Image: Graeme Furlong
Avondale FC midfielder Jeff Fleming has said that he feels positive about how things are shaping up at the club leading into the 2017 NPL season.
The former New Zealand international spoke about the new additions at the club as the squad is shaped for 2017, with new additions all over the park including Chris Oldfield, Petar Franjic, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, Evan Christodoulou, Kamal Ibrahim and Craig Carley.
“We’ve made some signings in key positions that we think we needed to strengthen and they’ve fitted into the group really well so far,” Fleming said.
“We’ve started off well pre-season and signed some new players which has definitely strengthened us up.”
The midfielder was quick to add that the measure of how much the team had improved was a way off, however with it difficult to predict the relative strength of other NPL clubs after a flurry of off-season movement.
“It’s always a bit of an unknown at this time of year. A lot of other clubs have made some good signings and until you start playing some games and get five or six rounds in it’s hard to know just where you are compared to where they are.”
Fleming joined Avondale in 2015 after almost 15 years plying his trade at Green Gully, where he enjoyed regular VPL title success.
After a slow start to the 2016 campaign, Fleming explained that Avondale were aiming for a far stronger performance than that which saw them finish up in eighth position last year, with finals firmly on Avondale’s radar in the club’s third year in the top flight.
“I’d like to think that we’ve had two years now in the NPL to settle in and find our feet and this year we’d really like to be pushing for those top few positions,” he explained.
“Our aim is always to aim as high as possible which is obviously going as far as we can in the league.
“Where we need to improve for us really is to be beating top six sides, we really struggled last year to beat those teams and therefore mid-table placing is where we finished.
“We know if we can continue beating the teams out of the top six – start beating some of the teams above us – then we’ll see some improvement this year.”
At 37 years old, Fleming explained that continuing on for the upcoming season was a relatively easy task with motivation in no short supply, especially given the quality of teammates around him such as ex-Melbourne City pair Massimo Murdocca and Jonatan Germano in midfield.
The one-time A-League player chose not to put a cap on how long his career will continue, focusing more on his passion for the game as he continues to play a key role in Anthony Barbieri’s side.
“For me personally I enjoy playing, it’s something that I’m passionate about and enjoy doing, so I don’t find it hard to maintain those standards or continue turning up for training and playing games.
“I still love it and want to play for as long as I can at the highest level.”