Confident … St Albans’ new recruits Liam Cannell, Tomislav Milardovic and Daniel Visevic. 57496 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Luke D’Anello
A TRIO of key signings has left St Albans confident that it can be a potential banana skin for any of its Victorian Premier League (VPL) rivals in the coming season.
After claiming the State League One title – and promotion – on the final day of the 2010 season, the Saints are planning to shake up the VPL.
With Kruni Razov again at the helm, off-season attention focused on the playing roster. Teams who succeed in the state’s pre-eminent competition often boast enviable depth, but matchwinners are also a valuable commodity.
The addition of former Adelaide United player Tomislav Milardovic, who returns to the club after spending the past two seasons with last year’s VPL runner-up Richmond, was the first piece of the puzzle.
Attacking midfielder Liam Cannell (from Melbourne Knights) and striker Daniel Visevic (Richmond) have also come back to St Albans.
Visevic claimed the VPL under 21 Player of the Year award as a 17-year-old and is a former Australian under 17 representative, while Cannell has established himself as a quality player in the competition.
St Albans football operations manager Mark Ivkovic said the club had already signed 18 players, including the recruits, and was hopeful the list would be finalised in coming weeks.
Two players, Adam Mehicic and Ivo Razov, have retired.
Ivkovic said the Saints moved into recruiting mode immediately after claiming promotion, aware of the enormous challenge they faced.
It will be the club’s first VPL campaign since it was relegated in 2005.
“All three are very valuable pick ups for us, especially just coming up into the (VPL). We needed a bit of experience,” Ivkovic said.
“It’s great to be able to get these boys back to the club. We really recruited wisely and got top-notch players that have a connection to the club as well.
“We get players who want to play for the shirt, and those three players are exactly that.
“There is a massive buzz at the club. People are just coming to watch training sessions, which started last week, and they can’t wait for the season to get underway.
“Kruni Razov and I wrote up a short-list of players that we wanted to bring to the club in 2011, and to achieve all of those objectives we set for ourselves is a great thrill.”
Teams making the step up often use the following year to learn and, in the end, simply aim to survive. But Ivkovic said the Saints will be looking to raise the bar.
“We are there to be competitive – not to just make up the numbers.
“Obviously survival is our number one objective but I think, with the recruits that we’ve got, finals isn’t out of the question.
“We’ve got a home ground advantage with our big supporter base, so hopefully we can make Churchill Reserve a bit of a fortress as well.
“We’ve assembled a strong squad so far for 2011, and we will only sign one or two more players in the coming weeks to finalise our playing roster.”
Meanwhile, the three boom recruits are pleased to be back at the Saints.
Milardovic said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be returning back to Churchill Reserve where I started my career. I had a couple of clubs approach me, but there was never any doubt in my mind where I was going to play out the rest of my career and I’m delighted I’ve signed on until 2013.”
Cannell said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Knights where I was really looked after by the whole club and supporters, but I felt that it was the right time to come back to the Saints and take on a new challenge.”
Visevic said: “It was a tough decision to leave Richmond, as I’ve spent over six years at the club, but, as former junior player of the Saints, I just had to come back home and start a new challenge with them. They approached me several weeks ago and I was really impressed with the direction that the club is heading in, so there wasn’t much doubt in my mind where I wanted to play next season.”
