New Sydney FC coach Ian Crook has taken charge of his first training session with the players after taking on the top role full time
New Sydney FC coach Ian Crook has taken charge of his first training session with the players after taking on the top role full time.
After a hectic couple of days the former Premier League star says he-s delighted to be getting out on the pitch.
“It-s been a bit of a whirlwind the last 48 hours and the feet probably haven-t touched the ground, but this is what it-s all about and I-m really glad to be getting started,” said Crook, who admits he-s been pleasantly surprised by the response he-s had.
“Maybe I was a little bit sceptical at first about what the feeling would be out there but it has been great and for that I-m delighted.
“Criticism has to wash off our backs because that-s what game we-re in but it-s also nice to get some sort of praise as well.”
The 49-year old will be making some early decisions on the make-up of his playing squad.
“We probably have 3 things to discuss – players that we have here and what we-ll do for them, players that are out of contract and what we-re going to do for them and the players that we-re going to be bringing in. We-ll certainly look at those three things over the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Captain Terry McFlynn says it-s great to be underway with the new Head Coach.
“The gaffer is a good friend of mine, and you can see from his philosophy on football that he knows how to play the game properly,” said the midfielder.
“He-s the all-round coaching package and I-m really excited to get work with him.”
Young striker Joel Chianese came through the youth set up with Crooky and is very pleased to get started under the new boss.
“He-s a really respected man around the club and he-s been around the game for a while. It-s a great appointment and now we can just get on with the job.”
Follow Ian Crook on Twitter – @chippycrook63
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