Roar turns to ‘God’ for resurrection
GOLD COAST: Brisbane Roar is hoping the postEaster arrival of God will be the start of the ALeague club’s resurrection.
Liverpool great Robbie Fowler was unveiled yesterday as the new head coach of the Roar, ending a fourmonth search to find the successor for former Socceroo John Aloisi.
The 44yearold, who earned the nickname ‘‘God’’ for his goalscoring exploits with the English Premier League giant in the 1990s, has joined the Roar on a twoyear contract.
It is the first coaching role Fowler has held since he retired in 2012 after a brief stint as playercoach of Thai Premier League team Muangthong United.
The former England striker, who is the sixthhighest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history with 183 strikes in 369 matches for the Reds, holds top coaching qualifications in Europe and said he had applied for the Brisbane role as soon as it became available.
‘‘I knew I wanted to come over here. I knew I wanted to show people how good I can become,’’ Fowler said.
‘‘Obviously, I had a good career in terms of playing football, but now this is really the start of my managerial career and look, you know, there’s not going to be any stone left unturned.
‘‘I’m going to do everything right. There’s going to be plenty of hours on the training pitch to bring the club and the team up to speed.
‘‘Massively looking forward to it and can’t wait to get going now.’’
Fowler was one of more than 150 candidates who applied for the role and reports suggested the field included former England boss Sven GoranEriksson, outgoing Adelaide United coach Marco Kurz and former Welsh international Carl Robinson.
Fowler’s appointment will be his third foray into the ALeague, after stints with North Queensland Fury and Perth Glory in the twilight of his playing career.
The new boss will be in the stands for the Roar’s final match of an awful 201819 campaign against Adelaide at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow.
He comes into a club that is a far cry from the days of winning three ALeague grand finals in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Brisbane heads into tomorrow’s match with just four wins from 26 games this season and sitting secondlast on the competition ladder.
Club captain Matt McKay is retiring, while veteran Brazilian Henrique announced on Monday he had played his last game for the club.
There are also several players offcontract, including French marquee Eric Bautheac, who has already been linked to Melbourne Victory.
Fowler will meet his players at the Roar’s training base south of Brisbane today, but he feels he knows all he needs to about what must change at the club.
‘‘I’ve done my due diligence,’’ Fowler said.
‘‘Watching them, I know what’s needed, what I can do, what I can’t do.’’
Current interim coach Darren Davies will stay in the role for tomorrow’s match before staying on at the club as one of Fowler’s assistants, alongside former Everton and Manchester City player Tony Grant.
Chelsea suffered a setback in its push for a Champions League spot when it was held to a 22 draw at home to Burnley in the premier league yesterday and tempers flared at the end of the match when Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri was sent to the stands.
Jeff Hendrick gave Burnley an early lead with a crisp volley before N’Golo Kante and Gonzalo Higuain put the home side 21 ahead by the 14th minute. However, Ashley Barnes drew the visitor level 10 minutes later. After Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Arsenal all lost at the weekend, Chelsea had an opportunity to tighten its grip on the premier league’s top four places.
The draw pushed Chelsea up a place into fourth spot, level on points with thirdplaced Spurs and one point ahead of Arsenal, both of which have a played a game less. Burnley remained 15th, nine points clear of the relegation zone with three games left to play.
On a frustrating night for Chelsea, teenager Callum HudsonOdoi had to be helped off the pitch shortly before halftime after suffering a serious Achilles tendon injury.
Chelsea’s frustration at failing to claim all three points boiled over when referee Kevin Friend sent Sarri off after the Italian coach became embroiled in a scuffle among players on the touchline in the dying moments.
‘‘You can understand he is frustrated about the game,’’ Chelsea assistant coach Gianfranco Zola, who stood in for Sarri in the postmatch news conference, said.
Zola said Sarri had sought to get his players out of the scuffle but the referee ‘‘misinterpreted it; we are very unhappy about it’’. Zola added Sarri had been offended by a comment from the Burnley bench.
Chelsea defender David Luiz accused Burnley of playing ‘‘antifootball’’ by wasting time and employing negative tactics.
Burnley coach Sean Dyche bristled at the ‘‘antifootball’’ suggestion and praised his players for withstanding Chelsea’s pressure.
‘‘There are nights like tonight when you just have to give everything, every inch,’’ he said. ‘‘You know, it used to be a really good thing when fans see their team give everything. They used to love it and maybe it’s still got a place.’’