Buckingham keen on All Whites job
Des Buckingham has confirmed he is interested in coaching the All Whites, with New Zealand Football to begin its search for a replacement for Fritz Schmid this month.
Buckingham was last week installed as coach of the national under-23 men’s team through to the Tokyo Olympics next August, having recently returned from the Under-20 World Cup in Poland, where his side impressed with its positive approach, but was eliminated in a penalty shootout in the round of 16.
Former All Whites captain Danny Hay has already declared his interest in the job and at this stage, he and Buckingham would appear to be the two leading contenders to replace Schmid, who resigned from the senior and under-23 roles two weeks ago.
NZ Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell wants someone appointed as early in October as possible, so they will have plenty of time to prepare for the All Whites’ next scheduled fixture, against Ireland in Dublin on November 14.
‘‘The high performance and player welfare committee are reviewing the job description this week, and player input through the PFA is paramount to that, alongside input from the technical department, and making sure the executive committee have got that opportunity as well,’’ Pragnell said yesterday.
‘‘They’ll review it this week, and I’m always weary of stamping an exact timeframe on things, but I’d like to think we will be able to go to market in the next one to two weeks.’’
Pragnell had previously signalled a desire to reflect on what the All Whites coaching job entails, with an eye to being ready for the 2026 World Cup cycle, where the best team from Oceania will gain direct entry to the game’s showpiece event, and no longer need to navigate an intercontinental playoff as they will for the 2022 event.
‘‘I think it comes down to what New Zealand Football wants,’’ Buckingham said yesterday, when asked if he was interested.
‘‘[Me and Chris Greenacre] took the Phoenix who had lost six of eight [at the start of the 2016-17 season] and put together a points per game record off the back of that that would have got us into the playoffs across a full season, so that’s a good turnaround at the only professional club in this country.
‘‘The under-20 qualifiers last year, where we went and qualified for the World Cup, that campaign was heavily underresourced and under-financed. We went with a lot of players unavailable, but not only did we go and qualify for the World Cup, but we won the Oceania qualification tournament.
‘‘Then there’s the World Cup we just got back from. We had good players and the structure was put in place to showcase what they are capable of doing. We won two games at a Fifa Under-20 World Cup, which had never been done before; we played some fantastic football; we created our own history in terms of a load of internal and external measurements.
‘‘In terms of coaching, I think I’ve shown what I can do and what I can contribute to football in this country, and if the people at NZ Football and the people who are making the decisions see that as something they want to continue into the All Whites, that’s something I would be hugely interested in.’’