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Vince Rugari

@vincerugari.com

Sydney Morning Herald sports reporter | vince.rugari@smh.com.au | Author of Angeball: The definitive biography of Ange Postecoglou

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Latest posts by Vince Rugari @vincerugari.com

Mask off moment.

03.03.2026 21:36 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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12.02.2026 20:31 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Surely nobody is asking for Dyche. Surely.

12.02.2026 17:01 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It’s 100% got to do with the fact that one is from Australia and one is from Denmark

11.02.2026 12:09 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I have. I’m just saying.

11.02.2026 10:30 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It won’t happen. But it should.

11.02.2026 10:12 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

ANGEBALL by @vincerugari.com GOATED BOOK if you like soccer at all do yaself a favour and read it

Made me love Ange all over again

And made me hate him for the 2018 World Cup saga again he was such a prick (Albeit a justified prick)

31.01.2026 10:23 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks bruz

31.01.2026 18:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Typical Yank comment.

28.01.2026 18:54 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I guess it must be the training facility right?

27.01.2026 20:38 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Not to keep going on about it, but I hope everyone who blamed Ange’s training methods last season β€” despite knowing zero about those methods β€” is embarrassed and ashamed of themselves for their lack of intelligence. You were stupid.

27.01.2026 20:30 πŸ‘ 47 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

The club that gives Musky a go, wherever they are, will be grateful they did. Confident of that.

11.01.2026 01:24 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

Let me rephrase that. Frank is a good coach. I don’t like comparing: who’s better, who’s worse etc. But Muscat is clearly ready for a top-level job and carries an Ange-esque ethos with a little more (ironically) defensive stability, which is what Spurs wanted here.

11.01.2026 01:23 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

They not only could do a lot worse, they already are.

11.01.2026 00:33 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Not only is it boring, but it doesn’t work. The pragmatism has not addressed the defensive issues. It’s not doing what it says on the tin, and even worse, has come at the expense of the front half. So it’s not only worthless, it’s demonstrably worse.

10.01.2026 23:46 πŸ‘ 41 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1

Suicidal high line vs living on your knees

10.01.2026 22:47 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I have read today that Thomas Frank simply β€œdoesn’t look himself”. Whereas finite judgments were happily made against his predecessor, whose ideas it was agreed were incompatible with the EPL. Make it make sense.

10.01.2026 22:22 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Some of the hopelessly superficial and naive commentary from last season is being exposed, faster than I could have predicted.

07.01.2026 02:48 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

06.01.2026 09:21 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I realise that. I’m also a journalist and creating text is my job. So that’s why I’ve done that.

04.01.2026 18:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I don’t think there’s ever a fair way to do this stuff. But my point was more about the defending. Despite having the best defenders available, despite the shift to pragmatism, they are not more β€˜defensively solid’ to me.

03.01.2026 21:36 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

And it’s almost like having Romero and VDV fit is more useful for a manager than Gray-Davies, but nobody cared about that last season.

Theres no perfect way to do this stuff. I just call it as I see it. I’ve not ignored any facts!

03.01.2026 21:12 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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01.01.2026 22:01 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Just catching up with the highlights and did I see a Thomas Frank defensive line on halfway? Did anyone call that suicidal, or question whether it contributed to any injuries?

01.01.2026 22:00 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Why don’t Aussie sporting crowds sing like the Brits do? Blame the Beatles We’ve borrowed so much from British sporting culture – but their fans sing with gusto, and we’re so sheepish in comparison.

Such a good article from @vincerugari.com on why we’re just not that much into singing at sport.

www.smh.com.au/sport/why-do...

01.01.2026 20:47 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

As you mentioned, it's subjective. It depends on how you assess the league position and losses, and to what extent they are explainable/excusable by injuries and the focus on Europa. If you blame it all on Ange, you sack him. If you think he played a bad hand pretty well, you keep him, I guess.

23.12.2025 21:04 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Given one of those seasons was a 5th placed finish, and that the other can be explained by the focus on Europa and guarantee of non-relegation, and that it led to a trophy, I just can't agree that it was rational to get rid of him on the totality of his reign

23.12.2025 20:58 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

That’s really well put, and exactly why I think people got the β€œemotional” and β€œrational” decisions the wrong way around. It was emotional to sack him and rational to keep him. My opinion, of course, but there’s so many variables in football/changing managers that Ange S3 to me was much lower risk πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ

23.12.2025 20:02 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m not saying, and I’m not sure anyone else is saying, that it would have been a guaranteed success, or that I’m definitely correct β€” just that it was a better bet. If I had to wager my money on it, I’d be putting it on Ange S3 over Frank S1 or anyone else’s S1.

23.12.2025 19:54 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0