Photo: Northcote City
Northcote City have acted fast to replace the outgoing Goran Lozanovski, unveiling Zeljko Kuzman as their new manager for the 2017 NPL2 season.
The former St Albans Saints head coach moves to John Cain Memorial Reserve having spent the second half of 2016 as an assistant coach to Eric Vassiliadis at Port Melbourne Sharks.
Prior to that, Kuzman spent the first half of the campaign as manager of the St Albans Saints before departing Churchill Reserve following Round 15 with his overall record at Dinamo seeing him oversee seven wins, three draws and five defeats.
In addition to that, the Saints eliminated Northcote from the FFA Cup in Round Four thanks to a 1-0 away victory over Hercules with Tedros Yabio netting the only goal of the contest at John Cain Memorial Park.
Kuzman at the time cited “irreconcilable differences with the committee” as the reasoning behind his mid-season departure from Dinamo who have since gained promotion to the top flight.
Joining him at Northcote will be his former assistants from Dinamo in Steve Bebic and Theo Mihailidis.
Adelaide-born Kuzman had previously been at the helm of the 20’s side at both the Saints and sister club Melbourne Knights in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
He then assisted Rick Mensink at Richmond in 2015, helping Richmond earn promotion back to the top flight before being handed the head coaching role at Fox Road just under 12 months ago.
Widely expected to succeed Vassiliadis as manager of the Sharks, Kuzman was overlooked as Port Melbourne opted for Bulleen Lions boss Dominic Barba as their new man in charge.
2017 will mark Northcote City’s first campaign outside the top flight since 2009 with the 2013 VPL Champions determined to make an immediate return.
In other clubs news, long-time club associate and current Vice President Peter Kotsiris has resigned from his position as at the club following 22 years of service.
In that time, the likeable Kotsiris occupied many roles within the club including Senior Team Manager and Club President, overseeing the club mark its return to the VPL in 2010 and winning the Dockerty Cup in 2011 as well as the Championship two years later.