St. Albans assistant coach Steve Laurie is eyeing the NPL 1 title this season, believing his team can go all the way to achieving promotion to the NPL.
Speaking after his team’s opening round 5-3 away win against Springvale White Eagles, Laurie praised his team’s winning start to the season, believing it was a step in the right direction towards a successful campaign.
He said that the former VPL club believed it had got its playing and coaching combinations right in its aim for another stint in the state’s top division.
“It’s a new league and new team,” Laurie said.
“When myself and [head coach] Toby Patterson were employed it was hard to retain players, so we basically had to sign a new squad.
“Now, I feel the squad is gelling well [despite only] having six weeks together.”
The assistant was especially complimentary to Paterson, praising the coach’s managerial style.
‘If anyone can get the boys playing the total football that we want, I believe that Toby Paterson’s the man,” he said.
Laurie also attributed his positive working relationship with the gaffer as an important factor to getting the best out of the team this season.
‘The good thing about me and Toby working together is that we’re both winners.
“We’ve both won State Leagues, we’ve both won Premier Leagues, we’ve both been involved in Australasian champions leagues.
The Saints assistant was not shying away from talk about promotion.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush and say that we’re happy to finish top five or top six. It’s certainly not the case,” Laurie said.
“We’ve got backing from the board, pretty much what we’ve asked for is what we’ve got.
“To sell ourselves short and say top four finish – look, things happen in a season that you can’t gauge, but myself and Toby are happy to go on record and say that we’re pushing for one and two.
“We want to take it to the next level.”
St Albans is looking to build on its first round victory with another strong performance against Bulleen at home next Sunday.