Tribulietx is the man to fix the Nix

The franchise is in a mess and needs some fresh thinking.

OPINION: It’s not pretty is it? The Phoenix are drawing to the end of their 10th season in the A League, and barring a sudden turnaround in form, are destined to finish low in the table. Again.

If they remain in their current position of eighth, they’ll have finished in the bottom three in six of their ten seasons. They’ve never made the top three, which on a ladder as short as the A League, takes some doing. Crowds are small and getting smaller.

The development system has yet to produce a standout. Star players are not delivering. Key senior players haven’t got long left.

They’re still on the lookout for the right coach.

It’s such a mess that it’s no surprise there’s an Aussie happy to put the boot in. TV pundit and ex international goalie Mark Bosnich is that guy.

He said, more or less, that the Phoenix are a waste of space and they should make way for an Aussie club gagging for their spot. Cue the predictable outrage this side of the Tasman.

But looking at it through green and yellow tinted glasses, rather than our black and yellow ones, you can understand where he’s coming from.

The A League is doing New Zealand a favour by including the Phoenix in their comp, but what’s in it for them? Not even the buzz of playing in front of a packed stadium against a seriously good team after flying, in Perth’s case, half way round the world to get here.

On their side of the ditch, crowds aren’t particularly drawn to watching the Phoenix, either at the game or on the box. Could the Nix argue that they’re returning the favour to Australian football by giving jobs to Aussie players? Not really. If the Phoenix were replaced by an Aussie team, the new team would have more Aussies on their roster than the Nix do.

Would New Zealand Football want a team from Suva in our own Stirling Sports National League?

Probably not, but the Nix playing in an Australian league is even more bizarre than Suva playing here. At least Fiji is in the same confederation as New Zealand. The Nix playing is the A League is like the best team in Morocco playing in Spain’s La Liga.

Whatever. The Phoenix are in the A League and to get an extension to their licence they need to drastically improve. Where to start? From scratch. They need a new culture, a new coach, a clean sweep of players, a better scouting and development system, and a backer with serious funds to bring in some top players.

Because nothing happens without good players. Wherever teams have succeeded, they’ve had some of the best players in key positions. Even Leicester City. And when those players leave or get old, it doesn’t matter who the coach is or how great the tactics, the team takes a dive. At least until they can recruit more top players.

So first, the Phoenix need the funds to attract players good enough to make a difference.

And they need a coach who knows where to find them. And who can also find and coach the best local players. And who can put it all together on and off the pitch.

There’s a coach who ticks those boxes, and Kiwi football fans wonder why he hasn’t already got the job. Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx.

Under the Spaniard, Auckland have dominated local football like never before, earning an almost annual invite to the World Club Championships, and crowning it with an impossible third place in 2014. This year they won a tournament against pro teams in Hong Kong.

Tribulietx did it by assembling an international roster that makes Chelsea look homegrown, and moulding them into a cohesive unit that went within a whisker of the World Club Final.

If that didn’t get Tribulietx a job interview at the time, it should now.