South Melbourne have finally announced what has been rumoured for the past month, signing ex South Melbourne Hellas 1991 Premiership player Peter ‘Gus’ Tsolakis as their head coach for the next two seasons.
It has been some time since a coaching appointment has united the South fans and excited stakeholders at the club to such a degree. The South Melbourne website had the following post light up the website this week:
“Affectionately known as ‘Gus’, Tsolakis represented South Melbourne FC as a player between 1988 and 1994. He played 160 National Soccer League matches and scored 30 NSL goals over his seven seasons at Middle Park. He was well known for his powerful strikes at goal and delighted South fans with many memorable and timely goals. He was a member of the 1990/91 NSL Championship team (scoring a penalty in the dramatic shoot-out) and also played and scored in the 4-1 rout of Sydney Olympic in the 1989/90 National League Cup Final. Gus was assistant to Danny Wright for the 2002/03 NSL season and actually oversaw the final two NSL matches that season as Senior Coach following Wright’s dismissal.
SMFC President Leo Athanasakis is delighted to welcome Peter back to the Club, adding that ‘the Club is excited to welcome back one of its favourite sons. Both Peter and his father won Championships with the Club, and we have been very impressed with Peter’s coaching achievements at Northcote City. We welcome Gus back to South Melbourne FC and are confident he will bring the Club much success.'”
Tsolakis brings with him a wealth of experience as a player and coach and his work at Northcote City on a modest budget has him revered as one of the most respected football coaches in the game. Players are loyal to him, administrators trust and empower him and the supporters have always loved him. This appointment comes at a crucial time in the famous club’s history after five years of failure on the park where the club has not come close to repeating the premiership success of 2006.
Tsolakis knows the club well and had this to say about his move from Northcote City to South Melbourne: “I thought long and hard about my move to South Melbourne. The time was right to make a change and come back to where I played for so many years. I had achieved what I wanted to achieve at Northcote City and I now need a fresh challenge. South Melbourne really showed interest in me, they gave me the confidence by giving me a two year contract and full control of the team. I have known the president Leo Athanasakis for some time now and I am very comfortable working under his board. I know what it’s like to play at South Melbourne when they were the biggest club in the land, that was real pressure and if you didn’t have the mental capacity to cope with the fans’ expectations and demands you were not going to last very long. I know what they want and I can promise them we will work very hard to give them what they deserve.”
Tsolakis has yet to announce his assistant coach and no doubt will have his own ideas regarding his playing roster. He has a history as a coach of not compromising himself or his club for any individual player and always goes about his business in the off season in a dignified and measured manner. He will no doubt single out quality players but will want players of excellent character and a desire to wear the famous ‘blue and white’ shirt and not just mercenary players looking for money and an easy pay day. Players will understand under Tsolakis what it means to wear the ‘heavy jumper’ once worn by him and great mates like Durakovic, Petersen and Palatsides.
His teams are always tight knit with strong dressing rooms and are always encouraged to spend time at the club creating a strong culture within his playing group.
South fans do not need to go any further than Northcote’s goal scoring statistics last year as the most attacking team in the league to know what to expect next season under their new head coach. Tsolakis’ teams are always attacking and heavy scoring and no doubt there will be many goals in the new 90 million dollar stadium at Lakeside.
We hope he can turn his old club around and back to title winning success.