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Spurs assistant Mile Jedinak reveals coaching future

3 minute read

Mile Jedinak is relishing working under his former Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham and happy to bide his time before striking out on his own.

Mile Jedinak.
Mile Jedinak. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Former Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak would love to one day coach a team in his own right.

But right now he has no plans on thinking about anything except soaking up everything he can learn under Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.

Jedinak has been an assistant to his former Socceroos boss at the English Premier League club since June 2023, after a stint working in development and academy coaching at Aston Villa.

Given Postecoglou is known for entrusting his assistants with plenty of responsibilities, the 39-year-old is in the midst of a big learning curve.

"I've been sort of thrown into the cut and thrust of it all and learning off the people, around the players, trying to try and impart some knowledge into them and help support them and be part of this journey with them and enjoying every moment," Jedinak said.

"I would not shy away from that (management). But at the moment, all the focus is on the here and now and enjoying every single moment at the moment with Tottenham.

"What the future holds remains to be seen."

If he does eventually strike out on his own, former Premier League midfielder Jedinak expects his future to lie in the club game, at least initially.

"I think everyone wants to try to ply their trade in club land," he said.

"Do you rule international football out? You never can.

"Having been part of it as a player you know what it can be about. It's something that can be very, very special as well."

Postecoglou's first season has been a rollicking ride to date.

But Jedinak isn't surprised how quickly Postecoglou's charges have adapted to "Angeball."

"When we did come in, we worked with the boys all the time and to see them grasp the concepts on how we wanted the team to play," he said.

"They've given us every single amount of effort, energy and the coaches and the staff and it's not been a coincidence.

"It's nice to probably see that sort of process evolving and you see the team evolving and that's something that I know gets us excited as coaches.

"We're only at the start of this journey and we'll keep pushing to keep improving day by day."

Tottenham, who will play a friendly against Newcastle at the MCG on May 22, sit fifth after their 3-0 loss to Fulham but have a game in hand on fourth-placed Villa as they jostle for the final Champions League place.

"Obviously no one wants to lose football games," Jedinak said.

"But we've got 10 games to go and we'll be doing everything we can to make sure we finish the season strong."

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