Wednesday 21 March 2012

Interview with Burnie coach Tony Cocker

Here is the first of many coach interviews for the year.
Thanks to Tony for this....
Why did you make the change from Ref to Coach?

Well, I've always had a passion to coach so even at the beginning of last year I was giving it a great deal of thought and decided to referee for one more year. It was a year of turmoil and uncertainty  as to what I wanted,so I made my mind up in june last year when I was injured that this  was my last year as a referee and coaching  was going to be an avenue I would take. After giving it great thought and talking with my partner whom I must say is full of support.  I applied for the position at Burnie and since then it has been a great response from the whole club,players and committee and I thank Burnie for giving me the chance.

After having a solid pre season have your gaols changed? If so or not what are they?

I will say that in my playing time the goals and expectations from the teams I played in was nothing but the best anything less was not good enough.To have  goals is very important I am one for believing if you have the ability to play the game and play it well you should always give 110%, With some of the talent we have at Burnie my expectation from them is very high.

The goals I set my self are the same just to get the playing group to gel as a team on and of the park. This is working well at the moment especially since the playing group is so young, the perception of old that Burnie would self distruct I believe has well and truly started to change as in all the games so far the playing group has fought to the very end of the ninety minuets.

Who are the up and coming players at Burnie this year to watch out for?

I would say up and coming we have Tyler Johnstone, Malcolm Walters, Connor Parke and Joshua Garland. All of these players have been training very well all pre season Tyler,Malcolm and Connor will play a huge part of the senior squad while young Joshua Garland is one of those players that is a work in progress he has a fantastic work rate again Joshua will be a part of the senior squad Joshua has really shown that he has great potential for a senior player at Burnie and the best thing about all of the players at the club they are a pleasure to be around and coach.

To have the likes of Andy Gibson Ashley Smith and Elliott Stewart in this group will be a big help for the younger guys as these three have been very good with younger players at training and on match day just the way they talk to these guys is encouraging to see as a coach and especially for the young ones.

Who have Burnie Gained and lost for this year?

As everybody is aware Burnie lost some players late last year players like Kamion Johnson Kyrone Johnson and Brodie Knight and also Peter Van Ech while it is always hard to replace quality players I believe with the clubs youth that is around we will have no problems. While we welcome back Kyrone Johnson we have picked up Stuart Batt and Brodie Best and that's all while Stuart has been with us since after the Christmas break and working very well and a player with a lot of potential a very good pick up, Brodie has just signed but from all I've heard another quality player I'm yet to see Brodie play but from what I've seen at training he looks promising.

I've focused on all the local youth we have at the club for our Summer cup games and everyone of them has shown they have the potential to play seniors this year.We have also welcomed back to the club Stevie Gibson and Ronnie Smith, Stevie and Ronnie have been training with us since we started back in November, Stevie will be a major part of our midfield and Ronnie will be part of the Senior playing Group and Ronnie's communication on and of the field is brilliant and the younger players can gain some good knowledge from a good player.

What sort of structure game style will you be trying to achieve?

The structure will depend on who we play so this could well be a 4 4 2 or 4 3 3 but what ever it will be It will be one that will be played through out the club. I am believer in possession football and very strong defensively so that is something we are continually working on. I am trying to achieve with this squad that they keep hold of the ball and not waste any opportunity just keep the ball if you loose it go get it straight back. But most of all I just want the paying group to enjoy their football and success will follow from there.

Where do you predict Burnie will finish and the other clubs as well?

I would like to say as any coach would win the league but realistically mid table is what I have set so anywhere above that is a bonus the confidence in the playing group is getting bigger each time they go out to play and after the effort they put in against Devonport they know themselves what they are capable of so the signs of being a very competitive playing group is huge. They now know them selves on what they have to do to achieve the goals and they can see the rewards in working hard at training and match day.

I think Devonport will be the bench mark of the season then it could well be Northern Rangers or Ulverstone then Riverside, Launceston City Somerset, Prospect and Launceston United

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