Matildas star Steph Catley says she hopes Football Australia finds a permanent coach “sooner rather than later”, admitting players are “in limbo”. The Matildas have been without a full-time coach for eight months since Tony Gustavsson’s official departure on August 1 after the Paris Olympics.
In their 11th game under caretaker Tom Sermanni, Australia defeated South Korea 2-0 at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium to claim their first back-to-back wins of the year.
The South Korea friendlies are hoped to be the last under Sermanni, with FA having flagged a coach will be in place by mid-year and their May/June friendlies against Argentina in Melbourne and Canberra.
Sermanni himself is unsure whether this will be the case, with pressure mounting on FA given the ever-shortening runway to the looming 2026 Asian Cup to be hosted by Australia.
Expressing relief at claiming a clean sweep of their two-match series with South Korea, Catley admitted the rebuild has been difficult without a permanent coach.
“We are at very early stages of a rebuild and that happens every cycle when you’re leading into major tournaments and we’ve got a year to build – well, less than a year now, but that’s what it’s about,” Catley said.
“It’s hard as a playing group when you’re in limbo a little bit. You haven’t got clear direction in how we’re going to play moving forward. Tommy’s done a great job coming in. He creates an amazing culture for the girls, a real positive energy.
“You can’t fault him and how he’s gone about it, but it is difficult when you’re trying to build towards something specific and it’s been a while since we’ve sort of had that. The girls have been doing the absolute best that they can and we’ve been sticking together and galvanising as a group. That’ll be important for us going forward.”
Lyon coach Joe Montemurro had emerged as a front runner for the vacant Matildas post. Catley is well-acquainted with the decorated Australian coach, having played under him at Melbourne City before following him to current club side Arsenal.
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The star defender played a straight bat when asked about her former boss.
“I have no idea. I have no idea if that’s the chat or whatever it is,” said Catley, whose Arsenal team play Lyon in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals later this month.
“He’s obviously in a role right now so I don’t really know how that works. He’s a great coach. I’ve had him a couple of times and he’s doing well over there at Lyon [but] I’m not picking the coach. It’s just not my role. We’ll wait and see and hopefully it gets done sooner rather than later.”
