Warriors’ new coach pursues long game on youth development
NEW North Geelong coach James Coutts says the ability to develop the region’s top-end youth talent lured him from the Gold Coast to Elcho Park.
Coutts, who was playing with A-League aspirant Gold Coast United, was announced as the Warriors’ playing-coach yesterday and will fly in for tomorrow’s clash with Nunawading City at Mahoneys Reserve. The midfielder, who was headhunted by the club, replaces Luciano Trani in the top job and will continue the Warriors’ mantra of focusing on local talent.
“Once I met with the club, spoke about the project and what they had in mind … it very much sat with me and my beliefs and values,” Coutts said.
“It’s one I am really excited about. It’s a long-term project to ensure there’s young homegrown talent in the team. The club has also been up and down, up and down and one thing I am very keen to do is hopefully build a team and culture of local players who want to stay at the club for the long term.
“I know the talent they have got in the club and I am looking forward to coming down and working with the young senior players and also looking within the club to see who can come into the senior team.”
Coutts managed Murray United in the NPL last season before moving to the Gold Coast.
The Englishman enjoyed a decent career in his homeland, coming through Southampton’s famed youth system before playing for Bournemouth and other professional and semi-pro clubs.
Coutts said he wanted to play an “attractive brand” of football at the Warriors.
“One thing the players will learn is to win in different ways and be able to adapt to any scenario. I believe the best players are the ones that can make the best decisions at the right time. Sometimes that’s building up from the back, other times it might not be.”
Coutts said he was confident he would be able to play and manage at the same time.
“If you have the right people around you and the right mentality then I believe it can be a success,” he said.
NORTH Geelong captain Michael Anderson is proud of the way his club responded to its mid-season adversity.
The resignation of highprofile coach Luciano Trani led to a series of events, including midfielder Damien Peters leaving the club, uncertainty surrounding interim coach Nathan Rogers’ tenure and the anxious wait for the announcement of new head coach James Coutts. Add to that a string of disastrous defeats, injuries to key players including Anderson himself and a two-game suspension to the important Michael Boyar.
Anderson was not surprised with the way the players — led by Rogers’ influence — banded together and used the tumultuous period as a turning point in their season.
“It has been a bit of a whirlwind but I think that’s part of football,” Anderson said.
“It’s been good to have the older guys put their arm around the younger guys to help them get through this difficult period.
“We kind of sat down and stated to everyone — this is one of those turning points during a season where you can either admit defeat and let it drag on or you can band together and pick each other up.
“Nathan (Rogers) was great at bringing people together who have a common cause and I said to him after the game on Saturday that I wanted him to stay around the senior group, so I hope that is the case.”
The Warriors have experienced light at the end of the tunnel with two gritty wins thanks to a compact defence and some individual brilliance from goalkeeper Hamish Flavell keeping them in the race for promotion.
Coutts won’t be involved in an official capacity this week with Rogers taking control for the last time before settling into an assistant role to Coutts, who will be a playing-coach for the Warriors.
Anderson said fans should expect the same style they’ve seen over the past two weeks to remain.
“The club assured us that (Coutts) wasn’t going to change too much,” Anderson said.
“It’s about continuing on with the same formation and structure we’ve been playing and putting his (Coutts) little twist on it.”
North’s opponent tomorrow, Nunawading City, has signed former Melbourne Victory star and Tunisian international Fahid Ben Khalfallah in an attempt to resurrect their struggling season.
Warriors striker Darius Madison will miss the match due to suspension but mid Michael Boyar will return.