Valkanis also gave some insight into the amount of Dutch influence he had in the past eight years including former Reds coach Rini Coolen and FFA Technical Director Han Berger.

“I got a lot of influence from Han going over to Holland a few years ago to watch Ajax and FC Twente to see how things are done,” he said.

“I remember thinking back then ‘geez, imagine if I get to work here one day’, it’s unbelievable and dreams do come true, you should dream big and always believe things are achievable.


“Another Dutchman fell in my path and we formed a great relationship in the six months we worked and City played some of the best football during that period and we won the first trophy for the club.

“Even working with Josep Gombau and Guillermo Amor and the Reds, their influence was Johan Cryuff from Barcelona. So my whole influence has been very Dutch.

“It’s amazing how things align, people fall in your path and have become great teachers for me.

“Now I want to go there as an Aussie to show that we know more than just cooking a barbecue and having a beer. It’s just about having a good time working in a football nation and the philosophy I believe in.

“My mate Peter Cklamovski who’s now at Yokohama thought at that stage I had so much Dutch influence and he used to call me ‘van Kanis’. It’s funny to see where it’s ended up and how the world works.”

Valkanis and JvS in their City days

The season is now over in Holland as PEC finished ninth, leaving Valkanis excited about their goals next season.

Valkanis also spoke of the friendship he had with van’t Schip and was expecting the transition to be seamless because of their similarities.

“We want football to be attacking and we’re both risk-takers,” Valkanis said as he received a text from JvS.

“We both know we’ll lose games sometimes, but the philosophy is the process of getting to win things, we saw that even at City and it showed when we won the FFA Cup.

“Maybe if it was continued, it probably could’ve led to something else.

“Looking at it now, it’s about continuing the work they’ve done there at PEC, they’ve done an amazing job already in terms of where they took PEC with the coaching staff.

“Before Christmas there were in the top three, but seeing the football they’ve played, you can see they’re a good team.”