By ADEM SARICAOGLU
GREEN Gully is satisfied with how the Jeffrey Fleming-Aaron Symons coaching arrangement worked out in 2013.
The Cavaliers won seven games under captain-coach Fleming and sideline assistant Symons after Dean Hennessy was removed as coach six games into the Victorian Premier League season.
Gully’s strong run under Fleming through the middle and latter stages of the season ensured the club yet another VPL finals berth, but the Cavaliers were bundled out in the first week after suffering a 1-0 defeat to South Melbourne.
Club football manager Raymond Mamo said the Fleming-Symons combination “worked out very well”.
“After the Dean Hennessy departure from the club we wanted to instil some stability immediately,” Mamo said.
“The only person that was going to be able to do that was somebody within the club that knows the players and knows the culture of our club, and that person was none other than Jeffrey Fleming.
“So he was the right person to instil in that point in time.”
Despite the disappointment that followed after the South Melbourne defeat, Fleming looks back on the 2013 season as a successful one.
“Since I took over I think it’s been a success,” Fleming said.
“Certainly winning the (State Knockout) Cup was the highlight, but we would’ve liked to have gone a little further in the finals.”
Fleming revealed he would be keen to again team up with Symons in the same coaching arrangement in 2014.
However the club will wait for the outcome of the ongoing National Premier League saga before deciding its next move on the coaching front.
“I think it worked really well,” Fleming said.
“We worked really closely and we put a lot of trust in each other, and probably more-so me putting the trust in Aaron to make decisions when I was playing.
“So I think we got the balance right and it ended up working well.”
