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The idea of clubs adopting a dual-coach strategy is not a foreign one in Victorian circles.
Con Tangalakis and Peter Tsolakis led the Oakleigh Cannons to a NPL Grand Final last year, while in the women’s competition, former WPL heavyweights Bundoora United saw Mark Torcaso and Paul Kilpatrick sharing duties at the helm throughout their largely successful 2014 and 2015 campaigns. Joining those ranks at the start of the season were NPLW Managers of the Month for April Rob Giabardo and Bill Mihaloudis, who inherited a Southern United outfit who – despite their improvement as the season wore on – finished bottom in 2016.
Giabardo ironically had experience in a working capacity with the aforementioned Tangalakis/Tsolakis combination, as he headed the Oakleigh U20’s side to a mid-table finish in 2016. He’d seen first hand the way that two coaches need to operate in order to have significant league success.
The first appointed of the two coaches came across without any experience in the top-flight of women’s senior football, much like predecessor Stuart Munro – who has been largely successful with Dandenong City on his return to mens football – which is where Mihaloudis fit into the picture.
One of the ‘veterans’ of the women’s football scene was fresh off a three-year stint at Heidelberg United, with whom he claimed the 2016 Team App Cup. Previous coaching stints in the WPL included experience with South Melbourne, Altona City and Box Hill United; suffice to say he knew his way around the league. His appointment early last December was made with the intention of complementing the skill set that Giabardo possessed, with the club truly bearing the fruits of their hard work nine round’s into the season.
“Both Rob and I didn’t really know how this would work as we both haven’t been in this situation before but from the first day we were introduced by Technical Director Mark Cassar, we walked away feeling this partnership can be a powerful and successful one,” Mihaloudis told TCF.
“A good way to put it is we complement each other and we both bring key elements to the team.”
Their form throughout the month of April has seen them lead the form table alongside league leaders Calder United and a finals-chasing Alamein FC. Starting in seventh place after Round 6, a run of three consecutive wins shot them to within touching reach of the top four. That run was springboarded by a statement victory over then league leaders Galaxy United who had at that stage dropped just two points for the entire season.
“The team has had an exceptional month and we’ve been content with the teams progress. The girls are working hard and showing they can mix it with the best,” Mihaloudis said.
“Consistency is what we are working towards and April has been a solid and consistent month for us and we have set ourself goals to focus and build on for the rest of the season.”
Their form is even more impressive when given the context of the club’s improvement within the space of 12 months. At this point last season, Southern sat dead last with just three points to their name and without a win. They’ve improved that tally by 13 points this year and even stand to surpass their 2016 season total if they can fashion a win against Alamein FC this weekend.
“I guess the form of the season and the turnaround compared to last year is attributed to the hard work of the girls,” Giabardo said.
“We have much to still learn and we don’t have the big league experienced players to show the way that so many other teams possess, we do have passionate players who are forming a belief in themselves as a team.”
Their success has been largely a team effort, built around a stable defence and a hard-working mentality across the park. They finished the month with the second best defensive record, conceding just four goals and keeping two clean sheets in their final two fixtures. Central to this has been the experience available to the co-coaches in the backline.
American centre-half Mikhaila Bowden has been a revelation in the NPLW, adjusting superbly to the pace of the league and putting in a number of inspired performances to start the season. Complementing her has been the form of arguably the league’s best out-and-out shot stopper in Christina Fonua, two prudent pre-season acquisitions.
Supplementing them have been the breakout form of teenagers Natasha Dakic and Elisabeth Robers, who have run the engine room expertly over the last four fixtures. Former NTC graduate Dakic has held a deeper role limiting the impact that the opposition have through the centre of the park, while Robers has had the chance to showcase her technical ability on set-pieces, even scoring her first senior goal in the Round 9 win over former side Bayside United. Left winger Savanna Anastasopoulos has also cemented her spot in the senior line-up while Monica Fonua was shaping up as the breakout contender of 2017 before injury curtailed her season.
“Southern is a place where the girls know they will get direction in order to develop their own potential. We are young and as a consequence we make lots of errors and that is why we have been inconsistent,” Giabardo said.
“We are working on addressing this and even though we have quite a few injuries and a series of very tough games ahead we hope that we can find a steady improvement in our game performances.”
The odd-couple of the NPLW in many ways, the coaching pair are hoping that their complementary coaching techniques will continue to yield results on the park, and should they continue on their current trajectory, a first-ever finals berth could await on the horizon for Southern United, although Mihaloudis isn’t looking too far into the future just yet.
“We are still at the early stages of the season and a lot of football yet to be played, but we are on track and taking on each challenge as it presents itself without getting ahead of ourselves.”