Riverside Olympic has acted on their winless start to the season with a coaching change after four rounds of action in the NPL Tasmania.
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While most people's minds were switched onto the Easter break, the club threw a spanner in the works late on Thursday ahead of their Lakoseljac Cup clash.
In a statement to their social media pages, Riverside confirmed they had parted ways with head coach Alex Gaetani.
"The board of Riverside Olympic Football Club met recently and have made the difficult decision to part ways with NPL head coach Alex Gaetani," they wrote.
"Alex was appointed as the inaugural head coach when the club entered the NPL statewide competition in 2019. Alex has made a significant contribution over the past three plus years.
"The board recognises and acknowledges that Alex has been an important role model and coach for many ROFC players over this time, including his contribution to the implementation of the successful junior program that will see many ROFC players striving to the next level over the coming years."
Riverside find themselves at the bottom of the NPL Tasmania table after the opening four games after four defeats which saw them concede 18 goals while scoring none so far.
Riverside managed a solitary win in their final game of last season. The club re-appointed Gaetani with the aim of "alleviating the pressure" around their manager, ensuring his sole focus was the NPL squad during this season.
Despite the tough start to the season, the club thanked Gaetani for his time in charge.
"The board thanks Alex for his dedication and commitment during his time with ROFC and wish him well for the future," they said.
Lakoseljac Cup
On the pitch, the Lakoseljac Cup returns with clubs across the state in action over the weekend.
Northern Rangers and Riverside are at home against Somerset and Hobart City on Saturday while Launceston United travel to Lightwood at Kingborough on Sunday.
Launceston City and Hobart United have the keynote fixture with their match serving as the curtain-raiser to the A-League clash between Western United and Perth Glory.
City coach Lino Sciulli believes his side will welcome the chance to play on the wide expanses of UTAS Stadium.
"We're playing at one of the best venues in Australia, some people say ... so it's a big time for us and obviously everyone will try and impress and hopefully they do that while playing the system we want to play," he said.
The match represents an opportunity for City to bounce back to good form after they lost last time out to Devonport at Valley Road in the NPL.
"We had a bad half at Devonport, in the second-half we were okay and competitive in a lot of areas but it is important we bounce back," Sciulli said.
"Hobart United are a very strong, physical outfit and they attack very well.
"The ground is going to be a lot bigger, it's going to be a lot bigger not just for us but hopefully them too, so hopefully we can work the ground and use the wider expanses."
Rangers and Riverside will also meet at the NTCA Ground in the under-20s cup. Riverside have decided to withdraw from the women's statewide cup due to COVID concerns and a backlog of postponed fixtures.
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