Perth Glory coach Tony Popovic hoping A-League grand final against Sydney FC is fourth-time lucky
For a coach who’s contested three previous A-League grand finals and won none, there's nothing certain about Tony Popovic’s unfinished business.
Tony Popovic had his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes as if in hope that when he opened them it might magically all be over.
Perth Glory were locked at 3-3 on penalties in last week’s A-League semi-final against Adelaide United, having ceded a 2-0 regular-time lead and then a 3-2 extra-time advantage.
And Popovic, a man of system and method, was making obvious his dislike for lotteries.
“I was thinking ‘please score, please go through, please save it Liam,” Popovic recalls.
“You go through a lot of different emotions. Adelaide just wouldn’t go away and kept coming at us, credit to them.
“We got kicked in the guts a few times in that game, then we’re down 3-1 in the penalty shootout.”
By the time Liam Reddy pulled off his fourth penalty save, a gum-chewing Popovic was back on his feet pacing, right up until Joel Chianese’s winning 5-4 spot-kick confirmed the premiers as grand finalists.
After the raw relief had eased, he went and told club chief executive Tony Pignata that was probably the harder finals match they’d play.
“Because it’s a one-off, it’s cut-throat,” Pignata says.
But for a coach who’s contested three previous grand finals and won none, there's nothing certain about this unfinished business.
Long-time friend, brother in law, and former teammate Ante Milicic was Popovic’s assistant coach for the first two of Western Sydney’s near misses, against Central Coast in 2012-13 and Brisbane Roar the following year.
He then watched from afar as the Wanderers lost a third decider to Adelaide United in 2015-16.
“I know what he’s like and he’ll probably hate me saying this,” Milicic says.
“But gee I just hope he wins this A-League grand final just to get it out of his system.
“Perth and the Australian public should be privileged they’ve got a coach of that calibre in the league.
“This is just the missing thing, and would love to see him win it. He can tick that off and then he’s fine.”
Popovic himself is more philosophical. Does this time feel different?
“I don’t know about different,” Popovic says.
“But one thing that’s the same is I still feel privileged to be in the final.
“Regardless of what happens on Sunday this is still a longer-term project, because the goal is always to become a team that challenges on a regular basis.
“To be a Sydney FC or a Melbourne Victory I feel you probably need three to four years at least of sustained challenging for titles to be deemed in that bracket as a club.
“A big team is one thing but a big club is something else. We’re a small club that is playing as a big team. There’s a big difference.
“What we proved this year is we can mix it with the big clubs, so our dream is alive.”
Sydney FC’s is too, and while regular-season statistics only mean at this point, they’ll draw confidence from Popovic’s less-than-desirable record against the Sky Blues.
His Sydney derby results card while at the Wanderers reads four wins, seven losses and four draws, and this season Perth have twice lost to Sydney and beaten them once.
“If you look at results, okay they’ve beaten us in Perth and they’ve beaten us twice, that’s something you can jump on," Popovic says.
“And the semi-finals are one-off games so it’s hard to take a lot out of that semi against Victory (6-1 Sydney win).
“Stevie has done a wonderful job coming in after Graham Arnold. It’s not easy coming after a very successful coach.
“We’re good friends and go back a long way. Of course, we both want to win on Sunday and that’s how it should be.”
While a championship has so far eluded Popovic, the very fact the ex-Socceroos defender has made it to four grand finals from six seasons in the A-League – not to mention a Premiers’ Plate and Asian Champions League trophy – is an achievement that puts him up among Australia’s most successful managers.
It’s why Perth bosses say there was only ever really one candidate to rebuild the team this campaign.
And why, even back in 2012 before Popovic had ever held a permanent head coaching role, the Wanderers’ inaugural executive chairman Lyall Gorman made a beeline for the then Crystal Palace assistant.
“When we were putting the Wanderers together I knew there was only one person I wanted as founding coach of the Wanderers,” Gorman says.
“That was Tony, and I knew that from day one. Despite people thinking I canvassed the market, I didn’t do that at all.
“You saw the results he brought to that club in its formative phase. I don’t believe anyone else in the game of football could have achieved what he did.”
It didn’t make losing that first big dance any easier.
“It felt like shit,” Gorman says.
“There’s no more gut-wrenching feeling. The clichés of you got there and it was a great effort first year, that all falls away.
“There was pride for the playing group we both knew we had to recognise, but the raw emotion of losing is never easy. It only got worse the year after.
"Tony wasn’t a man of many words after a game. Very reflective, very thoughtful. He would always gather his thoughts rather than shoot from the hip. I know we shared a collective pride. But losing grand finals, they sit with you.”
Popovic has previously said that second defeat was tougher to take than the first.
That was, of course, before the third, a few days after the Wanderers overcame the Roar in a similarly dramatic extra-time semi-final win.
In many ways, though, this most recent semi-final triumph over Adelaide made for the best preparation possible.
“We overlook a little bit how strong we are, how resilient and mentally tough we are,” Popovic says.
“Because I’ve seen a lot of teams crumble in those situations. We didn’t do that. I’m sure that will help us on Sunday.”
Popovic said the same thing to his players, then told them to go and enjoy the week.
Well, to a certain extent.
The 45-year-old’s approach preparation is infamously diligent. Painstakingly particular. Formidably demanding.
To the point that, by the time matchday rolls around, he’d be a picture of zen.
Former Wanderers captain Robbie Cornthwaite once revealed you could sometimes catch him reading a book pre-match in the changerooms.
“He’s so calm,” Pignata says.
“That transcends through the whole squad. He never gets flustered. You never see him lose his temper. He’ll get angry if things aren’t working out on the field, but he’s very personable.
“And that can have a big influence in a tough situation.”
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