Ange Postecoglou’s influence on Australian football knows no bounds, with the Socceroos supremo playing a vital role in John Aloisi’s appointment as the new coach of Brisbane Roar.
Aloisi, who has penned a two-year deal with the A-League heavyweights, credited his mentor Postecoglou for helping him become a better coach in the wake of his axing from the then-Melbourne Heart in December 2013.
“He’s been not only just recently, but since I left Melbourne Heart or was dismissed from there, I’ve sat down with Ange,” Aloisi told reporters on Friday in his first official capacity as Roar coach.
“He was also helping me in actually making sure I was ready for my next move.
“He’s a great person to fall back on.
“Who else to ask other than Ange, that knows this club inside-out and knows this group of players inside-out?”
Not only did Postecoglou prime Aloisi for his second A-League coaching stint, he also convinced departing chairman Chris Fong that the legendary ex-Socceroo was the right man to lead the Roar into a brand new era.
But just don’t be surprised if that new era feels a lot like the last one.
Aloisi has no plans to make wholesale changes at Brisbane, backing the current playing squad to challenge for honours next season and vowing to stick with the possession-heavy style of football he believes is ingrained into the club’s DNA.
And if Postecoglou’s advice wasn’t enough, Aloisi said he was a “more rounded” coach after a fact-finding trip to Europe, a brief spell coaching juniors at Melbourne Victory and his time spent working for Fox Sports as a pundit.
The 39-year-old said it was normal for some of the fans to be unhappy with his appointment, given his forgettable reign at the helm of the Heart who were bought by Manchester City and rebranded the month after he was sacked.
“If I was worried about what people would say … I would have stayed in the media,” he said.
“It was my first job as a head coach and you learn from mistakes that you make.
“But you probably learn sometimes when you’re not successful, because you have to look back and see what you didn’t do so well.
“This came along sort of out of the blue, I wasn’t expecting it … it was too good of an opportunity not to be able to work with these players and this club.
“If I didn’t feel that I was ready, I wouldn’t have taken it.”
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