By Lance Jenkinson
Sasa Ognenovski will overhaul Dandenong City’s philosophy in the National Premier League after being re-appointed coach for 2021.
The former Socceroo outlined his vision to the club’s board during the Melbourne lockdown and got the seal of approval to bring about significant change to the way the Endeavour Hills-based City operates.
At the crux of Ognenovski’s plan was to end City’s tendency for quick fix players in favour of building with youth for a more sustainable future.
The 41-year-old has been a vocal critic of Australian clubs who have far too often taken the easy option of one-and-done deals with veterans, over putting in the work to develop promising young players.
Ognenovski believes it is an issue on a national scale, with youngsters not being presented with enough opportunities to play senior football.
So this is his chance to not only shape Dandenong City as a club, but show other clubs that it can be done.
Ognenovski is aware of the potential of short term pain, but he is adamant Dandenong City will benefit in the longer term from the new path he is taking the club.
“Successful clubs aren’t built in a day,” he said.
“It takes a matter of time to build a culture, to train and educate these younger players, so when they do step into a senior team they’re ready to go.
“You look at Liverpool for instance, it was three years before Jurgen Klopp’s system and culture really kicked in and now they’re probably the most powerful team in Europe and they were an amazing team last year.
“It shows it does take time to build something special and with discussions that I’ve had with the club, there will be that amount of time to build a culture and build a squad.”
Three key areas of Ognenovski’s focus – squad build, culture and playing style – are heavily dependent on promoting youth within or into the senior squad.
His player acquisition and retention strategy is centred around young, talented and hungry players.
A rebuild of the club’s culture can only be done with young impressionable minds.
The implementation of a new, faster game style will be better served by fit, fresh legs.
It meant that City had to part ways with some of its veterans from last season.
“Do I respect what they’ve done at the club? 100 per cent,” Ognenovski said.
“They’re always welcome back to the club.
“At the end of the day, I needed to look after the best interests of the club and that goes beyond any individual player that has been at the club.
“If we’re looking at doing what we’re looking to do, tough decisions have to be made.
“We released some senior players to give the younger ones an opportunity.”
It is not just youth that Ognenovski wants at Dandenong City – he wants local youth.
The 2010 Asian Footballer of the Year aims to leave no stone unturned to identify talent in the surrounding regions and make City a destination for the best young talent.
“It’s a massive catchment area and a massive talent pool,” he said.
“It just needs to be tapped into and we need to start identifying some of the talent that’s in and around the area.
“Not everyone in this area can be seen, but we’ll try our utmost to try and bring the best talent and nurture and capture the best talent in and around the area.”
A part of the pitch to prospective youngsters joining Dandenong City is the club’s appointment of former Melbourne Victory defender Rodrigo Vargas in the role of technical director.
Vargas was pin-pointed because of his passion for the game, his leadership, his respect among the Victorian football community and, above all, his want to nurture the next generation of players.
“First and foremost, he has an impeccable character and his football knowledge is second to none in Victoria, in this country really,” Ognenovski said.
“He’s as passionate as me about giving the young kids, particularly from our region, from in and around Dandenong and further, an opportunity and a pathway to senior football.
“That has been missing for a very long time in Australian football and if we can play our small part in finding potentially the next Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell or Tony Popovic, we’re going to give it our all and try our best to do that.”
In other appointments, goalkeeper coach Sam Frangos will work closely with Vargas to identify and nurture young players, while Semi Sivic will be Ognenovski’s right hand man on match-days as senior assistant.
Frangos has coaching experience in the A-League system with Melbourne City, while Sivic has a strong knowledge of the NPL and with opposition analysis.
