Greenacre back in, Kalezic out

It will be back to the future for the Wellington Phoenix as Chris Greenacre once again steps into the head coaching breach.

It is understood the 40-year-old has taken over the day-to-day operations of the first team while current head coach Darije Kalezic’s exit from the club is formalised.

The club revealed last week Kalezic would not be with the club next season after a poor first campaign in charge which rendered just four wins from 21 games.

He has now been put on gardening leave, with Greenacre taking over on an interim basis for the third time in his career.

He first took over in 2013 when Ricki Herbert resigned, while he was interim co-coach, alongside Des Buckingham, in the immediate aftermath to Ernie Merrick’s resignation in December 2016. The pair were later appointed to be permanent coaches for the remainder of the 2016-17 season, with a sixwin, six-draw, seven-loss record by the end of their 19-game stint in charge.

But he was moved to the role of reserve team coach when Kalezic took over last June, with the Dutchman bringing in his own backroom staff, including assistant Rado Vidosic, who would be shown the door before Christmas.

This third stint in charge for Greenacre would be a stopgap measure as the Phoenix negotiate with potential permanent replacements for Kalezic.

Greenacre can’t do it on a permanent basis as he does not have a pro licence, which is an A-league requirement for non-australian head coaches.

The club want someone in as soon as possible, preferably before the end of the season. The ideal scenario would be to get someone across the line in the next few weeks, giving the 14 off contract players three or four games to audition for places in the team next season.

It would also give established players a chance to familiarise themselves with how the approach would be next season, plus the new coach would get the chance to start negotiating with the new players he wanted to bring in.

Former Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar remains the frontrunner to take over, having met with club officials even before last Thursday’s announcement Kalezic would not be staying on next season.

The former Australia under-23 (Olyroos) coach has an impressive resume, enjoying success with Adelaide between 2007-10.