Image: Harlequin Sports Photography
They say the original is always better than the sequel, but trying telling that to jubilant St Albans Saints manager Kruni Razov. Having already achieved promotion to the top flight once before with Dinamo, not many expected the 42-year-old to repeat the feat after taking over the reins of the senior side in early June.
The Saints needed just a point from Saturday’s home tie against Whittlesea to seal promotion ahead of sister club North Geelong Warriors, but ensured their season concluded with another victory. Razov’s reign after taking over mid-season has yielded 10 wins, two draws and one defeat, highlighting the effect he’s had on making Dinamo the form side of NPL2.
The achievement comes six years after he had initially helped the club secure elevation to the top tier as his experienced St Albans’ side claimed the 2010 State League One title. Now a new generation of heroes, led by the evergreen captain Ryan McGuffie, have given the Churchill Reserve faithful plenty more reasons to cheer.
For Razov himself, the accomplishment eclipses the one from 2010, as the former Melbourne Knights Championship winner evaluated: “Every time you win the Championship it means the world to you and you cherish it very dearly. However, I’d say this one is more special as you tend to enjoy it more the older you get.”
Razov began the season as head coach of the St Albans Saints senior women’s side, who commenced their State League 3 North-West in fine form. His position with the side allowed him to keep close tabs on the progress of their male counterparts, who began the season well by picking up 10 points from their opening five league games, as well as knocking Northcote City out of the FFA Cup.
However, inconsistency began to creep into their game as the following 10 fixtures saw Zeljko Kuzman’s side win four, draw two and lose four to lose touch with the likes of Whittlesea, Moreland Zebras and North Geelong. Although his predecessor departed the club following his differences with the committee, Razov admits promotion was not on the agenda when he was instilled as the successor.
“To be quite honest, we didn’t think about promotion in the beginning. I got told to see what I could do with the players we had and to prepare the squad for next season. We decided to take it week-by-week and gradually results started to come as confidence rose among the playing group, and this all culminated into a successful run which saw us get promoted in the end.”
Despite overseeing a successful promotion campaign in 2010, Razov lasted just six games into the following season in the VPL as Dinamo collected just two points despite the high-profile signings of Tomi Milardovic and Daniel Visevic from 2010 premiers Richmond. The former Dandenong City and Cairnlea manager is upbeat and feels that the mistakes from that period will be rectified this time around.
“The difference between then and now is that I think there is a bit more maturity on my behalf. The club and committee at this stage are also more understanding as the pressure is not as high as was that one on the committee six years ago. We’ve had a brief chat so far regarding next year and the committee is understanding of where we are and the importance of patience.”
Razov has spent the bulk of his career at his beloved Dinamo both in a playing and now coaching capacity alongside his younger brothers Ivan and Tomi, who were part of the 2010 promotion side along with his current assistant Josip Loncaric.
He spoke about his coaching influences throughout his playing career, which came from a number of different sources: “I’d say that a lot of the coaches I had influenced me, such as Mirko Bazic at the Knights, and a few of the guys in the senior ranks at St Albans. Obviously my father, as well as my brothers [have been influences] – and being the oldest, dad would have been a big influence, but I have tried to take a little bit from everywhere and go from there.”
In the end, the Saints pipped North Geelong to first place, while condemning the Ranges to third place despite the Epping-based side leading the competition for much of the season. Razov’s coaching adversaries in the West promotion race were his good friends and former teammates in Micky Colina, who captained Razov at Dinamo, and Vinko Buljubasic, who he played alongside at the Knights as well as St Albans.
While he admits that at times it was tough to be competing against them in such a cut-throat environment, professionalism needed to be maintained while wishing North Geelong all the best for next week’s promotion play-off against the Dandenong Thunder.
“Obviously you wish them the best of luck. I spoke to Vinko yesterday and have too with Micky over the weeks and you want to see them doing well as well. I also spoke to Josip Zilic of North Geelong and said to him that I hope they can join us in the top flight as well.
“But at the end of the day you put your friendships aside and maintain professionalism throughout as you’ve got to do what is best for your team.”
A proud servant of the club, Razov is hopeful entry into the NPL will continue the progress achieved both on and off the field at Fox Road, for a club which last year celebrated its 40th anniversary: “I think the club is in a better position than it was in 2010 particularly with regards to the juniors although the structure of the NPL has forced that.
“We still would like to improve our juniors and hopefully moving into the top flight will help us achieve this. We have a number of good junior teams at the moment but would like to improve. Financially the club is fine, although naturally we will need more sponsors, but that will come.
“And, as they say, the hard work begins now.”