Launceston City have been transformed this season.
They look like real NPL Tasmania title contenders and is the culmination of two or three years of work.
I spoke to Launceston City coach, Daniel Syson, to ask him how the club is progressing.
Walter Pless: How old are you Daniel, and what is your playing and coaching background?
Daniel Syson: I am 35 years old and my playing background started in England in the North West. I played throughout my entire childhood. I played at Morecambe FC and Lancaster City FC, and I grew up a street away from Morecambe’s ground, Christie Park, and when I got accepted into Morecambe Academy, Jim Harvey was the first-team manager at the time and had a lot of time for local lads and gave them opportunities, which is what I really liked about him.
Here in Australia, I played most my time with Devonport Strikers (8 seasons) and had some amazing memories with great teammates who I probably don’t tell enough how thankful I am to for the times we shared together as a group. I also played a year at my current club in 2018 which was under Peter Savill and Jez Kenth.
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My coaching background is mostly from being in Australia, but I obtained my FA level 1 and 2 whilst at Morecambe. I started coaching juniors at Devonport Strikers and Devonport juniors and coached players like Taylor Last and Charles Bidwell. I did this for around 4 years in total, and I then started doing my coaching badges when I turned 30 as it was something I have always been keen to do. I am currently undertaking my A Diploma Licence in Sydney. I’m in my third season as a senior head coach.
WP WP: What persuaded you to coach Launceston City?
DS: The challenge of coaching at the highest level in Tasmania in a head-coach capacity and implementing a program that I believed would take the club in a more professional direction and with a positionally based playing style, I also felt it was important for me to go away to a different club where players would not see me as a player or as a mate, as I always felt I had a real eye for the tactical side of the game and details within that and wanted to feel like I was going somewhere to implement something that wasn’t already being done. I also knew a lot about the history of the club and its successes and have good relationship with Peter Savill, who coached me and played for the club and is a life member the.
WPWP: You must be delighted with the team’s performance this season?
DS: We are pleased with our start to the season. Conceding 6 and scoring 32 goals in 9 games (league and cup) is statistically a great start to any season. We still have work to do in terms of improving details within our system, but we are growing in performance every week.
do yWP: What do you attribute this to?
DS: A great question. I attribute this to experience of the group. When I took over, we were extremely young and green and most of our starting XI in year 1 had never experienced NPL football before. Those players now have 3 years of our football experience and have grown into young men. We have worked extremely hard in both year 1 and 2 to implement a completely different game model and non-negotiable behaviours within the club and the players deserve enormous credit for going through tough times and using the experiences to get better and to keep learning and progressing.
This season we are seeing some of the hard work starting to pay off, along with the new signings and a slight tweak in our tactical system. Sometimes a lot of work goes into unseen things like improving mentality and consistent behaviours and especially in football people expect success overnight. The cohesiveness of the group and the application to our work is something that has allowed us consistency in performances thus far but there’s still a lot of areas we can improve on and it is very early in the season. I would also add that this is a squad I can call my own with Clarkie being the only player left from when I took over here and the overall quality of this current squad is as good as I have seen at City, which took months of hard work to get right with picking specific profiles for positions in our system.
WP: WP: What do you find the most difficult part of coaching?
DS: For me, personally, it’s probably the balance of travelling around 800kms a week and running a business and keeping a happy household whilst football’s on in the house every day.
My role is part-time, but I dare say it’s a full-time role within a part-time job description, when you think about the requirements of analysing games, preparing sessions, providing opposition analysis, planning team meetings, phone calls, emails talking to overseas players and agents and doing background checks on players. I’ve, at times, spent 3 to 6months speaking to imports only for them to choose a different direction. It’s all part of the role these days.
The coaching part itself for me is a privilege.
WPWP: What is the most satisfying part of the job?
DS: Feeling that you’ve impacted players’ lives, whether that’s on the pitch with teaching and coaching, or just being a role model for them and being that someone they know will keep them accountable. For me, winning games is hugely satisfying as I’m a hugely competitive person and doing that with a specific identity that you’ve built over time with a similar group is even more satisfying,
WPWP: Can you win the title?
DS: We must remain consistent and learn from our previous experiences together as a group. We don’t talk about winning the title. We talk more about our performance and our process. Whether we play a team who are 8th or 1st it must remain the same. If we keep improving and pushing each other internally and stick to our identity, let’s see what happens.
WP WP: Who are your major rivals?
DS: I am a statistics man, so at the current moment its South Hobart and Knights who sit 1st and 3rd. Devonport are always going to be there, too, as they have players who have multiple title-winning experiences and you can’t buy that sort of experience in my humble opinion. The points at the top now are almost irrelevant. Six points is nothing in football. That’s why, for me, process and performance are more important.
WPWP: How would you sum up Tasmanian football?
DS: Tasmanian football gets an interesting view from certain people. I have seen and been part of sides who compete with the likes of Maitland and in 2016 took Bentleigh Greens to extra-time. The top 2 or 3 sides would more than be okay in any state league. The difference for Tasmanian football is a couple of factors for me. The age of the overall league is a young one due to there not being the same money involved as in the other states. The sponsors some of the clubs interstate have is astronomical. Speaking to other coaches on my A Licence course, there’s a major gap in the finance of some state leagues compared to ours. One thing I will add is the league is now attracting more qualified coaches and it’s fantastic to see some different systems within the league. I think people just need to get behind the league and enjoy the beautiful game.
WP: Do you favour promotion and relegation?
DS: I think being from England it’s a staple in any level of football and its definitely something I personally enjoy, but again, it comes down to finances again. It’s one thing saying we should have relegation and promotion, but are the teams below from the NC and SC able to afford the logistics of a licence fee and then travel and then housing imports, paying a coach, facility requirements and everything else that comes with running a NPL program. If so, then that would be amazing to see but otherwise I’m more than happy to see two more teams enter, different teams to play and more engagement with other coaches and club cultures.
3 comments:
Doing great things at City
A coach going places.
More than a coach — a true mentor and motivator!
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