Saints go from zero to hero in 2013

2013 could hardly have turned out better for St George FC. In a remarkable turnaround from a disappointing 2012, the Saints swept virtually all before them in taking out the Premiership, Championship and Club Championship in a dominating season.
It was something of a return to their former glories and there is more than a hint that the famous old club is on its way back.
And it was not just on the park that the honours went their way, with an equally impressive haul being awarded at the FNSW National Premier League Season Dinner two weeks ago. Amongst the Mens 2 award winners that night were Manny Spanoudakis picking up Coach of the Year, Dion Shaw the Goalkeeper of the Year, Juan Chavez the Golden Boot, Stephen Grbevski joint Golden Boot in the Under 20s and St George CEO, Ross Gardner collecting the prestigious Charles Valentine Medal.
But it was the results on the field which drew foremost attention and these were nothing less than exceptional, with twenty wins, five draws and just four losses in their twenty nine competitive matches. Though that record was certainly no accident, as Manny Spanoudakis explains.
“We had a really tough pre-season, a really tough one, and that set us up well once the season proper began”, he stated. “We hired a strength and conditioning coach out at the NSW Institute of Sport at Homebush and the squad were pushed physically right from the start, so that they were fit enough to play the style I wanted. The preseason program was very structured and it was by design and not luck that we gained our eventual success”.
“I believe that physical preparation is critical and as we always aspired to play PL1, we prepared accordingly. We had a high level of fitness and we trained as hard as any PL1 team”.
The Saints signed a host of new players, with thirteen new recruits in the first team squad. Only Chavez, Sam Messam, Matt Sadler, George Lagoudakis and Michael Smith remained from the 2012 lineup, although Simon Verrender and Daniel Nash returned midseason.  Off the field, Spanoudakis also brought with him Danny Silvestri as team manager, a long time colleague.
“I wanted to change the culture at the club”, Spanoudakis continued. “There was a perception that there had been a lack of work ethic last season and that was one of the things I wanted to change. I was fortunate to know of a lot of good young players who I knew from the youth leagues and they put in a significant effort which was evident right from pre-season. We trained three nights a week and built up a strong competitive winning culture”.
“Even in our six-a-sides on Fridays, everybody wanted to win. And we went into the Waratah Cup to win that as well, and were only one game away from the final”.
“Danny was so important too. We have worked together for a long time, going back to when I coached UTS all those years ago. He is as good as any team manager in the country, even in A-League, and his contribution was so important too”
Spanoudakis also incorporated player rotation during the season, something which was also new to the club.
“It was very difficult and uncomfortable for some players who were not used to that”, he stated. “But I explained the situation at the start of the year and let them know we would have a squad and not a starting eleven and reserves. I would be rotating the team based on our opposition, whether we were home or away etc, and it worked very effectively”.
The change in culture also included a change in the style of play that the 46 year old Spanoudakis wished to play.
“I am of the generation that grew up listening to Johnny Warren and I am a bit of a football romantic. I wanted our play to be entertaining and for the spectators to leave happy. I wanted us to put on a show similar to if people went to a concert or movie. I mean, people pay their $10 or so to come during winter to a ground without cover etc, so they should get something for their money. And I think we gave them that”.
As for what the future holds?
“The club is in preparations for next season on the assumption that we are going up. We will just have to wait and see what happens there”.
“Longer term I would love to be involved in the A-League in some capacity. Not necessarily as a coach, even though I do have my A-licence, but maybe as a football director or similar. It is always important to have goals and with a lot of experience in sports management and in the corporate world, that is my long term aspiration.”
Michael Smith, one of the handful of players who remained from last season, and who was appointed vice captain by Spanoudakis, echoed many of his coach’s comments.
“We started pre-season training in October 2012 and it was three days a week back then for virtually the next twelve months. Maybe there might only have been seven or eight of us at the start, but other players joined in as they signed up. We didn’t touch a ball until mid January”.
“It certainly helped us once the season started. It had been disappointing to miss out on the finals last year after having made a Grand Final, and major semis, in previous years, but Manny always expressed to us that we were more than capable to make the finals. But we put a lot of pressure on ourselves too. We had worked so hard all through the year, and our expectations were high. Otherwise, there would have been all that commitment for no reward”.
“Plus the big difference this year was that we scored goals. We probably conceded a similar amount this year to last, but with Chavez and Sam up front, we scored goals when we needed. Aleks Jovovic was exceptional too and he was always encouraged to take players on. That was how Manny liked us to play, an attacking style, and he was actually a bit frustrated sometimes when it didn’t happen enough”.
“The depth of the squad also made a difference. We had a great group of players, who all could have started the games. Even in the Grand Final, we had guys like Simon Verrender, Marino Musumeci and Sean Thomas all sitting in the grandstand. In any other side, they would have been starting”.
St George CEO, Ross Gardner, was in no doubt what has resulted from the season’s success.
“There is a certain buzz at the club again and a lot of that is due to the achievements of first grade”, he explained. “Manny adopted a slow and measured approach and it was obvious early on that we were going to do well. There is a lot of excitement around the place again because of that”.
Gardner, who was recently in Malaysia at the invitation of ex-St George star and Socceroo Scott Ollerenshaw, and so missed the FNSW gala dinner, can only see good times ahead for St George.
“It has taken a long time to get to where we are now but people are starting to talk about us again. The new stadium development only adds to the excitement and it will give us the chance to create the next generation. It kills me to see St George boys playing for other clubs but once the facility is ready, we will be able to get a production line going for our youth”.
”In the meantime, next year we will be at WIN Jubilee Stadium, which has simply the best surface in the state, as everybody who was at the Sydney FC game saw. It is a wonderful stadium, and it will be a great asset to the competition, without any doubt”.
“These really are exciting times for the club, but the best is yet to come”.