Melbourne City has moved to reappoint coach Leonel Malik, the man who secured a premiership and two promotions for the South Kingsville-based club in the past three seasons.
Malik’s contract extension came as no shock, with the 37-year-old in the midst of a five-year plan to take City from the lower reaches of he FFV state leagues to one of the top divisions.
Malik fielded calls from higher-level clubs looking to bolster their coaching stocks, but he politely declined with his mission at City a long way from being completed.
“I’ve been talking with coaches from higher leagues and I’ve been approached from clubs in state 1 and state 2 to be part of their coaching staff as well,” Malik told Star Weekly.
“But, as I said when I took over at this club, I had a project for five years and my goal is to leave it in state 1 or state 2. So far so good, but as I told the players, we just have to keep working because hard work pays off. I don’t want to see long faces at the end of the season saying we should’ve done this or we should’ve done that.”
City is still basking in the glory of its thrilling final day last season when it came from the clouds to win the state league 4 title.
Trailing ladder-leader Brimbank Stallions by three points entering the final round, an incredible turn of events saw City make an unlikely swoop on the holy grail.
The Stallions went down 3-2 to lowly Truganina Hornets and City knocked off Keilor Wolves 2-0 on the road, which saw the teams flip-flop in the standings and spark huge celebrations at City.
With promotion comes a fresh challenge and one the team has already started to prepare for with pre-season training already in full swing.
“We’re all buzzing,” Malik said.
“You know how it is when you start a new chapter. Everyone is excited, but it’s up to the coaching staff to prepare them for what is coming. It’s always a bit harder from what you’ve achieved. We went up to state league 4 and worked harder, now we’re working harder again.”
Malik will keep the faith in the players who got City to state league 3.
But he will still bolster the squad to avoid a similar situation to last season, when injuries piled up and he was forced to ransack the reserves.
Irrespective of the make up of the squad, Malik will stick to his principle that the most committed players will get the nod in round one.
“In the years I’ve been at the club, I’ve had to change the mentality of how the club was run,” he said.
“It’s not a tourist club any more when people come whenever they want.
“People who can train only once a week can look for another team. That’s how it is for everyone.”
