COACH HAS WRIGHT STUFF

14 February 2015

Shepparton News - Matthew Galea

SHEPPARTON UNITED APPOINTS NEW COACH AND LOOKS FORWARD TO EXCITING NEW ERA

If ever there was a coach to fill the sizeable boots of back-to-back premiership-winning coach Nick Kalafatis at Shepparton United, it would be Billy Wright.

The former New Zealand international was named as Kalafatis’ replacement as the Blues’ senior coach on Wednesday and will get to work in his new role on Tuesday when training starts.

The Blues have been searching for a new coach since Kalafatis confirmed he would be moving on to coach the Goulburn Valley Suns, taking a number of premiership players with him, but Wright said his United would be one with a different identity to that of the past.

‘‘I’m very excited to take on the role, especially with the direction the club has taken in relation to me using younger players,’’ Wright said.

‘‘Now it’s about bringing out the talent that we’ve already got instead of bringing in four imports.

‘‘You want a player that’s going to be here for five or six years and if he’s good enough, he’ll get picked up.’’

Wright highlighted Tristan Zito as one Shepparton United youngster he wanted to play an even more central role in his side next season.

He also said he would be targeting any young players who did not make the cut at the Suns or were struggling to get out of under-17 soccer at other local clubs.

However, he did not rule out using the two visa spots available to him.

‘‘We’re not sure about that yet. We’ll see what locals we have and we’ll go from there,’’ Wright said.

The club remains in talks with grand final hero Kelvin Trippier.

Trippier tweeted from England on Thursday morning that while the ‘‘deal was not dead’’, he doubted he would return to Shepparton.

Whatever he has to work with, Wright will have plenty to offer young players after a senior playing career that spanned 23 years, starting at Burnley — where he failed to make a first-team appearance — through to the old National Soccer League in Australia where he played for Morwell Falcons among others.

Wright has previous involvement with United, having been appointed under-17 coach last season as well as senior assistant to Kalafatis, before taking up an under-18 coaching role with the Suns.

Blues president Mark Georgiou was delighted with the appointment.

‘‘We’re delighted to have got a coach of Billy’s calibre,’’ Georgiou said.

‘‘The focus is going to be on the juniors. The dynamic of the local competition is changing and as clubs we’ve all done our silly season type thing, but we need to get it back to being the community soccer it’s meant to be.’’

PHOTO: NOW IT’S ABOUT BRINGING OUT THE TALENT THAT WE’VE ALREADY GOT INSTEAD OF BRINGING IN FOUR IMPORTS - BILLY WRIGHT