Ange Postecoglou fist pumping his way to the top

So, here we are football fans. We are less than 12 months away from a World Cup, our Socceroos have just been touched up in not one but two games, disharmony is rife in the squad and nobody knows who our best players are. Oh, and our coach has just been sent packing. This all sounds like pretty dire times indeed for our Socceroos, right? Wrong.

This is a great time for our Socceroos. Why you ask? Because right now we can make the changes that are so vital for the national team.

Merely qualifying for the World Cup had seemed to gloss over the fact that the qualifying campaign was less than convincing. Just making it to the biggest party on earth made people forget about the massive shortcomings surrounding the Socceroos including senior players past their use by date and youngsters who have not developed in a way we would have hoped for.  

Under Holger Osieck the team seemed to lack pride, drive and determination, three things we demand from our national team players. If any team in any league in the world suffers consecutive 6-0 losses the coach will almost certainly be relieved of his duties, so really it should not have come as a surprise that Osieck was sent packing. Now we have a manger to right the wrongs of the past.

For too long now there has been too many excuses and not enough solutions. Now this will end.

The man to take the Socceroos out of the doldrums and back to the promised land is none other than Ange Postecoglou. Postecoglou has been given the keys to the Socceroos machine and it is in need of one massive tune up before it is ready to hit the road again and if you ask me there is no better man for the job.

Postecoglou is a coach not afraid to make some big decisions. Not afraid to tell senior players that their time is up. Not afraid to clear the whiteboard and start over again.

Just look at his recent history at club level. The two previous clubs he was at he joined when both sides were at the depths of despair and managed to build them back up again.

Interestingly there are some serious similarities between the Socceroos now and the Brisbane Roar side he took over from all those years ago.

Postecoglou saw where Brisbane were at that stage and didn’t like it one bit. He knew which direction he wanted to take them and how to get there.

Craig Moore, Danny Tiatto and Charlie Miller were given their marching orders by Postecoglou and youngsters were put in their place. Postecoglou had no time or care for sentiment which paved the way for one of the most dominant and successful teams not seen in the game in this country before.

If Ange can get the Socceroos playing in the same vain as the Roar then suddenly Brazil 2014 doesn’t look so hopeless.

One thing you can’t say about Postecoglou is that he lacks passion. There are few people in this country that possess the passion for the game of football than Postecoglou. From the infamous on-air disagreement with Craig Foster to the fist-pumping embrace he shared with Melbourne Victory fans on the weekend, Postecoglou lives for the game and wants nothing else but to see it thrive in this country.

For Osieck and the like the Socceroos gig was merely a paycheck, a well-paid international gig without the media scrutiny and fan expectations of that of a European national team. For Postecoglou it is so much more.

Pim Verbeek said when he was appointed all those years ago that he wasn’t really that interested in coaching a national team but was given an offer too good to refuse. Call me cynical but I read that comment as “Well, Frank Lowy just kept on adding zeros to the contract until I couldn’t say no!”

Postecoglou would do the Socceroos job for a full tank of petrol and a medium Slurpee if it meant making a difference. For Postecoglou this is more than a pay rise. This is about restoring some pride in our national team. This is about getting the sport in this nation to levels unseen before.

It is painfully clear that passion is lacking in the Socceroos camp for whatever reason and the man without a doubt to restore that passion is Postecoglou.

Melbourne Victory fans have seen first-hand the difference he has made to that side. Postecoglou has managed to move on the senior players from the side many saw as untouchable and replaced them with a young and exuberant side capable of winning titles. Now it’s time to do so with the national side, and we have to let him do it.

Many Victory fans feel disheartened in seeing Ange go so early in the season. Postecoglou had started something serious at Melbourne and no one is more upset that it is ending prematurely than the man himself.

Victory fans have seen the likes of Robbie Kruse, Mitch Langerak and Marco Rojas leave the club to go onto bigger and better things abroad. We all take pride in seeing them doing so well overseas as they represent our club on the world stage. Well, it’s now time for Postecoglou to do the same.

As a Victory fan I feel honoured that the man bestowed to take the Socceroos through an important period of growth and development is a local from my club.

Postecoglou has had a massive effect on Victory in such a short time. His work at the club will not be forgotten for some time. So when we see Ange fist-pumping in joy with the Green and Gold support next year in Rio, he is doing so for the good of the sport we all love in this nation.