SOCCER
ADAM Jamieson (Mornington), Gus Macleod (Chelsea), Mark Larner (Somerville) and Gerry McDonagh (Mount Eliza) are among a host of local coaches expected to stay put for season 2025. As we went to press Langwarrin (Jamie Skelly), Peninsula Strikers (Scott Morrison) and Mount Martha (Charlie Platt) are the only local clubs to have officially announced their head coaching appointments.
Mount Martha and Mentone are certain to line up next season with new head coaches with Platt already filling the vacancy left at Civic Reserve by Andrew Hall. Mentone is yet to announce a replacement for Jason Grieve who left at the end of the season but the club is close to choosing his successor. “We never advertised the position but we interviewed someone last week and although nothing is finalised we will probably go with him,” Mentone president Michael Watling said.
Skye United (Phil McGuinness), Frankston Pines (Donn Delaney), Baxter (Hayden Taylor), Rosebud (Stuart Johnson), Aspendale (Gregor Macnab) and Seaford United (Paul Williams) have made no official announcements. Delaney is understood to have told Pines president Lee Davies that he’s keen to stay at Monterey Reserve, Johnson is a shoo-in to stay at Olympic Park after winning the State 5 title, Macnab says he is staying at Aspendale and Williams is keen to remain at Seaford.
Conjecture surrounds McGuinness and Taylor being reappointed and both coaches are keen to see what support is given to the senior men’s programs they oversee.
There are rumours of unrest at Skye following the resignations of president Daren Jones and vice-president Stuart Lawrence in the past couple of months. Their timing raised eyebrows as the seniors were battling to retain their State 2 status and eventually succeeded. Lawrence wrote a letter to members explaining that he wanted to concentrate on his coaching role in the women’s program albeit that there were only six games left in the women’s season. And when Skye failed to publicise the departures on their Facebook page this fuelled speculation of an internal rift. The club’s AGM is due to be held on Monday 14 October and McGuinness won’t put his hand up to retain the coaching role until he meets with the new committee.
The situation at Baxter is different as Taylor, football operations manager Jamie O’Halloran and club president Bray Hodgkinson have held talks about the upcoming season and beyond. Hodgkinson is about to start the second-year of a two-year term. At the recent meeting Taylor asked about the club’s goals. “I was quite transparent and a lot of our chat hinged on the answers to that question,” he said. “We talked about structure within the club and within the coaching staff and I asked if we could put a few things in place over the next couple of weeks. “We can reconvene and have another chat so really the ball’s in their court now.”
Taylor has maintained contact with his squad and he’s also spoken to players at other clubs being careful to ensure that any uncertainty about his position next season is understood. “No-one is going to be left in the dark whether I do it next year or not,” he added. “It’s all up to Baxter really and what they want to do. “There weren’t any demands made as such. “It was more about how do we streamline things so that what goes on off the park marries up with what we want to do on the park. “Look I’d love to give you a clear and definitive answer as to whether or not I’m staying but I’m not too sure myself as to what is going to happen.”
Baxter’s State 4 rival Chelsea hasn’t officially announced Macleod’s reappointment but the big man has agreed to stay. So too have senior assistants Ronnie Whitton and Chris Porteous. Macleod and Chelsea are holding ongoing talks about next year’s playing budget because he’s keen to bring in “four or five new players” to give the team every chance of mounting a sustainable promotion campaign.
Chelsea finished fifth last season but at one stage looked capable of challenging eventual champion Hampton Park United. “When we got up to second I was really pleased but losing the boy (James) Stinson really hurt us as his goals were vital and then we also lost ‘Bocca’ (Nathan Boccari) and he was a very important player,” Macleod said.
Dylan Scott, Christian Murray, Daniel Lewis and Jake Ross were also unavailable for crucial games and the side failed to maintain its promotion momentum.
Improving the quality and depth of the senior squad should address that issue and at the same time Macleod will demand a much more disciplined approach to training. “The guys that sign on for next year better be prepared to turn up to training twice a week and if they can’t they better have a bloody good excuse,” he said. “We gave the top teams a fright but now we’ve got a chance to take things to another level and that’s what we plan to do.”
In VPL1 news we can expect changes on and off the pitch at Langwarrin. President James Bretnall is expected to step down to take up a specialised role on the committee with Rob Vickery tipped to get the top job. Head coach Skelly has agreed terms with the bulk of his senior squad and talks with remaining players are ongoing. Archie Macphee’s permanent residency frees up a visa spot. “We are currently talking to a number of visa players and we intend to fill that spot,” Skelly said.
Langy finished in the bottom half of the table for the second season running but one place higher than last year.
There was minimal improvement in the club’s defensive record this year conceding just three goals less than last year. “This year we wanted to play a more aggressive brand of football in a style that would help us win more games rather than draw,” Skelly said. “That meant we were more aggressive especially at the back end of games and this left us open at times and we did concede goals late. “That wasn’t down to a lack of fitness or organisation it was due to us pursuing all three points.
“On top of that we had defensive injuries this year and they were the games we conceded goals especially with key defenders missing. “Yeah we definitely conceded a lot of goals on the counter so that needs to be addressed but at the same time we played a style of football that we wanted to play and that people wanted to watch.”
Skelly and the club still are eyeing an NPL spot and he believes that improvement in his squad can come from two sources. “I expect to lose a couple of players but I also expect to bring in some players too that not only complement what we have but also offer something different.” “I also think that we have a lot of growth within the group – natural growth if you like – which is good. “We have a young group if you look at Barath (Suresh), Dante (Avian) and Jacob (Brito) while Ryo (Takahashi) and Luke (Goulding) are still quite young. “Overall I don’t think we were too far away this year. “We went unbeaten for 10 games at the start which was really positive and there were some games in that mid period which we should have won but drew.”
Skelly will start pre-season training in earnest in November with three sessions a week. He aims to make Langy the second team on the peninsula to play at the highest club level in the state and follow in the footsteps of Frankston Pines who achieved that honour earlier this century.
First published in the Frankston Times – 1 October 2024
