For a player who says he had to work twice as hard as anyone else when he got to Europe because he lacked natural “talent” compared to those around him, it’s been a much smoother ride in coaching for former Socceroo James Holland.
Smooth, actually, is an understatement.
His first season as a coach, with Crystal Palace in the Premier League, has taken place at the game’s highest level. His very first match as an assistant to Oliver Glasner ended with a trophy in the Community Shield against Liverpool.
And he could win another in his last match, too.
Assuming Holland – who, Ange Postecoglou aside, is the only active Australian player or coach in England’s top men’s division this season – follows Glasner, his former coach at Austrian club LASK, out the door, he could leave as a major contributor to the club’s most successful era.
Palace holds a 3-1 advantage over Shakhtar Donetsk ahead of the second leg of their UEFA Conference League semi-final at Selhurst Park on Friday (5am AEST). Should they reach the final, against either Strasbourg or Rayo Vallecano, they will be favoured to win what would be just the second major trophy in the club’s history, having last year broken their 119-year wait in the FA Cup.
But according to Glasner, who will become one of the most in-demand managers in club football when he departs Palace at the end of this season, there could be many more pieces of silverware ahead in Holland’s future, predicting that the 17-cap Socceroo has what it takes to flourish as a coach in his own right.
“He understands the game, and I think that’s the most important requirement – that you understand football, how football works in attack, how it works defensively,” Glasner told this masthead.
“The second part, I think, is leadership. He also studied psychology during his time as a professional player, so I think he has all the requirements, but now, and we’re talking quite often about it, he’s also making his own experiences.
“I think it’s good being an assistant manager at the beginning. You don’t take the final decisions, but you also see how the manager reacts and what are the consequences. Would I have done the same or differently? You get a lot of information that can help you and will help you in your own managing career.
“James is just at the beginning, but he has all the requirements regarding football and regarding leadership to have a very good career.”
There are few better places an aspiring coach could be than by Glasner’s side – and it may yet be that, wherever he goes next, Holland will be riding shotgun.
The pair spent two seasons together in the Austrian Bundesliga with LASK, where Holland’s inquisitive nature and aforementioned qualities caught Glasner’s eye.
So eager was Holland to learn from him that, when he learned that there was a possibility he could join him on the bench at Palace, he retired almost on the spot – and the fact he was still playing so recently is part of what appealed to Glasner in bringing him into the Palace environment.
“He brought exactly to the staff what I hoped,” Glasner said.
“He’s very ambitious, he’s very hard-working, he’s very open-minded. He always wants to learn and improve … it was a great opportunity and experience for him.
“I think it’s maybe a little bit unusual to start straight in the Premier League. He learned a lot, I think, and what I also hope that he brings to us is, because he just retired, he’s very close to the players.
“He understands the players sometimes a little bit better than I do. I retired almost 15 years ago and this is a new generation and I always want to understand everyone – everyone in the staff, everyone in the players’ group. Some are younger than my children are and having a different view that helps sometimes.
“Adding James to my coaching staff was very successful.”
Glasner won’t talk about his future, having been linked with the vacancy at Manchester United – but that was before the Michael Carrick-led revival that has brought them back to the UEFA Champions League next season. Regardless, he won’t be short of suitors.
For now, he would prefer to focus on what’s in front of him: the chance to win what would be his second European trophy as a manager, and the possibility that, if Palace beat or even go close to last year’s points tally of 53 in the league, he will depart the club having overseen two of their best top-flight campaigns.
“It was a great experience, of course, winning the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history, being part of this wonderful day at Wembley – and then, of course, winning the trophy, celebrating with our fans and lifting the trophy,” he said.
“Those will be memories for life. It would be a massive achievement for me if we could win another trophy.
“But there’s still a few steps to go … I always like to do it step by step and not think too far in advance.
“This [could be] maybe the best two years in Crystal Palace history. That’s what we are going for. That’s why we are still very ambitious and working very hard, especially the players in training. And then it’s possible, I think.”
Watch every match of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League on Stan Sport.
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