“I just wanted to ask about what you’re doing next year?”
These are the discussions you never get to see. A conversation between player and coach, in the aftermath of a title-winning campaign, with their respective futures hanging in the balance.
It’s Western United midfielder Neil Kilkenny posing the question, and head coach John Aloisi providing the answer:
“I would like to stay,” Aloisi says. “But it hasn’t been finalised.”
This week’s episode of A-Leagues All Access takes you behind the curtain at the reigning Isuzu UTE A-League champions.
Aloisi is the focal point of episode 11, titled ‘In the Blood’. The episode covers his storied Socceroos past, the ups and downs of his coaching career and Western’s historic Championship, whilst revealing what it’s like for both players and coaches to be unsure of their futures, and the impact of the uncertainty.
WATCH A-LEAGUES ALL ACCESS, EPISODE 11: IN THE BLOOD
Kilkenny speaks to Aloisi inside Western’s training base, ‘The Hangar’, home to the AFL’s Essendon Football Club.
“The reason why I’m asking (about your future) is because, obviously, my Mrs has come (from the UK), and she’s asking me what’s going on for me,” Kilkenny says.
“On a personal note, our daughter’s at school, she’s finished school – year 7 – so (my wife) is like: ‘If we’re going to make the decision, we’ve got to make the decision soon’.”
There was good reason for Kilkenny to want to secure his future in that moment, whether it was at the club he helped lift the 2021-22 champions trophy aloft or elsewhere.
Kilkenny spent the best part of last season separated from his partner and four children, with COVID restrictions denying the veteran midfielder the chance to visit, aside from a two-and-a-half week trip to support his partner after the death of his father in law.
“That situation has been tough.”Kilkenny told KEEPUP in May. “I’ve got four kids, and I haven’t seen them really grow up.
“My one-year-old, her first steps, her first Christmas… I haven’t seen her that much. It has been tough.
“People don’t see that, it is really hard on the mental health.”
With that in mind, Kilkenny approached Aloisi in to ask for permission to speak to the club’s general manager of football, Mal Impiombato, to get clarity on his future.
The All Access cameras capture it all:
“If you don’t mind me speaking to Mal…” Kilkenny begins.
“No, I don’t mind you speaking to Mal,” Aloisi says.
Kilkenny continues: “I don’t want to go to the club without speaking to you first, because I know we’ve got a good relationship, and I enjoy playing for you, do you know what I mean? And I see the vision here as well.”
“I’ll speak to Mal as well,” says Aloisi. “And you speak to him, and we’ll see how it goes.
“We’re not going to talk about your age now,” Aloisi adds. It’s the day after Kilkenny’s 37th birthday.
“How old did you turn?” Aloisi asks.
“Thirty-seven.” Kilkenny replies.
“Thirty-seven? Yeah!?”
As much as an A-League Men off-season is about players seeking clarity in regards to their own situation, it also works conversely in the sense of the boss chasing players for an update on their intentions for a new campaign.
Overseeing training, Aloisi asks his assistant John Anastasiadis to ensure he gets a one-on-one chat with one of his Championship stars.
“There’s always constant dialogue on players that we’re trying to retain, where they might fit in,” Aloisi says. “Are they willing to re-sign for certain money, or do we have to look that they might have to move elsewhere?”
Aloisi pulls the player aside: “We’re offering you a contract, we want you to stay,” he says.
“And I understand if your mind is: ‘I want to try and go overseas’, I get that. We’re going to need to know soon – because then we’re going to need to know what we’re going to do for next season as well.”
Aloisi is this week’s star on A-Leagues All Access, KEEPUP’s weekly docuseries, which returns on Thursday, January 26 following a break over the festive season.
Produced by KEEPUP Studios and JAMTV, each new episode of the docuseries will debut on Thursday at 7:30pm AEDT on 10 Play, KEEPUP.COM.AU, the KEEPUP app. This week, it will be viewable on KEEPUP on YouTube from 9pm AEDT, after the Big Blue. It will be available on Australia’s fastest growing streaming service, Paramount+, and will then be broadcast on 10 Bold at 2:00pm AEDT on Saturday afternoons as an appetiser for the evening’s Isuzu UTE A-League Men game on the same channel.
