If Joe Montemurro had wanted to quash the speculation linking him to the vacant Matildas post it was not the most convincing way to do so.
As he basked in the tactical triumph of masterminding Lyon’s 2-1 win over his former Arsenal team in Saturday’s first leg of their Uefa Women’s Champions League semi-final in London, he was asked if his experience enabled to him to block out the ‘noise’ around the subject.
There was a pause and a whispered aside to the club’s press officer before he spoke.
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“I have a semi-final (second leg) next week,” Montemurro said.
“We have a game against Nantes (in the French league) during the week ... and then we look at the semi-final. The rumours are just rumours, and I’ll leave the rumours to you guys.”
Make of that what you will, but Caitlin Foord made her feelings clear when it was pointed out that, if Arsenal could overturn the odds and knock Lyon out in next weekend’s second leg, Montemurro would be freed up to take the Matildas role a week early (the French league concludes on May 16, eight days before the European final).
“Possibly yeah, hopefully,” she said.
“No, I don’t know. Obviously, that’s up to our federation and how that goes.”
Foord, who was signed by Montemurro for Arsenal in 2020, went on: “I’ve been coached under Joe before, and really enjoyed playing under him, so we’ll see what happens.”
Steph Catley recently said the players felt “in limbo” with the wait for Football Australia to appoint a successor to Tony Gustavsson now in its ninth month and the home-hosted Asian Cup less than a year away. Interim Tom Sermanni has now overseen 11 matches.
Foord concurred with her Arsenal and Australia teammate, adding: “That’s up to the federation again. We want to get going as soon as possible with whoever that coach is, but for now it’s in their hands, and we’ve just got to do what we can out on the pitch.”
While Western United’s John Aloisi has also emerged as a contender, the delay may be explained by FA waiting for Montemurro to finish what is the first season of a two-year contract at Lyon.
The team, with Matildas star Ellie Carpenter in their ranks, have already won the regular season domestic title, adding to his league titles in Australia (with Melbourne City), England and Italy (with Juventus).
Montemurro said he had “learned a lot” at the club especially “on leadership — the ability to understand big personalities and managing those”.
“All the experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to have, have given me little snippets of what to use to develop as a leader,” he said.
“I’m not saying I’ve seen it all before, but I’ve seen these moments when the game gets out of hand a little bit … all those finals (for Arsenal) against Chelsea that we lost. All the bloody games that got away from you. I couldn’t work it out.
“I’ve learned now. I’ve learned those little bits and pieces: what to not worry about, what to not get emotional about, and what to grow.”
The question remains whether the Matildas are now to benefit from that experience.
