It provides a direct link and promotional boost to the A-League, which has now progressed to become the pathway to national team honours for players and coaches.
This was the plan at the league's inception and it is a huge credit to everyone concerned that this point has been reached after only eight years.
All coaches, fans, and media deserve a pat on the back for responding to pressure in a positive way to take great leaps forward during the past few years.
The coaching fraternity, in particular, should be immensely pleased with their collective progress including all the technical staff at Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory who played their part.
If they had an association, today would be an important moment for them to promote a message of quality and improvement and to take a bow and commit publicly to further improvement.
Nevertheless, we can publicly acknowledge their work for them.
Six points for consideration.
1. Be sure to give Ange every single resource, camp, scouting trip, medical staff and so on that the former coaches were provided. No corners cut; he deserves the same environment in which to work including, if need be, million-dollar charter flights.
2. This is a long-term decision that should be treated as such. The view has been taken that he possesses the qualities to develop the next generation. Now let him do so. It will take time to develop the team for the new cycle.
3. The key objective is the AFC Asian Cup at home. The World Cup is an important window for the game to promote itself in Australia and abroad, however January 2015 is the major opportunity that has to be fully maximized. With the right preparation and organization, the team can win.
4. The primary objective was always to import high quality (which was not always the case, obviously), until such time as our own coaches rose to international standard, after which we should not need to import again.
In other words, not to expect the international level to come down to us, but for us to match and one day rise above it.
This was a great challenge but, now that the strategy has come full circle and this decision made this should, in fact, represent a fundamental change whereby the coaches from this point forward should ideally be Australian.
Not just because they're Aussie, an argument we must always avoid as I made clear in my Sun Herald column, but because they are international quality in our globalized game. A massive difference.
Major football nations like Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, Spain and France utilise only their own coaches and once a nation has hit a certain level, this should be policy.
England is the prime exception, and it is its experience we must aim to avoid.
The key is to keep identifying, educating and bringing Australian coaches through in greater numbers to produce a production line.
In future, if there are not enough candidates, that will be our fault because there is tremendous coaching talent around, it simply needs the proper education and opportunity to develop in a high-quality, competitive league with an advanced tactical level.
Further, one lesson should be to avoid the current scenario and identify future prospects well ahead of time.
All of our young coaches should be a vital part of the Australian group at next year’s World Cup to learn and keep pushing each other.
5. We have followed a similar path to Japan, importing what was required (in a strategic sense, specific appointment decisions aside), absorbing and developing to keep rising.
However, even in Japan after 20 years of a professional league, it still feels the necessity to appoint Alberto Zaccheroni, when there has been more than adequate time to develop its own coaches’ skills to a high level. Likewise, Korea Republic.
This is surprising, but is partly because Asian coaches are as yet unable to crack the top level in Europe and is why the next step is to send our coaches abroad to develop further.
It is in Australia's interest to assist our best A-League coaches every few years to move to Europe, if possible.
Creating this pathway is the next step that needs to be taken and to, eventually, send our coaches to the very top.
In the same way that former Socceroos boss, Eddie Thomson, was later sought for a position abroad, in future our national team coaches are likely to have the best opportunity to work at the highest club levels.
That sounds counterintuitive, I know, but ultimately we want coaching representatives in the UEFA Champions League.
My greatest hope with this decision is, unless Graham Arnold, Tony Popovic or others can make the leap in the interim, that Ange Postecoglou will later be able to do so. Someone has to open the path.
6. It is critical that a replacement Technical Director is appointed to continue to develop the national approach and methodology, and control important coach appointment decisions in the development system to produce better players for the senior team. This should be the subject of a full review.
Today represents another, important, strategic objective achieved.
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