Defiant Ange Postecoglou remains tight-lipped over Socceroos speculation

Ange Postecoglou faced the media on Tuesday for the first time since speculation emerged over his position but repeatedly refused to shed light on the situation or guarantee his future after Australia’s World Cup playoff with Honduras.
The Socceroos coach foreshadowed a “discussion” about his position should his side reach a fourth-straight World Cup by defeating the Central American nation over two legs in November. But he has grown tired of having that conversation before the final playoff.
The besieged national team coach insists his focus is purely on qualifying for the 2018 tournament in Russia, despite a report earlier this month that he could walk out on the team, even if they are successful.

Postecoglou is contracted until the end of the World Cup cycle, meaning his tenure will end if he fails to defeat Honduras.

In his first media appearance since the Syria playoffs, Postecoglou said he was not prepared to discuss his future until after the Honduras matches.

“I’m happy to have that discussion when we qualify,” he said. “If we don’t qualify ... my future is absolutely certain. I’m not going to waste my time thinking about things that might or might not happen. The most important thing is these two games.”
While the frenzied speculation has threatened to overshadow Australia’s efforts to qualify, Postecoglou insists he’s been untroubled by both criticism and the conjecture over his failure to clear up whether he would continue to lead the Socceroos in Russia.

“Nothing beyond qualifying for the World Cup and getting the team ready to do that is important to me,” he said, before taking aim at commentators focussing on him and not the task at hand.

“I’ve been called Con Postecoglou because Con and Ange are obviously easily misinterpreted, they’re both ethnic names,” he said. “I’ve had my surname twisted in headlines to something really clever and funny which took me back to my primary school days.
“I’ve been called ego-centric. Selfish. There’s been calls for me to get sacked. But you know what? I’m still here. I won’t change who I am and what I believe in. It doesn’t hurt me. That’s how people want to define me at this present moment after 30 years of football in this country. If I start changing the way I am after that kind of stuff then I’d be tarnishing my legacy.”
Postecoglou refuted suggestions of disloyalty. “When you coach your country there’s no greater honour ... I’ve done it for 11 years in different capacities. I love this job.”
Returning skipper Mile Jedinak headlines three inclusions for the two-legged playoff, beginning with the away leg in San Pedro Sula on 10 November. The 33-year-old’s weekend runout with club Aston Villa was enough to earn him a seat on the plane to Central America, the last away trip on the road to Russia.

Jedinak is joined by Jimmy Jeggo and Alex Gersbach in the squad, which has been extended by two players to cover for the absence of Mark Milligan and Mathew Leckie.
Milligan and Leckie are suspended for the first leg, but will join the squad for the home tie in Sydney four days later. Both Bailey Wright and Ryan McGowan – a late inclusion for Wright after the first leg of the Syria playoff – are also included.
Postecoglou has the option to cut his 25-man squad by two after the away leg, or to bring his entire group to Sydney and make a late call on availability.
Australia can only name a bench of 12. Mustafa Amini and injured defender Brad Smith are the only players called up for the Asian playoff success over Syria who won’t be involved in this camp.
The five players trimmed from the 30-man squad named recently are goalkeeper Mark Birighitti, midfielder Amini and attacking trio Jamie Maclaren, Awer Mabil and Ajdin Hrustic.
Postecoglou said the extended squad was necessary due to the taxing inter-continental travel that lay ahead. “It has been pleasing to see so many of our players performing strongly for their clubs domestically and abroad, and I believe that puts us in good stead for our upcoming play-off matches,” he said.
“With two games in five days and extensive travel between the fixtures, every member of our squad will play an important role this November.”
Australia squad: Mitchell Langerak (Levante, Spain), Mat Ryan (Brighton, England), Danny Vukovic (Genk, Belgium); Aziz Behich (Bursaspor, Turkey), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F Marinos, Japan), Alex Gersbach (Rosenborg, Norway), Matthew Jurman (Suwon, South Korea), Ryan McGowan (Al Sharjah, UAE), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney), Trent Sainsbury (Jiangsu Suning, China), Bailey Wright (Bristol City, England); Craig Goodwin (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), Jackson Irvine (Hull City, England), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa, England), James Jeggo (Sturm Graz, Austria), Massimo Luongo (QPR, England), Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory)*, Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town, England), Tom Rogic (Celtic, Scotland), James Troisi (Melbourne Victory); Tim Cahill (Melbourne City), Tomi Juric (Luzern, Switzerland), Robbie Kruse (Bochum, Germany), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin, Germany)*, Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa, Israel).

SOURCE : GUARDIAN SPORTS
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