Ange Postecoglou has opened up on his exit as Socceroos coach four years ago, saying a lack of change in the problems holding back the sport in Australia had “worn [him] down”.
Postecoglou is widely considered to be one of the greatest football managers in Australia and coached the Socceroos between 2013 and 2017, but departed after helping the team secure qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The 56-year-old was at the helm for the team’s 2015 Asia Cup triumph, and admitted that he’d hoped the win would kick-start changes that would help Australia become a world football powerhouse.
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When those changes did not happen as Postecoglou had hoped, he figured his time had come to move onto greener pastures.
“I had this real clear vision about what I wanted to do as national team manager that I thought would go a long way to – not that I had all the answers – but helping us open some doors to finding some solutions for our game,” he said in a wide-ranging interview on Stan Sport FC.
“The reason I was obsessed with winning the Asian Cup was because I thought that could be a watershed moment for Australian football because I think winning is everything. I equated it to the Euros. When a nation wins the Euros, irrespective of how strong a nation – could be a Denmark or Greece – it’s a seminal moment in that country’s evolution because, all of a sudden, they feel like they’ve achieved something.
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“I thought [that] would then give me the power and also allow me the opportunity and give us as a nation to stand up and say, ‘OK, this is who we are now’. I wanted us to be the Brazil or the Germany [of Asia] … and that was my starting point.
“I misread what happened, what the impact it would possibly have.
“Then through that [Russia] World Cup campaign, I felt we’d just gone back into that cycle again of not understanding what it takes to become a really strong footballing nation. It wasn’t just about qualifying for World Cups, it was about having an identity, believing in something.
“That was going to be my benchmark – from now on, don’t accept anything less than winning the Asian Cup every time, qualifying for the World Cup and being the number one nation in Asia. And I couldn’t find that golden key to open that up.”
Postecoglou is now the manager of Scottish powerhouse Celtic and has already enjoyed tremendous success in the role, winning 32 out of 44 matches in charge and leading the club to its’ 20th Scottish League Cup title last year.
Despite being miles away, the former South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory coach still retains his love for Australian football.
“Australian football’s so close to my heart. I said after I left the national team job, Australian football and me just needed a trial separation, just some space, because like a lot of people in Australia, it had worn me down,” Postecoglou said.
“I just want it to succeed so much. I want for us to become the football nation I know we can become, but the problems are so endemic in certain parts of our game that I found it really hard to break free.
“The answers I thought were there weren’t the right ones, obviously. And so moving forward, what does solve it? I just think we need constant scrutiny. There are some bright young coaches out there, some bright young people out there, we need to start tapping into them, and hopefully they’ve got the energy to make us the football nation I believe we can be.”
The 28-minute interview also saw Postecoglou bury the hatchet with Socceroos great and Stan Sport expert Craig Foster, 16 years after an infamous clash between the pair.
Postecoglou, then the Socceroos youth coach, had come on SBS’ The World Game after the team failed to secure qualification for the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. He took umbrage over Foster’s suggestion that he should resign due to a run of poor results, with the pair engaging in a fiery back-and-forth during the interview.
He was sacked as coach shortly after the interview and has since stated his belief that the ugly stoush had made him “unemployable” in the years that followed.
However, there were no ill-feelings this time around, with the Celtic manager beginning his interview by praising the work Foster has done for refugees in Australia.
“Just off the bat, Craig, great respect for what you’re doing over there, mate, in terms of the last couple of years with the refugees,” Postecoglou said.
“An unbelievable cause, an unbelievable effort from yourself, mate. Great respect.”
Foster replied by highlighting the history of Celtic, a club that has a proud tradition of being fuelled by immigrants.
“Their whole background and why the actual club was formed, to feed poor Irish immigrants, there was a purpose behind this club that stayed with it right to this day,” Postecoglou said of Celtic’s history.
“For me, that resonates strongly being an immigrant in our own country.
“South Melbourne Hellas, Melbourne Croatia, Sydney Croatia, all these clubs were set up the same way.
“They weren’t set up solely to be football clubs, they were set up to help people adjust to life in a new land.”