This week South Melbourne announced Sinisa Cohadzic will take the reins of the team as caretaker coach until (at least) the end of the season.

Although past players including Durakovic, Lozanovski and De Amicis were all rumoured to take up the role at various points, South elected to appoint Cohadzic, who has relatively little senior coaching experience.

Cohadzic however has been involved with South in the past. He was the technical director of the club for five years between 2019 and 2024, in that time guiding the reserves to a championship and fostering goodwill amongst the parents, players and other people around the club.

With his appointment Cohadzic brings deep knowledge of the club, its culture and its youth players, with a few of them likely to have game time in the senior team as a result.

Cohadzic however also bring external experience to the role. He is currently the assistant manager of the Philippines Women’s national team, and has completed his UEFA A and AFC A coaching licences.

The response from fans so far has been cautiously optimistic, with our twitter poll showing 60% of respondents were supportive of the announcement while 40% of respondents would have preferred a bigger name appointment.

A bigger name may still be on the cards for South with Cohadzic’ caretaker role potentially only to last until the end of the season. He will have a clear objective of getting the team out of relegation zone and building up a foundation ahead of the Australian Championship which is set to commence in October. Good luck Sinisa!