Former Celtic and Leeds man sacked from managerial role after just six months with Ange Postecoglou’s old team

Former Celtic first-team coach Harry Kewell has been sacked as manager of J1 League side Yokohama F. Marinos after just six months in charge. 

The 58-time Australian international was only given the job on 31 December 2023 but has now been relieved of his duties, according to reports in Japan from the Yokohama Express.

Overall, Kewell managed just 13 victories, eight draws and 12 defeats in 33 matches at the Nissan Stadium, giving him an overall win record of 39.39 percent. He leaves the club in 12th position in the J1 table, just seven points clear off the drop zone - a far cry from the club’s second place finish in the 2023 and 2021 campaign and even further from their title triumph in 2022.

Kewell also suffered heartbreak in the Asian Champions League final, which is played over two legs. After winning the first leg 2-1, Marinos were crushed 5-1 by Al Ain in the second leg to lose 6-3 on aggregate. 

Yokohama F. Marinos were notably the club that Ange Postecoglou managed for three years before his arrival in Glasgow as boss of Celtic. The now Tottenham Hotspur boss inherited the post in December 2018 at a time when they were 12th in the division and within just 18 months was celebrating the teams first J1 league title in 15 years, thus becoming the first Australian to win the league in Japanese football history.

Postecoglou was praised for his front-foot attacking brand of football and quickly translated this into Scottish football at Parkhead as he lifted five trophies for the Hoops in a dominant two-year period which culminated in an historic domestic treble before his high-profile move to North London.

Kewell, who had struggled in spells with English sides Crawley, Notts County, Oldham and Barnet worked as first-team coach during the Postecoglou reign, which had boosted his reputation in the game and propelled him back into the spotlight with a top Japanese job.

Australian news outlet FTBL understands that the former Leeds United footballer will now be replaced by assistant coach John Hutchinson in the coming days.

The expectation is that Hutchinson will steady the ship and restore harmony with a disaffected group of players who are currently on a four game losing streak. Kewell, meanwhile, will be on the hunt for his sixth managerial job since retiring from playing in 2014 and will hope to bounce back from this setback in the near future.

Kewell, who lifted the Champions League and FA Cup with Liverpool as a player, is regarded as one of the Socceroos’ most talented footballers of all time and FTBL claims that he could return to Australia to manage a team in the A League in the near future. He had spells with both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart at the end of his career but was hampered by injury issues during both stints.