Special Feature: Olympic’s Dynamic Duo
If ever there was a national anthem representing the unity and success of football managers , it has to be the famous hit single of 1967 ,”The Two of Us “, recorded by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch.
Reflecting on this great theme song, there have been many notable partnerships in club football which were created in heaven.
In Europe there were Bill Shankley and Bob Paisley at Liverpool, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, Alex Ferguson and Brian Kidd at Manchester United , Arsene Wenger and Pat Rice at Arsenal and Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho at Sporting Lisbon .
In Australia the great teams were Eddie Thomson and Mick Hickman at Sydney City, Zoran Matic and John Perin at Adelaide City ,David Mitchell and Lawrie Mckinna at Sydney United and Parramatta Power , and more recently, Ange Postecoglou and Rado Vidosic at Brisbane Roar and the blossoming Tony Popovic and Ante Milicic at Western Sydney Wanderers.
In Australian football, due to the mortalty of coaching staff, it is rare to see coaching duos remaining together for extended periods.
However, in the case of Sydney Olympic head coach, Peter Tsekenis, and his assistant Peter Papoythis, there is a certain chemistry and thought process which has kept the pair together since 2005.
The two men just ooze football which accounts for the great success they have achieved.
The records don’t lie and in the last nine years with Bankstown City and Sydney Olympic they won two minor premierships and two grand finals, and have been runners up three times.
“Other clubs fear teams coached by us and we’ve earned the right to be considered for coaching at a higher level because our CV is superior to most”, says Peter Tsekenis.
Both players are proud of their football heritage and Papoythis is proud to say he played next to Marshall Soper, Peter Katholos and Charlie Yankos when they played in the NSL off season for Canterbury Marrickville in 1992.
“It was one thing to watch these great players perform in the NSL, but it was unbelievable to play with them “, says Peter Papoythis.
“You just learned so much and they were an inspiration to make me want to stay in the game after I stopped playing”, adds Papoythis.
Who could ever forget that young skilful midfielder with the mullet hairstyle who won the man of the match performance for his display in Australia’s 2-1 opening World Youth Championship win against Colombia at Allianz Stadium in 1993?
“It was a great feeling representing Australia and money couldn’t buy that experience”, says Tsekenis.
“We had a great squad with Sean Cranney, Vince Matassa, Frank Juric, Ante Moric, Kevin Muscat,Tommy McCulloch, Craig Moore and Paul Agostino but we faced a great Brazilian team in the semi finals and unfortunately I suffered a cork injury in the match”.
“We weren’t the most technically gifted players but we had great heart and fighting spirit which is sometimes lacking in today’s players”.
Tsekenis also appeared for Australia at the 1996 Olympic Games in the USA when he scored in the first match against Saudi Arabia, playing in all three matches before the team was knocked out dramatically when Spain scored a winning goal during extra time in the third match of the first round.
On a personal note, I was a spectator in the Orlando Citrus Bowl at that match when I witnessed one of the worst decisions ever made by an Australian coach.
With Australia leading Spain 2-0 and Mark Viduka and Joe Spiteri leading the Spanish defence a merry dance, Eddie Thomson, the Olyroo coach, made the inexpicable error of replacing Spiteri with Danny Tiatto in the 37th minute.
In the 40th minute Tiatto conceded a foul outside the box and the young Raul duly capitalised on this defensive blunder by sweetly curling the free kick into the top left hand corner of the net.
As history recalls, Spain scored twice in the second half to win the game 3-2.
“At the time I didn’t know the reason Spiteri was replaced but as a coach you live and die by these decisions and in this situation we failed to progress to the next round”, says Tsekenis.
“However, in Thomson’s defence we did have three good chances in the second half to win the match”.
Tsekenis was still highly regarded at senior level when he stopped playing in the NSL at the age of thirty two after over 200 appearances for St George, Sydney Olympic and Newcastle.
He could’ve continued playing with Newcastle in the new A- League but his destiny in football changed in 2005 when he was appointed player coach at Bankstown to be joined soon after by Papoythis who became his assistant coach.
“ We were successful in our first year when the club won the grand final at Parramatta Stadium by 3-1 in front of 9,000 spectators”, says Papoythis.
“In our rookie season we encouraged our players to play an attacking style of football and it certainly paid dividends while as young coaches we learned a lot about football and ourselves”.
In contrast, this season has been a roller coaster for Sydney Olympic after that great pre -season success when they beat Blacktown City 2-1 in the final.
Before the home match against the South Coast Wolves, they were sitting in fourth place on the table.
Typical of the team’s inconsistency was their 5-1 thrashing of Manly two weeks ago only to be humbled 4-0 by Rockdale at home.
“It all happened for us in the Manly match when Makrys scored that outstanding hat- trick but against Rockdale we had several early chances which weren’t converted and conceded a soft goal from a corner which started the rot”, says Tsekenis.
“We’re definitely missing the Triantis brothers but we still have a sound squad with players of the calibre of Henderson, Makrys, Haydar, Studman, Markovic and Barkhousir who all set the example in the dressing shed.”
I’m sure collectively , all these players will start putting their hands up soon and hopefully we’ll be clear of our current injury list so we have our best squad available week in and week out”.
After being together for so long in the State League and sharing such successes it would be natural to ask what the future holds for the two coaches.
“We’re only coaches”, says Papoythis.
“Here today and gone tomorrow”.
“ Obviously, after all those NSL games I played at Sydney Olympic, I have a soft spot for the club and great respect for the current board who are working very hard to guarantee success, particularly with the massive redevelopment of Belmore Sports Ground to start in the near future”’, says Tsekenis.
“Indicative of our determination was the management of Troy Danaskos who after breaking his foot twice, was told he wouldn’t play again but we brought him back and look at that cracking long distant missile he scored against Blacktown City’’,says Papoythis.
Despite their great success in Premier League football, you would imagine Tsekenis and Papoythis would be thinking of progressing to an A- League club, but as Papoythis says,
” We’re not the finished product yet and we have more to learn “.
“Also there aren’t too many jobs going round in the A-League and remember coaches like Culina, Kosmina, Farina and Van Egmond had double shots so there aren’t too many opportunities for new blood”.
Perhaps, the pair’s future lies in coaching a youth team in the A- League but at the moment their focus is purely on guiding Sydney Olympic up the Premier League table.
One thing is certain; wherever these two great mates coach together, they will always encourage attacking football and extract 100% from their playing staff.
–By Roger Sleeman
