Melbourne Victory’s veteran striker Danny Allsopp hopes the arrival of new manager Ange Postecoglou can bring him another title as his career winds down.
Melbourne Victory’s veteran striker Danny Allsopp hopes the arrival of new manager Ange Postecoglou can bring him another title as his career winds down.
The 33-year-old was part of Melbourne’s Hyundai A-League title-winning sides in 2006/07 and 2008/09 but has revealed he yearns for another medal before he hangs up the boots.
“I really want to win another league title before I finish playing so hopefully with Ange coming in this year I’ll have a chance at doing that,” Allsopp said.
Postecoglou has only been in charge at Victory since the start of May but Allsopp has already seen enough to suggest the former Brisbane Roar manager could turn Melbourne into champions.
“He’s had an immediate impact straight away and we’re all enjoying training and I think the standard of our training has improved mentally straight away and hopefully that will continue, and I’m looking forward to this season,” Allsopp said.
The striker, who played at Qatari club Al Rayyan and DC United in the MLS after leaving Victory in 2009, returned to Melbourne in 2010 under former coach Ernie Merrick.
But after scoring five goals in nine games at the end of the 2010/11 A-League season, Allsopp didn’t feature heavily throughout 2011/12.
“It’s all down to how I perform on the training pitch and when I get a chance,” Allsopp said when asked about his chances of playing under Postecoglou.
“There’s no guarantees for anyone I guess but I hope I get a fair shot at it, same as everyone else, and get judged by what I actually do on the park.”
Allsopp played 18 games in the 2011/12 season but 13 of them were off the bench, although the big forward finished with just one goal.
In his seven seasons with Victory, Allsopp has scored 42 goals in 116 matches, making him Melbourne’s second-most prolific goal-scorer in the club’s history.
