Tara Murray
New Hume City coach Petr Tichy believes they won’t need to make many changes to get their season back on track in the National Premier League.
Hume is without a win after eight rounds and finds themselves on the bottom of the table.
Tichy was set to lead the side for the first time on Saturday after deadline, after Nick Hegarty stood down as coach.
In a statement Hegarty said, whilst the decision was inevitable as he moved his family back to the UK later this year, it has happened sooner than expected due to the poor results.
He was full of praise for the club.
“Hume City has been my family for over 10 years,” he said. “I am so proud to have achieved what I have on behalf of the great people it represents.
“I would like to thank every board member, volunteer, coach, player and parent I have met throughout the years as you have made mine and my families journey one I could never of hoped for.“
Tichy, who was Hegarty’s assistant coach, was named coach on Monday.
Tichy said while many people were shocked by Hegarty’s departure he was aware that it would be coming.
“I knew it was coming, but it came as a shock to the players,” he said. “No one knew he had made the decision, besides the president and a couple of committee members.
“Behind the scenes I was preparing for it.”
Tichy said Hegarty left behind a massive legacy. He said Hume City and Nick Hegarty go hand in hand.
“He has been at the club for more than 10 years, not just as a coach, but as a player,“ he said.
“He has definitely had a big impact. I’m sure when his kids are older he’ll have the itch to come back to Australia and Hume is always home.”
For Tichy it’s his first senior coaching job.
After his playing days were over, he coached junior soccer to see whether he in fact liked coaching.
He would later become an assistant coach at Box Hill.
It would be a chance meeting at a coaching course that would lead Tichy to Hume.
“I was going for my C-grade badge and I met Nick for the first time,” he said.
“We were on the same page and we stayed in contact. He tried to get me to Hume as an assistant, but I had already signed for Box Hill.
“Once the season finished I got in touch and it was pretty straightforward from there. We were just on the same page.
“I spent four years at Hume as an assistant through the highs and the lows.”
Tichy said have been at the club and knowing the system, he was confident that they could turn things around.
He said they weren’t looking to make massive changes.
“In some of the games we lost it was 50-50. It’s the small things we need to try and turn from 0-0 into 1-0.
“The first target is to get the first win and then get out of the relegation battle. We know this team doesn’t belong on the bottom.
“We need to get back to basics, starting Saturday.”
Hume was set to face Heidelberg United on Saturday night after deadline.
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