Rudan has questions to answer

Now that Mark Rudan’s departure from the Wellington Phoenix has been finalised, it’s worth looking back at what he and others have said over the past few months.

Chairman Rob Morrison and general manager David Dome need to find a new coach for the third time in three years, and will look red-faced if Rudan ends up coaching against them next season for Western United or Adelaide United, two of his potential destinations.

The possibility of an early exit for Rudan first came to light on January 15, when he was asked on the Soccer Stoppage Time podcast if he would be at the Phoenix next season and didn’t give a straight answer, saying simply that he was contracted.

That quickly became the party line, with Morrison telling the Sydney Morning Herald in the first week of February: ‘‘[Rudan’s] on a two-year contract, so he won’t be at Western [United]. They have to find a coach for the start of next season and one thing about Rudes is he’s a very honourable, straight-up guy. I’ve got no issues, no worries there.’’

The same week, Dome repeated the two-year contract line to Stuff, then added: ‘‘Mark is an honourable man, and he has said he’s come here and he wants to make a difference and he’s signed a piece of paper which says he wants to be here – that he will be here for two years.’’

There had been reports out of Australia strongly linking

Rudan to Western United, who

are joining the A-league next season, and less strongly to Adelaide United, who will have a vacancy come June.

In response, Dome said: ‘‘He signed a contract which says he’s here for two years and you’ve seen him, how he is in front of the camera, he’s a very honest and open person, and if there were other people chasing him, he has certainly not said anything to anyone within the club, you know, ‘I want to go and work for somebody else’.

‘‘I, for one, trust Mark, and that if there was some realism to any of that stuff that he would have mentioned that.’’

Maybe that was true at the time. But it also seems to be the case that the ‘‘two-year contract’’ contained an eight-week notice period, making any reference to it worthless.

On February 14, Rudan offered the clearest explanation of his situation to that point, refusing to commit to a second season at the Phoenix, but also refusing to rule out joining Western United, while stating his two chief concerns – the distance between him and his family and his desire for Morrison and the other owners to be more ambitious.

‘‘I’ve got two teenage kids who need their dad around, and Dad needs them around as well, but I bought into this and we made a decision. I’ve also said before if I thought it was going to be this hard, then I probably wouldn’t have taken it on. That’s reality.

‘‘At the same time, the club also understands that I want a proper project and I want to build on this, I’m not going to sit back and rest on my laurels. If things that have been done in the past continue on that way, then I won’t be here. They need to improve, everything needs to improve.’’

Responding to Dome and Morrison’s description of him as a ‘‘honourable,’’ Rudan added: ‘‘First and foremost, I’m most honourable to my family. It’s as simple as that. You can take it however you want, but that’s the start of it and the end of it.’’

There should be no doubting that Rudan has found it difficult being in Wellington while his wife and kids have been in Sydney. If he had said that in February and agreed with Morrison that they would discuss his future at the end of the season, with those discussions eventually resulting in his early departure, there would be plenty of sympathy and little angst.

But against the backdrop of reports that he will take charge at Western United and with him saying ‘‘everything needs to improve,’’ then proceeding to speak critically about his bosses and those in charge of the game in New Zealand, it’s hard to accept this is simply about ‘‘one guy’s difficult personal situation,’’ as a fan put it this weekend.

First Rudan went after NZ Football, calling on those in charge to ‘‘get their house in order,’’ after a draw with Melbourne Victory at Eden Park on February 15.

The following week he went after his bosses, criticising the decision to take a home game against Sydney FC to Campbelltown in New South Wales, then moving on to the subject of their ambition more generally: ‘‘Do I want the standards raised at the football club? Absolutely. Do I want to try and entice better players to this football club and improve the environment? Absolutely. The players deserve that, the club deserves that and the fans deserve that as well.’’

On March 7, Rudan said on Radio Sport that being with his

family was the big one: ‘‘If I don’t stay here next year, it is because my wife and kids [haven’t joined me] – and perhaps, on a side note, [because] the club don’t want to challenge for honours every year.’’

He then added that even if his wife and kids did join him, he would still need to see more from the club, suggesting the demand was more a sticking point than a side note.

Two weeks ago, Rudan told reporters he wouldn’t discuss his future going forward. Then came the news last Friday that he was gone, emerging just hours before the Phoenix played Brisbane and lost 2-1, a result that leaves their hopes of a home playoff hanging by a thread.

Rudan did not say explicitly he was going in his post-match press conference, but referred to a joint statement in the pipeline, which can only mean one thing. It will probably come today, with a press conference to follow.

What will Rudan say about how this came to be? Was it really about his family, more than anything else? What did players and staff know and when? Does he have any regrets about the way he’s handled the situation?

Will Dome be sat beside him? Will Morrison? What will they say about their comments in early February? What hope will they offer fans, as the club heads into winter without a coach, with only six players contracted, and its future in the A-league beyond the end of next season still yet to be secured – something that has undoubtedly made it hard for them to match Rudan’s ambitions?

From early December until the end of March, Phoenix fans had it as good as they ever have. Right now the club’s future looks very bleak indeed.