Springvale White Eagles have become the latest NPL2 club to part company with their manager following the resignation of Boyan Mitkov, with Nik Kovacevic being confirmed as his replacement.
Mitkov began his tenure at the club in late November of last year but was unable to turn around their fortunes as the White Eagles sit winless in their opening seven matches of the year.
Joining Mitkov out the exit door is assistant coach and 20s Manager Gus Caminos, who joined the club alongside the first-team manager having coached the Caulfield United Cobras last year.
Club vice president Milos Sekulovski was sad to see Mitkov go and took time to thank him and Caminos for the services they provided the club over the course of the last five months.
“Boyan and Gus took on the role at a difficult time for the club. They re-structured the senior squad and made some great signings over the off-season,” Sekulovski said.
“However, we are in a results-driven business, and despite the side being extremely competitive and unlucky on a number of occasions this season, the pair – along with the committee – both felt the time was right to move on given the circumstances.
“I would like to thank them on behalf of the club for their work here over the last five months and wish them all the best with their future endeavors.
The Keysborough-based club moved swiftly to appoint a successor to Mitkov by hiring former Fitzroy City and current Pascoe Vale 20s manager Nik Kovacevic.
The former Salzburg youth played for Fitzroy and spent five years at Springvale White Eagles, also captaining the club.
New assistant Dragan Dragisic played in the first division in ex-Yugoslavia, along with the White Eagles.
He coached youth at Casey Kings and Springvale as U12 and now U13 NPL level.
Kovacevic’s first game in charge of the club will be this Sunday’s NPL2 East bottom-of-the-table battle against the last-placed Nunawading City at Mahoneys Reserve.
The club has confirmed that former Dandenong Thunder NPL youth coach Julian Costin has been appointed as the clubs new 20s manager, succeeding Caminos in that role.
Costin played for Doveton in VPL in the 1990s, before moving into coaching, where he was a fitness conditioning coach during Dandenong Thunder’s 2012 VPL Championship season.
He also coached the VCL between 2010 and 2013, while also coaching Doveton to the 2011 U12 state championships and also won a State 2 Championship with the club.
Recently he was back at Thunder, where he coached the Under-14s runners up in 2014 and Under-15s runner up in 2015.
The White Eagles sit ninth in the conference standings after recording three draws and four defeats in their opening seven fixtures of the campaign, with the former VPL club once again struggling to adapt to the rigours of NPL football from a results perspective.
Image: Anita Milas