By ADEM SARICAOGLU
ALTONA Magic will be going back to its roots within Hobsons Bay as it tries to reclaim past glory as a top Victorian Premier League club.
The current State League One club will be led by Magic stalwart Pece Stojevski this season and will be hoping for another strong showing after a solid third place finish in 2012.
However the plan to return to the top isn’t a short-term one and Stojevski is prepared to take the ride with his young squad in coming years.
“We do want to come back to our glory but a lot of our boys are young now and a lot of them live in this area, in Hobsons Bay,” he said.
“That’s why we started looking at developing more of a younger squad.
“It’s just a matter of building, but you can’t build a team in just one year, and I’m pretty much starting from zero … from scratch.
“So my job is probably the toughest I’ve had for many years.”
It could be a change in philosophy that was somewhat forced, after a number of regular senior starters moved on over the summer.
“It has been a long pre-season but I’m happy with how we are going,” Stojevski said.
“I’ve been very happy with how the players have been working hard and we’ve had some good results against a few premier league clubs.”
Among those practise match hit outs were a draw with newly-promoted Pascoe Vale and an honourable 2-1 loss to South Melbourne in a game where “the standard was very high”, according to Stojevski.
Stojevski has plenty of reasons to feel optimistic, but that list of departures is a significant one.
Among those moving on are Stefaan Sardelic (Pascoe Vale), Eddie Cetkin (Sunshine George Cross), Juso Julardzija (St Albans) and Rinor Muriqi (Box Hill).
However Stojevski remains excited about the crop he’s managed to lure into Paisley Park.
David Straniero, Oleksiy Khrapko and Philip Ajao have all come on board, while goalkeeper Max Tommy will be journeying across the ditch from New Zealand to stand in goal for the Magic.
With a round one home clash coming up this Sunday against the North Geelong Warriors, Stojevski is satisfied with where his side is at.
“They’ve done a tremendous job,” he said.
“The players are ready and have adopted my system and the way I want them to play, and I want them to play some beautiful, attractive soccer.”
