Western Sydney foundation player Labinot Haliti plans on bringing passion and energy to the A-League club after his return to the Wanderers as an assistant coach.
Forward Haliti — who started in both legs of the Wanderers’ 2014 AFC Champions League final success and played in every match of that successful campaign — has been head coach of the Newcastle’s Y-League team since November 2018.
He spent three seasons with the Wanderers before he joined the Jets, where he finished his playing career.
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Haliti started coaching at Newcastle as a youth team assistant in 2017 before he graduated to the head role and earned a FIFA A Coaching Licence.
Haliti will work alongside Wanderers head coach Markus Babbel and assistant coach Jean-Paul de Marigny.
“I’m planning to bring a lot of passion and energy to the club,” Haliti said.
“I know what it means to wear the badge and I’m looking to pass on that expectation to this group of Wanderers.”
The club is in the process of overhauling its playing roster after missing out on the finals for a second-straight season.
Last Friday, the club announced the departure of 11 players, including four of their five imports.
On the same day, they announced defender Daniel Georgievski was joining from the Jets.
Haliti will lead the Newcastle’s youth team for a further two weeks.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Newcastle, since I first joined as a player back in 2005, so it’s a city very close to my heart,” said Haliti, who had three separate playing stints with the Jets.