Perth Glory marquee signing Mile Sterjovski said the opportunity to play regular football and to link up once again with coach Dave Mitchell was too good to pass up.
Speaking after his first training session with the Glory on Monday, the Qantas Socceroos midfielder said Mitchell’s presence was instrumental in his move to Members Equity Stadium for the upcoming Hyundai A-League season.
Mitchell had previously coached Sterjovski at Sydney United and Parramatta Power in the National Soccer League (NSL), Sterjovski saying he felt the combination could bring success back to the Glory.
“I’ve known Mitch for a long time and he was the one that gave me my breakthrough when I was young,” Sterjovski said.
“(So) it was a factor in me signing here (along with) the fact that Jacob Burns has signed and Andy Todd, players that I’ve known and I respect.”
“I think those factors played a big part in me signing here and I can see that the teams going to be strong and competitive.”
“I’ve been keeping tabs on the league since it started and I know that Perth’s been under performing in the last few years and they’re a big club that deserves to be up the top where they belong.”
Having played in the English Premiership during the 2007-08 season with Derby County, the club’s fall from grace was a big one with the team struggling to avoid demotion from the Coca Cola Championship last season.
With new manager Nigel Clough taking over for his first full campaign at the Rams’ helm, Sterjovski and now Glory team-mate Andy Todd were deemed surplus to requirements, Sterjovski saying it was probably the right time to move on.
“I wasn’t playing regular football in Derby and when I found out there was interest in Australia, it really excited me.”
“But I did leave (Derby) on good terms. For me, the only problem was that I wasn’t playing regularly, I was coming off the bench and I would have liked to stay out a bit more.”
“(So) I want to have a good season here, a good three seasons, that’s what I’m contracted to and the priority is to make the finals, which Perth haven’t done in the first four seasons in the Hyundai A-League so that’s the main goal for us.”
Despite playing as a midfielder at Derby and for the Qantas Socceroos, Mitchell looks set to use Sterjovski as a striker, slotting him in at the front to replace the departed Nikita Rukavytsya.
“I can play in a few different positions, I’m more than happy to play up front again, that would be a nice challenge and I always like scoring goals,” he said.
“I’ll leave it up to Mitch and wherever he needs me to play I’ll be more than happy too.”
