Light and shade at Phoenix HQ
Two men dipped their heads under the roller door to enter the Wellington Phoenix’s gym area in Wellington yesterday.
For one, it was, in a sense, the best of times. Chris Greenacre was demoted from co-coach of the first team to youth programme head coach when then Phoenix head coach Darije Kalezic arrived in the off-season. But on Thursday he returned from exile for his third crack as interim head coach after Kalezic was officially sacked. By yesterday’s media session, he was a full of positivity, optimism and enthusiasm.
For the other, it was the worst of times. Club captain Andrew Durante, battling the flu and wrapped in a puffer jacket, cut a solemn figure as he entered, before describing the season under Kalezic in grave tones.
‘‘It’s been frustrating. It’s been disappointing. There is a group of players upstairs who are really disappointed in how the season has gone,’’ he said.
‘‘Each season we start with so much optimism and hope that we can have a really successful season. It hasn’t transpired in that way. It’s been a failure, really, if you have to sum it up.‘‘
So why was Kalezic unable to get the squad to perform?
‘‘I think a European coach coming here it was always going to be difficult to understand the league, understand the Aussie and Kiwi players and how we think and maybe our ability – maybe he had a higher expectation of our abilities.
‘‘I thought [former assistant coach] Rado [Vidosic] was a really good appointment to help bridge that; obviously that didn’t work out, the two of them couldn’t really work together.
‘‘I felt so many little different issues affected results this year, but if I had to sum it up in one thing it was the lack of knowledge of the players and the A-League maybe hindered his [Kalezic’s] performances.’’
Durante said he held those concerns ever since Kalezic was announced as coach.
The complexities of the league, with the salary cap and prohibition on clubs being able to pay transfer fees for players from other A-League clubs, meant it was a steep learning curve for any European coach, Durante said.
His man management was also a bit off, he said.
‘‘Players that aren’t playing, issues with how they’ve been managed, for sure there were some issues throughout the team.’’
But one person who wouldn’t need education on the ins and outs of the league was Greenacre, who before this season had worked for five years as Phoenix assistant coach or co-coach.
Only goalkeeping coach Fernando vaz Alves has been retained from Kalezic’s backroom staff. Assistant coach Dario Pot and fitness coach Bart Caubergh have been replaced by their Phoenix academy counterparts Paul Temple and Aidan Wivell. Steve Coleman will take the reserve/ academy team in Greenacre and Temple’s absence.
Greenacre hoped fresh faces would breathe new life into the squad.
‘‘It’s a shame it’s come to this. It’s always a sad situation when coaching staff leave any club, but the beauty of sport is the game carries on.
‘‘It’s been a turbulent week for everybody and we need to pick the players up and focus on Western Sydney Wanderers.
‘‘We’re looking forward to it; all the staff have had to step up as well as myself.’’
As far as Greenacre sees it, he has one game in charge. Although it’s unlikely, a new coach could be signed as early as next week, which would see Greenacre out of the head coach job. If a new coach isn’t signed, then he continues.
‘‘I don’t even know my job title at the minute, it’s all over the place,’’ he said with a laugh.