By Vince Rugari
The university of Ange has two new pupils.
Not for the first time, Ange Postecoglou has turned to Australian football to help bolster his coaching staff, hiring Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo – the brains behind the Central Coast Mariners’ stunning A-League renaissance – to become his new offsiders at Tottenham Hotspur.
Montgomery and Raimundo steered the Mariners to an unlikely 6-1 victory over Melbourne City in the 2023 grand final as head coach and assistant respectively, but left the club for what proved to be an ill-fated eight-month stint at Hibernian in Scotland.
Sacked after missing out on a top-half finish in the Scottish Premiership, they now have the chance to re-establish themselves within British football under Postecoglou’s watchful eye in his second season in charge of the north London club.
They will enhance an already strong Mariners flavour at Spurs, where former Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak, who began his professional career at the Mariners in 2006-07, has been on Postecoglou’s staff since his arrival at the Premier League club.
It continues Postecoglou’s longstanding commitment to providing opportunities to talented coaches from Australia who would otherwise not get a chance abroad, even if Montgomery and Raimundo are technically imports.
Ange Postecoglou has turned to Australia to bolster his coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur.
Born and bred in Leeds, Montgomery spent most of his playing career with Sheffield United before moving to Australia as an import player with the Mariners in 2012 and becoming a citizen in 2017. Raimundo is Portuguese and once worked at Benfica. He met Montgomery on a coaching course, followed him to the Central Coast when they first took charge of the club’s academy team, and then went to Hibernian with him.
Postecoglou has spoken glowingly about what they achieved at the Mariners, the A-League’s lowest-budget club who have shaken up the Australian game with their shrewd recruitment, attacking minded tactics and youth focus, helping unearth or further develop Garang Kuol, Nectar Triantis and Josh Nisbet among many others.
“Nick has done brilliantly in Australia,” Postecoglou said at a press conference last year when Montgomery was announced as the new Hibernian boss.
“He did a fantastic job at a club that it is fair to say in Australia is not considered one of the big ones and won the whole thing last year. He has done it in a great way where he has developed young players and great he gets the opportunity.
Nick Montgomery and Jason Cummings after the 2023 grand final.Credit: Getty
“I am glad people are looking beyond the obvious in terms of candidates, whether they are at their doorstep or on the other side of the world.”
Montgomery and Raimundo handed the baton on the eve of last season to Mark Jackson, who took the Mariners to a new level with an unprecedented treble, winning the A-League premiership, championship and the AFC Cup in one of the greatest campaigns in history by an Australian club.
The departure of Chris Davies to Birmingham City has enabled Postecoglou to add to his coaching staff, with the pair joining Jedinak, Ryan Mason and Rob Burch, while Matt Wells has been promoted to senior assistant.
Spurs finished fifth last season, missing out on UEFA Champions League qualification, but will be one of the favourites to win the Europa League in its new ‘Swiss system’ format, with teams from the Champions League no longer dropping down to play in the second-tier tournament after the group stage.
Harry Kewell (Yokohama F. Marinos), Kevin Muscat (Shanghai Port), Peter Cklamovski (FC Tokyo) and Ante Milicic (Chinese women’s national team) are among the former Postecoglou disciples who have branched out on their own in recent years.
Jedinak was reportedly offered the chance to succeed Tony Popovic at Melbourne Victory but turned it down to remain at Tottenham, paving the way for Patrick Kisnorbo’s controversial appointment on Tuesday.
In other coaching news, Alen Stajcic has also been confirmed as the new coach at Western Sydney Wanderers after parting ways with Perth Glory, who are expected to announce Sydney FC assistant David Zdrilic as their new manager later this week.
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