As he firms as one of the front runners to fill the vacant position as coach of the Socceroos, Melbourne Victory’s Ange Postecoglou stated this morning that it would be great honour leading the national team into next year’s World Cup.
“If it comes my way and I’m considered for the position it would be a great honour, no doubt about it,” he told a sizeable media contingent.
The 48-year-old denied receiving any direct contact from Football Federation Australia but revealed the governing body had indeed approached Melbourne Victory.
“I’ve had no formal contact but as far as I’m aware I think the club may have had some contact from FFA,” he said.
The FFA have kept no secret that they would prefer an Australian to succeed previous coach Holger Osiek, with the Dutchman being sacked 90 minutes after the 6-0 thumping inflicted by France.
Postecoglou, along with Central Coast’s Graham Arnold and Western Sydney’s Tony Popovic are the short priced favourites to replace Osieck and the Victory coach is expecting the FFA’s decision to revealed shortly.
“The position is vacant and the governing body from what I undestand will make a decision on it in the next short period” Postecoglou said.
He went on to reiterate that juggling the position as both club and international coach would not be an option if he were to take charge of the Green and Gold.
“Im already on record saying that for myself anyway, I tend to throw myself into what I do and they’re both enormous jobs. I don’t think you should take short cuts or half edges with any job.”
Whether or not he ultimately gets the job, the current Victory boss appears to be already selecting his potential World Cup squad, highlighting the performances of a few key young players in Australia’s 3 – 0 Victory over Canada.
“I reckon there were some promising signs. I know it was Canada but it was great to see Matthew Leckie score and Dario Vidosic had a good game while Rhys Williams looked promising. I think there was enough there to show there is still some promise there – for me from quite a fair distance away – to start making accurate estimations of the current state of play.”
With a decision expected to be made shortly, the Friday night encounter against Adelaide United could perhaps be the two time Championship winning coach last game in charge of Victory but Postecoglou is totally focused on getting a result from Hindmarsh.
“My guts tellng me we got a game tomorrow night and im despearte to win so thats totally where my focus is right now….it would be be a massive honour but as where is it right now as coach of the Melbourne Victory I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night,” he said.