Driven … Green Gully’s Ian Dobson, pictured with last year’s VPL premiership cup, still harbours ambitions to coach in the A-League. 58787
By Luke D’Anello
REIGNING Victorian Premier League (VPL) champion Green Gully is fortunate to have Ian Dobson in its corner.
The supercoach, with six VPL titles to his name including four with the Cavaliers, still harbours ambitions to coach in the A-League, but he will continue in his role as Green Gully’s technical director this season.
Dobson re-joined the club after round 10 last season, with Green Gully wallowing in 10th position on the ladder and facing the prospect of relegation.
But in September the Cavaliers claimed their eighth VPL title, which capped a remarkable revival piloted by Dobson.
This year Dobson, 53, will take on a “diminished” role, but his influence will remain.
He is a former Victorian state coach and held the top job at Melbourne Knights in the defunct National Soccer League.
“My role has diminished, but it is to observe and help coach the coaches. Part of that role will be to help the coach (Lubo Lapsansky) implement his own team structures,” Dobson said.
“I’ve stepped back further away from the coalface, if you like, into more of an advisory role.”
Dobson rates the 2010 premiership as one of his most satisfying achievements.
In 2006, the year he left the club because of personal circumstances, he saw Green Gully make the finals against the odds.
Then, two years later, when Dobson stepped aside as coach and ended his second five-year union with the club, the Cavaliers won the minor premiership but blew their opportunity in the finals.
“(2010) was totally unexpected. The brief was to avoid relegation because that’s the position the club was in when I went back. It seemed as though I completed the unfinished business from 2008. It was extremely satisfying,” Dobson said.
“But having won six Victorian Premier League titles, there’s really no challenge for me any more. I’m working with the best club in the VPL, but my ambition is to go A-League.
“Opportunities, though, are limited. I’m ready and I can go full time, but I need the opportunity I suppose.”
For now, though, he will concentrate on working with new Green Gully coach Lapsansky and last year’s premiership coach, now assistant, Paul Harris.
Most of the premiership-winning squad remains and Dobson thinks the Cavaliers will be better for last year’s experience.
“They’ve managed to maintain basically all the players. Providing that Lubo obviously works with the players correctly, and if selection process and what he does match day comes up to scratch, then there’s no reason why the team shouldn’t do well.
“They’ll be full of confidence and we ironed out a lot of problems last year.
“Where my role will come into it a little bit is if I see we’re going in the wrong direction, I’ll step in and discuss things with Lubo and work with him to bring things back on track a lot earlier than what happened last year.
“The players should be a lot wiser and a lot more aware of how to work with each other, having gone through what we went through last year.
“Lubo has all the credentials in regards to his knowledge of the game, has played at a extremely high standard, and it’s whether he can pass that knowledge onto the players.
“In a training session or coaching session, you’ve got to be able to stop the players at the right time and point them in the right direction. That sounds easy, but it’s not.”
With Dobson’s limitless knowledge at its disposal, Green Gully will start the VPL season as one of the title favourites.
