SOCCER
MARCUS Spivey is a priority signing for Skye United as it plans to bounce straight back from relegation from State 1 this year.
Recently re-appointed Skye head coach Phil McGuinness has labelled the big striker a must-sign player as he plans a promotion campaign.
“Yeah the big one for us is Spivey alright,” McGuinness said.
Spivey switched from Mentone to Skye early this year keen to test himself at State 1 level.
His nine-goal haul placed him just outside the league’s top 10 marksmen.
He had a big night at Skye’s presentation winning players’ player of the year, best and fairest and Golden Boot awards.
If Spivey stays he’ll be a major piece of the jigsaw McGuinness is piecing together.
He has been coaching the Ireland team in the All Nation’s Cup and has spoken to a number of players at that tournament that caught his eye.
“There’s nothing arranged just yet but it was a great opportunity to watch these guys in action close up.
“A few of them said that they’d come down once we start pre-season so let’s see what happens there.”
McGuinness was given an improved budget under the Mick Stevens-led administration with which to tackle State 1 and he’s hopeful that new president Travis Mitchell will maintain that budget despite the side’s return to State 2.
“The biggest thing for me was to see what direction the new committee wanted to go,” he said.
“They’ve assured me that their aim is to try and get back into State 1 and they are going to try and give me the same budget to work with.
“If they can’t I think it still will be pretty close to what we had this year.”
Skye’s one-year dalliance with State 1 reinforced McGuinness’s view of the gap in playing standards between the top two State Leagues.
“I’ve always said that the gap between State 1 and State 2 was the biggest jump throughout the leagues.
“If you look at State 1 over the past few years if you don’t have money you’re not going to finish in the top half of the table.
“When you get to State 1 and you can’t attract really good young players as well as experienced players who have played at a higher level then you’re going to struggle.”
There’s been ample time for McGuinness to reflect on a season that finished with his side on the bottom of the table and he hasn’t shied clear of rigorous self-analysis.
“To be honest I think I let the team down and I let myself down by not bringing in more experienced players last season.
“We had experienced players that we spoke to and I don’t know what might have happened had we tried a bit harder to sign them.
“Look it’s hard given where we are situated.
“You have to compete (for players) with clubs around you like Strikers and Casey Comets and further afield you’ve got Berwick and Doveton.
“You can see what Doveton did with a couple of experienced players and some good younger players in fact I thought they did a great job.”
There’s no word yet on which players are staying at Skye but goalkeeper Steve Hadjikakou is training with Langwarrin.
McGuinness already has planned his pre-Christmas training and match schedule and he also aims to add up to eight new faces to his senior squad.
“I need two or three experienced players and the rest have to be good younger players.”
When pre-season kicks off next Tuesday at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve there will be a new theme among the players.
“When we got promoted we never really talked about it much but this year we’re going to make it clear that that’s what we are aiming for.
“Obviously everyone knows about Heatherton who had a pretty big year and I think they’ll be looking to go straight up and Collingwood came down with us so we know what they are like.”
McGuinness is on the lookout for an assistant as Stephen Duffy had to step down due to the amount of travel involved to commit to both Skye and his daughter’s side Knox City.
“We understand Stephen’s position and wish him well.
“I’ve reached out to someone as a replacement and he’s making his mind up over the next few days.”
McGuinness aims to have the majority of his squad locked in by Christmas.
He has pencilled in four pre-season games already against Lalor United at HR Uren Reserve on Saturday 28 November, against Hampton Park United at KM Reedy Reserve on Saturday 5 December, against Rosebud at Olympic Park on Saturday 12 December and against Hampton East Brighton at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve on Thursday 17 December.
Skye’s pre-season starts on Tuesday 17 November at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve.
In State 7 news Mount Martha last week announced that Adam Steele had been appointed head coach of the men’s senior program.
The 36-year-old is in his third spell at Civic Reserve.
London-born Steele arrived in Melbourne in 2012 and his first club here was Manningham United where he made the switch to defence after playing most of his career up front.
He joined Somerville in early 2021 after stints with Eltham Redbacks, Ashburton United and Mount Martha where he was the club’s inaugural senior team captain.
Ongoing concussion problems forced him to retire in 2022 but he returned to the playing field in Mount Martha colours two years later and last year played a couple of games for Frankston Pines before returning to the Mariners.
He’s not likely to play again though as he has ongoing memory loss problems.
“The situation is managed now and I have regular scans so my intention is to focus on coaching.
“I have to sit down with our club president (Ian Cerfontyne) and talk about what we want to achieve.
“A massive aim is to sort out the club culture and build not just a senior squad but a reserves squad.
“I’ll work with what I’ve got at this stage but we’ll have to bring in more players to get around 34, 36 players on the books.
“I’m a stickler when it comes to fitness and I have high expectations so we’ll brush off the cobwebs and get back into it when we start pre-season on Saturday.”
Finally there have been quite a few changes to Langwarrin’s senior squad as it prepares for the 2027 VPL1 season.
Next week we’ll look at these changes when we talk to head coach Jamie Skelly.
