Central Coast are ready to welcome club legend John Hutchinson back in true Mariners fashion: by upsetting his Yokohoma F. Marinos team.
Hutchinson returns to Gosford for Tuesday night’s clash with his former club in the Asian Champions League Elite.
It could be an emotional reunion for Hutchinson, who captained the Mariners to their first A-League Men title in 2012-13 and won premierships in 2006-07 and 2011-12 across 228 league appearances.
He later worked as an assistant coach for the club before heading overseas.
“Obviously a legend of the club,” veteran defender Storm Roux said on Monday.
“He was the captain when I was first playing here and obviously had a year of him coaching here.
“Great person and he’s doing really well as a coach now as well, so happy to see him.”
Hutchinson stepped in as interim boss when Socceroos great Harry Kewell was sacked in July.
While he has not been able to completely reverse seventh-placed Marinos’ J1 League fortunes, he has the Japanese powerhouses third in the ACL Elite group and closing on qualification to the knockout phase.
“I don’t know him personally so it’ll be good to meet him, good to go up against his team,” Mariners coach Mark Jackson said.
“He’s a legend of the club, so we all respect people who are coming back here and I think that’s part of the culture of the club itself.
“I’m sure the fans will give him a warm welcome. I’d like to extend my welcome to him coming as a coach with Yokohama.
“But at the end of the day we want to go toe-to-toe on the field with each other and we hope for a really, really competitive game and a good outcome.
“I’ve heard nothing but positive things about John. He’s got a very good team in Yokohama and I know he’ll be wanting to do well in this competition.”
The Mariners (one point) sit 11th in the 12-team Group A, with eight teams progressing.
They are six points adrift of eighth place and realistically need to win all three remaining matches against Marinos, fourth-placed Kawasaki Frontale and fifth-placed Johor Darul Ta’zim.
“We’ve taken a lot as a group, as a staff and we want to finish this competition strong,” Jackson said.
“It’s not over in our mind – people might say it is, but it’s not over in our mind as a squad.
“We want to go out, we want to get that first win in the competition, we want to do it against Yokohama tomorrow.
“We know it’s going to be a big ask and a big task, but we’re ready for it and we’ve prepared well.”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/mariners-ready-for-hutchinson-reunion-in-acl-elite-c-16948599
