FREMANTLE “WILL SURPRISE” IN 2012

Fremantle Spirit’s days of languishing towards the bottom of Division One are over according to Ljupco Taneski. Appointed head coach of the port side just under a month ago, Taneski has been busily assembling a squad with the quality and depth to be competitive in 2012. “We will definitely surprise a lot of teams this season, we will not be in the bottom two come seasons’ end,” promised Taneski, whose coaching background includes spells at Balcatta and Dianella White Eagles. “I’m hungry for success, as are the president, committee and players, and I feel we will wake this sleeping giant once again.”

The challenges Taneski has already faced would have made some walk away from the job. “The club really is starting from scratch in terms of the senior set-up,” he explained. “An invitation was extended to all players from last season but only three came back, and two of those have already moved on to other clubs. In a way this worked in my favour as I’ve been given a clean slate, I can choose what players I want to bring to Fremantle and shape the squad the way I want. I’m looking to add a few more experienced players to strengthen the team overall.”

Taneski has been pleased with how Fremantle are progressing towards the season proper. “Considering we have only trained four times as a squad of 14, I am more than happy with how things are shaping up,” he said. “We are young, naturally fit and underestimated by everyone. We have a nice group of players that are hard-working and like to listen to the coaching staff. The signing of players like goalkeeper Kenny Ftynogiannis, Chris Beech, Dimce Taneski, Zoran Vrteski and Diego Garcia will provide the backbone for our young squad.”

Fremantle kicked off the year last weekend with a 4-0 loss to Stirling Lions, a result Taneski was “extremely happy” with. “A lot of people came to the game expecting Stirling to walk all over us but we proved them wrong by playing some decent football,” said the coach. “I was proud of the team and I feel we probably deserved a goal, we did break Stirling down at times. Overall it was a good spirited performance, we defended fairly well against a side that will be in the Premier League’s top five this season.”


FREMANTLE “FULL OF POTENTIAL”

New Fremantle Spirit president Elhossain ‘Nassa’ Atekhis says putting his hand up for the job was the right thing to do, both from a personal point of view as well as for the club. Atekhis kept goal for Fremantle last season and after witnessing their slow decline from close quarters felt it his duty to help the port side out. “Knowing the club was struggling, I had to get involved,” he said. “Under the right management and with a lot of hard work Fremantle is a club full of potential. I always enjoy a challenge and that’s one of the reasons I put my hand up to be president.”
Atekhis may have been Fremantle’s president only a couple of months but it has been long enough for him to stabilise a club that was on the brink of State League extinction. “The main priority at the moment is to keep Fremantle afloat and moving forward,” Atekhis explained. “We need to take things slowly and steadily so we can develop a good squad which will provide our opponents with a good challenge. There are plenty of juniors within the club that we want to be teaching and developing as, ultimately, they are the future of the Fremantle club.”




New Fremantle Spirit president Elhossain ‘Nassa’ Atekhis says putting his hand up for the job was the right thing to do, both from a personal point of view as well as for the club. Atekhis kept goal for Fremantle last season and after witnessing their slow decline from close quarters felt it his duty to help the port side out. “Knowing the club was struggling, I had to get involved,” he said. “Under the right management and with a lot of hard work Fremantle is a club full of potential. I always enjoy a challenge and that’s one of the reasons I put my hand up to be president.”

Atekhis may have been Fremantle’s president only a couple of months but it has been long enough for him to stabilise a club that was on the brink of State League extinction. “The main priority at the moment is to keep Fremantle afloat and moving forward,” Atekhis explained. “We need to take things slowly and steadily so we can develop a good squad which will provide our opponents with a good challenge. There are plenty of juniors within the club that we want to be teaching and developing as, ultimately, they are the future of the Fremantle club.”

Aged just 24, Atekhis is the youngest of the State League presidents but what he lacks in experience he more than makes up for in ambition. “Taking on something like this is obviously a challenge at any age, however, Fremantle is a club I am passionate about and want to see it live up to its potential,” he said. “I am happy that I have been given this opportunity, there will be hurdles along the way but I am prepared for them. I am going to put a lot of hard work into this and I know it will pay off.”

The appointment of Ljupco ‘Bobby’ Taneski as coach of Fremantle this week is a big step in the right direction for the club. “Bobby is just what Fremantle needs at this stage,” commented Atekhis. “Bobby is going to bring a lot to the club, both on and off the field. He is going to be effective in teaching, motivating and recruiting our squad, and will play a big part in leading the club forward. Bobby is with us for the long haul, he sees the potential the club has and is passionate about rebuilding Fremantle.”
Taneski has wasted little moulding what will be a new-look Fremantle squad into a cohesive unit. “We have a mix of players from last year and new talent, and we’re also looking to move up some of our juniors,” said Atekhis. “Under new coaching obviously there is going to be a few changes and new methods. We are happy to have players like Sean Treacey, Chris Wollaston, Josh Auguste and Kenny Ftynogiannis join the club. We’re hopeful about our season, with the right mentoring and coaching we can place comfortably.”

One of Fremantle’s major downfalls last year was a lack of depth across the entire club, from first team through to under-18s. “We are hopeful the strategies we are putting into place will mean depth is not a major issue this year,” said Atekhis. “Obviously it’s hard to take over a struggling club and we are going to depend on the support of our community, players and coaches. We all need to work together to turn things around. The players we have moving up within the club gives me confidence we will have a strong under-18 squad.”

Atekhis has every confidence 2012 will bring a change in the fortunes of Fremantle. “We have a good group of staff and a good selection of players, the new committee have some fresh strategies to overcome some of the clubs previous issues, and there is plenty of support from our community,” said the club president. “It’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to happen overnight but I have every confidence in the people working within the club. We all want to see this club succeed and show the Fremantle spirit.”