McGlinchey iffy on future of Nix coach
Michael McGlinchey’s choice of words was interesting yesterday.
The senior Wellington Phoenix midfielder was asked if Darije Kalezic was the right man to lead the club into the future. His response was hardly a ringing endorsement.
‘‘I think he has got some great ideas, but hasn’t had the results. If he is here next year he’’ll have maybe more input in player selection and things like that, but I think maybe he needs a bit more time.’’
The interesting word there was ‘if’. Was it a slip of the tongue, or a hypothetical response to a hypothetical question? Or was it a subtle dig at a coach who has often blamed his players for a woeful season which sees them last with just 14 points from 19 games?
Not only did Kalezic say his players weren’t up to A-League standard after their 4-0 loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend, earlier in the season he also said he didn’t have enough winners in his squad.
Those sort of public comments from coaches can anger players, but they can also motivate them to prove the coach wrong.
McGlinchey said he expected it would be the latter today when the team takes on Perth Glory at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
‘‘You want to prove you are good enough for this level. Everybody in this dressing room is hurting about the way the season went and we all feel we are good players and can play at at least this level.
‘‘We should be higher up in the table with the quality of players we have, but it gives us some motivation to kick on for the rest of the season.’’
Interestingly, Kalezic was not
"He has got some great ideas, but hasn’t had the results."
Michael McGlinchey on Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic
put up for media duties on the day before a home game, as is normal procedure, but that was put down to the club having two potential
milestones to celebrate and to Kalezic being very busy preparing for the Glory match. He would be available for his normal postmatch press conference.
The first of those milestones would be McGlinchey bringing up 200 A-League games, should he earn selection, the 26th player to do so.
It led the 31-year-old to reflect on happier times in the league, notably his debut for the Central Coast Mariners in 2009, who he
went on to play 120 games for.
‘‘We played at Etihad Stadium against Melbourne Victory, who I think were the champions at the time. I managed to score within 10, 15 minutes, so I got off to a pretty good start, but I remember just thinking the A-League was fantastic.’’
Another who could bring up a milestone this weekend was Roy Krishna. He sits on 32 goals for the Phoenix, one behind all-time leading scorer Paul Ifill.
Krishna put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension on Thursday. It came after the Colorado Rapids, from the United States’ Major League Soccer, submitted an offer to sign him.
He said he was happy to have his focus back on football.
‘‘That [offer] came across, but we made a decision both parties and I’m happy. My full focus is with the Phoenix now and I’ve just got to do my best and another chance will come.’’