even in my phone.
“Yet when I really needed people the phone wasn’t ringing at all.
“But that’s life, you move on but I’ve never changed, and the biggest indicator is that my best friends when I was a kid are my best friends today.
“And people who I met later in life like Trimmers (Paul Trimboli) and Mikey Petersen, guys who are football friends, were there when things were tough.
“I’m not vindictive, you shouldn’t carry grudges, but you don’t forget.’’
Still hungry to coach at the top level, he accepted a job with third-tier Greek club Panahaiki before returning “home”.
Though Postecoglou was always confident of making an impact, he’s unsure if he would’ve got the chance if he didn’t bump into then A-League chief Archie Fraser in the bowels of Etihad Stadium in October 2009.
“I walked out to the car park after calling an A-League game and Archie Fraser was 30 yards ahead of me,’’ he said.
“I didn’t know Archie well and hadn’t spoken to him. I thought I’ll say hello and introduce myself.
“It’s not like me, I don’t usually do things like that, but I shouted out and he turned around and said he’d followed my career and good to see I was doing well on Fox.
“I said thanks, but if any gigs ever come up just let me know because I’m really keen to get coaching, I’ve got something to offer.
“The next morning Frank (Farina) got done for DUI so he rang me Saturday afternoon. He said he knew the Brisbane boys really well, the Coffee Club boys because they were funding half (Roar) at the time.
“The Monday I flew up and met them and straight away they said yep, this is who we want.
“I’m trying to think to myself if I didn’t bump into Archie that night, maybe I was just at the forefront of his head.’’
Another constant was wife Georgia and Postecoglou acknowledged that without her support his ambitions would amount to nothing.
“She’s been through the bits when I was unemployable so she’s seen how hard it is and how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am,’’ Postecoglou said.
“There is no balance, it’s crazy. Coaching’s a 24/7 profession in any code.
“What you need is a partner in life who understands, then you can live comfortably with that.
“You can be having dinner and want to switch off but in the back of your mind there’s team selection and you can’t help but think about it.
“I’m blessed because she loves football and understands. Even at home the weekend is A-League then Premier League then La Liga, so unless she goes into a separate room she watches it as well.
“One Saturday I also had the laptop out watching Tommy Oar play for Utrecht while there’s another game happening.
“She gets me back, she gets the iPad and goes online shopping, so that’s the trade off, it costs me a fortune but it’s a price I’m willing to play.’’
Pressure is mounting on the Socceroos at the Asian Cup with their world ranking plummeting to 100, but having been through adversity the man in the firing line casts his mind back to Kooyoong Park.
“It gives you perspective and that’s why I don’t get too fazed by criticism because I know the journey I’ve been on.’’
Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Ange Postecoglou’s ascension to top Socceroos job endured many pitfalls
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