NZF boss backs Heraf despite mild rebuke
FALLON TO HERAF:
New Zealand Football chief Andy Martin has said technical director Andreas Heraf’s comments about Kiwis never having the quality to compete with countries like Japan were ‘‘strange,’’ ‘‘wrong,’’ and ‘‘shouldn’t have happened’’.
But despite the rebuke, he will not be asking for Heraf’s resignation from that role or as Football Ferns coach, where he is charged with taking the team to next year’s World Cup in France.
‘‘What I listened to is very different from what I’m getting day to day and the conversations we’re having and the conversations we’ve had subsequently,’’ Martin said. ‘‘It wasn’t a smart press conference and we’ll all learnt from that, that’s for sure.’’
Martin fronted after four days of silence yesterday, on the phone from Russia, where he attended Fifa’s annual congress a day earlier. Heraf made his comments on Sunday after the Ferns were beaten 3-1 by Japan in Wellington, utilising ultra-defensive tactics that have been widely criticised as not reflecting the Kiwi way, and justifying them by pointing to the gulf in quality between New Zealand and bigger nations.
One former Fern, 119-cap midfielder Katie Duncan, has called for his resignation, while another, 132-cap defender Abby Erceg has said his negative approach to football is ‘‘why [she] couldn’t stand to wear that fern on my chest any more’’.
Heraf took charge of the Ferns on an interim basis when they toured Thailand last November, following the resignation of long-standing coach Tony Readings earlier that month. He was then appointed to the role permanently, after a group of senior players requested it from the chief executive, who noted yesterday he took a while to come around to the idea, as it would effectively make Heraf his own boss, a potential conflict of interest.
Martin said Heraf’s approach with the Ferns was response to the team’s failure to make it out of the group stage at the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics – where they were grouped with the United States and France, then two of the top three teams in the world.
‘‘Ultimately we’ve got to change. We stand still and we continue to see us not perform at those events, or we do something different, and of course we’ve chosen to do something different, because we’re committed to the women’s game, because we’ve got a very talented group of Ferns that we want to see kicking on and fulfilling their potential.
‘‘In the Ferns role, the coach and players will be judged on results.’’
Heraf’s comments and the Ferns’ defensive approach have sparked a wave of criticism at a time where concerns have been mounting around the New Zealand football community that he has been dismissive of the domestic game and the potential of Kiwi footballers.
Former All Whites coaches Ricki Herbert and Kevin Fallon are among those have expressed concerns about the suitability of Heraf for his roles, given his comments, as is former All White Declan Edge, who runs the Ole Academy in Wellington.
Heraf claimed he had received plenty of support since Sunday, but could not name any names, while Martin said likewise yesterday.
‘‘There are those that speak out and say things negatively and sometimes speak out without identifying who they are, and there’s a lot of people who have given us a lot of positive comments from within the system around what’s gone on.’’
Martin said he was ‘‘not blind to the fact that [Heraf] needs the game with him’’.
‘‘At this stage as far as the technical director role we’ve got a clear plan, we’ve got a plan for change, which we need to do to kick on in this youth and academy space. We’ve had good success across the age grades but we need to improve that with more people coming through to the senior team.’’
If Andreas Heraf is unable to embrace the pioneering Kiwi spirit then he should ‘‘bugger off’’, according to former All Whites coach Kevin Fallon.
Fallon made his comments in the wake of Heraf, the New Zealand Football technical director and Football Ferns coach, saying
New Zealanders would never be able to compete with supposed bigger countries.
Fallon helped guide the All Whites to the 1982 World Cup as an assistant coach and said he ‘‘hated the statement as much as anybody’’. ‘‘I totally disagree. I know what he’s saying, but if it’s too big for him, then bugger off.
‘‘You’ve got to have that pioneering spirit if you take on
New Zealand. We know how small we are, we know the limitations, we know the job, do the best you can with what you’ve got. I’ve always felt that way about every situation
I’ve ever taken. I always believe in miracles.
‘‘That’s so negative. Why would you coach? Why would you get out of bed? It’s amazing. The people who brought him in need their backsides kicked, don’t they? Simple.’’
Fallon has coached at an assortment of different clubs and schools around New Zealand, such as Gisborne City, Nelson United, Mt Albert Grammar and, now, with Manukau United. He was All Whites coach from 1985-89 and helped establish the nowdefunct national football academy in 1987.
Fallon said being a successful coach over a long period of time in New Zealand meant putting the work in and establishing strong team cultures.
‘‘When people start saying to me it can’t be done and you can’t do this and you can’t do that, then I’ll do my best to try and do it. I just don’t believe that kind of garbage.
‘‘I just come back to my career and wherever I’ve been I’ve always had sort of outposts. I’ve never hardly ever had the top one and I’ve always tried to do the best I can, do the work, put the time in, because I believed if we did that as a group and a team, eventually, we would come out on the best side.’’
Heraf made his comments after the Ferns’ 3-1 loss to Japan in Wellington on Sunday. On Tuesday, he said he felt New Zealand could beat those teams, just not compete with them on a technical level.
Former Fern Katie Duncan called for his resignation after Sunday’s comments, while 132-cap former Ferns captain Abby Erceg retired before the match, stating she could not play for a team which was not willing to have a crack.
‘‘I’d rather lose by one saying ‘we f...ing went for it’ than cowering in a corner. That’s my mindset, and if you tell me I can’t do that, then I can no longer represent that shirt with pride or conviction.’’
‘‘The people who brought him in need their backsides kicked, don’t they? Simple.’’ Kevin Fallon