The personnel changes continue at NPL club Northcote City which has announced the appointment of Zeljko Kuzman as the new head coach following the departure of Goran Lozanovski.
Kuzman is Northcote’s third senior coaching appointment in 12 months and in contrast to the previous two coaches Alex Gymnopoulos and Lozanovski, he is someone who comes into the job without any previous ties to the club.
Kuzman joins Northcote from Port Melbourne Sharks where he was Eric Vassiliadis’s assistant in the second half of the season, replacing coincidentally, Lozanovski who left the Sharks to try and rescue Northcote from relegation.
Prior to Kuzman’s stint at Port Melbourne, he was head coach at then NPL2 club St Albans Saints for the first half of the 2016 season, before he resigned due to reported differences with the committee. The club was in 5th place when he left and finished the season strongly to clinch the division title and win promotion to NPL 1.
In season 2015, prior to joining the Saints, he was assistant coach at Richmond when it won promotion from NPL 2 to NPL 1.
Northcote City will be hoping that Kuzman is the man to lead the club back into the top tier after its seven year stint there, (which included the 2013 VPL title) ended with relegation this season.
Speaking on the Northcote City Facebook page following his appointment, Kuzman said: “This Club has a very proud and prestigious history. Obviously it wasn’t a great year but I feel like I’m the right man to take Northcote forward again. I’m really keen to make an impression and hopefully in time we can produce a brand that we’re all proud of. I’d like to say that our sides play a high-energy, exciting brand of football that is mainly effective. We try to play positive where we can with a lot of forward passes, forward runs and high possession but minimising risk at the same time.”
Alongside Kuzman in the Northcote City coaching team, will be his assistant Steve Bebic and Theo Mihailidis, who were with him at St Albans Saints.
Northcote is also undergoing changes off the park, with long serving committee member Peter Kotsiris, or “Kotsy”, as he is affectionately known in football circles, announcing he is stepping down from the Vice president’s position. Over the years, Kotsiris has served various official roles at the club including club president and team manager.
Kotsiris says he will remain a loyal supporter of the club, but felt it was the right time for the club to make a fresh start.