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There were shockwaves in Scotland the day I resigned from Celtic. It was a dismal Nov day in 2009. I had informed noone of my decision to quit, not the players, not the coaching staff, not even managment. I just told the pres that I would be holding a conference after the team got back from the derby with Rangers at Ibrox. In my final match as Celtic's manager we drubbed Rangers 3-0 with Lee Bowyer and Martin Taylor scoring goals. Of course, the players were excited and noone noticed that I was somewhat subdued as we came back to Celtic Park. When the team bus pulled in, the press were waiting. I took the podium and first congratulated the lads on a fine win. Then I droooed the bomb.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press. I have an important announment to make. As of tonight, I am tendering my resignation as manager of Celtic. I have served this club for eight enjoyable years. I have won the Champions Lwague won, Seven Priemier Divsion titles, the FIFA World Club Championship and many other honers. I have ben privleged to coach many of Great Britian's greatest players, such as Roy Caroll, Simon Davies, Joe Cole, Suan Maloney, Alan Shearer, Cherno Samba and Alan Smith. I will remember all my players and the fun we've had together. However, I feel burned out and it is time for me to retun to my estate in Northern Ireland and resume farming. Thank you.
The silence was acute. Eveeryone but me was stunned as I walked to my office and veried that everything was packed(I had packed it in the ,morning) and As I walked out of Celtic Park for the last time, I lit my pipe, took a puff and smiled. I was free for the first time in eight years. Free of the demands of high pressure managment, Free of the stress of having to win every game. It was wonderful. Over the next few days, I tied up my affairs in Scotland while the nation fumed and cryed and in some corners, whooped for joy. It was time to redume a normal life. Farm my estate in County Atrium and relax. So I thought at the time.
But, it was winter in N. Ireland and there wasn't much to do on the farm. Sure there was machinery to fix and there were the preparations to make fror early planting, but beyond that, there wasn't much to do. Once I caught up onmy backlog of books, dating back ten years or more, I became exceptionally bored. I began watching football on TV and before I knew it, I'd become an armchair manager of the sort that I had loathed in my days with Celtic. Finally one day, about a month into my retirement, I found myself watching a Wed. night clash between Man United and Birmingham,managed by David O'Leary and Trevor Francis respectively. During the match, which was at Old Trafford, I found myself yelling at the tv set that both managers were complete idiots. At that point, something in my head buzzed. I realized that retirement didn't really suit me. I was still young and I wasn't quite prepare to quit. Being considered the best manager in t world can have its perks. I'd put together a list of contacts in many coutries and I began to use those contacts. I wanted a small club with no pressure and no desire to dominate the world, in other words, a team that knew its place and would be happy to just do well. As the next few days passed, I applied for two jobs. The first were Bohemiens, who were fifth in the Irish First Division. The second wasthe Perth Glory, who were sitting in 11th place in the National Soccer League in Austrialia. They had twelve games left to make the playoffs and seemed more of a challenge, so I packed my bags, told the farmhands what to do on the farm and headed for the blistering heat of Oz.
When I arrived in Perth on December 30th 2009, I settled in my office, putting up the knickknacks that all coaches aquire over a long career. In my case, the mementos were photos of my family in Northern Ireland. Photos of moving to the US at the age of 11. Photos of high school and college in the US. Then there were the coaching mementos...my high school state titles, my college national titles, my lone MLS championship. Then came the shelves of Celtic memobilia, photos and signed footballs from all my championship teams. Taken as a whole, the memobilia took up entire wall of shelves along side all the books I brought along, books on football strategy and tactics, books on general sports theory and of course books on sports psychology and motivation. It was the latter that I would really have to read now as I took up my new job. I met the board in a private meeting. They informed me that they wanted Perth to have a respectable season and that I had roughly half a million pounds to buy players. The board wished me the best of luck and exited the conference room, leaving me to sit and think. I returned to my office, fired uiup my computer and went to work.
To say Perth had been badly served by the prevuous regime would be an understatement. There were,, for instance, nine goalkeepers on the team, mostlycallow youths. The best striker(which wasn't saying much) had been banished to the reserves for reasons that were unclear and in the most glaring idiocy of all, a player(Chris Bresciano, a 25 yr old midfileder) whom the board considered invaluable to the team, was actually out on loan to a minor league team. Yes, that's how bad previous managment had been, but it got worse. I had to sack all but one of the coaching staff because they were all woefully inept at coaching. I then trimmed the scouts to four and sent them to Oceania, Asia and the UK to look for players. Next, I went looking for coaches and recieved my firest shock of Austialian football, noone anny god wanted to come coach, it didn't matter that I had been one of the top three managers in the world, they still weren't coming. Stil, I managed to piece together a staff, includiing hiring a player, Christian Dailly(36 yr old Scot) who would arrive in June on a Bos. Dailly would be a playing Asst. Manager, and if he got through the foriegn requirements would play in defense. If the staff was bad, the players were worse. It was a very young squad and I spent many hours of watching tape to figure out who would be playing, who would be reservees and who was gone(sold or released) After that sleepless night, I held an Amercian style tryout the next day in practice. The idea was to see who could actully play, those who could remained on the first team, those who were young and had a chance were sent to the reserves and those who coundn't were released. I figured that was the most effient way to deal with this bunch of malcotents. Everyone, it seemed, was whning about something. Over the next couple of months, the tryouts would be used as a way to trim the squad. That allowed me to start bring in my own players. My first two signings came a couple of days after I arrived. Andy Dallas, a 16 yr old Northern Irish midfielder, whom my Celtic scouts had recommened, was brouggt in on a free trasfer from East Stirling. In addition George Ndah, a 35 yr old English foeward who had been on the shortlist for years, was also signed on a fee transter. Both he and Dallas were to play crucial roles in my first games.
D)S- All I can tell you is that Ndah was liisted as a decent player by one of my scouts at Celtic, I don't know why, maybe the scout had had a couple of pints before a match. But at any rate Ndah's proved a reasonable player for the NSL.
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My goal for Perth, in the half a season I had remaining to me, was to make the playoffs. Given that Perth was in 11th place when I took over and only 14 games remained, this seemed to be a tal goal because of the fact that only the top six teams made the playoffs to determine the league championship. But then, I looked at the league table points and realized that the league was loaded with parity...two wins and a draw over the pace of our opponents would give us that last playoff spot. I explained this to the guys on the team and told them I firmly believed we could do it. The lads beliebved me, they ran off five straight wins, hitting gogals, playing tight defense, the works. The hero of the run was Matthew Byrne, the talented striker who had been sent to the reserves. Also contributing to the run were 16 yr olds Dallas and starting right back Shaun Morrison. Yes, I know all the conventional wisdomagainst starting 16 yr olds, but I thought they were ready for the big time. Better they start now than stew in the reserves. And for five games, that reasoning worked.
Then the applecart stopped dead in its tracks. Maybe the euphoria wore off, or maybe team balance was upset by the new players I was bringing in on scouts' recommendations. The most important of these signing were left back Ryan Banks, 60K from Paramatta who shored up a week area on the back line and Adrian Stojevski an 18 yr old Aussie left winger whom I planned on coverting to the center. Adrian had loads of talent and will be an Aussie international some day. He has that kind of talent. Even though he's a left winger, I decided to start him in the hole between midfield and the forwards. Maybe that's where things went wrong.
Whatever the reason for the collapse, it hit hard. In our next five games Perth drew four and lost one, thereby erasing our progress as a couple of bottom-feeders got hot and started winning. In addittion to our inability to win a game, we hit a scoring drought, Byrne drying up quicker than a desert well. Every game seemed to be a 0-0 or 1-1 result, meaning our defense and goalie were up to snuff, but our offense, was lacking. During the run, I juggled lineuups due to injury and incompetance and sourly started to prepare for next season. I brought in more youth players and another forward, Con Hall a 24 yr old Aussie striker who lacked finishing abilty, but who could head the ball. At the close of the five game period, we found ourselves just outside the playoffs in seventh place. We still had two games left to play, so I figured we had a shot. We won our next game 2-1, giving us crucial points. It all came down to our last game of the season. If we beat Omypic Sharks(a hot team that was winning) we had a chance at the playoffs. It wasn't to be. We had key players out due to injiry and the squad morale was sunk...they didn't believe and it showed in our play as we lost 2-1 to a team we had beaten in our early run. Feeling sligtly disappointed, I prepared for a busy offseason. There was a lot of wheeling and dealing to be done and fortunately, plenty of time to do it.
The one unfortunate thing about the NSL is the length of the off-season which runs roughly from late April to early Oct. My guess is that Aussies don't want to play in the middle of winter. As it was, there was plently to do. The World Cup was in June and like many World Cups, contained many susprises. In this 2010 version, the suprises were the following. China and the United States both beat Spain in the group stage to prevent the Spanish from advancing past the prelims. In the second round, Germany, Brazil and hosts Agentina all lost. In the later rounds, Russia made a run for the Cup and wound up in the final before losting to to Holland. After the Cup, Perth and I set about whelling and dealing. We signed young players and and better forreigners than the ones we had. Right-back David O'Neill came in a 20 grand deal from Kilmarnock. Brian Dixon, a 24 yr old central defender on a Bos. from Killie. These two players will step right into the regulgar starting lineup. While those two were the main signings there were others. Chief among them was goalkeeper Austin Thompson, a 33 yr old goalkeeper from, of all places, Ohio for 10K. Thompson will be a bgckup goalie and will coach the young keepers. I finally signed an asst manager who will coach the youth team and overall tactics. Thus, by August, the Perth Glory squad and staff for the 2010/11 season.
With the squad set, I set up a tourna,ment called the Perth Cup which was played in mid Sept. The other three teams in the tourney were from Tasmania, Vanatu and the Solomon Islands. Of course Perth won the touney, but the real idea was to get my players some playing time. The idea worked, as several players who were on the bubble, solidified starting spots. The last warmuup game was against Adeliade City Zebras. It was an easy win, noteable only that forward Con Hall, who had been slated for backup duty, scored a hat-trick and thus moved up the depth chart. All in all, we deemed prepared for the season.
Goalkeepers: - This is the weakest position on the team. The three first-team keepers aren't very good. I suspect that the position will be a revoving door this year. Note: projected starters are listed first.
Peter Woods(27 Aus)- The incumbent keeper. Wood is a great inspiration to his teammates, can jump and has reasonable handling and reflexes. He, however, has no clue how to position himself. I hope his ability to direct defenders and athletic abilty will compensate.
John Mendes(22 Aus)- The most balanced keeper on the first team. His best skill is his ability to handle the ball and decent reflexes. He would the starter if he could jump higher than 2 inches off the floor.
Adrian Thompson(Aus 33)- The third string keeper because he has worse skills than Mendes. Thompson's main job will be to coach the reserve goalkeepers.
Player to watch: Joel Harrison(Aus 16)- Has primo goalkeeping skills, just needs to develope. Could be first-team starter in four years. It's not like he has much competion ahead of him.
Defenders:
Defense may be the strengh of the club. It's young and talented and can only get better. Banks and Dixon will be stars in the league.
Ryan Banks(Aus 24 1 DL)- This kid has defensive talent. He has the great attributes I require of my fullbacks- marking, pace and positioning. He has all three and should be the starter for a long time.
Steven Sweeney(23 Aus DL)- A career backup. His skills are below par.
Davifd Mezzino(23 Aus U21 DR/L)- Young defender who has talent. He's not really a marker, but he does has pace and passing skills.
David O'Neill(23 Sco DR)- Decent skills, may be a careeer backup.
Brian Dixon(23 Eng DC)- The Bos from Kimarnock. He has unbelievable marking and heading skills;meaning he'll be able to shut down most forwards in this league.
Matt Murry(25 Aus 1/2 DC)- A solid defender with just enough skill to start in the NSL. I'm not sure why he was seclected for the Aus. national team.
Tom Murphy(20 Aus 2 DC)- Would probably be the starter but he can't jump very well. Only 20, he still has time to develop into a solid starter.
Sendar Pir (31 Aus DC)- Rrasonably well-rounded. Pir could sneak into the starting lineup and stay there if he plays well enough while someone is hurt.
Player to watch: Shuan Morrison(17 Aus DR) Highly skilled for a 17 year old. Give him a couple more years and he'll crack the starting luneup for good.
Simon Catanzaro(29 Aus LMC)- A Bos. signing from an Aus minor league team, he has some tech. skills and should have a decent season.
George Ndah(35 Eng LMC) Ndah is too old to start, but he could bre a sparkplug off the bench. George still has plenty of skill and can alter a game when he comes onto the pitch.
David Carney(27 Aus MC)- Slow but solid player who will be expected to run the show in the middle. My lone concern is that he can be a selfish player, but I won't hesitant to yank him if that becomes a problem.
Stuart Robertson(24 Aus U21 MC)- Could replace Carney in the lineup because he's faster and a better teammate. I suspect Stu will become the starter by the end of the year.
Chris Bresciano(26 Aus RMC)- Has decent skills and good physical talent, but is starting because the board seem to think he's a valuable player. I think they're overrating him, but we will see. He ain't great, but he's not too bad.
Frank Starr(26 Aus RMC)- Reasonable skills. If Bresciano flops, Starr will replace him.
Adrian Stoljevski (19 Aus)- A future Aus Int. This kid has skills and will only get better. The problem is that he hates the fact that I'm trying to convert him to the center. I don't care what he thinks...he will play center and that's that. He'd better get used to it.
Ansah Bonetti(28 Trindad and Tobago 4 AMC)- I don't know what the previous manager saw in this guy. He's physically gifted and a good teammate, but he lacks skills. He's too epensive to cut however, so he gets a backup role.
Forwards:
These guys are in a similar situation as the goalkeepers, no one stands out. That said, there could be a revolving door here if noone plays with any consistancy.
Nick Bernier(24 Canadian 1)-Nick was picked up on a free after my scouts looked at him. He is lightening fast and can dribble and finsh.
John Allen (27 Aus)- The fans player of the year last season, Allen has a knack for scoring goals.
Matt Byne(24 Aus)- Can dribble and score, but got edged out of the starting lineup. Will get playing time though.
Con Hall (25 Aus) -Came oveer from South Melbourne in a 9k deal late last season. Hall is fast, smart and can head the ball...his only trouble is a lack of scoring nerve. Made the first team because of a hat-trick he scored in a friendly.
Player to watch: Matt Hunter(19 Aus)- Blossoming targetman could crack starting lineup this season if nobody can score.
There you have it. The 2010/11 Perth Glory first team.
Our first five games went relatively smooth. We finshed that stretch 3-1-1, good for 5th place. My preseason concerns, however, seemed fully justified. Goalkeeper seemed solid enough with Wood being an unflappable captain and shot saver. Defense was ok...but Dixon wasn't living up to his billing. He wasn't playing badly, but he wasn't playing well ethier. Midfield and attack were beset with injuries and incompetance. Nearly all the first teamers in those positions played at least 2 games during the stretch and it affected our scoring. Stojevski, in particular, was inconsistant, mainly because he whined about training. The other forwards didn't help matters because, except for Berneir, they were all injured or couldn't find the net. Things got desprete in midfield and I bought 20 yr old Adrian Edwards from Kingz for 8,000 pounds. Edwards is a versitile mid. who should get playing time. In addition Robertson fulfilled my preason prediction and wrested the starting MC job from Carney. Perth is playing well, but we need to start getting some goals or it's gonn come back and bite us in the ass.
You know, we are a perthectly good team. 
- Ye Gads, there's a player...
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