Assistant coach Saul Contera has pledged not to rest until another trophy is added to Inglewood United’s cabinet. It’s been a long time between drinks for the club, whose most recent piece of silverware came in the pre-season Night Series tournament of 2005.

The past decade has been littered with missed opportunities, Inglewood regularly boasting a squad bristling with talent but, for one reason or another, further trophy success has remained beyond their reach. That’s not something that sits well with 30-year old Contera, who is determined to end the drought.

“Inglewood is a club that has never really hit the heights that it should have with only one trophy won in fifteen years,” Contera said. “The entire coaching staff – Michael Garcia, Michael Baczynski and myself – are really motivated to change that. I firmly believe we have laid many foundations this season which will have us hit the ground running next season.”

“We’ve got a very good environment, the players know what is expected behaviourally and they are buying into what we are trying to do now to build for next season, which is very important for the club. With a few quality signings in identified areas and continued unity, we will make great strides and be a very competitive side in 2016.”

At the heart of any successful club is a cohesive coaching team. Contera is adamant the strong working relationships that are developing between Garcia, Baczynski and himself will bring Inglewood success. “I hit it off with Michael from day one and there’s chemistry there as well with Bazza,” explained Contera.

“As a group we are very close and support each other 100%. We work very much in unison, bouncing ideas off each other, lots of planning and meetings to find ways to improve the team, then implementing those into training. Michael always has the final say but he’s very receptive to new ideas and takes our suggestions on board.”

“I tend to look after a lot of the technical and possession orientated training, whereas Baz handles most of the preparation, finishing and pre-match duties,” continued Contera. “Michael is involved in everything, particularly the tactical and positional aspects which he analyses in-depth to make Inglewood a better team. Just like the players, the coaching team is evolving every day.”