Sunshine George Cross coach Tony Ciantar is adamant results only form part of a bigger picture, as he seeks to overhaul the historically intimidating image associated with the Western suburbs club in the wake of their first season in NPL1.
Speaking after Sunshine’s 1-0 defeat of Avondale Heights on Saturday, which extended their winning start to the season with another clean sheet, the head coach was pleasantly surprised with the defensive endeavor on display, admitting it was not something that his team had practiced heavily in pre-season.
“It was only the set pieces where [Avondale] were threatening, and to be fair to the boys we really haven’t done a lot [in training] as far as defending set pieces go,“ Ciantar said.
“It’s been more attacking, and that’s just through the lack of time together and the lack of grounds available, so there’s still a lot to work on.”
Despite the strong start to the campaign, the Georgies coach was more philosophical about the outlook for the season.
Rather than concentrating on results, Ciantar expressed the club’s aim to shake its tag as an intimidating place to visit.
“We’re still a young team with lots to learn. Where we end up is not really [our concern]. We’re not really focused on championships or anything like that,” he said.
“Our main focus is to build a great culture at this football club.
“For the last 30 years that I can remember, it’s been a very aggressive place to come to, and that’s what we want to get rid of.”
Ciantar, who is no stranger to controversy himself, having been suspended and fined for an outburst at a referee in 2013, said everyone at George Cross had made an effort to instill a positive attitude throughout the club.
“It’s starting to feel like a real football club now because everyone is working together, even the supporters are working together,” the coach said.
“We want to have a family atmosphere, we want the juniors to come here comfortably and not have all the swearing and the abuse at officials from our supporters.”
He was satisfied with the work done so far to rid the club of its negative connotations.
“It’s just trying to really build a good culture at this football club and I think we’re doing a great job.”