The Melbourne Knights have started from scratch in a bid to reach its first NPL finals campaign in seven years.
In 2022, the Knights finished ninth on the NPL ladder with nine wins from 26 matches, four points short of the top six.
The club has appointed Ben Cahn as their senior coach for the upcoming season, having previously worked at Olympic FC and Central Coast Mariners.
In 2020 Cahn was awarded NPL Queensland Coach of the Year and led the Queensland state team for games against New South Wales and Brisbane Roar. In 2019 Cahn, who grew up in London playing for the Fulham academy, completed his AFC Pro Licence in Korea, becoming the youngest coach in Australia to hold the accreditation at the time.
The 34-year-old spent the last five seasons in Queensland with Olympic FC leading a side who’d been without finals football in the two seasons prior to his arrival to five straight NPL Queensland Grand Finals and two Australia Cup national round appearances.
Prior to his time in Queensland, Cahn worked with Central Coast Mariners as an A-League Assistant Coach as well as Head Coach of the club’s youth team.
Cahn said he was looking to build “something special” in the fresh start for the club.
“I am under no illusions on the size of the challenge,” he said.
“The league is very strong, there is some very good teams.
“There has been really good enthusiasm and energy from the boys, everybody pushing in the right direction, and we have been progressing nicely.
“It is the clubs 70th anniversary so it is a special year for the club and we are looking at bringing a playing style and results that go with it that fit the year of celebration for the club.”
On January 25, the Knights held their season launch, celebrating their 70th anniversary and the club was joined by esteemed guests Marijan Kustic, Zlatko Dalic, Stipe Pletikosa, Petar Krpan among others.
“It was brilliant it was a great event,” Cahn described.
“It was an event that showed myself and the new players the magnitude of the football club there was 500 people and they were turning people away for tickets.
“There was obviously some high-profile guests in attendance, it was a really great experience to hear from a staff and a federation that have just come back from back to back successes at two world cups.
“It meant a lot to the Croatian community but also to all the players and staff it was really refreshing to see we are supported around the world by people of such high profile.”
In his first season in charge, Cahn has refused to set a ceiling on what the Knights can achieve.
“We have spoken between us as players and as a group that there is no point starting out the journey unless we aim to win it and believe we can win it that’s our starting point,” he explained.
“We have focussed quite hard on our recruitment, we have kept the boys who were here and hungry wanting to improve and do well for the club.
“We have brought in people who we feel reflects the culture that we want to create here and players who would fit in really nicely with the way I want to play football this year.
“It’s less of a continuation of previous seasons, we have really started from scratch.”
High-profile recruit Ivan Franjic has been selected to lead the club through such a momentous year for the club.
“Ivan is very experienced, he has achieved some unbelievable feats in his playing career,” Cahn said.
“It is invaluable to have people who have been on that journey to come in and lead by example and manage the younger players and set the standards and expectations.
He knows the club inside out, he was a junior at the club it means a lot to him and his family. Above all of that, he is still an outstanding footballer, very intelligent footballer, very important to the way we want to play.”
20-year-old striker Ciaran Bramwell has turned heads since making the move to Somers Street from Perth Glory where he made 27 A-League appearances, scoring three times.
“He is an exciting young player to watch, he scored all five of our goals in our practice match against Werribee,” Cahn said.
“He has a lot of development left in him and I think he is going to have a really good year its exciting to see where we can take him in his career.”
Former Olympia FC midfielder Steve Whyte followed Cahn to the Knights and is expected to play a key role in the sides makeup.
Whyte made 142 appearances over five seasons for Olympic, scoring 21 goals as one of the NPL Queensland’s stand out players in a side that reached five Grand Finals and twice qualified for the Australia Cup National Rounds.
“He is integral to the way we want to play I think a lot of Victorian clubs have chased him pretty hard over the past four to five years,” Cahn said.
“It is an important year for him, and I think he is going to have a big impact.”
The club has a tough run of matches in the first month, including taking on both Oakleigh and South Melbourne, however that doesn’t faze the Knights.
“My focus is about what we are doing as a team and making sure the squad is able to do their role,” Cahn said.
“Every game in the league is tough, you can’t really pick and choose games to be easy ones each game is hard for its own reason.
“St Albans is a big game and is always tough for its own reasons and we will just worry about one game at a time.
“We will make sure we do everything in our power to make sure we get a result in that first game and then we will move onto the next game.”
OPENING FIXTURES
Round 1: St Albans Saints v Melbourne Knights
Round 2: Melbourne Knights v Oakleigh Cannons
Round 3: South Melbourne v Melbourne Knights