James Murphy
A FAMILIAR face will return to the helm of the International Soccer Club’s senior men’s team in 2023.
Tony D’Agostino has accepted the job for the approaching season, taking the reigns from Vlada Gajic who has become unavailable due to outside commitments.
D’Agostino brings with him a wealth of experience and an impressive resume.
Prior to stepping down in 2020, he had coached Inter’s seniors to 13 premierships from a combined total of 14 seasons.
Speaking to The Border Watch, D’Agostino said until the opportunity presented itself, a return to coaching was not something on his agenda.
“When I ended in 2020, I thought that was it,” he said.
“I had got to a stage where I had done what I wanted to do and it was time to move on and for the club to move on.
“I had come to terms with that.”
However, when Gajic became unavailable for 2023, the question was asked of him and the thought process began.
“Vlada coached last year and had been putting in place a really good five year program,” D’Agostino said.
“His son got picked to go and play in Adelaide and he will be taking him up every weekend, so he could not commit to coaching.
“I was surprised a little bit when the club came knocking on my door to ask if I’d be interested in coming back.
“It was probably the first time I started thinking about it again.”
After plenty of contemplation, the decision to return came down to two main points – family and the players.
“I had to make sure we were doing this for the right reasons,” D’Agostino said.
“If I came back for the sake of coming back and didn’t improve and progress on what they were doing, there was no point.
“I had a talk to my family and they were all supportive.
“My family is amazing, my two daughters and wife.
“The one thing that swung me to it, was the support (the players) gave me.
“Their enthusiasm to have me back and the excitement from them was probably the one thing I needed.
“Once I decided to make that call, I got really excited about it and couldn’t wait for it to start.”
D’Agostino is a close friend of Gajic’s and had frequently caught up with him throughout last season.
He said that relationship would continue and Gajic will pass on his knowledge to keep the club moving in the right direction.
“I am in that position where Vlada is a good friend of mine,” D’Agostino said.
“He is willing to pass on a lot of information which is amazing.
“He hasn’t retired, he is just stepping away for a while.
“I am going to use what I can from that and I hope I can put my own spin on it.”
D’Agostino will not be alone in his endeavour, with brother Joe and cousin Tony Bueti returning with him as assistant coaches.
Reserves head coach Simon Livingstone will also help out, with the four combining their efforts across the two top grades.
While it still remains early in the pre-season, there will be no shortage of drive from players and coaching staff in 2023, off the back of a penalty shoot-out loss to Gambier Centrals in last year’s senior grand final.
Redemption will be on the line and D’Agostino believed that result would help push the club towards success.
“We are playing an amateur sport, but I use the word professional only in the way of their conduct towards the team and the club,” D’Agostino said.
“We have a great bunch of kids and the guys who have been around for a long time now are still just in their late 20’s to 30, so they still have good years ahead of them.”
The squad started some light training prior to the Christmas break, with nothing to suggest Inter would not be at the pointy end of the competition again in 2023.
