Sydney’s McFlynn: Lavicka’s influence was enormous

Sydney FC midfielder Terry McFlynn believes the influence of first-year coach Vitezslav Lavicka helped the team take out the 2009/10 A-League double.

Following Saturday night’s Grand Final win over Melbourne Victory, the Northern Irishman, who captained the team in the absence of Steve Corica and John Aloisi, said his team dug deep to take out the championship and it was with plenty of help from Lavicka who had a positive effect in his first season in Australia.

“Missing Steve Corica and John Aloisi is going to hurt any side but tonight it was a final and we dug deep for each other, it was 46 weeks of hard work,” McFlynn said.

“The boss was fantastic when he came in from the first day. It was just about getting the group together. We’ve got internal goals that we set with the boss, we’ve got philosophies we keep to ourselves and we try to live our lives and play our football that way.

“We’re a tight-knit unit now, we believe in each other. There’s mutual respect for each other, each other’s work, what we do on and off the pitch – we’re like a family.

“He’s (Lavicka) a fantastic person. He’s great to work with every day, his influence has certainly rubbed off on myself, it’s the first season I have gone through not suspended and I must thank him for that.”