Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou has allayed fears that Matt McKay will move abroad following his sterling performances at the Asian Cup, saying his captain will want to be a part of “something special” brewing in Brisbane after all but securing the club’s first ever piece of silverware.
The Roar’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Heart on Saturday night has, barring an unprecedented form reversal, essentially clinched the Premier’s Plate and qualified the men in orange for their first ever continental competition, the 2012/13 edition of the Asian Champions League.
Postecoglou said he hopes the prospect of playing in Asia and his plans to build an orange dynasty in the A-League would be enough of a carrot to stop McKay from leaving the Roar when clubs eventually swoop in for the sudden Socceroos starter.
“We’re very confident that he’ll be around next year when we’re playing in Asia and backing up from this year,” Postecoglou said.
“I know what he’s like and he won’t go unless it’s something extraordinary. I said last week that all our players will come under the microscope of other teams because we’re doing so well, it’s only natural.”
“We don’t want people to move on but I don’t think anyone will, particularly someone like Matty, just for the development of their careers.”
“It would have to be something pretty good to go away from here because he’s worked hard for six years, since day one, so he’s not going to want to miss being a part of something special that we’re building over the next two or three years here.”
Postecoglou said with McKay’s stint with the Socceroos in their Asian Cup run all the way to the final and the club’s new record meant the Roar could look back at this as an historic time.
“We might even make the back page of our local rag. That would really give me a heart attack first thing in the morning,” he said.
This is going to be seen as something pretty extraordinary and I’m delighted to be a part of this club.”
“You’ve got to enjoy it. It won’t take the focus away from what we need to accomplish this year but our supporters have never felt any joy in terms of winning something. We’re the one club out of the originating clubs in this league that hadn’t won anything and we’re a big city.”
“Our supporters have been following us for six years now waiting for something to happen and you know just how happy people will be about this.”
“These players have been brilliant. That is what I’m super-proud of. We’ve done it our way. Even today, we still are trying to play the way we want to.”
