Full credit goes to Perth Glory for taking a chance and signing Tony Popovic as coach of its A-League side for the next three seasons.
Popovic is astute, charismatic and a disciplinarian. He has been successful winning the Asian Champions League as the manager of the Western Sydney Wanderers.
He has also had experience working in England as the assistant manager at Crystal Palace. Popovic has a presence and will hopefully bring big crowds to NIB Stadium for the Glory.
What he achieved with the Wanderers was remarkable; he built up a new club from scratch as well as a robust fan-base. Glory has been lacking a brand as well as success and that is where the experience that Popovic has had as a manager, can make the difference.
Hopefully we will see an increase in attendances at the games this season, as well as a boost to the membership numbers.
Tony Popovic is back, but not where we thought he might be (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Since Popovic has achieved the ultimate success for an A-League manager, it is not a gamble to appoint him on a three-year contract. He is a person who is driven to succeed and will get the sport of soccer in Perth where it should be, from grassroots level all the way up to the A-League.
There will be a focus on youth development and knowing Popovic, he won’t shy away from squad rotations, as he has already signed exciting youth midfielder Brandon Wilson on a two-year deal. The way in which Popovic rotates players could be beneficial due to the rigours of travelling interstate.
His reign as Glory manager starts against Chelsea; it should be a good opportunity for the players at Glory to show their wares. Popovic is a ruthless manager; he is tough, and is well known as being a tinkerer.
This is a positive, as the teams that he has coached have been adaptable to many different systems.
The manner in which he selects his team keeps players on their toes and makes the style in which his team plays unpredictable for opposition players and managers. It promises to be an intriguing tenure under Popovic for the Glory.
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
That would be a good signing.
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
Chris Ikonomidis spotted in Perth, would be a great signing thought he was very good at WSW when he came over.
Pablo
Roar Rookie
Good for Australian Football. good for the Glory and there local player youth development base. We need quality local coaches, to be our future. He nurtures the supporters, which is what Glory especially needs. I am not overly confident that Arnold is a National Coach, and hope he doesnt go the same way as Ange.
At work
Roar Rookie
I see this as a risk free signing by Glory, there is only upside replacing Kenny with Poppa. Even if their football may become bow become less attaractive.
Buddy
Guest
TP isn't everybody's cup of tea but then who is? The difference here is that at WSW he was working with Lyall Gorman at ground zero so when they recruited they were only taking players that fitted the ethos and had the discipline to cope with his style of management etc. He still made plenty of recruiting errors and I wouldn't trust him to sign anyone that could remotely be described as a striker - track record there not too crash hot but I hope he gets the support and the necessary network around him to take Perth back to their Glory days - at present that label is just inappropriate!
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
Well we've already seen a change of culture with Poppa involved, in that Castro will be doing a FULL pre season instead of joining up with the squad a few weeks out from the start of the season.