Olympia Warriors have sensationally axed coach Ian Shaw on the eve of their away clash with Northern Rangers.
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Former English Premier League youth academy club coach Kenny Weston steps into the breach on Saturday.
The extraordinary call to part ways with Shaw comes on the back of reaching the top of the NPL after seven games in charge and to the Lakoseljac Cup semi-finals.
Olympia FC president George Mamacas made the decision on Thursday night after Weston had became available from his coaching role at the national development centre for Football Federation Tasmania.
“There was a few issues over the last six months that we simply couldn’t resolve and the board came to a decision to terminate Ian’s contract,” Mamacas said.
Mamacas said the sacking came about over Shaw’s “lack of preparation in preseason”, but didn’t act until Weston could commit to the club.
Weston previously worked with Burnley under-15s and a similar stint at FC New York.
He also coached at English lower division sides Accrington Stanley and Bury FC after playing five seasons for English championship club Ipswich Town FC.
“I haven’t been focusing much on the NPL,” he said.
“I’ve watched some games and obviously seen Northern Rangers, but the reality is how I work with players is about what we can do.”
Launceston City coach Ben Brookfield is hoping his side’s breakthrough Lakoseljac quarter-final win can lift their NPL campaign against Clarence United on Saturday.
City turned around a 7-1 loss at South Hobart six days later into a 2-1 Cup win at home against the same side.
“Hopefully we can start taking that approach to every game now,” Brookfield said before adding, “if we could bottle that up for every game, we could win the league.”
Brookfield said the players met before the Cup clash wanting to make a stand after a winless NPL start.
“What I got out of the boys is what they really wanted is an identity for their team that they would outwork any opponent and it hadn’t been shown so far,” he said.
“But that’s exactly what we did against South Hobart and we got rewards for it.
“Hopefully we can take that to Clarence on the weekend and get our first win of the league, and go from there.”
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
