Clubs lined up to poach Mariners wonderman Montgomery

Following his side’s miraculous 6-1 final victory over Melbourne City, Peil confirmed that the clamor for Montgomery to leave the coast had begun before kicking off at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium.

He expects the uproar to culminate, both domestically and overseas, in recognition of a coach who recruited and built a winning machine on a poor man’s budget.

“I’m sure we’ll get another year from Monty, but I know he’s had some ridiculous offers that would make him the highest paid coach in Australia,” Pell told FTBL.

“I know he’s also taken a keen interest in people from overseas – and I’m sure more will come in the next few weeks. I can only do what I can.

“Monty still has two years left on his contract, but the question is if and when the right offer will be made for him and his family. It’s the same situation with players.

“We are a club that develops coaches and players.”

Yorkshire-born Peil is no stranger to the qualities needed to thrive in the UK.

He believes Montgomery may end up continuing to manage the Premier League. In the meantime, he is enjoying working with the ex-Sheffield United midfielder turned clipboard magician.

“Monty is not only a great coach – he’s a fantastic male coach with a great football mind,” he stressed.

“He cares about his players and that’s why they want to play for him. He and Serg have also done a great job recruiting.”

With hat-trick hero Jason Cummings headed to the Indian Premier League a year after saving his career, and young Socceroos defender Nectar Triantis, 20, set to sign for Championship side Sunderland, Peil added: “Every The players are all signed next year with the coaching staff, and there will be changes. But it will move our options.

“We will never prevent players or managers from furthering their careers elsewhere if we make the right offer for the club and the player.

“But at this stage we hope there won’t be more than three or four players going forward and we already have a couple of new players who are about to be announced.”

Pell declined to comment on Triantis’ impending move to the north-east of England, adding only: “Nectar is a talent who will go a long way in the game.

“I’m a big fan of the (breakthrough Socceroo) Jordy Boss, but I feel Nectar is as valuable as it is promising.

“One day I could see him and Kye Rowles (another Mariners product) as a Socceroos centre-back partner.

“But we’ve got other guys who have done well like Sami Silvera, I think he’s a guy who’s one more season behind in the A-League and he can play anywhere.

“Sometimes players can go too early – as was the case with Sami before (to Portugal) and Christian Theoharos (Germany).

“No one wants to go to Europe and sit on the bench. Players and coaches need to be patient on their developmental path and choose the right time to take the next step. We are all trying to help them choose the right time.”

Peil and Montgomery were already laying out forward-looking plans amid the popping of champagne corks in Western Sydney and Gosford on Saturday night, discussing sales, acquisitions and making sure 2022-2023 doesn’t become a flash in the pan.

“That’s Monty’s mentality — that’s one of the things I love about him,” Peil added. “He doesn’t want to stand still. We all know it’s one thing to get to the top of a tree, it’s another thing to stay there. We plan to stay there as long as possible.

“We talk about players who come and go because football never sleeps.

“We’ve also brought on new staff in the community engagement area, because that’s something we need to continue to grow.

“Ten years ago, when this club was last in the finals, they couldn’t build on that. So we are aware of the challenge.

“It’s easy for us to throw cash if we have a big budget, but that’s not the case here.

“We have no intention of going backwards in the standards with which we play. We want to have the same quality team in the park next year as we did this year. If anything, we want to push the standards forward.

“We do have one thing in our favor – it’s not something we really advertise – we have probably the widest scouting network of any A-League club, both domestically and overseas.

“With the influence of Monty and (assistant coach) Sergio Raimondo, who have had an unbelievable impact, we were well secured.

“We also have great relationships with some of the top agents here because they know there will always be opportunities for good young players to join us.”