Andy Slory is no stranger to the highs and lows of professional football, and preparing for his first full season with the Reds, the highly regarded Dutchman is determined to ensure his time at the club is remembered both by him and the fans as one of the highs.
Slory-s introduction to the Hyundai A-League and football in Australia may not have gone as ideally as he and many of the Reds faithful would have hoped. After agreeing to come to Adelaide from Bulgarian club Levski Sofia during the January transfer window, Slory played a total of 186 minutes in the Reds- last five games of the season, making cameos off the bench in his first two appearances before starting in the next three. However, his influence was restricted as he took time to acclimatise to the hard surfaces of Australian pitches and was hampered by injuries firstly to his thigh and then ankle.
At the end of the Reds- Hyundai A-League campaign Slory returned to Holland in the off season to undergo rehabilitation and treatment for his ankle problem. Now, no more than two months later, Slory was back in full training with a spring in his step, the issues of his first weeks in Adelaide a thing of the past.
“I feel good. I went back to Holland and worked hard and got back in six weeks,” Slory said.
“Nothing was broken, I trained with the staff of the national team over there and everything was ok.”
“I-m on track. I-m on my normal weight and I feel like my body is working again, and I haven-t had that feeling in quite awhile, so I feel good.”
Slory-s arrival late in the season and ensuing injury disruptions were used, arguably unfairly, by some as an excuse for the Reds- exit in the second week of the finals. No stranger to critics, Slory has been around long enough not let any criticism or negative opinions affect him. All that matters is that he knows within himself that he gives his all every time he takes the field.
Earning a place in the Dutch national team does not come around by fluke, the former Feyenoord star with pace to burn and skill to match, and he is confident of demonstrating in the Hyundai A-League why he was held in high esteem as one of the deadliest wingers in Holland.
“If you let your confidence be taken by those kind of people, you just can-t,” Slory said of any detractors.
“For me I can-t take people like that seriously. I-m at Adelaide United now and I-ve played at bigger teams and I-ve been through worse (criticism). Those kind of things I can-t be bothered with, I-m not even going to say it makes me stronger because I really don-t care.”
“Of course everybody was disappointed (when Adelaide United-s title race ended), I was as well and I came here to win in the finals, but it took Cassio, it took Marcos (Flores) time to adjust when they came to Australia, and the people expected me to be there and I wasn-t there because of the injuries, and that-s the reality. But when I was on the pitch I gave 100 per cent.”
On top of his return to full fitness, something else that may bring him a change of fortune for a successful season ahead is his decision to change from number 11 to 23. The former Feyenoord star wore 11 when he arrived last season but has now switched to his more favourable 23. The number, which was arguably made most famous by basketball great Michael Jordan and then to a lesser extent by the likes of David Beckham at LA Galaxy, is also a favourite of Slorys, but he insists his fondness of 23 is not because of Jordan or any other athletes who have worn the number before.
“When I came here the first time I wanted 23, so that-s the reason I changed it,” Slory said.
“A number is a number but I like 23 more than 11.”
With his positivity and approach to this pre-season, there is every indication that 2011/12 could be a successful one for Andy Slory.
