We take a look back at some of the articles in the Official Souvenir Programme from last Sunday’s, LFP World Challenge, match with Malaga CF. Today it is Kenny Lowe with his Coach’s Preview.
It’s been a very busy and interesting time for the club since the end of last season, in particular on the player recruitment front and I’m very happy with the new faces that we’ve managed to bring on board. We’ve got seven players in and the remit was that they had to be in a certain age demographic around the 27 mark and had to be experienced players who have played international football at some level.
If you look at the players we’ve signed, they all fit those criteria and while Richard Garcia and Dino Djulbic are outside that demographic, they are internationally-experienced Perth lads who will add significant quality to the group. Another big aim was to sign good characters, not just good footballers and we’ve also achieved that. There are still a couple of places available in the squad, including a foreign player spot which we will definitely be actively looking to fill.
In terms of our pre-season preparations, we’ve had to be careful because it’s a long pre-season and we have to make sure that everyone gets through it safely. We’ve had some complications with players coming in after lengthy seasons overseas and with little injury problems requiring maintenance work. So the lads are at varying stages of fitness and wellness and we’ve had to cater for that within the pre-season training environment. Having said that, every player went away with a schedule to work on before pre-season and they’ve come back in great shape with a real focus in terms of the season ahead, which is a great testament to their professionalism.
This afternoon we continue our preparations with a game against Malaga that really excites me as a coach. It’s superb that we’ve managed to get them over here and I’m sure it’ll be a fantastic game to watch. Managing to secure such a high-profile friendly has just added to the great vibe surrounding the club at the moment and I really think it’s a wonderful time to be at Perth Glory. People have been asking me what our targets are for the coming season and basically they are two-fold.
Firstly, we want to improve on last year and secondly we want to add value to the playing group.  By that I mean we want to develop a culture and style of play that adds value and bring players into the group that add value. I think we’ve already done the second of those and now we need to work on a style of play that the players are comfortable in executing. That will have the knock-on effect of improving us as a team, which in turn will enable us to improve our standing in the league.  The driver is to have a holistic approach to the season, cover every base and make sure we are where we want to be in terms of our internal goals.
As supporters, you have a vital role to play in helping us achieve those targets. You were unbelievably supportive last season and while there were obviously frustrations, we now have an opportunity to move forward. It’s not all going to be plain sailing and there will be teething problems, but I think everyone can see that we are trying to do the right things and I’m sure you’ll get right behind us as you always have done.
Thanks, as always, for your support.
Â
