Re: Ex-players (the thread nobody's been waiting for)
Danny Tiatto given the boot from Queensland Roar (A-League, Australia).
Departing Brisbane Roar tough guy Danny Tiatto has handed a farewell blast to combative new boss Ange Postecoglou, saying he never earned the “respect” of the club’s senior players when he took charge in October.
Tiatto, who has already earned a fine for earlier comments aimed at Postecoglou's management style, has been frozen out since.
But he didn't hold back when he told The World Game: “You have to earn the respect of the senior boys at any club if you want the team to progress and that hasn’t been the case with Ange at Roar.
“Every club needs its older boys to show an example to the youngsters and provide a bit of a balance but Ange lost a few of the older boys when he came in.
“If I was a coach I’d want the experienced boys on my side to help me out, people like Craig Moore who are passionate and will still give 110 per cent whether they planned to be there next year or not.”
The feisty 36-year-old ex-Socceroos enforcer, who made his name at Manchester City and Leicester City before joining Roar in 2007, guaranteed himself a frosty send off into retirement from Postecoglou, adding: “I'm fit to play but I don't expect to figure in any of Ange's squad between now and the end of the season.
“I'm not that bothered either way. You have coaches that want you and coaches that don’t.
“I haven’t been pushing myself to the fore at training as much as normal because I can see that there is little interest in me playing from Ange in the first place.”
Roar, who face second-place Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, are four points out of the top six with three games left.
Tiatto has featured four times since Postecoglou replaced Frank Farina and he has a theory as to why Roar's form has waned under the former Australian youth teams chief – seven losses, four wins and three draws.
“When you lose players with the experience of Craig Moore, Liam Reddy and Charlie Miller then you are going to struggle, that's why the season has fallen apart.
“The way things stand now Roar are a team with no leaders and no quality – and when you don’t have that you are digging yourselves a hole.
“I know Ange is working for the future but young boys can only get you so far without the experienced heads around them. The results really speak for themselves.
“It looks like I’m done and dusted at the club. I’m just enjoying the Gold Coast life, having a few beers and easing myself into retirement.”
Tiatto isn’t bothered at the prospect of provoking another run-in with Posetecoglou, or the club’s CEO Peter McLennan, adding: "If I see things that aren’t being done right I speak my mind. I tell it how it is and if certain people don’t like it then bad luck. I am just being honest.
“My wife and kids are back in Melbourne and hopefully I’ll be joining them shortly.
"I’ll catch up with my old mates like Dukes (Mark Viduka) and Muscy (Kevin Muscat) for a couple of beers and just relax and enjoy my retirement.
“What’s happened at Brisbane has been a bit of a letdown but it’s made the transition into retirement all the easier for me."
