Brisbane Roar Head Coach Michael Valkanis’ backroom staff is beginning to take shape as preparations ramp up ahead of the 2025/26 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
Valkanis will be joined by Borja Lema in the role of Assistant Coach and Grijia Nektarios in the role of Head Analyst, both of whom have worked with Valkanis in the past while Ruben Parker joins from Wellington Phoenix as the club’s new Head Goalkeeper Coach.
34-year-old Spaniard and UEFA Pro Licence Coach Borja Lema is Assistant Coach to Valkanis and brings a wealth of experience across European and world football, having worked in Spain, Israel, Turkey, Russia and China.
Lema previously worked as an Assistant Coach to Valkanis at both Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel and Adana Demirspor in Turkey. Lema took the reigns as Head Coach at Hapoel for a chunk of the 2023/24 season after Valkanis made the move to Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam.
Lema has also spent time as part of the Atletico Madrid Juvenil staff and has experience working as an analyst and strength and conditioning coach.
Also arriving from Europe is Head Analyst, Nektarios Grijia who’s CV includes Greek giants, Olympiacos and Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor where he worked alongside Valkanis.
Ruben Parker comes on board as the club’s new Goalkeeper Coach, arriving in Brisbane after spending the last three seasons at Wellington Phoenix.
Parker’s time at Phoenix was highlighted by a second placed finish in the 2023/24 A-League campaign, where his side conceded a league low 26 goals from 27 regular season matches.
During this time Parker oversaw the development of Alex Paulsen, who was crowned the competition’s Goalkeeper of the Year, earning him a move to English Premier League side Bournemouth.
The trio join Brad Moore (Head Physiotherapist and High Performance) and Lloyd Cabilan (Kit and Equipment Manager) who continue in their roles.
The club will make additional appointments in the S&C and Physiotherapy space to round out Valkanis’ staff.
Stay tuned for further squad updates before Brisbane Roar commences pre-season ahead of the new campaign in early July.
