Eddie Thomson

The National Coach

The reason Harry plays for Australia
Harry became the youngest player to play for Australia when he turned out in a friendly against Chile in April 1996, aged 17 years and 7 months. The reason for his debut was as much to secure his nationality to the Socceroos than anything else. The man behind his debut: the late Eddie Thomson.

In 1990 Scottish-born Thomson succeeded Frank Arok as national coach and took Australia through 59 games and two World Cup campaigns.

"Eddie's contribution to Australian football is immense," says Mandic. "If it wasn't for Eddie, you never know, the sneaky Poms could have had Harry playing for England. The pressure on Harry, not to play for Australia was huge and Eddie snuck in under everybody's guard and got him over to Chile. Thankfully people alerted him, as Eddie didn't know Harry, but some of his mates told him to get Harry in. Even after Harry had played for Australia, there was still pressure for him to wait four years and then play for England. That was very tempting and enticing. If Tommo had not done what he did then things could have been very different indeed."

However, straight talking Lee takes a different view of Thomson's influence on Harry's career. "Eddie cost Harry millions of dollars. He played Harry early to make sure he played for Australia and Harry made the wrong decision businesswise. If you look around at the figures he could have commanded if he hadn't played for Australia and was an English national and played in the European Championships, then he would have been worth twice what he is. Harry got bad advice, but I wasn't there to give him advice, I was there to coach him."

 

Les Gelis

The Physio

Central to Harry's return to fitness and move to Galatasaray

"I first met Harry back in 1997 in a World Cup qualifier in Iran, which was the first leg of the home and away qualifiers," says physio Les Gelis. "It was my first camp with the national team as part of the physio staff. I met Harry there, he was 19 at the time and he was a young, up-and-coming star. Harry was like a cheeky little kid when he first came onboard. He had a lot of confidence and cockiness about him."

Gelis worked with the Socceroos squad through to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when Harry moved to appoint Gelis as his own full-time personal physio.

"Harry was at Liverpool at the time, so I started working full-time with him there. I came with him over to Galatasaray too."

Mandic explains the vital role
of Gelis when it came to picking a post-Liverpool location. "One overwhelming, non-negotiable reason [for moving to Galatasaray] was Les Gelis. That was something that other clubs such as Roma, Juventus and Portsmouth all had reservations about. Before we discussed money, the first thing was the physio."

Harry's injury list runs longer than his glamorous wife Sheree's January sales shopping receipt. The million dollar question is why does he spend so much time injured?

"It's about the mileage that players play," believes Gelis. "If you look at the English Premiership in particular, it takes a massive toll on the athlete. If you are a good player, you get played all the time. The actual individual can get overlooked at times, as it is about what's best for the team. Harry is a good player, in demand and is driven and unlikely to shirk playing."

Gelis stressed that few players have the luxury of being 100 percent fit all the time and they are under a lot of pressure to play. 

"Harry needed a prolonged lay-off after the World Cup, with several procedures and operations to be done. Then it is a case of rebuilding the athlete, both mentally and physically.

"Now in Galatasaray, Harry has had the opportunity to play regularly, play well and play a lot of minutes in those games too. It is like going back to a default setting for him, where he could play week-in week-out. "

Gelis explained that he and Harry have an excellent professional relationship, alongside getting on personally too.

"He is the kind of person who in every aspect of his life is very particular and demanding. He is demanding of himself, he does everything well and he expects the same from people around him. Harry will never dodge hard work, he is one of the hardest trainers on the pitch. This is something we had to address, as his way would be to train all day, everyday."

"Players are starting to have their own insurance policies and that is effectively what my role involves. You aspire to work with elite athletes and I acknowledge and appreciate the opportunity to work with someone of Harry's capacity."