Fri February 3, 2017 League 1 Ontario--FC London Announces New Technical Staff Structure,
Head Coach (from League 1 Ontario website)

FC London Announces New Technical Staff Structure, Head Coach 
02/03/2017, 5:15pm EST
By League1 Ontario staff

"We're excited that we're not only creating opportunities for players… we're creating 
them for coaches too," said FC London owner Ian Campbell on the announcement of a new 
coach for the 2017 League1 Ontario Men's team.

The southern Ontario based club has again reached across the Atlantic in acquiring 
the services of Domagoj "Dom" Kosic, a certified UEFA "A" coach, who will be taking 
on the role of Technical Director as well as coaching the Men's League1 
and OSL U21 teams.

Kosic, a big believer in a playing style similar to Despotovic, will continue 
promoting the "periodization model" adopted by FC London in 2016, a model which 
proved successful in bringing home hardware at team and individual level for 
the club's inaugural year in League1.

Beyond his training at various Croatian top clubs, Kosic has been educated 
in Amsterdam with coaching icon Raymond Verheijen.

"[Kosic and Despotovic] are both firm believers in the periodization model, which 
is a philosophy of how to train," explained Campbell. "It’s something that Mario 
that introduced to the club, and it’s all about not over-training and introducing 
the right things at the right time. Coach Mike Marcoccia has also adopted that 
approach with the women’s team."

"The number of injuries that the club experienced last year, in spite of a long 
season, was negligible. We didn’t have any real injury issues, and this was 
a strong endorsement of this way of teaching." 

Kosic's responsibilities will also extend to that of a supervisor for the roster 
of young coaches involved in the affiliated FC London Academy program, a program 
for boys and girls aged 8-17.

"We had Toronto FC Academy Director Laurent Guyot here recently, and it’s great 
to know that what we are doing on the academy side is in sync with the Toronto FC," 
explained Campbell. "It was also important to get a coach in that knows this method 
thoroughly and has taught it comprehensively."

Mario Despotovic, who coached the League1 Ontario to a 15W - 5L - 2T record in 2016, 
has accepted a full time professional position as the U-19 coach of Croatian First 
Division club, Hajduk Split.

Hajduk Split's first team finished third in 2015-16 and in 2004-05 they won 
the league.

As the head coach of the U19 team, which acts as a reserve squad for the first 
team, Despotovic has earned an 18 month contract and sees it as a stepping stone 
to his goal as a head coach with a top European club.

Despotovic specifically notes that his time in League1 Ontario gave him the 
experience to take his coaching career to the next level.

"I think League1 was an amazing learning experience for me, it's a top quality 
league and coming to a different culture and building a team with senior players 
was something I did not do before."

Mario will continue his role as a Technical Advisor to the FC London coaching staff.

"Using technology we can communicate with screen sharing, video analysis 
and conference meetings from anywhere in the world," he said. "We’ll continue 
to learn and educate coaches in Canada as they look to improve their football 
teaching abilities."

"Kosic is currently a candidate with the Croatian federation in Zagreb to do his 
UEFA Pro," added Campbell, "so part of that process is to work with senior players 
at the highest level across the globe."

"To be frank, we are very happy to be part of that process. With Mario in a senior 
position at Dynamo Zagreb, and Dom with us, we now have a direct channel which 
we can recommend players into the European football market."

Campbell closed with brief mention of Kosic's experience as a player at elite 
professional clubs in Croatia and Israeil.

"He has some terrific playing experience, playing at a top level with top clubs 
in Croatian and Israel," said Campbell. 

"I think that is always important when you’re dealing with players that are young 
and talented and can talk about their experiences." 

back to 2017 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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