TONY D’Agostino will return to the head coach role of International Soccer Club’s A Grade team, as he takes back the reins from outgoing coach Gareth Vonduve for the 2019 Limestone Coast Football Association season.
After taking a step back at the end of 2017, D’Agostino planned on a longer break, but with Vonduve returning to Adelaide to further his coaching career, the call up was made.
D’Agostino said he was surprised to return so early, but is pleased to be back among the action.
“To use a line from The Godfather, just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,” he joked.
“I always wanted to come back one day, but I thought it was not going to be for a while.”
“It is something I still have a passion for, so it was not too hard to convince me to come back.”
And he will not be alone in his 2019 campaign, which sees the black and blue chase a third consecutive premiership, as he is joined by brother and recent Inter hall of fame inductee Joe
D’Agostino, who will take on the Senior assistant coach duties.
“It is the first time I have worked with Joe since 2006,” D’Agostino said.
“I was not sure if he would accept because he is really busy with work and other commitments, but he jumped at it.
“I have a really good coaching group this year.”
Simon Livingstone will again coach the Reserves and will be assisted by another Inter legend, Tony Bueti – his first time in such a role – who will also help out with the A Grade where he can.
“Tony is my cousin so there is a family connection there as well,” D’Agostino said.
“They (Joe D’Agostino and Bueti) are two long-serving captains of our A Grade team and have won about everything that can be won.
“We have got a lot of young kids coming through who have heard of these club legends and now it is a matter of these guys being able to pass on some of their knowledge.
“It takes the pressure off of me as well.”
Vonduve took some big steps in his year as coach and made several changes to develop Inter’s game into the future.
For D’Agostino he said it is nerve-racking stepping back into the role after the success Vonduve had, despite his own accolades as coach.
“He really raised the bar,” D’Agostino said.
“I now have to maintain that and even try to improve it.
“I do not want to take it backwards, what Gaz (Vonduve) did was phenomenal.
“In his first year he changed their style of play, he introduced younger kids, he introduced a different brand of soccer and he reaped the benefits by winning the flag.
“Of course coming back now I’m a little bit nervous.”
However, with a strong leadership group, including league and club best and fairest Matt Bueti and runner-up Christian Cella, he is confident the side will continue to progress.
“The lads are fantastic, it is a great bunch of boys,” D’Agostino said.
“It is pretty much the same squad I had, in fact better because Gaz did such a great job last year.”
With players’ enthusiasm a key driving force in their development, D’Agostino said it is this attitude which allows the club to succeed.
“The players are a big reason why we are successful,” he said.
“Coaching is only a small thing, I do not want to make it about what I am doing.
“We want to raise the bar and we want to maintain it, but the players themselves are the ones who are dictating that.
“They are saying ‘we want to improve’, ‘we want to take this next step’, they are the ones driving us to be better.”
Youth development is another aspect of the game D’Agostino wants to continue, after Vonduve put a heavy focus on the players of the future last year.
D’Agostino will also work closely with Livingstone and the Reserves and hopes to one day see the B Grade team become somewhat of a development side for youngsters coming through the ranks.
“I want Reserves to be a development group for the future, rather than a grade where players are just finishing their career,” he said.
“Yes we do need our mature players and we have players who are leaders, but I do want to bring in more youth.”
With little in the way of ins and outs, D’Agostino looks forward to continuing the success of the last two seasons.
Josh Grubb will take a break this year and will be a heavy loss out of the backline.
However, D’Agostino hopes to see Tom Weedon and Lachie Charlton return, while he said Sam Bueti is a prospect to return about a third of the way through the season after undergoing a knee reconstruction.
Regardless, Inter will no doubt be at the pointy end of the competition again this year and D’Agostino is excited for what the season has to offer.
