Dario Vidosic, Brighton’s new manager, has voiced a “massive thank you” to the other Australian at the helm of a top-flight team in England for helping him secure his new role.
The 37-year-old Vidosic and Premier League Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou have a “long history” as a player and coach that stretches back to 2006.
As the former Socceroos star settled into his new job in England’s Women’s Super League with Brighton – nicknamed the Seagulls because of their coastal location – following a 14-year playing career, he was quick to thank Postecoglou for easing the transition.
“Look I have to give a big shout-out to Ange, he helped with my references,” Brighton’s new coach told his first press conference on Friday.
“His name, and not just in England but in Australia too, to have that sort of reference and that acknowledgement from someone like him who’s flying the flag for Australian football, showing what you can do.
“So I have to say a massive thank you to him and I will try to reach out to him. He’s a fantastic coach and what he’s doing in Tottenham and what he’s able to achieve in his first season, and not just in England, but ever since he sort of stepped into that managerial role.
“He was my coach in the younger national team, so there’s a long history there of player to coach and now hopefully I can get a little bit of mentorship from coach to coach, that would be awesome.”
The pair first crossed paths in the under-20s Australian side back in 2006, and then again in the Socceroos several years later.
Croatian-born Vidosic was nearing the end of his time with the Socceroos when Postecoglou took over the senior green and gold outfit.
Under Holger Osieck, the playmaker did not receive a national team call-up for two years until finally, in 2013 he became the German manager’s go-to option in midfield off the bench.
Football Australia fired Osieck in October 2013 after back-to-back 6-0 losses and Postecoglou took over. He promptly named the ex-A-League Men’s star in his 2014 World Cup squad.
