Talay manages to lead the way
If you’re looking for a reason why Ufuk Talay is the best coach in Wellington Phoenix history, just take a glance at his leadership group.
Goalkeeper Oli Sail will captain the Phoenix in their elimination final against Western United tonight, with defender Tim Payne as his right-handman.
Yet two years ago, Sail and Payne were banned for four matches after taking a golf cart on a joyride during a boozy night at the club’s Sydney base. Payne was behind the wheel and pleaded guilty to drinkdriving, yet today, he’s helping steer his side in an altogether different direction.
Plenty of coaches in football and other codes may have punted a pair who had brought their club into disrepute, or consigned them to sporting Coventry, training with the academy kids.
But Talay – backed by the Phoenix front office – chose the redemption route.
Sail didn’t play a single game in the 2019-20 season which ended with his ill-starred night on the tiles. Yet he’s never looked back since supplanting All Whites No 1 Stefan Marinovic for round seven in 2021.
Now 26 and approaching the prime of his career, Sail has become one of the A-League’s best keepers.
Payne, a late developer after an apprenticeship with Blackburn Rovers, was a starter in the Phoenix defence before and after Cartgate. The 28-year-old is a reliable performer at right back or in the centre with a resolve reminiscent of ex-Nix and All Whites stopper Ben Sigmund.
In a year when the Phoenix lost star imports Ulises Davila and Tomer Hemed to A-League rivals, Cam Devlin to Scotland and potential captain Steven Taylor to retirement, Sail and Payne have stepped up. Together with veteran forward David Ball and ex-Manchester United defender Scott Wootton, they have driven their team to the playoffs despite a patchy regular-season record in a season punctuated by Covid defections, the distraction of World Cup commitments and the challenge of playing all but two of their games in Australia.
Payne and Sail are now certainties for the All Whites’ World Cup squad for the intercontinental playoff against Costa Rica in Qatar on June 15. National coach Danny Hay has Talay to thank for that.
A successful coach needs technical ability and tactical savvy. Talay’s preferred formation is 4-2-2-2 but he’s shown an ability to adapt, playing a three-man defence at times, and deploying a couple of wing backs. The Phoenix have shown a knack for profiting from quick counterattacks despite conceding the bulk of possession.
But it’s in the player management department where Talay, who learned to work with young players in Australian agegroup teams, seems to stand out. He dropped captain Alex Rufer at one stage after some indifferent displays, but also trusted him as an emergency centreback in a FFA Cup game. Rufer later impressed on his return to midfield and was in some of the best formof his career till his season-ending knee injury.
Talay, 46, has now guided the Phoenix to the top-six playoffs in two seasons out of three despite having to rebuild each year.
He already has the best winning percentage (43.37%) of any long-term Phoenix coach, eclipsing Ricki Herbert (34.42%) and Ernie Merrick (32.98%).
Under Herbert, the All Whites celebrated a hen’s-teeth-rare win in Australia like a World Cup final victory, but Talay’s teams haven’t found it a psychological hurdle (although having to set up home in Sydney has helped).
If you look at the stark statistics, it could be argued that the Phoenix’s performances have declined this term. Sure, they’ve qualified for the playoffs in sixth place, but they have lost more games (11) in the regular season than any other in Talay’s tenure. They’ve also conceded considerably more goals (49) – 15more than last term– and scored fewer (34). For the first time, a Talay Phoenix side – without Davila and Hemed’s scoring threat, Devlin’s dynamism and Taylor’s defensive organisation – finished with a negative goals differential.
The stark facts mean Talay probably won’t win another coach of the year prize to match his rookie season award. Melbourne City’s Patrick Kisnorbo must be favourite. But look beyond the numbers and it’s strikingly obvious that no New Zealand sports team in exile in Australia has coped as well with the challenge as the Phoenix.
A lot of that must be down to a bloke who may well be one of Australia’s better exports to New Zealand since Vegemite.