Helder Dos Santos Silva needed only one of the six languages he speaks to tell his future charges what they can expect for at least the next couple of seasons.

"Each coach's philosophy is different," the 42-year-old told Olympic's players when introduced to them online at Windsor Park.

"I'm not a Klopp or a Mourinho or a saviour, I just want to help everyone reach their full potential.

READ MORE: TCL: George Town Cricket Club's men's sides go into recess

"If you have motivation and hard work and be honest with yourself and me, we can accomplish something together."

Formed in 1968, Olympic hope Silva represents a new era for the Windsor Park club which has won just four times in the last three NPL Tasmania seasons and finished with the wooden spoon two years running.

Life member and vice-president Jamie Colgrave called it a "watershed moment" while committee member Troy Scott stressed the importance of making an external appointment.

"This is the biggest risk the club has ever taken in appointing a coach but everyone is behind the decision," Scott said.

"We've gone totally out of our comfort zone with this appointment but the sky is the limit.

"Helder is a very high calibre coach with no pre-conceived ideas about the club. He understands where we've been on ladders but also that we won the under-18s this year. He ticks all the boxes.

"We hope he's the Ken Morton coach who can take us to sustained on-field success over a period of time. We hope it will take the club to a semi-pro level."

Hailing from the outskirts of Portugal's second-biggest city Porto, Silva reached the nation's third division before moving to England and making his way to English Football League 2 side Aldershot Town before injury ended his career in 2008.

Also coaching and managing several Sussex clubs, he attained UEFA A and A Youth licences becoming under-18 development coach, under-23 assistant coach and academy scout at Premier League side Crystal Palace.

Silva has held the role of head coach of Meizhou in the Chinese Football Association since May 2018 and for the last two years has been youth director and head coach of the Jiaying Xinjiang Football Academy, operating as head coach of the Chinese Super League under-23s.

While finalising visa requirements to move to Australia, Silva has been doing his homework on his new home.

He said Olympic's first-place finish in this season's Northern Championship under-18 competition said as much as their last-place in the statewide league.

"I've been following Riverside since the interest came along," he said.

"Obviously last year was not a very good season but I'm going to be looking at the young side because they are the future of Riverside and if we want to build a team, that's where we need to look at.

"It's important to support the club in terms of development and I'm going to look at the under-18s."

Speaking to a roomful of players from each of Olympic's various teams, Silva was asked about the club's recruitment plans.

"If you recruit players they need to be right for the team and have the right mentality otherwise they will not fit," he said.

READ MORE: Caleb Jewell and Tom Rogers fire in Tasmanian Tigers' one-day win

"If a player thinks he's too big for the club he should not be there. He should be humble.

"I look forward to coaching Riverside, meeting everyone and bringing Riverside where they should be.

"Obviously, there's a lot of things to work on but it seems a lovely place. Riverside is a very united club, I can see that."

In a post on Facebook, Olympic said Silva "impressed the panel with his football knowledge including professionalism, discipline and a willingness to share a comprehensive gameplan and style for ROFC".

The board said further appointments would be made in the build-up towards season 2023.

In the four seasons since Olympic joined the statewide competition, they recorded four wins in 2019, two in 2020 and one each in 2021 and 2022. Coach Alex Gaetani was replaced by Robert Murray midway through the last season.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: