By jimbo
June 29th 2009 @ 7:03am
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Van Egmond bows out of the A-League
Gary Van Egmond has resigned as manager of the Newcastle Jets A-League football club to take up a $200,000 a year position at the AIS as head coach of the national U17s football team.
The departure comes following the Jets disappointing six nil defeat at the hands of the Pohang Steelers in the Asian Champions League this week and the timing might be a little bit inappropriate.
The resignation seems to be coming because of the record ACL loss and it’s an exit at a low point in his career, throwing the club’s pre-season preparation into disarray.
GVE’s departure however, has been planned for a while and is not a knee jerk reaction to the Jets ACL loss – he applied for the AIS position months ago.
The seeds were probably sown in his mind last season following the Jets’ disappointing year. A season that saw them drop spectacularly from Golden Toilet Seat victors to wooden spooners in just a few months.
Since winning that 2008 Grand Final against Central Coast, Con Constantine’s Jets have lost the bulk of their team. Nine Jets players from their premiership winning season have moved on: Ante Covic, Adam Griffiths, Jade North, Andrew Durante, Stuart Musialik, Mark Bridge, Joel Griffiths, Mark Milligan and James Holland.
The Jets management seem to have been taken aback by GVE’s sudden resignation, just a few weeks away from the start of the fifth A-League season.
But they should have seen it coming – it’s a form of pay back for the sudden and frequent departures of those key championship-winning players from the Jets. I’m sure Van Egmond would’ve understood the need for the clubs owners to raise the transfer money, but he wouldn’t have appreciated the exodus of his nine best players trying to defend a Golden Toilet Seat title.
“Nothing in football shocks me any more,” Jets chief executive John Tsatsimas said.
“We have not even had time to congregate to tackle the issue let alone name a successor.
Van Egmond, one of Australian football’s brightest young coaches, would not confirm or deny that he quit the club because of its failure to retain its best players.
“All will be revealed in a statement on Monday,” Van Egmond said.
Caretaker manager at the Jets following Gary’s departure will be club’s Technical Director Branko Culina, the former manager of Sydney FC. Culina looks favoured to stay on as manager and lead the Jets for their fifth year in the league.
Van Egmond had a spectacular rise in his A-League managerial debut and took charge of the Jets after an eight match losing streak in season two. The club’s fortunes immediately turned around and the very next year he led them to the A-League finals before masterminding the club’s maiden championship win. The Jets also arguably played the best football of any of the A-League teams in doing so that year.
Following that success, he was freely being mentioned as a Socceroos manager of the future. That dream seems a little bit further away from him right now and like the rest of us, we need to learn from our mistakes and learn a lot more about world football.
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Pippinu said | June 29th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Only heard about it this morning. It came as a surprise, but on further reflection, perhaps it isn’t, and you’ve already mentioned what has probably been strained relations with the Owner and Board.
Here is a question for everyone.
Would a $200,000 public service job be more lucrative than being a coach of an A-League team?
It’s an important question.
If one of Australia’s brightest stars can be coaxed into joining the public service, then clearly, all this talk about attracting good foreign coaches etc is nothing but hot air.
David V. said | June 29th 2009 @ 11:01am | Report comment
Is it any surprise given the impossible conditions up there? GVE however has to take some of the blame for his inflexibility and poor man-management.
It also indicates the necessity of a coaching revolution in Australia, given the poor quality of coaching.
Mick of Newie said | June 29th 2009 @ 11:13am | Report comment
Can I say I was surprised but not surprised. What interests me is whether it is a step forward for GVE, a step sideways or a step backwards.
It is no argument that he has more job security as head coach of the AIS than a 4 year deal with Con.
I could argue it is a career step backwards. His club coaching CV is now too short to be used at some stage to advance for higher coaching honours.
Alternatively is embedding himself into the National Coaching structure a career development.
I would argue it is a step sideways, it appears he wanted to get out of the Jets and the struggles that involves and this job gave him the job security and opportunities he deserves.
As a Jets fan, I say good luck to him.
Greg said | June 29th 2009 @ 12:44pm | Report comment
Jimbo’s article strikes a fair balance on GVE’s shortish rollercoaster ride at the helm of Newcastle FC. Yes, he leaves on a red faced low (0-6), however his team got out of the group, and he tasted the ultimate A League success after turning around a rotten start upon his promotion to head coach. However, the “public service” position seems like a backward step to me.
jimbo said | June 29th 2009 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Good question Pip,
I too was surprised at how much an U17 coach gets paid and that’s why I mentioned it.
How much do A-league managers get paid?
Vitezlav Lavicka was only paid $225K to leave Prague for Sydney FC, so maybe good foreign coaches are not that expensive compared to A-League coaches, especially from Eastern Europe.
Compared to Litbarski’s 800K a year, what a bargain that will turn out to be when Lavicka lifts the GTS with the SFC lads next March.
Mick,
I agree that GVE did a great job to get the Jets their first title and good luck to him whatever he chooses to do. Most coaches would have done the same thing if they were in his shoes.
Creates an interesting set of rivalries for Branko Culina if he gets the Jets managerial job. Playing against SFC his old club and playing against his son Jason, when they take on Sin City.
David V. said | June 29th 2009 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
In V2 he did a magnificent job of getting the team to within a game of the Grand Final and played the best football seen in the A-League thus far.
Then he lost Carle and Rodriguez. They went on to win the league, but it was a fortunate win in a very poor quality competition.
Last season, with further asset stripping taking place, the bottom just fell out.
whiskeymac said | June 29th 2009 @ 12:55pm | Report comment
“If one of Australia’s brightest stars can be coaxed into joining the public service” – a sideways move, the jets were going nowhere and it probably seemed like GVE was going nowhere with them. after a good start it all went very badly pear shaped. The FFA job is steady and well paid and hopefully will give him contacts to move on from when he needs to. He has shafted NJ i guess, but then again what club doesnt shaft their manager eventually? (MV it seems but wasnt that a close run thing?)
And as was commented in SBS article, he never dealt with the lows in his career very well. i thought his handling of certain players was always out of line – he was never slow to blame his squad or a particular individual publicly. am thinking of patafta in particular, but others have also been deried in the press and the blame hung on them.
Towser said | June 29th 2009 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
So will Branko take over ?
Wasnt given much time at Sydney really to make his mark.
jimbo said | June 29th 2009 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
Towser,
Branko is caretaker coach till they find a replacement.
I guess it depends on who applies for the job and what offers they make to any overseas coaches.
Branko is in the job currently and probably they will see how he goes before making a decision, but not sure who the alternatives are.
whiskeymac said | June 29th 2009 @ 1:35pm | Report comment
werent they reported to be in talks with one o/seas manager and there s talk the assitant might take over?
Wld be good to see Branko get another gig. If not here then maybe the CCM (before the ink drys on GA’s signature)?
David V. said | June 29th 2009 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
His slagging of Jesse Pinto was particularly disgusting. What a way to wreck a young player’s career!
Pippinu said | June 29th 2009 @ 2:14pm | Report comment
Agreed David V – that really was unforgiveable, such a public humiliation (when I don’t really think the kid did all that much wrong, from what I can remember) – it really showed just how far things had swung for GVE in an extremely short space of time.
whiskeymac said | June 29th 2009 @ 2:19pm | Report comment
you’d hope that he will bring all of his good managerial skills and leave his rather average people skills behind when in charge of the ‘Stralian youth teams. that sort of crap cld derail a career before it starts.
Mr said | June 29th 2009 @ 2:44pm | Report comment
I agree with David V on the pulling of Pinto against Adelaide, and what transpired post match. Australia has a good crop of U/17s. Let’s hope the ethicacy/principles of the AIS are taught to GvE before he starts working with the team.
David V. said | June 29th 2009 @ 4:10pm | Report comment
You can see now that Glenn Hoddle runs his own football academy in Spain, having stepped aside from management. His man management was often criticised throughout his career, but this can be easily explained like this. Great players like Hoddle were born and not coached to do what they did, so they cannot explain things that come to them naturally. But such people are far better suited to teaching kids than managing highly-paid adults.
This didn’t make him a bad manager. He won promotion with Swindon, laid the foundations for future success with Chelsea, and had some bad luck in charge of England- and was hounded out for non-football reasons.
Slippery Jim said | June 29th 2009 @ 5:14pm | Report comment
David V, excellent point, Hoddle really provided the turning point for Chelsea’s current success. Unlike Manchester City’s impending clamber up the table, Chelsea were slowly climbing up the table since Hoddle prior to being bought by Abramovich, a fact many detractors of the mighty Blues are ignorant of.
jimbo said | June 29th 2009 @ 11:13pm | Report comment
I think GVE was starting to feel the pressure and certainly didn’t look comfortable when things weren’t going well.
The fact that he’s going back to junior level coaching supports that notion.
But Con and the NJ management team can take some of that blame.
They didn’t give GVE all the support he needed to stay competitive in the A-League and Con turning on the Jets fans when they sold their best players was totally inexcusable as well. The fans are what makes a club, as much as the players.
NJ need a change and maybe a new coach might be what they need, just like when GVE took over and turned the club around so well – not sure if Branko is the man, though.
David V. said | June 30th 2009 @ 12:18am | Report comment
The Middlesbrough and Norwich comparisons are even more accurate now.
John Neal quit Middlesbrough in 1981 after Craig Johnston, Mark Proctor and Dave Armstrong were all sold by Charlie Amer- and the club were in the Third Divison and almost dead five years later. Luckily the club was saved and reborn, and made a rapid rise back up the ranks.
Of course, Norwich’s decline from 3rd in the Premiership and a European run to relegation in less than two years was frighteningly similar. In fact, it’s even more acute now that the Canaries are in the third tier for the first time in half a century.
The Bear said | June 30th 2009 @ 7:02am | Report comment
The Jets knew he was being considered for the AIS job. So where is the “shock” coming from??
jimbo said | July 2nd 2009 @ 11:00pm | Report comment
Branko Culina takes over as Jets football manager
http://www.theworldgame.com.au/a-league/culina-takes-charge-of-jets-200251
Jets threatening to sue GVE for breach of contract.