Just under a decade ago, South Melbourne and Chris Taylor were approaching the crossroads of their respective paths.
After decades on the national stage, South’s fortunes in the state leagues were faltering, backing up 2006 VPL title success with mixed results, while Taylor was considering his options after leaving Sunshine George Cross.
Little did both know they would eventually combine to form one of the most formidable partnerships in the National Premier Leagues era.
As South Melbourne prepares for Sunday’s NPL Victoria Grand Final against Bentleigh Greens, a devoted legion of fans and administrators are now enjoying a period of prominence under Taylor not seen since the club’s NSL days.
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Prior to Taylor’s appointment, the Oceania Team of the Century was plagued by inconsistency, instability, and starved of silverware since winning the VPL under John Anastasiadis in 2006.
Following Anastasiadis’ departure in 2008, four different managers – Michael Michalakopoulos, Vaughan Coveny, Eddie Krncevic and Peter Tsolakis – were unable to return South to the summit of Victorian football, with the latter’s position undone by the board’s sacking of five key players.
The club then turned to the two-time VPL coach of the year, whose career was on an upwards trajectory, to turn around their fortunes.
After taking Melbourne Knights to a Grand Final in 2008 – losing out in extra-time to Altona Magic – he took a short hiatus, returning to senior management and leading an impressive Dandenong Thunder to a league and cup treble in 2012.
Taylor grasped the opportunity presented by South, excited by the challenge of restoring the proud club to its former glory at a state level.
“Basically, it came right out of the blue, had a phone call while I was training, and a message left from South Melbourne that they wanted to speak to me,” Taylor said at the time.
“They offered me a long- term deal which was probably the most enticing thing.”
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Since taking charge in July 2013, Taylor has delivered two successive first-place NPL finishes, an inaugural Community Shield, FFA Cup qualification and a Dockerty Cup triumph.
A potential Grand Final triumph and another national NPL Finals campaign is also on the horizon.
However, it was an inconspicuous start for the Leicesterian, beginning his stint with three winless games and the possibility of missing out on the VPL finals.
Yet the mid-season recruitment of Iqbal Jawadi, Tim Mala, Nick Epifano, Bryan Bran and Luke Hopper – all from his old stomping ground of George Andrews Reserve – paid dividends, with a 6-2 victory over former club Thunder underscoring the club’s late league resurgence.
While a finals tilt came to a crashing end via a 5-0 semi-final defeat to Northcote, the signs at Lakeside were promising.
“My focus in the beginning was to reform the club culture by bringing in good players into the club who were not only good people, but ambitious as to their aspirations in the near future,” Taylor says.
“The original plan was not to go after those players [from Thunder], however it was good to bring them in as they came into the club as and brought hunger and determination into the dressing room and were players who wanted to work for me.
“To have come one game from reaching the Grand Final after coming in mid-season and initially struggling to win a game early on was a good achievement considering the circumstances.”
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Taylor immediately sought to strengthen the squad in 2014, bringing over the league’s leading striker Milos Lujic and the commanding Michael Eager from champions Northcote, another Thunder player in Matthew Theodore, along with imports Jamie Reed and James Musa.
South went on to win the inaugural NPL title after a strong start to the season, with consistent results thereafter seeing off the challenge from Miron Bleiberg’s Oakleigh Cannons.
The club backed up that success by finishing top of the NPL again and winning the Dockerty Cup in 2015, though Taylor isn’t entirely satisfied with the current campaign, which has been plagued by injuries and a disappointing FFA Cup exit to Palm Beach Sharks.
“This year hasn’t been all that successful for us as we were knocked out in the FFA Cup quite early and had a bad patch of form where we lost three times in four games against the other top sides in the league,” he says.
“We’ve also struggled with injuries this year as three players have had to go under the knife with season-ending injuries, forcing us to bring in reinforcements midway through the season.
“Although we lost, we showed great spirit given that at that point of the season we were struggling to put numbers on the park, such was the toll of our injury problems.”
While Taylor prefers a first-past-the-post system, he acknowledges Sunday’s NPL Grand Final presents another opportunity for silverware and celebration for the club.
The South Melbourne manager remains cautions about the threat posed by Bentleigh, knowing his side hasn’t beaten the Greens this season.
“It’s a one-off occasion and without meaning to sound disrespectful to our opponents, winning the league was the most important thing for us,” Taylor says.
“However, the game gives us the chance to reward our fans who are by far the best supporters in the country, including the A-League, as these fans have stuck by the club through and through.”
Beyond Sunday, Taylor also has his sights firmly set on making amends for South’s semi-final exit to eventual champions MetroStars in the NPL Finals last season, with a reward of automatic qualification to the 2016 FFA Cup Round of 32 waiting for the winners.
“We let ourselves down last year with a poor performance at home to MetroStars that day,” he says.
“We could have performed much better and that is the motivating factor this year around, as we aim to do better and win the competition.”
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While victory in the competition – along with another FFA Cup stint – would provide the club further exposure on the national stage, Taylor questions why several members of his squad haven’t already been offered an opportunity at a higher level.
“It disappoints me as these players deserve a chance to test themselves out in the A-League, as there is no doubt in my mind that they have the ability and talent to succeed in that league,” he says.
“It frustrates me to see players in the A-League constantly moved between clubs, getting multiple opportunities, whereas boys in this league are not given a sniff.”
“And it’s not just in Victoria where this is the case, but rather nationally, as the recent FFA Cup game between Rockdale City Suns and Melbourne Victory highlighted.”
“For me, Rockdale were as good as Victory on the night and gave them a real test, with several of their players really impressing and showing that they are more than capable of stepping up.”
According to the 54-year-old, the perceived lack of faith in the state leagues also extends to coaches, who he believes are not just being judged on achievements alone.
“It seems to me that nowadays that a certain type of personality is preferred at an A-League level,” he says.
“I’m not saying that the A-League coaches aren’t good coaches, but it seems to be the case that A-League clubs prefer those who can also promote their clubs in the media.”
“You look at Ian Dobson who has won a national title with the Knights back in the NSL [and multiple state league triumphs] and you wonder why a coach of his stature has not been given the chance to manage at a higher level.”
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Given his recent coaching success, the South Melbourne supremo might himself feel aggrieved that his good work has not been further rewarded.
He has brought back consistency and results for the four-time NSL Champions after a number of turbulent years, putting together a tight-knit squad with an innate ability to fight until the final whistle and grind out a result against any odds.
Another trophy on Sunday would firmly cement the 2014 Coach of the Year’s position as one of the best managers outside of the A-League.
Chris Taylor at South Melbourne has been a perfect fit, with the club finally rising to be the Victorian powerhouse primed for another tilt at the top in Australia.