RICHARD Garcia has waited longer than most, but the latest young Australian coach finally gets the chance to begin an A-League campaign and test the ideas and beliefs he has spent years formulating.
On Wednesday night Perth Glory finally kick off their A-League season – and Garcia joins a new wave of coaching talent across the A-League and W-League this season, the likes of Patrick Kisnorbo, Carl Veart, Alex Epakis and Ash Wilson granted the chance to take the top job thanks in part to the vagaries of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though Garcia has already overseen an Asian Champions League campaign, albeit with a very young squad, it’s the week-in, week-out challenge of the domestic competition that has occupied the thoughts of all the new wave.
“COVID has forced the hand of the clubs in a good way, and that’s the beauty of how things have developed for our code,” said Terry McFlynn – Perth Glory’s football operations manager, who has worked closely with several young A-League and W-League coaches, including Steve Corica, Ufuk Talay and Epakis.
“For the young players, previously they could be in the national youth league for years without getting a first-team chance but COVID has changed that.
“The same is true for the coaches, clubs have had the chance to look internally and promote from within.
“To me it shows there’s a stream of talent that’s ready to step up.”
Of course, the ongoing realities of living in a pandemic have created unique challenges – Perth haven’t played since November thanks to border restrictions, but now face four games in 12 days as they race to catch up with the other teams.
“But Rich’s view is very positive – if you can survive these circumstances you can survive anything,” said McFlynn. “It’s also true that with the extended off-season, the coaches have all had longer to work with their squads, to implement their new ideas, to drive cohesion.
“This throws up challenges when you’re preparing to face an opposition where the other coach is also learning on the job and experimenting with things. It’s a great learning opportunity.”
That applies across both leagues, with four new head coaches in the W-League, and three of them first-timers in that role.
“I think the days of looking overseas for coaches are gone – this is the time for us to have homegrown players and coaches,” said Heather Garriock, former Canberra United head coach who has been involved in the development work undertaken by Football Coaches Australia.
“These coaches haven’t been ‘given’ the role so much as earnt it. This is the next stage on their journey, and we’ve got a great pool of young coaches who now get to work outside their comfort zone and see how they cope with the pressure of working in a high-profile league.”
That includes Epakis, her former assistant at Canberra.
“Alex has served a really good apprenticeship and this is the opportunity for him to cut his teeth at the top level,” said McFlynn. “We lost a few key players due to the COVID uncertainty, so he has a young squad – it’s very much a long term project.”
Patrick Kisnorbo meanwhile has felt the pressures in the first three weeks of the season – previously the W-League head coach, the former Socceroo has taken over the A-League hotseat and watched a drama-filled opening three games.
“It’s been a bit challenging – we’ve been adapting to the fixtures changing at short notice, then I’ve had two players sent off, some injuries, the whole lot,” he said.
“But in that hardship you reflect, and it’s why we love the game when we see these young players get their chance.
“Coaching is like parenting, you read all the books and then real life happens and you have to learn quickly. `
“A lot of it is on instinct. If you go back to our game against Western United at the weekend, I just felt we needed more pace so I brought on some of young guys and the subs changed the game.”
Whether the new wave of coaches will have an overarching and identifiable style is an open question, believes former Sydney FC and Adelaide United boss John Kosmina.
“Most of them will have firm ideas on what an ‘Australian style’ might be,” Kosmina said. “The one common thread is they have a little bit of the old Aussie way of thinking, that you have to be tough to survive.
“Look at Carl (Veart) and Ross (Aloisi) at Adelaide – I coached them and I know them as individuals. The way Adelaide played in the hub to complete last season (after Veart was put in charge), they were sensational, so different to the way they were set up under Gertjan Verbeek and Marco Kurtz.”