Valkanis becomes the latest Australian coach to land a first-team role in Europe

They say that you can usually tell which players will move into a coaching position when their career is over.

It’s the little things like coming into work on your day off, taking a larger role in training and lending a helping hand to the younger players, which are tell-tale signs that this person is starting to become a student of the game.

Former South Melbourne and Adelaide United cult hero Michael Valkanis has been appointed manager of Belgian Pro League relegation battlers KAS Eupen until the end of the season – with a task of avoiding the dreaded drop.

Since his playing days ended over a decade ago, Valkanis has slowly worked his way up the coaching ladder.

After his successful time as youth team coach at Adelaide United, he moved onto an assistant’s role with Adelaide United’s A-League Men team, where he started to attract interest from other clubs.

In 2016 he joined an exodus, that included youth team players and administrators, in moving across from Adelaide United to Melbourne City.

With the City Group’s endless infrastructure, Valkanis became the assistant to former Ajax star John van’t Schip.

Under the tutelage of van’t Schip, Valkanis was introduced to new coaching methods and tactical insight, which led to him taking training quite often under the watchful eye of his mentor.

The time with City was unsuccessful with Valkanis following his mentor to the Netherlands and the assistant’s role at PEC Zwolle.

Although his experience was short there, the van’t Schip-Valkanis partnership combined again as an ill-fated reign with the Greece national team.

Determined to make it in Europe, Valkanis tapped into his mentor’s contacts and was offered the assistant’s role at KAS Eupen in January 2022, which coincided with Socceroo James Jeggo joining the club as well.

KAS Eupen are one of the smallest teams in the division. Their Middle Eastern owners have been reluctant to splash the cash and the club is reliant on talented youth.

Valkanis finally gets a chance in the manager’s hot seat after the former coach Stefan Kramer was sacked due to several months of poor results. That has seen the club go on an eye-watering 17-game winless run, leaving them only four points off relegation.

Michael Valkanis. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

His first game in charge ended in an expected defeat to one of the division’s big boys Club Brugge 3-1. However for large parts of the match, KAS Eupen performed very well.

There are only five games left now and realistically Eupen would need to win at least two or three to avoid the dreaded drop. It doesn’t get any easier next match either, with a visit to surprise table toppers Union Saint-Gilloise.

KAS Eupen do have hope though.

Training has dramatically improved, with far more intensity and energy from the squad that now appears reinvigorated under the Australian, with a big emphasis on team bonding.

James Jeggo aside, there is also quality within this very cosmopolitan squad.

Teddy Alloh is on loan from PSG and a star on the rise, the Indonesian Jordi Amat has been a rock in defence and Stef Peters has been a consistent performer in Belgium for several seasons.

For Kupen to stay up, they need their Bosnian hitman Smail Prevljak to continue his solid scoring record of a goal every two and a bit games.

By all reports, if Valkanis is able to avoid relegation, he will have his contract extended as first-team coach – a reward deserving for a person who has worked his way through the Australian pyramid as both player and coach.

The club affectionately known as the Pandas will need to tap into their Australian coaches ideas.

If not, like their namesake in the animal kingdom, they are currently endangered and could cease to exist in the Belgian top flight in only a matter of weeks.