Ferns firestorm
Trouble in the national women’s side runs deep.
Embattled Football Ferns coach Andreas Heraf made one mistake, but it was a howler: after the Ferns’ 1-3 loss to Japan in Wellington last month, he said, “We will never have that quality to compete with Japan There’s more money, more facilities, better coaches in that country. The gap is that big.”
It amounted to defacing our self-image as the little nation that can and ignored a tradition of punching above our weight in international competition, and the backlash was fierce.
It was all downhill from there. There were claims that the Austrian has created a “toxic culture”; the most-capped Fern, Abby Erceg, retired in protest; 13 players complained about an unprofessional environment of bullying and intimidation; an investigation was launched; and Heraf was sent on leave under notice of possible suspension.
He may not be the only casualty of the firestorm he started. Critics are pointing the finger at New Zealand Football (NZF) chief executive Andy Martin, who appears to have presided over a purge of Stalinist proportions: 32 staff, including the entire management of both senior national sides, have left the building in recent times.
Former technical director Rob Sherman said the exodus was “a tragedy in a small organisation when you have that type of people leave and I don’t think NZF can necessarily afford that”.
Which is sort of what Heraf was saying in the first place …