Melbourne Victory has confirmed the A-League’s worse kept secret, announcing the signing of Ange Postecoglou as the club’s new coach on a three-year deal.
Postecoglou joins the Victory after winning back-to-back titles with the Brisbane Roar and is the Victory’s fourth coach is just over a year.
The 46-year-old will be charged with leading the two-time champions back to former glories, after finishing a lowly eighth last season with just six wins.
Postecoglou was at pains to outline he was looking forward to a new challenge in Melbourne.
“I’ve always looked at it from my own point of view, my own coaching career, what was the next challenge for me,” he said.
“Sometimes you look for an opportunity and it’s not there. But I thought the time was right for me to move on to something new and test myself as a coach.”
Postecoglou insinuated he needed to leave Brisbane after the Roar’s dominance of the A-League over the past two seasons.
“As a coach you always have to be a like a shark. You have to keep moving. If you stop, you die,” he said.
“I’ve always been wary to keep developing.”
The Victorian confirmed he had no formal coaching contract with the Roar since the club’s licence was taken back by the FFA in March 2011 and then onsold to current owners the Bakrie Group.
Postecoglou is Australia’s most successful domestic coach, winning two titles each with South Melbourne (as well as two as a player) and the Roar.
He said he looked forward to trying to stretch his record to a third club. “Every club is unique,” he said. “This is a massive club, it’s got massive expectations, a massive fan base.
“That presents different challenges for me as a coach. That’s exciting.”
The Victory sacked Mehmet Durakovic in January before new boss Jim Magilton parted ways with the club after struggling to make his mark.
Postecoglou refused to set a target for the Victory next season, but admitted the club needed to return to winning ways.
“The club needs to be successful next year. What that success entails, time will tell,” he said. “From an outsiders’ point of view there is a core [of players] you can certainly build upon.
“For any coach, you are looking for a foundation for success, I think there is some pretty good yardsticks here already.”
