Kenny Lowe’s one-man revue at AAMI Park on Friday night was a bravura performance – five stars. From the moment he took his seat on the Perth Glory bench to the final utterance of his post-match press conference, Lowe was compelling in a perfectly structured three-act show.
It opened with the wiry Teessider jigging about the touchline with the anxiety-riven demeanour of a man remembering, then forgetting, then remembering again that he’d locked his keys in his car – all the while braving Victoria’s wet and wintry conditions in just a polyester tracksuit top and business slacks.
He barely took his seat while his team unpicked Melbourne City in a first-half display of defensive solidity and counterattacking menace. Lowe had clearly learned from Melbourne Victory’s mistakes of last week, offering City’s midfielders far less time and space, and demanding much more from his front four with and without the ball.
Nobody implemented this well thought-out strategy better than Andy Keogh. The Irishman haunted City’s defence whenever they had the ball, denying Neil Kilkenny and co a straightforward escape. Then when Glory took possession Keogh ran in channels between defenders, stretching the ambitious back three before Kilkenny had time to plug gaps.
The first act culminated in textbook dramatic fashion, with the award of a controversial penalty. Central Casting henchmen Dino Djulbic and Rostyn Griffiths were apoplectic, both receiving yellow cards for their protestations. As the half-time whistle blew, the red mist descended again, threatening chaos. Enter Lowe, from stage left, running towards the conflict from his technical area. Initially he appeared to play the role of peacemaker, shepherding his angry mob away from officials. But a deft volte-face turned the mood in an instant, ending with Lowe jabbing an accusatory finger at Alan Milliner, backed up by a string of invective.
It was unedifying behaviour. Lowe will be reprimanded by Football Federation Australia and rightly rebuked for setting a bad example. It was terrific theatre nonetheless, as much for its authenticity. Lowe clearly cares about his club, in the way football fans want to see their coach care. If that means overstepping the line at times, so be it, some punishments are worth taking. But these displays of passion are part of what makes the spectacle of sport so engrossing. We pay to be entertained and it was entertaining.
Lowe’s temporary punishment was to be banished behind glass for the second act. But if this reduced his impact on the field it only heightened his role in the drama. Pained and helpless, Lowe waved unseen directions to his oblivious assistants and screamed unheard instructions to his unwitting players. He was enraged and jittery as though half-time had been spent mainlining Red Bull instead of reminding one his coaches to occasionally turn around.
Without Lowe on the touchline the football became increasingly ragged. Midfield space that was so well marshalled in the first half became exposed and a strategic battle of attack versus counterattack devolved into an end-to-end nail-biter. It was fitting that Keogh had the final say, his third finish the most precise of his perfect hat-trick. He could – probably should – have scored more.
With the game concluded, it fell to Lowe to resolve his tale in a masterful press conference. He celebrated his tactical victory, asserting: “we were organised, we understood how they play and kind of came up with a plan, and it worked. Another time it won’t work, but tonight – if you got every player in here and asked them to go through it, we couldn’t have done it better.”
He rejected suggestions his team bullied City, unfurling one of the soundbites of the season in the process. “Oh, let’s just sit there like a little cat with our arms and legs in the air and they can tickle our belly and go and score three and everyone can pump Tim up again,” he said stony-faced. “We came here, to the best team in the league, we come here and we competed, and we deserved what we got.”
He cracked jokes. “The biggest problem Liam [Reddy] had all day was whether his cigar went out,” being one, and complaining (with gestures) of “tennis neck” at City’s long-ball response to Glory’s defensive alignment. It was engagingly chippy.
Above all Lowe was a man keen to get over one point, that his team deserved to win. And he was correct. As attractive and sophisticated as City will be this season, dominating possession and showcasing Tim Cahill, they don’t have a monopoly on winning football. Sport should necessarily be a contest, not an exhibition, and it reflects positively on the A-League that strategic battles like Friday’s will be played out over the course of the season.
Moreover, to suggest Glory succeeded by employing negative tactics would be to do them a great disservice. There was much to admire in how they thought their way through City’s approach and how decisively they responded. Lowe has provided a blueprint to the rest of the A-League for how to combat City’s imposing line-up, it’s now up to John van ’t Schip to respond.
In his last act before leaving the stage, Lowe took the opportunity to draw the audience’s attention to the future, and how bright it could be for Glory with the likes of Rhys Williams, Shane Lowry, and Adam Taggart vying for places in the starting XI. With perfect deadpan delivery he proffered, “probably a good time for me to take a holiday”. He’ll find out on Monday evening if he’s forced to take one.
