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.
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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.
Now the former Melbourne City coach finds himself in the dugout at Brighton on a three-year deal, having hung up his professional playing boots back in 2020.
The former Western Sydney Wanderer will link up with one of the 12 Aussies in the WSL at his new club, Matilda Charlize Rule.
Rule will be hoping her second campaign runs smoother than her first after a hip injury in December sidelined her for the rest of the 2023/24 competition.
Vidosic, who used to coach against Rule during her stint at Sydney FC, said he was excited about getting stuck into pre-season with Rule and his other stars.
"I crossed paths with her yesterday, so it was it was nice to see a fellow Aussie in the house," he told Optus Sport.
"In Australia it was always competing against her in the Melbourne City v Sydney FC battles that we've had over the last few years. It's nice to see a familiar face and an excellent footballer over here, another young talent."
"We've spoken about a few of those young talents and she's another one of those. So looking forward to coaching her and getting to know her better as well. And not just her but everyone else in the squad as well."
Vidosic becomes the first Australian since Joe Montemurro departed Arsenal in mid-2021 to manage in the league, following in the Lyon coach's footsteps from City's ALW program to the WSL.
But he turned to a familiar Kiwi face to learn more about his new club. He asked his former A-League Women's star Rebekah Stott, who played for Brighton across two stints, about what to expect.
"I was trying to keep it a secret but I didn't know that these guys here were probably talking to Stotty all along. So she probably wasn't telling me much, I wasn't telling her much," Vidosic laughed.
"But after I had that chat with her, everything that I've sort of seen in the first three, four days, she echoed all that.
"I think the biggest thing that I've noticed in these few days without getting on the pitches is the people in the place. They're all wonderful people, I've felt really, really welcomed even though I'm so far away from home, I felt at home.
"She said I'd love it here and she was spot on."
Australian Associated Press
