Werribee City have appointed former FC Bulleen Lions manager Serge Sabbadini as their new head coach, with John Waddell on board as his assistant.
His tenure got off to a promising start, as his side earned a heart-stopping 3-3 draw in yesterday’s managerial debut, thanks to a spirited second-half fightback.
Sabbadini steps into the role to fill the vacancy left by former coach Domenico Gangemi, who departed three weeks ago with the club sitting bottom of the NPL2 West ladder with five losses from six games.
“Whilst it is terribly disappointing that Domenic has come to this decision, he feels that in the best interests of the club and the playing group it is the correct thing to do,” President Giovanni Inserra said at the time of his departure.
“From the club’s perspective we do not believe that the lack of results to date is a reflection of the technical or tactical ability of the coaching staff and nor do we believe that the current group of players are not good enough for this competition.
“I firmly believe that we have put together a playing group in line with the club’s vision and long term strategy, which is to return to the top NPL tier by season 2019 and we will continue with this strategy irrespective of who is appointed to take on the Head Coach position at the club.”
Sabbadini will be assisted by John Waddell – father of current Bulleen Lions defender Lewis Waddell – and will be looking to work with the direction of the club in creating long-term success at the club.
Sabbadini coached the Lions to an eighth place finish in the 2011 season, working with players like Dusan Bosnjak, Alex Khrapko, Tim Mala and Anthony Ramzy in his time with the club.
He was succeeded at the helm by Waddell, who lead the Lions to a sixth and seventh placed finish through their 2012 and 2013 campaigns
Sabbadini remained involved in the Veneto Club setup, holding a role as Technical Director up until the start of their debut NPL Victoria top-flight campaign, where he was replaced by Harry Bingham.
The appointment makes Sabbadini the fourth coach for Werribee in the space of nine months, after the departure of Nino Ragusa in July last year saw Tony Trifunov take over in an interim role, before being replaced with Gangemi.
Photo: David Mullins Sports Photography