Mark Rudan fronted the press on Thursday morning after he was announced as the inaugural coach of Western United.
Rudan, 43, will prepare for the club’s first season in the Hyundai A-League in 2019/20.
Read on for his thoughts on the opportunity, plans for the club’s playing style and more.
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On the opportunity…
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a unique situation to be in. It’s just an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up, to have a blank piece of paper to create what you want.
“To be the inaugural coach is something that genuinely excites me.”
On the club’s ambition…
“Having a look into the people involved in the football club, we’re talking about a club that is hugely ambitious.
“There are people involved at the club who have been involved in the game for decades, so they are proper football people.
On the playing style…
“My playing style hasn’t changed. I like to play a pretty dynamic brand of football, you won’t see too many balls going sideways.
“I like to play certain brand of football that the fans will enjoy and come back for more of. I think the players will enjoy that as well.”
On the club’s vision and identity…
“In terms of talking about a vision and an identity it’s going to be very clear once we start getting the ball rolling.”
“I understand what the western part of Melbourne is about having grown up in the western region of Sydney. I understand what the demographic is about. What the people are about, what they want and what they stand for.”
On the challenges ahead…
“I’ve spoken to coaches and people who have been involved with new clubs and it is a challenge.
There are going to be some bumps along the way but I’m more than confident that we’ll see those through.
“It’s going to be a journey where we’re going to have a lot of fun along the way. But it’s going to be very rewarding not just for our club but for the people we’ll be representing.”
