The Brisbane Roar has bid fond farewell to legendary Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert on the eve of the club’s final game of the season against Perth Glory at ME Bank Stadium.
The Brisbane Roar has bid fond farewell to legendary Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert on the eve of the club-s final game of the season against Perth Glory at ME Bank Stadium.
Finishing his two week coaching tenure with the Roar, Kluivert put the players through a series of drills at training before saying his final goodbye to the squad.
“If you have to say goodbye it is always a bad feeling,” he said.
“Working with a young squad which has a lot of talent is always nice.
“I learnt a lot about coaching through how Ange (Postecoglou) is working … he and I had very good time together.
“(So) it is always difficult to say goodbye and I wish the boys all the best.”
Holland-s all time leading goal scorer was a massive hit at the club, with the squad – especially the forwards – working overtime to learn as much as they could in the little time they had.
And despite the Roar-s gruelling season falling short of a final-s campaign, Kluivert left predicting the club would make a swift return to the Hyundai A-league summit.
“They have a lot of talent in this group … some of them have a really bright future,” Kluivert said.
“It was fun working with the boys and I hope for next year they can do better.”
With only the Glory to play the club has already started to make preparations for an assault on next season.
However, Postecoglou stands firm the season has not yet ended for his players, refusing to allow them to lose focus before the final whistle blows in Perth.
“It still is a game of football and the season hasn-t finished,” Postecoglou said.
“You probably have four months off afterwards so you don-t want to leave it with a bitter taste.
“Because it will stick to you, regardless whether people think it-s meaningless or not.
“From our point of view, we certainly want to have a good crack and finish the season off with a positive result.”
Postecoglou said he was not interested with making wholesale team changes for the final game of the season, preferring to find the missing ingredient which has plagued the squad all season.
“The thing about us is that we have been inconsistent … we have been good and been pretty poor,” he said.
“Two weeks ago (against Sydney FC) we were fantastic.
“The key for us next year is to show more consistency.”
One changed forced on the squad is the replacement of suspended Roar captain Matt McKay, with Postecoglou handing the armband to McKay-s midfield general, Massimo Murdocca.
“He-s probably the only other guy shorter than Matty, so if he goes down I got no-one to give it to,” Postecoglou joked.
“He is a fantastic character, a very good player, and he-s infectious in the way he plays the game.”
A self-proclaimed joker, Murdocca said he was honoured to fill McKay-s boots, but hoped the vacancy would only last a short time.
“It-s not so much the armband, it-s more the coach seeing me as a leader, and that-s a special thing for me,” he said.
