It’s fair to say John Maisano has put in football’s hard yards over the years.
Seemingly destined for the top echelons of the European game when he first left Australia for Serie A side Atalanta as a teenager, Maisano ended up doing three years grafting in Greenock where made himself a mainstay at Morton.
It might not have given him the glamorous lifestyle he had been hoping for when he first packed his bags for the other side of the world. But these years of experience on the road have allowed him to know a player when he sees one. Which is one reason why he’s spent the last three years sharpening his eye with the City Group as a coach back at Melbourne City. And why he can say with some confidence that Marco Tilio has everything required to become the A-League’s next smash hit export, now that Celtic appear to be luring him towards Glasgow’s east end.
Maisano is back on the move again himself at the age of 44. He’ll return to Europe in the next two weeks to take up an assistant manager’s position with French club Troyes, where he will be reunited with former Hearts star Patrick Ksnorbo - another graduate from the Aussie end of the City Group’s production line.
And it will come as no surprise to him at all should Tilio make it out of Melbourne Airport before him. Speaking exclusively to Record Sport , Maisano offered an insight into what Celic supporters can expect if returning boss Brendan Rodgers makes the 21-year-old one of his first batch of summer signings.
He said: “I don’t know the ins and outs of the agreement or what the contract is. But I can tell you this much, the boy is a very exciting player. He’s very quick and has great feet - he’s one of the most exciting players in Australian football at the moment.
“He’s an attacking player who can operate on either wing. He can play as a striker through the middle, depending on how teams play. If you needed him to do a job as an attacking midfielder he could do that too, although probably not too often.
“But anywhere along the front three? Yeah, you’ve got a very dynamic player on your hands.”
Maisano and Kisnorbo have, over the last three years, both played a part in the youngster’s rapid development through the ranks. The former Melbourne City under coach was promoted to the role of assistant boss with the first team a year ago when manager Kisnorbo was lured off to League 1.
And he has spent much of the subsequent 12 months getting Tilio ready for his own big move. Maisano said: “He’s from New South Wales - a Sydney boy - and he made his debut as a youngster with Sydney FC.
“Melbourne City was scouting some of the best young talent in the country and his profile came up. So they brought him over about three years ago when he was still only 17 or 18.
“He was working very closely with Patrick and when Patrick left, I was promoted from the under 23s to assistant manager with the first team. So I’ve worked closely with him over the last 12 months.
‘It took him a year or two to really establish himself as a senior player but once he did he just really exploded onto the scene. I could identify his talent straight away. There is a proper player in there - he was just a little bit raw early on.
“But he had pace and could use both feet, I mean he’s almost quicker running with the ball than he is without it! OK, that’s maybe a slight exaggeration but you just need to look at some of the goals he’s scored this year, I mean, he’s running with the ball at pace and players just can’t catch him.”
Maisano has kept in contact with the youngster since deciding his own future lay back in European football, where he hopes to help Kisnorbo return Troyes to the top flight of French football next season after relegation in the Aussie’s first campaign in charge.
And he has revealed how the roots he set down during his own playing days at Cappielow could help Tilio settle into life in the Scottish game. He said: “When I first found out about Celtic’s interest I reached out to him. He just basically said that nothing had been confirmed at the minute but, if it does eventually then he’ll call me.
“He knows I obviously have family in Scotland and we’re always going to be close now as well because of the workings that I had with him this year. I worked really closely with Marco this year, trying to improve his game and get him to bed himself in, teach him our football style - our method and model and that kind of stuff.
“He’s a very, very receptive young man. He’s very confident in his ability and he also wants to learn.
“The biggest improvement has been his consistency. There’s a lot of excitement and noise around him because he’s one of two or three boys who are ready to take the next big step.
“There’s a boy called Jordan Bos who has just signed for Westerlo in Belgium, there’s another boy called Nectarios Triantis who has just signed with Sunderland in the Championship and then there’s Marco.
“If he can get better and improve his game on a consistent basis he’ll be the next winger for the national team for the next 12 years.”
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