Pressure, what pressure?
At a glance
Phoenix coach denies he’s feeling the heat
Wellington Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic insists his side’s win over Perth Glory did not relieve any pressure on his shoulders.
But that wasn’t because there was still the pressure of being last on the A-League ladder due to the Central Coast Mariners’ draw with Adelaide United late on Saturday night.
Rather, he said he’s just not feeling any pressure at all, and hasn’t done since the start of the season. It was a strange assertion to make given he has overseen just four wins in 20 matches this season, with his lengthy reasoning also perplexing some. know exactly the level of football in New Zealand, I know exactly how the level of the New Zealand players are, I know exactly how much talent we have in New Zealand, I know exactly how good Kiwis are in comparing with the A-League players in Australia, I know exactly everything.
‘‘So, because I know that exactly, I can never feel the pressure.’’
To say there was no pressure at all was quite the claim to make given rumblings about his future at the club have grown louder in the weeks leading up to the 2-1 win at Westpac Stadium on Saturday, after consecutive 4-0 road losses.
Kalezic was understood to have a clause in his contract which says he can be sacked if the team does not make the top six this season. At 11 points behind the sixthplaced Western Sydney Wanderers with seven games to go, it remains a mathematical possibility, but in reality it’s an impossible task.
Kalezic has said about as much himself, and also said it did not take a football expert to work out what had gone wrong.
‘‘You don’t have to be a scientist to analyse this season. You don’t have to be a scientist to find out how we lost the games, you don’t have to be a scientist to see which mistakes we make, what was our strengths and weaknesses.
‘‘You don’t have to have experience in football to find that out. People who cannot find that out, they don’t deserve to work in football. For me, the conclusion is very simple.’’
But he seems, from the outside anyway, to be playing on under the assumption he will be at the club next season. That means re- signing players as well. Roy Krishna signed a one-year extension during the week, but 14 others remain off contract next season.
Kalezic said he knows exactly how many he thinks should be resigned, and has delivered that message to the board.
‘‘We have a lot of contracts that [are expiring], but not only [us], many clubs in the A-League have a lot of contracts expiring.
‘‘What is interesting is that already many clubs in the A-League have signed a lot of players and transferred players from one club to the other and we are still on the transfer window future.’’