ANGE Postecoglou has revealed that he “did struggle” with dropping Lucas Neill when he took over as Socceroos boss in 2013 and the way it happened still “rankles” with him.

In his new book Changing the Game, Postecoglou talks candidly about the huge decision he had to make early in his tenure.

He admitted that not choosing the captain he inherited was the easy part. Communicating it the right way, and Neill’s reaction, was the harder part to swallow. Postecoglou admits that he knew that Neill couldn’t fathom Bailey Wright or Alex Wilkinson going to a World Cup ahead of him, and is saddened that the former captain has hardly been sighted since.

Postecoglou had named Neill in his XI to play Costa Rica in his first game in charge in November 2013, but when it came to choosing his 23 to go to Brazil, Neill, then 35, was desperately seeking game time at Watford.

The rookie international boss said the decision “was not about” Neill; it was about what was best for the Socceroos at the time.

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“I felt he was carrying way too much of a burden,” he writes.

He continues: “Ultimately, however, the equation was pretty straightforward; he was desperate to play at the World Cup but he hadn’t played enough football in the lead up. Not even close. He was struggling to even get a club.

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou congratulates Lucas Neill. Source: Getty Images

“The decision to cut Lucas was the easy part. The logistics of communicating that decision to him were going to be more difficult.”

He adds: “I do wonder if, with Lucas Neill, there was another way. There may not have been, but I’m still dissatisfied by how it unfolded.”

Postecoglou had wanted to break the news to him face-to-face but with a deadline approaching to naming the squad, he could not logistically get to the UK.

“Time was getting tighter and I just had to make that phone call. It still rankles,” he adds, before describing the awkwardness of the conversation.

“As phone calls go, it was a strange one. The pleasantries didn’t take long to complete and Lucas began presenting his case. He’d played in an Under 21s game and was getting stronger. He was trying to convince himself as much as me, I think. He said he’d had an issue with his hamstring but that was done with now and his progress had been very good.

“I had to interject.

Lucas Neill listens as Ange Postecoglou. Source: News Limited

“’Lucas, it’s gone too far. I’ve got to make the call now. Because of who you are I think it’s better I make the call early, rather than have it drag on and muddy the waters later on. Let’s deal with it now. You’re not coming to Brazil.’

“The phone went quiet before I heard, ‘Okay.’ I told him it was his news to handle how he wanted. He made it clear he wouldn’t be saying anything.

“’I’ll go to ground. If you change your mind let me know because I’m playing in a game next week’,” he said.

“I wasn’t going to change my mind.

“I hadn’t reached that point of the project without being very clear in my mind where Lucas was at.

“When I got off the phone I realised it was the first time I’d ended a story only to be told by the person on the other end that the story might have one more chapter.

“It was strange, but there was no equivocation on my part. The book was closed. I’m sure even after the phone call Lucas was thinking I’d see the error of my ways. I couldn’t possibly be taking Alex Wilkinson or Bailey Wright to a World Cup instead of him, surely?

“It’s almost three years since that phone call and he hasn’t surfaced, so he was true to his word. He seems to have gone into hiding and I sort of wish that wasn’t so for one of our greatest-ever Socceroos.”

While Postecoglou has no regrets over the decision to drop Neill, he does look back at the process critically.

“Being the captain and leader of the country for such a long time, Lucas had had a celebrated career. Regrettably it finished on the end of a phone line.

Ange Postecoglou and Lucas Neill. Source: Supplied

“The end for Lucas shouldn’t have been a call from me telling him he wasn’t going to the 2014 World Cup. I wonder if he would have felt any better if I’d told him in person. Maybe I should have taken him out to dinner.”

Postecoglou admits that the way he ended his own career weighed on him while deliberating over Neill’s international future.

“The way my own playing days ended hung over me when Lucas’s career finished.

“I’d been with South Melbourne since I was nine years old. I was captain of the first team at 22. We’d won two championships. At 26 years of age I played my last game, 11.30am on a Sunday at Middle Park, in an Under 20s game.

“I was limping around the field. Nobody had the gumption to say, “Ange, that’s it mate. You’re done.” They just let me wither away. And they did it because they genuinely felt sorry for me. I don’t know if I would have felt any better if someone had sat me down earlier.

“However it happened, I still would have thought it a bitter ending. I’m very conscious of that with every player I’ve had to deal with on that subject. When the time has come, there is no point mucking around.”