Ange Postecoglou may just be the personification of the Australian Battler. After all it was only five years ago that he could not get a job.
Fast forward to now and Postecolou is quite literally at the summit of Australian football as the Socceroos manager.
So how did he wind up being jobless to becoming the Socceroos manager? This is how.
Ange Postecoglou was born in Greece, a long way from where he would make his name in Australia.
But like many other Greeks during the 50s and 60s he and his family immigrated to Australia. The Postecoglous made Melbourne their home.
It was here in Melbourne that football would make it’s mark on Ange, and Ange would go on to do the same for football in Australia.
Postecoglou’s playing career was unfortunately cut short and he was forced to retire in 1993.
For the previous decade or so he had turned out for his beloved South Melbourne team in the NSL (National Soccer League), racking up 193 appearances and captaining the squad before retiring.
He also represented the Socceroos on four occasions from 1986 to 1988.
As a defender full of heart and leadership, it seemed Postecoglou was destined to coach once his playing days were over, and this is where his story takes an even greater twist.
Ange became manager of South Melbourne shortly after his playing career ended and in only his second season in charge he took them to the title in the 1997-1998 season.
He repeated the feat the following season and also guided the club to victory in the Oceania Club Championship, which qualified the club for the Club World Cup in 2000.
After that very tournament Postecoglou stood down from South Melbourne to become Australia’s national youth coach. He held this role for seven years, but after failing to qualify his under-20s side for the World Cup in February 2007 he was relieved of his duties.
It took Postecoglou just over a year to find another managerial role and during this time he took on roles as a football pundit on Fox Sports, covering the newly formed A-League and also as an elite consultant to the Football Federation of Victoria.
His next managerial role took him back to his country of birth, where he managed third division side Panachaiki FC.
It was a steep learning curve for Postecologu who had to deal with the political side of football that is often part of football in continental Europe.
He found this out first hand when new owners took over the club and he left in December 2008.
After this Postecoglou returned to Australia for another shot at a managerial role at an elite level. This time his luck was in.
In October of 2009, Ange Postecoglou was announced as the new manager of Brisbane Roar in the A-League, succeeding a former Socceroos coach in the form of Frank Farina.
Postecoglou asked fans to be patient and that they should judge him in a years time rather than straight away and that was fair given the rebuilding that he needed to do at the Roar.
FC Utrect snapped up all three whiz kids of the previous campaign –Tommy Oar, Michael Zullo and Adam Sarota – while super striker Sergio Van Dijk had left for Adelaide United.
Add to this the fact that Postecoglou made the brave decision to get rid of ex-Socceroo and club captain at the time Craig Moore, along with experienced campaigners Liam Reddy, Bob Malcom and Charlie Miller and it was looking as if Postecoglou wouldn’t even have a team to field.
However what Postecoglou went on to do next was quite simply amazing.
He built a team in his own image, an image that not many people knew of at the time.
The Roar finished the 2009-2010 season outside of the finals series, but it was the 2010-2011 season where they left their mark on the competition.
Brisbane only lost once that season and went on a 28-match unbeaten run, including the climax which was the grand final against the Central Coast Mariners.
They went on to win 4-2 on penalties in front of a sell out home crowd of over 50,000 fans.
Their unbeaten run continued into the next season but ended after 36 games, which is now an Australian sporting record.
Along the way, though, they played some of the best football ever witnessed in Australia leading to the nickname, ‘Roarcelona’ in reference to the great Barcelona team.
Postecoglou’s men went on to lose only one match in their final 14, but still lost the premiers plate to Central Coast Mariners who matched them all season long.
It did not matter as Perth Glory knocked the Mariners out in their semi final clash.
Brisbane then faced Perth for the chance to become the first ever A-League side to win back-to-back Premierships. They did just that with a controversial 2-1 victory courtesy of a Besart Berisha penalty.
Berisha was one of a number of players Postecoglou brought to club with great success.
Midfield maestro Thomas Broich, goalkeeper Michael Theo and defender Ivan Franjic are all now playing a big part in the Roar’s success.
Ivan Franjic has even gone on to represent the Socceroos before Postecoglou became manager.
Ange departed Brisbane after becoming the most successful manager in Australian domestic football’s history with four titles. He signed with hometown club Melbourne Victory.
He again set about rebuilding the club releasing some quality players that included the likes of Harry Kewell, Ante Covic and Carlos Hernandez.
However he once again showed nous in the transfer market brining in quality players such as Adama Traore and Guilherme Finkler.
He also turned the promise that Marco Rojas and Mark Milligan had held in previous seasons into reality.
Rojas earned a moved to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga the following season and Mark Milligan is now a key member of the Socceroos squad.
While Victory made the semi-finals last season, there was almost an air of expectation leading into the current season that this would be theirs.
However, like so often in football things change and Ange Postecoglou has been taken from the Victory for a much bigger role.
This seems like the perfect situation for Postecoglou, who has not only had to rebuild teams in the past, but his own football identity also.
And that is how he got here, five long years ago he made a change and it was the right change.
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