Phoenix coach Talay plays down talk he will join Victory
FOOTBALL
PERTH: Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay insists he is not in discussions with Melbourne Victory about joining the ALeague powerhouse next season.
Tony Popovic is widely rumoured to be the Victory’s No 1 target after the club parted ways with Grant Brebner over the weekend.
But if Popovic turns down the role, Talay is seen as next in line.
Talay’s contract at Wellington runs out at the end of this season, and the club is in discussions with him about extending the deal.
The 45yearold said he was happy at the Phoenix, but he did not give any guarantees that he would stay, leaving the door ajar for a possible move.
‘‘At this stage, nothing’s been discussed,'' Talay replied when asked about his links to Victory.
‘‘If there was something being discussed, I’d let you know.’’
Talay scoffed at talk that the rumours linking him with Victory could be a distraction for his Phoenix outfit.
Wellington notched its second win on the trot on Sunday night when it beat Perth Glory 31 in Perth.
‘‘It’s not a distraction. If it was a distraction, it would have distracted tonight’s result as well,’’ Talay said after the win.
‘‘The negotiations are going well with Wellington Phoenix at the moment with our chairman Rob [Morrison].
‘‘At this stage I'm contracted at Wellington Phoenix.
‘‘Our thought process is on us making the top six this season.’’
Two consecutive wins have enabled the Phoenix to claw back to within four points of the sixthplaced Wanderers.
Perth Glory is seven points adrift of sixth spot.
Teenage striker Ben Waine scored a longrange screamer to help inspire the Phoenix.
All its goals were scored in the second half, with Waine's 56thminute strike the most remarkable.
Glory goalkeeper Liam Reddy had charged almost 12m outside of his box to stop a Jaushua Sotirio fast break.
Reddy did well to stop that danger, but the ball rebounded to Waine (19), who calmly unleashed his shot from 33m out while the Glory goalkeeper was madly dashing back into his box.
Glory levelled the scores two minutes later via a Joel Chianese thunderbolt from outside the box.
Wellington regained the lead in the 66th minute when a sloppy save from Reddy resulted in the ball landing in the path of Louis Fenton, who completed the simple tapin.
And it was 31 in the 75th minute when Sotirio latched on to a beautiful through ball from Mexican Ulises Davila to slam home the sealer. — AAP