Postecoglou owes it to Australian football to finish the job he started

Winston Churchill once described Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. If only Ange Postecoglou was so simple.

Two weeks since reports surfaced that the Socceroos manager would quit regardless of whether his team qualifies for the 2018 World Cup next month, Postecoglou’s future remains shrouded in uncertainty. Football fans hoping for an answer on the ABC’s Australian Story on Monday night were left disappointed. This was more hagiography than interrogation.

After 29 minutes chronicling his already well-documented life story, the decisive question was put to Postecoglou: if the Socceroos make it to the World Cup, would he be the man in charge? A shrug followed, then a smirk. And eventually: “They just want an answer to a question, and I’m not going to give them it.”

We may never know Postecoglou’s true intentions. As the 52-year-old was at pains to point out, “my contract ends whenever the World Cup journey ends”. If Australia lose to Honduras next month, the question of when Postecoglou’s tenure ends will be clear. But in failing to provide clarity ahead of a crucial two-legged qualifier, Postecoglou is doing himself and Australian football no favours.

The coach and his fan club, many of whom featured prominently on Australian Story, cannot have it both ways. Postecoglou has long hailed the virtues of greater discussion about football in this country. “I am absolutely over the moon that there is debate – it is exactly what I want”, he said during the Confederations Cup in June. “If we are going to grow as a nation and really find our [footballing] identity, it is going to come with vigorous debate”. Yet this is exactly what vigorous debate looks like; Australian football fans are entitled to know whether the coach leading their national team is about to jump ship.

In a clip aired on Australian Story, the late Les Murray reflected on an infamous 2006 interview between Craig Foster and Postecoglou. The 12-minute cross-examination, described later by the interviewee as an “ambush”, degenerated into name-calling over Postecoglou’s perceived failures as coach of the Young Socceroos. But Murray refused to silence his colleague. “The questions that were put to Ange required answers”, recalled the doyen of Australian football. Murray could not have foreseen the continued relevance of his words.

Postecoglou insisted on the program that recent criticism of his management has not affected him. “I literally spend zero time thinking about that – that’s other peoples’ narrative”, he told ABC. But there has been a troubling undertone to the way Postecoglou and his players respond to the critics. The coach can be short with journalists, quipping “do your homework” in response to fair questions. He has also shied away from the most controversial tactical issue of his career, once declaring with a straight face that the much-criticised Socceroos defensive formation was not a back three at all. These are not the hallmarks of a coach who professes to welcome debate.

Criticism, debate and dialogue about the Socceroos is not treasonous, but an essential component in the development of football in Australia. Most Australians want a home-grown manager to succeed with the national team, and few have any personal animus towards Postecoglou. Compared to the discourse witnessed in some European or South American countries – Argentina’s football association erected security barriers outside its headquarters before their final World Cup qualifier earlier this month – the discussion in Australia has been frankly civil.

Postecoglou’s tenure with the senior national team can still be remembered in a positive light. But if the Socceroos lose to Honduras, his reign will be forever tarnished – 2015 Asian Cup notwithstanding. If Australia win in November and Postecoglou resigns, he will be remembered without fondness for a month of farcical “will he, won’t he” debate that threatened to destabilise the team before a crucial encounter.

“At some point in time I will be replaced by ‘John the pragmatist’ and you can all be happy and revel in it”, Postecoglou exclaimed during one of his more bizarre press conferences at the Confederations Cup. “But I will stick true to what I have started doing in this job”.

If Postecoglou is to be true to his ethos, he will finish what he started and lead Australia at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Only then will history look kindly upon this mercurial manager.