While Aaron Mooy can reflect positively on his decision to sign for Celtic, in the summer in stark contrast his longtime Socceroos teammate Tom Rogic may well be regretting the decision to call time on his own long and illustrious career wearing the world famous green and white hoops and with such distinction too.
Mooy is currently with the Socceroos camp preparing for their opening match against World Champions France on Tuesday evening while Rogic is training in the West Midlands with West Brom. And as the best two players available to the Socceroos it’s fair to suggest that the side competing in the Qatar World Cup would be stronger with both Mooy and Rogic in the side.
Mooy described his move to Celtic as one of the best he’s ever made as it has let him play for an iconic football club, test himself in the Champions League for the first time and ensure that after a substantial period in limbo after his move away from China left him without a club, teaming up with his old boss Ange Postecoglou has ensured he’d be at the World Cup.
Rogic though missed out on a place in the Socceroos squad and that could end up being a life-long regret for a player who maybe now reckon that leaving Celtic back in May was the wrong call, certainly without having a viable and attractive alternative lined-up. Was he badly advised? Was he let down as proposed offers fell through? Or did he really just leave and then decide to have a break from football before casually getting round to looking at his options?
Looking forward, if West Brom can get Tom Rogic fully fit then they’ll probably have the best player in the Championship on their hands. Yet as any Celtic fan will admit, it usually takes our Wizard of Oz a little time to get himself up to full speed performance wise after a period out of the side. Still, he’s been a West Brom for a while now and that match fitness level can’t be too far away and he’s now got a massive point to prove.
It probably didn’t help that West Brom changed managers shortly after Rogic’s arrival with new boss Carlos Corberan immediately stating that past glories elsewhere count for nothing with him. Rogic has managed just a couple of substitute appearances for Corberan and that wasn’t enough to merit inclusion in the Socceroos squad, although that was a decision the among others Harry Kewell has questioned.
Now though Tom Rogic has been praised by the West Brom boss for his attitude in training despite suffering the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup. Corberan has used Rogic sparingly in his four games in charge, believing the Australian midfielder “needed time to adapt” to Championship football.
Rogic shares a World Cup disappointment with his West Brom teammate Daryl Dike with the striker missing out on a place in the United States squad for Qatar. That means that West Brom have no players at the World Cup for the first time since 2002
Corberan though has been impressed with how both Rogic and Dike have handled their World Cup woes. The West Brom manager said, as reported by Glasgow Times:
“The only thing I can tell you is I am watching a very good attitude in both players. I knew both players had the possibilities to go to the World Cup and maybe for the reason you say (not enough minutes) the national team didn’t decide to select them. I am watching players really, really focused in the situation we are having right now.”
