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Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou left Melbourne Victory on a high after defeating his previous club Brisbane Roar 1-0 on Friday night but conceded he’d left a job unfinished.
Looking exhausted after the final whistle, Postecoglou spoke of a difficult week for himself and the club after being appointed national coach on Thursday.
“Whenever you get an opportunity like (coaching Victory) you want to repay that, and I don’t think I have, leaving at this point,” he said
“In terms of my input I still think that the club’s in great shape… but you kinda leave thinking you should have put more into it and seen it through.”
Postecoglou said he attempted to shield players and staff from the attention and uncertainty that came from his appointment.
“It’s been a difficult week.
“I’ve carried this burden… unfortunately, because of my circumstances this football club’s had to deal with things that it shouldn’t have.”
A second half James Troisi strike through the legs of Roar keeper Michael Theo was enough to secure Victory’s first win of the season and move his side up to second in the A-League table.
Assistant coach Kevin Muscat was the first to embrace Postecoglou on the siren and it would be a surprise if the club favourite wasn’t elevated to the top job.
While Postecoglou said he wouldn’t tell the club who to pick as his successor, he did reveal he’d sent his thoughts upstairs.
“The club’s smart enough to know they don’t need to look too far to see where the next stage should begin,” he said.
“Particularly when you’re into a season and people have already seen the seeds that we’ve laid… there doesn’t need to be a major disruption.”
Anticipating a hectic commuter schedule ahead, Postecoglou said he would take the weekend to reflect and be in Sydney on Monday to begin the road to Brazil.
“I need to really find out every little detail so I can make some good decisions, so to do that I’ll be going up to Sydney obviously during the week and mapping out a plan from now to the World Cup.”
Beaten Brisbane Roar coach Mike Mulvey ended a tit-for-tat with Postecoglou, after questioning why he was leading Victory against his side after landing the national job.
Postecoglou said he was disappointed with the remarks, saying they were “a little bit disrespectful” and unnecessary, leading Mulvey to back down.
“If that has been taken that way then I certainly apologise to him because there was no disrespect meant.”
“I expected that if he was named as Socceroos coach then he would move straight on, so I was surprised, genuinely surprised.”
“I wish him every success because we need a very successful national team and right now we’re in the doldrums.”
The Roar coach said his side men were the architects of their own problems Friday night, turning the ball over cheaply several times.
Mulvey said an injury to midfielder Luke Brattan, substituted just before the goal, appeared to be the top of the tibia rather than a knee, which would require scans.
The Roar stay top of the table but could be overtaken after the conclusion of round three this weekend.
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