After Balzan only managed to secure their status on the final match-day last season, new coach Dave Rodgers aims at leading the club to a more comfortable position in the 360Sports Malta Premier league table. Rodgers was speaking during a press conference at the club premises on Wednesday.

Addressing the media, Balzan president Anton Tagliaferro said the club went through a number of changes this summer following the appointment of a new coach to replace Oliver Spiteri and the departure of captain Paul Fenech who joined Swieqi United where he would be starting a coaching career as well.

The new coach is Englishman Dave Rodgers. A professional footballer for twenty one years, playing in the Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland. As a coach, he worked for a number of years at the Liverpool Academy, followed by a spell in the technical staff of the Indian national team and also the Nottingham Forest Under-23, among others. Rodgers will be assisted by Daryl Willard, another Englishman, who has served at the Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea academies apart from working in a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, Georgia and Cambodia.

Speaking about the new coaches, Tagliaferro said “Both are experience coaches. I could not be happier with the choices we made. They both settled extremely well and are doing a marvellous job with the first team and the academy. “

“When you think about it, in Maltese football we used to have three foreign players and the rest were Maltese players. Now we have a completely different scenario where you can have up to fourteen foreign players and many Maltese players are full-time. This requires a change in the coaching approach.”

“The new players were picked by Dave and Daryl. We wanted younger players with a lot of potential. In terms of Maltese players, we got goalkeeper Dylan Ciappara from Mosta, Jake Engerer from Sliema, Nicholas Pulis from Sirens and Gary Camilleri is back from his loan spell. These players join the likes of Samir Arab and Jan Busuttil, among others. I think we have a good group of dedicated Maltese players,” said Tagliaferro.

New foreigners include Isaac Westerndorf, Udoyen Akpan, Henri Stanic, Afghanistan international Mosawer Ahadi, Kevin Williams, Carson Buschman-Dormond while Oluwatobiloba Dimeji Awosanya makes his move a permanent one after spending last season on loan at the club from NK Domzale.

“We strengthened the team. We reduced the average age. We brought a new style of play, a new type of training and now look forward for the season ahead,” said the Balzan president who thanked the committee and sponsors Falcotrans and MBI Holdings for their support.

New coach Dave Rodgers said “Football has always been my life, my obsession, my passion. Player development was a big part of my career. It has been a real sort of mantra for my development during my playing career. I played in England, the Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland, managed to win four league titles in my playing career and played in the Champions League and UEFA Cup. I am really proud of that experience .. of living the dream by working hard as you get nothing in life unless you work hard for it. I believe in humility, appreciation and in being proud of what you do.”

“From playing to the transition of being a coach, I was very priviliged to work at Liverpool, working at the Academy as Academy Manager and Nottingham Forest Under-23 head-coach. Had the chance to work with top class coaches, top class mentors and people who helped me develop, not only as a coach but also as a person. “

“I am absolutely delighted to be here at Balzan. It is a big challenge. A challenge that I am relishing. A challenge that I am looking forward to … with good people behind the scenes like volunteers, administration and staff. I am delighted to have Daryl (Willard) with me here. We have been friends for over fifteen years and went to various FIFA and UEFA events together. We always had a plan to work together if the right opportunity arose. “

“When I spoke to the president, quite a long time ago, he told me his plans and his vision for the club, they aligned with my vision … my beliefs and my strategy in football, that is, I choose the players, I select the team, I decide how we play along with Daryl. Hence all the players who are here have not been signed off a video clip but are actually players that we have been monitoring for the past 5-7 years. That is what you should do as a coach. Be proactive and make sure that you have a plan in place for wherever you go, you bring the right profile and the right type of character. Most importantly, the right people .. the players who we have brought from overseas are all fantastic human beings. They are here for the right reasons. They want to become better and they want to be part of something special. “

Rodgers revealed that Samir Arab has been appointed as the new captain and Jan Busuttil as vice-captain. He described them as “two outstanding professionals” along with Triston Caruana “who even though he has bags of experience, is full of energy and enthusiasm.”

Referring to the club’s objectives for the coming season, Dave Rodgers said “Success is not being in the position the club was in last season, going into the final game of the season fighting against relegation. The players know what we are looking for. We are looking for maximum effort, not only in training, but in every game we play. We try to win every game. We are not going to sit back. I do not believe in sitting back but going out and attack in each game we play. This does not mean that we will win each game but as long as they give their effort and show people that they care, they show the enthusiasm .. that is all I am looking for.”

While thanking Tagliaferro and Rodgers for putting trust in him, assistant Coach Daryl Willard said that together with Dave Rodgers, they have been discussing the possibility of working together for a long time.

“We have been talking for years about working on a project and really make a difference in a club. I think we finally found a club to push on,” said Willard, who apart from working at Tottenham and Chelsea, served as assistant to Tony Adams with FC Gabala in Azerbaijan and as sporting director for the Azerbaijan FA.

With regards to his experience so far at Balzan, Willard said “This group of players has been incredible so far. For the past six weeks, they listened, they worked hard. I have never known a group of players who have been so receptive. We will be on the front foot. We will try to excite people and we will try to win every game.”

The Balzan coach is not particularly worried about the new format of the 360Sports Malta Premier.

“Nothing changes. We will try to win every game of football. There are some good teams here, some very good coaches and I am glad we will be putting our wits against some good experienced people. But again, I cannot affect what goes on in other clubs but we can only affect what goes on at Balzan, and that is what we are trying to do in a positive way.”

When asked what are his thoughts about the level of the game in Malta, Rodgers said that he has several contacts with people who played or coached here and before coming here, he did his homework and did not make a quick decision.

“I am very impressed. Very tactical. There are lot of good coaches, good players with a lot of experience. One thing I said to the president for me to come and take this job was that I wanted to change the dynamics. I wanted to change the dynamics by bringing younger players to Balzan … players with energy and enthusiasm … players who really want to develop and become better. That was the big thing for me. “

“We align our beliefs … I don’t like the word ‘philosophy’ because the philosophy in football is to win games. Our principles align with each other and that was the biggest thing. The players we brought in believe in these principles … play on the front foot, be proactive and not reactive. It does not guarantee that we will win games but what guarantees is that we have a squad of players which is enthusiastic and full of energy and try to win every game. That is the positivity that we are looking for,” concluded Rodgers