Image: Southern United
Rob Giabardo and Bill Mihaloudis will co-coach Southern United for the 2017 NPLW season following the departure of 2016 head coach Stuart Munro.
Giabardo heads over from Oakleigh Cannons men’s U20s while Mihaloudis makes the switch from Heidelberg United’s NPLW side.
Mihaloudis departs the Bergers after three years at the helm, where he most recently led the side to a Team App Cup triumph, the club’s first major silverware since winning the league in 2007.
He has also previously coached South Melbourne and Altona City’s women’s sides, with earlier roles spanning clubs such as Box Hill United, Doncaster Rovers and Fitzroy City.
Meanwhile Giabardo is a former Beaumaris juniors coach with considerable experience coaching youth sides.
He has previously led Dandenong Thunder’s U16 and U18 sides throughout the NPL system, winning the U18s state championship in 2015.
In 2016 he moved to Oakleigh Cannons where he oversaw the club’s 20s.
The co-coaching concept isn’t unfamiliar in Victorian football, with Mark Torcaso and Paul Kilpatrick holding a similar role in their time at Bundoora United in the WPL, while Oakleigh Cannons have Peter Tsolakis and Con Tangalakis in a co-coaching role in the NPL currently.
Giabardo and Mihaloudis take over from Munro, who returns to the men’s game with NPL2 East outfit Dandenong City.
He oversaw Southern’s struggles to adapt to life in the NPLW early on, before improved results saw the club claim some bigger scalps towards the end of year, something which the new coaches will look to build on in 2017.