It was an eventful first season at the helm of Inglewood United for Taki Nicolaidis.   The National Premier Leagues Coach of the Year experienced a real roller coaster ride sprinkled with hope, encouragement, despair, entertainment, elation, disappointment, optimism and devastation.

In the first part of a question and answer session Nicolaidis reflects on the season that was, discussing the challenges that were overcome and highlighting the positives from a campaign from which Inglewood claimed their best league placing in two decades.

How do you assess the season that was?

From my perspective, 2016 was a huge success.   Whilst we are all bitterly disappointed not to come away with any silverware, it certainly was a huge improvement on previous seasons for the club.   And we have set ourselves a good platform on which to build in the future.

What do you feel were the big positives to come from 2016?

The improvement and exposure that the first team have had this year has created a great buzz around the club.   Everyone feels part of the project and the bigger picture, there’s a real sense of belonging.   It certainly has helped bring back some of our old supporters and much needed volunteers.

The team ethic is central to your philosophy…

I’ve always been strong advocate that the team/club is bigger than any individual and that success is only achievable when everyone is pulling in the same direction.   I feel that this year we got a taste of what is possible.

There were plenty of challenges put before you, the coaching team and the player group…

We faced plenty of challenges throughout the season and probably the biggest as a coach was trying to pick the team up after a few disappointing losses, namely the FFA Cup semi-final against Floreat Athena, Round 20 to Subiaco AFC and then losing the league title on the final day to Perth SC.

Full credit must be given to the playing group though.   They displayed great character to bounce back after those disappointments to be able to reset their targets and not let themselves fall into a hole which could have seen us go two or three games without a win.

How have the experiences of this season helped the players grow and develop as a group?

We learnt a lot this season.   From a playing point of view there were quite a few players that haven’t recently finished that high up in the league or played in the finals.   Now with that experience and confidence I’m hoping that we can go on and build on the platform we’ve laid this year to win a trophy next season.

Why is this only the beginning for Inglewood?

Getting so close yet so far has left a burning desire in everyone’s stomach (both on and off the pitch) to want come back in 2017 and go one better.   We all feel that we have unfinished business and are now looking to improve in all areas on the pitch, which not only covers the senior teams but also our juniors.

The other encouraging thing is that we are also improving off the pitch.   It is extremely pleasing to see so many new faces coming into the club not just as supporters but also as volunteers, who provide the hands-on help which every club desperately needs.