Nick Montgomery On Managing In China And Working Under Postecoglou

Beijing Guoan are unbeaten in 21 games in all competitions, and last month’s trip to Henan showed exactly why. Three goals down at half-time, Nick Montgomery’s side scored four times after the break. Zhang Yuning got the 81st-minute winner. It was the first time in Guoan’s 33-year history they had ever won from three goals down.

It caps a superb first season in China for 44-year-old head coach Nick Montgomery. He won the Chinese FA Super Cup – China’s version of the Community Shield – in his first competitive game in March, and Guoan are also unbeaten through three games in the AFC Champions League Elite tournament. Thai side Port FC are up next on Tuesday.

Only a five-point deduction for historical breaches, handed down after Montgomery arrived, has kept Guoan out of the title race. Without it, they would go into the final-day fixture on November 8 against Chongqing Tonglianglong top of the table, ahead of current leaders Chengdu Rongcheng on goal difference. Instead, they are third, two points behind Dalian Yingbo, with a Chinese FA Cup semi-final against Shanghai Port to come on November 20.

A former Sheffield United midfielder, Montgomery won the A-League as a head coach with Central Coast Mariners and the Europa League as Postecoglou’s assistant at Tottenham. Now he is making his name in China.

Why Beijing Guoan?

Montgomery did not need much convincing. He had played in Beijing with the Mariners, and the memory never left him.

“If we’re talking about Beijing Guoan, we’re talking about one of the biggest clubs in Asian football, and it’s a club I know well because of my time playing in the A-League,” he told GIVEMESPORT. “I played in the Asian Champions League, and I remember, I think it was a Wednesday night, playing in Beijing. There were 40,000 fans, and that always stuck in my mind.”

After leaving Nottingham Forest, where he was Ange Postecoglou’s assistant, Montgomery had plenty of offers but was waiting for the right one. It came from Matthias Brosamer, the German who had just been appointed Guoan’s new sporting director.

“He is a great guy, very intelligent. He speaks fluent Chinese, and we had some amazing football conversations,” said Montgomery, who was appointed on 8 January. “He told me about the project. He was looking for a head coach with experience in Asia, and he really loved my profile. Things moved forward quickly, and probably within a week or two we’d agreed to take on the project. I was landing in Beijing in wintertime – I think it was minus 20 when I arrived – and that was the start of such an exciting journey.”

Winning The Chinese Super Cup

Working largely through translators, Montgomery knew his first job was to win people over. It didn’t take him long.

“When you come into a new country, you’ve got to be brave to start with,” he said. “You’ve got to know there’s a period where you’ll have to get everybody to buy in – to you as a person, forget the football – because you’re coming into their culture. If they see you’re committed and believe in your style of football, then they’re going to support you. I have created a real family environment, which is important.”

The start could hardly have gone better. Guoan’s Super Cup triumph came against Shanghai Port, winners of the last three Chinese Super League titles, who were beaten 2-0 in Nanjing.

“We beat Shanghai Port, who were the benchmark team. They had players picking up ridiculous salaries over the years, the best squads,” said Montgomery, who knows Port boss Kevin Muscat from their days in Australia. “That was the first real game, so to win a trophy was a great start.”

Injuries soon took their toll, though, and Guoan won just four of their first 14 league games, the last of those a 2-1 home defeat by Henan on 23 May. They have not lost since.

“People said you can’t play like this in China, that the players are not resilient enough, and I never believed that,” he said. “The players showed me on the training ground every day. We don’t speak about being 21 games unbeaten. We just focus on the process.”

The biggest change has come up front, where Montgomery has paired China captain Zhang Yuning with Angola international Fábio Abreu.

“I always played in Australia with two strikers, and I play in China with two strikers, which I was told no one did before,” he said. “I was told they couldn’t play together. The previous season, only one of them played and the other was on the bench. Now they’re both top scorers in the team.”

Unfortunately, Guoan lost Abreu in mid-October after he broke his leg in a 1-0 win against Qingdao West Coast.

“We were very sad,” said Montgomery. “He will miss the rest of the season. Most of our injuries have been contact ones, which is very unlucky. We have had to deal with many challenges this season, and that makes our form even more satisfying.”

Guoan’s numbers speak for themselves. They are also at or near the top of the league for possession, forward passes and touches in the opposition box.

“If the players don’t want to run for you, you’re never going to have those statistics,” Montgomery said. “That tells you Chinese players are honest. If they believe in you, they’ll do everything you ask.”

It is all the more impressive given Guoan started on minus five points – a deduction neither Montgomery nor Brosamer knew about when they took over.

“It was a bit of a shock to everybody. You’re on minus points before you even get to zero,” he said. “If we’d started on a level playing field, we’d be top of the league.”

Chasing More Silverware

The title may be out of reach, but Montgomery will feel encouraged that, without the deduction, Beijing Guoan would be top. Second place is still possible if Guoan win their last league game againstChongqing Tonglianglong and Dalian Yingbo lose or draw. And there is the chance to defend the Chinese FA Cup, which Gooan won for the sixth time last season when they beat Henan 3-0 under former coach Quique Setien.

“We can’t win the league because of what happened, which is a shame, but we can still finish second,” Montgomery said. “In the cup, we’ve got a difficult game against Shanghai Port. They were the Galácticos of the Chinese Super League for the last couple of years. Players like Oscar and Hulk – all the big names – loved playing in China.”

In the AFC Champions League, Guoan beat Pohang Steelers 3-1 in the first Asian Champions League game at the Workers’ Stadium for seven years, before winning 1-0 at Buriram United – “a very difficult place to go”, according to Montgomery. They drew 2-2 with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on October 27 and are currently fifth in the league phase.

Montgomery is clearly relishing life in China, where Guoan have drawn crowds of more than 60,000 at the rebuilt Workers’ Stadium this season.

“What the Western world thinks of China is the total opposite of the reality. It’s so advanced,” he said. “The infrastructure in football is unbelievable. Our home games get 50,000 to 65,000 on a weekly basis. There aren’t many Premier League teams that can match that attendance. It is one of the best stadiums in the world – very similar to the Tottenham stadium, which I know very well.

“And there is the belief, moving forward, that the club can bring a championship back to Beijing for the first time since 2009, which is a long time ago.”

Europa League Glory With Postecoglou

Montgomery made the decision that he wanted to return to work as a No.1 again after spending time as Ange Postecoglou’s assistant at both Tottenham Hotspur (2024-2025) and Nottingham Forest (2025).

“It’s not like I would be an assistant for any manager,” he said. “I did get asked about being an assistant to another manager, but it wasn’t for me. I knew I was waiting for the right opportunity to get back into management.”

His route to Tottenham began with a message from Postecoglou, who was among the first to congratulate him when the Mariners won the A-League in 2023. A year later, Postecoglou’s assistant Chris Davies left to become Birmingham City manager.

“As with anything in life, it’s about timing,” Montgomery said. “Ange contacted me, we jumped on a call, and he said, ‘I’m going to win a trophy at Tottenham. I want you to come and help me.’ To be honest, I didn’t really need to think about it much. It was a pretty quick decision, and one I definitely don’t regret. Seeing the Tottenham fans at the parade with the trophy was something you can never forget.”

That parade followed Brennan Johnson’s winner against Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao in May 2025, which ended Spurs’ 17-year wait for a trophy – even as an injury-ravaged side finished 17th in the Premier League.

“There was an unbelievable amount of injuries, and the squad was very, very thin,” said Montgomery, who joined in June 2024 with his long-time assistant Sergio Raimundo. “We had some big results, beating Man City 4-0 away and Man United 3-0, but after the injuries came, it was difficult. Winning the Europa League would get the club Champions League football, so you put all your eggs in one basket. As a staff, that’s what we all did. We believed we could win it, and that’s what we did.

“I think only now, or years after, will people look back and think what an amazing achievement that was, because it’s been a difficult ride since then – when you look at the amount of money they’ve spent.”

Even that was not enough to save Postecoglou, who was sacked 16 days after the final. Montgomery admits the staff saw it coming.

“Ange came out and said it in an interview, so for sure – everyone knew there was going to be a change no matter what happened,” he said. “So you have that laser focus on what you can control, and that was winning the Europa League. It was amazing for the club to get Champions League football the following season – it’s just a shame they didn’t give Ange and us that chance. But that’s football. You move on.”

39 Days at Nottingham Forest

When Postecoglou took over at Nottingham Forest in September 2025, Montgomery went with him, alongside Raimundo and fellow Spurs assistant Mile Jedinak. The Australian was sacked after 39 days and eight games without a win.

Asked what went wrong, Montgomery chose his words carefully.

“Probably the least I say, the better on that one,” he said. “It’s a club with a passionate owner [Evangelos Marinakis] that wants instant success, and it’s a club that is renowned for making changes – a lot of changes, as we’ve seen. So you’re never going to go in thinking, ‘This is a stable environment.’

“I was literally about to take an offer of a head coach role, and Ange said: ‘I think it’s a young squad, we can play good football, and I’d love you to come in with me again.’ It was a big boost, because we’d just come off the back of winning the Europa League. We all went in there wanting to do something, but there wasn’t much time.”

Forest have since been through Sean Dyche and Vítor Pereira, with Oliver Glasner appointed in July as their fifth head coach in less than a year.

“A lot of the performances were very good, but the results didn’t match them,” Montgomery added. “These type of projects depend on how much time people are willing to give you, and in the end, you’re not in control of that.”

One player he loved briefly working with was Elliot Anderson, who joined Manchester City for a reported £116m this summer.

“Elliot is a magnificent player, and I still keep in touch with him now. He literally never stops running and is brave on the ball – he just wants it all the time,” said Montgomery. “I think he’s definitely one of the best English midfielders I’ve seen, because he can do everything.”

Broken Promises at Hibs

Before Tottenham came Hibernian. Montgomery left Central Coast for Easter Road in September 2023, taking over a side who had lost their opening three league games.

“I had a lot of offers to go to Japan and other places, but I’ve got Scottish heritage in my family, and Hibs is a big club that hasn’t had much success in a long time,” he said. “I was promised a rebuild. The club was bottom of the league and in a bit of a mess. I started well and took the team into the top three at one point. Then there was the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, and we lost half the starting players.

“I felt I was building something really good, but we just missed out on the top six with the last kick of the ball. Then I had differences of opinion with the club over what had been promised in terms of the rebuild. You have the owner who wants his way, and in the end we chose to part ways. I moved on, went to Tottenham and won the Europa League. Everything happens for a reason.”

That last kick was Shane Blaney’s stoppage-time equaliser for Motherwell in April 2024, which let Dundee pip Hibs to the final top-six place. Hibs finished eighth, and Montgomery departed the following month – but he holds no grudges.

“I always believe every experience is a good experience – good, bad or indifferent,” he said. “Trust is a big thing for me. If you lose that trust, it’s difficult. But you grow from every experience.”

Title Glory With Central Coast Mariners

Montgomery’s methods were forged down under. After 12 years at Sheffield United, he joined Central Coast Mariners in 2012 and helped them win their first A-League Championship a year later. He made 133 appearances in all competitions and captained the club, then coached its academy side before stepping up to the top job in 2021. Two years later, he delivered the Mariners’ first title since his playing days.

“There were big teams spending a lot of money, like Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City, and we were, comparatively, a small club,” he said. “As a coach, the club had suffered a lot of bottom-of-the-table finishes, with no budget compared to the other teams. I always believed I would take over the youth team, develop the players and push them into the first team when I got the opportunity for the job, and that came within two years.

“In my second season, we brought a lot more young players through and recruited some good foreign players. Jason Cummings, who many people will know in Scotland, was our top scorer. We beat Melbourne City 6-1 in the final with the youngest squad and lowest budget in history to win the championship, which was a massive achievement, and it made me really believe in myself as a coach.”

Cummings, the former Hibs striker, scored a hat-trick in that 2023 Grand Final, delivering the Mariners’ first title since Montgomery’s playing days a decade earlier.

Premier League Ambitions

The A-League, the Europa League and the Super Cup have all come Montgomery’s way in less than three years, and they have taught him what lasts in football.

“I never look too far ahead. One thing I remember Ange saying is: ‘They’ll only ever remember the people who win silverware.’ I think that’s true,” he said. “If you don’t win silverware, nobody really remembers your stint there. So making history with the three trophies I’ve been involved in, in such a short period of time as a young manager, makes you cherish those moments, because a lot of players and coaches go through their whole career without ever winning a trophy.”

The excellent job Montgomery is currently doing is sure to catch the eye of other clubs around the world, including back in England. He is settled, and solely focused on some big games ahead to close this season with Guoan. Yet in the long run, the chance to manage in the Premier League would be hard to turn down.

“For me, I just take each day as it comes,” he said. “For sure, maybe one day I would love to manage in the Premier League. But for now, being China is huge for me. I can’t think of a better job right now for me, to be honest. I have a great sporting director [Brosamer] and president, Zhou Jinhui. They both support me and really believe in what I am doing.”

Once the domestic campaign ends, the AFC Champions League continues and will run on into next season. Should Guoan go deep, the finals are due to be held in Saudi Arabia next spring – where Postecoglou’s Al Nassr could be waiting.

“For me to represent Beijing, the capital of China, and get through to the knockout stage would be a huge moment for Chinese football,” he said. “There’s a long way to go, but who knows? It would definitely be good to see Ange if that happened.”

Almost two years on from Bilbao, it would be quite the reunion.