THE MELBOURNE SUPREMACY

Marco's old coach confident new Bhoy will show his class over here

- KEITH JACKSON

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 of grafting in Greenock where he made himself a mainstay at Morton.

It may 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 Football 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 Kisnorbo - another graduate from the Aussie end of CFG'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 Hoops 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.