Who in their right mind would coach the Socceroos?

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By Mike Tuckerman, 29 Mar 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: 2010 World Cup, FFA, football, Guus Hiddink, Pim Verbeek, Socceroos, Socceroos coach

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Football Federation Australia pulled off a major coup by signing Guus Hiddink in 2005, but in doing so they unwittingly set a difficult precedent. Socceroos fans who revelled in the fanfare are now clamouring for a similar big name to replace departing coach Pim Verbeek.

Speculation has run rife ever since Verbeek revealed that he would be stepping down from the Socceroos hotseat after the World Cup, with media and fans throwing a variety of potential replacements into the ring.

Some like Frank Riijkaard and Johan Neeskens predictably fit into the Dutch school of thought, while others such as Vahid Halilhodzic and Paul Le Guen come more from left field.

Yet the question must surely be asked; who in their right mind would agree to coach the Socceroos?

Let’s face it, the task of moving halfway around the world to coach in one of world football’s more isolated outposts requires a serious level of commitment.

It’s a commitment that I’m not sure some of the game’s more glamourous tacticians will be comfortable making, so suggestions that the FFA should break the bank to lure a major European coach to our shores must be contingent on their willingness to live in Australia.

Surely that rules out a raft of big name coaches unwilling to trade life at the sharp end of football management for less testing climes down under – particularly when our World Cup qualification route doesn’t exactly involve the same cut and thrust as the European qualifying zone.

Any suggestion that a new coach might operate out of Europe would be a slap in the face for the A-League, and would likewise prevent the new man from scouting the up-and-coming talent required to make a mark on Brazil 2014.

That generally leaves the kind of mid-range coaches who have achieved some success on the world stage but who still have plenty to prove, and one wonders whether they will be enough to placate some of the current band of celebrity-obsessed Socceroos fans.

Some of the candidates suggested have been truly bizarre, with Philippe Troussier’s name bandied about despite the fact that his last coaching role was at Japanese third division side FC Ryukyu in 2008 – where he is now general manager.

The Okinawan side revealed that Troussier had been approached by the Ivory Coast to coach their national team at the upcoming World Cup finals in South Africa, but what the Socceroos need is a tactician who can commit to a long-term stint and bring through the talent required to replace Australia’s ageing crop of stars.

Short-term candidates are of little value, which is why Australian fans may need to scale back their ambitions and accept that some of the biggest names in world football are unlikely to be dreaming of a phone call from Frank Lowy.

Whether the new coach is a seasoned club man or one more experienced with the rigours of international football is up for debate, but with many Socceroos fans still grumbling over the appointment of Pim Verbeek – in spite of his success – there’s no doubt that not everyone will be pleased when his successor is revealed.

I certainly hope that Australia’s next coach can continue the Socceroos on their upward trend, and if it happens to be a major name in the world game, so much the better.

But what Australia needs now is the right coach – not just someone who can generate more publicity – and one would hope that the FFA’s quest for Verbeek’s successor does not degenerate into a desperate bid to sign a celebrity.

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The Crowd Says (20) | Page 1 of Comments

Davstar said | March 29th 2010 @ 8:39am | Report comment

I would like to see a big name we Gambled with Verbeek id say it payed off in the results sence. If we take a mid-level coach it might not pay off again I think the A-league wouldnt survive if our Socceroos weren’t successful so i dont really care if the coach doesnt want to live in Aus n if thats a slap in the face to the A-league than so be it.

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AGO74 said | March 29th 2010 @ 8:47am | Report comment

I disagreed with you on Friday Mike but agree completely here. I made a comment about Rijkaard on another forum the other day. At present, he’s chasing titles with Gala and will more than likely play in CL next year. Or he can give that up to try and get Australia to a World Cup in 4 years. As for the Asian Cup next Jan, I doubt Rijkaard has even heard of it?! If Rijkaard wants to give that up, then brilliant, but I’d be extremely surprised when thinking about it pragmatically he could hang in at Gala for another couple of years and then if he wanted get a national gig in 2 years time from a European, African, CONCACAF or Asian nation for that country’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
Hiddink was brilliant, but people forget that he wasn’t even full-time. He only did this in between his regular PSV job. It was a beautiful fit in 2005 with Guus but extremely unlikely to have any one of that level again any time soon. Of course, I’d love to be wrong!

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Australian Football said | March 29th 2010 @ 9:43am | Report comment

Frank Riijkaard and Johan Neeskens would be fabulous. Both coming from Barcelona and educated in a 4-3-3 attractive attacking football philosophy. But granted; will they come and see out 4 years in Australia? Maybe 2 years but to see them stay for the entire contract of 4 years could be a stretch.

Unless we allow them to operate and live in Europe and not entirely in Australia i.e. not restricting them to live here for the entire 4 years during that time—why is it necessary for them to do that? If we allow them some slack and ask them to come 6 months at a time to oversee the development of HAL players with more input from Han Berger the Technical Director, to help with local players for Australian camps for any Asian fixtures that would be great. The task at hand here is to be flexible.

What was achieved with Pim living in Australia—he looked totally bored and he definitely was not interested with anything that had to do with the HAL players.

——-
AF

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- stevo said | March 29th 2010 @ 10:40am | Report comment
  
  Rijkaard and Neeskens would be great but there is no way you could get both of them to come and live here for 4 years, but theres not really a need for it: have them come in and coach at the asian cup full time, then let them go back to club work for a couple of years, run the odd training camp and international with the socceroos until its coming around to world cup and asian cup time again – then have them work full time
  
  they would have a couple of years to get to know the players, and would have plenty of time to scout out the best young players in australia by starting a couple of years before a major tournament
  
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  - Ben of Phnom Penh said | March 29th 2010 @ 11:01am | Report comment
    
    World Cup qualifiers, Stevo.
    
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  - Australian Football said | March 29th 2010 @ 12:11pm | Report comment
    
    Stevo,
    yep good idea—they could look at every European based player. Flexability is required here—as shown by Pim he was bored and a failure with the HAL players and offered nothing to the improvement or development of the locally based players.
    
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Lu said | March 29th 2010 @ 9:43am | Report comment

Laughable that many “expert” commentators believe that the socceroos job is desirable in world football. I’d say there is a touch of bias (to Australia) in there.

Seriously, what “world class” coach would give up the dizzy heights of European football to come to our great shores.

We’d only attract a younger, up and coming manager who is out to prove his worth (re: veerbak) or a has been.

It would take some bank breaking to lure a big dog, but even then is that a guarantee? Doing a job for money, particularly in world Football, spells trouble, as the likes of Chelsea, Man City and England have proven.

Who ever comes need to work for passion and not for money..

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Gweeds said | March 29th 2010 @ 10:47am | Report comment

Yep. I expect the inevitable ‘FFA stuffs up’ comments when we don’t get any of the top five coaches in the world.

When Hiddink was appointed it was perfect for him as the Oceania qualification only involved a few matches and a home and away playoff. Now it’s a different kettle of fish in Asia with long trips etc.

I agree with Mike that the Australian job is perfect of a capable coach that may see Australia like a good chance to prove he can take a team to the World Cup.

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Ben of Phnom Penh said | March 29th 2010 @ 10:59am | Report comment

The FFA has shown that it is able to take a more prudent, longer term approach to the top job in Australian coaching, and i do not doubt that this will occur once again. We need to get the best manager within a set of parameters that, as Mike rightly pointed out, excludes a number of otherwise desirable coaches.

The other matter is one of the squad. If indeed we are looking at a less tested, younger squad for our 2014 campaign then the coach has to have a greater development focus and be able to make an assessment of some sorts of the potential of our younger players. This isn’t necessarily going to come from the coaching ranks of the great and famous.

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Art Sapphire said | March 29th 2010 @ 11:27am | Report comment

What sort of commitment are we talking about here.

1. Earn over 5 million dollars over 4 years to be the Socceroos manager.
2. Live in a wonderful country
3. Have less pressure on you compared to mananging a top ranked European national team.

Elite managers like Vahid Halilhodzic who, some say, was cruelly sacked as Ivory Coast manager would love live in salubrious Sydney. I don’t think there will be a problem find top line manager. The interest will be in who the FFA chose.

By the way, Sven today was appointed as Ivory Coast manager for the World Cup.

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Olrac said | March 29th 2010 @ 12:06pm | Report comment

I think that the FFA needs to go with a good young unproven coach. Someone like a Aresen Wenger when he was coaching J-League before Arsenal. Australia is not going to be a big priority for a proven coach like a Fabio Cappelo type but a young coach who can prove his worth would be the best bet.

The big problem is finding the young Wenger rather than a Young Graham Arnold.

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- punter said | March 29th 2010 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
  
  Haha No, I think we all prefer a young Wenger to a young Arnold.
  
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Towser said | March 29th 2010 @ 1:06pm | Report comment

Heres an article from FIFA asking “Who is the world’s best coach?”
Interesting choices. Many pick this bloke Hassan Shehata from Egypt.

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=702493.html

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Ben of Phnom Penh said | March 29th 2010 @ 1:26pm | Report comment

What may also be a factor is how Pim fares post Socceroos. If he leaves with a good relationship with the FFA and lands a decent club gig on the back of the his Socceroos work then it the position will be far easier to sell to prospective coaches. Given how small the world of football coaching is, word of mouth is important indeed. Pim himself may well end up being the key reference point for potential candidates.

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