Having embarked on the biggest recruiting campaign in Perth Glory’s short Hyundai A-League history, coach David Mitchell is spruiking the virtues of stability as key to the club’s success.
Mitchell, who announced on Friday that Mile Sterjovski would be the club’s marquee player for the next three years, believes that after making the changes that had needed to be made, he now has a solid base on which he can build a team which can contend for the title.
He said that the decision taken by owner Tony Sage last season to stick by him gave him the confidence he could build a team which could live up to the Perth public’s high expectations.
“Last year, we had a poor start, and when Tony Sage came in and said we are going to back Mitch for a couple of years, that settled everything down. You saw the improvement in the performance of the team and the way we played, and then it was ‘who can we sign?’ What do we need to make the club challenge?” he said.
“The underlying factor for this year is we want to go for quality, and not forgetting we are from Perth, we want to give some young Perth players a chance, and we’ve signed five Perth players from the youth squad.”
“We want to develop our own Perth and sprinkle it with quality players whenever you can get them. Whether it’s interstate or around the world. I’ve certainly been cautious about who we bring to the club.”
Sterjovski is the Glory’s third big-name signing of the off-season, joining fellow Socceroo Jacob Burns and Derby defender Andy Todd.
Mitchell pointed to the success of Melbourne Victory as an example of what can be achieved when a coach is given time to build the side that he wants.
“They have set the benchmark. What Ernie (Merrick) has done there, he’s been lucky enough to have a great set-up from day one. He was very instrumental in that. It’s not just the team, it’s a club. The basis of having elite sports science behind you and having great facilities as well. That’s what Melbourne have done very well and they are very stable,” he said.
“A lot of people were after his (Merrick’s) neck after the first year, but they have been very stable, they-ve kept him on board, He’s a very calm figure, he knows what he wants, and he’s done exceptionally well for the club.”
Sterjovski has set his sights on a finals finish in his first season, believing that the Glory have the quality to contend with the A-League’s best.
“With the squad we’ve assembled now, we’re going to do pretty well in the future and we’re looking forward to making the finals,” he said.
