AUSSIE COACHES GIVING GLOBAL FOOTBALL A KICK

Football, or soccer to use its local colloquialism, may never surpass Aussie staple sports such as AFL, NRL or cricket in popularity terms but there is no denying it has grown exponentially in recent years. This has been evidenced by a number of top-grade players progressing to ply their trade in prestigious and lucrative foreign leagues in the likes of the UK, Europe, Japan and the USA.

Progression hasn’t been merely limited to the playing personnel, however, as a number of promising Australian managers and coaches such as Ange Postecoglou, Kevin Muscat and Pete Cklamovski are proving.

Postecoglou unquestionably leads the way and has been very much the trailblazer for aspiring Aussie football coaches

for many years. He managed domestically in Australia and also took charge of the Socceroos, leading them to win their first ever Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

He then took up the hotseat at Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan’s J-League and guided the club to their first J-League title in 15 years, becoming the first Australian manager to win a league title in Japan in the process.

It was, however, Postecoglou’s next move that truly brought him to the attention of a global audience when, in June this year, the then 55-year-old was appointed manager of Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic, one of the most successful, popular and widely respected professional clubs in global sports with an estimated worldwide fan base of close to 10 million people.

Depsite a shaky start, the team is now on a winning run, playing some of the finest football witnessed at the club

in recent years which has fans and commentators purring. “Ange has, in the eyes of the Celtic fans, become not so much a cult hero as a Messianic figure,” one sports writer commented.

It is still early days but the signs are extremely positive for Postecoglou as he continues to forge a path for aspiring Aussie coaches to follow by becoming the most successful coach the country has ever produced.

One man very much following in Postecoglou’s footsteps is Peter Cklamovski.

Cklamovski worked as assistant manager under Postecoglou and knows his former boss better than most, having operated in his shadow for 16 years, studying his mentor closely, watching, listening and taking notes.

He is now managing J-League second tier side Montedio Yamagata where he has collected 31 points from a possible 33 to propel the team from 17th place in the table up into fifth to save a season that looked like an expected relegation battle into a genuine push for promotion.

“The J2 is really interesting,” says Cklamovski. “It is a ding dong every week. I love it.

“I push myself to be the best I can,” he adds. “My motto is to focus on the day and get better. That’s it and where that takes me, we’ll see.”

It is a motto that has resulted in sterling work being done by both Cklamovski and his mentor Postecoglou which is charting the way for future coaches from Down Under

“I am not sure why Australian coaches have been overlooked before,” said Cklamovski. “I just know that everyone will keep working hard and getting better. This is the Aussie mentality.”