Fun to watch, but Phoenix results count against Ernie Merrick B10-11
Ernie Merrick’s resignation yesterday as Phoenix A-League coach isn’t a big footballing shock but it’s a major surprise.
Merrick signed a three-year contract extension in March last year and while the horror start to this A-League season was anything but ideal, there was nothing in his demeanour in the past month to suggest he was considering throwing in the towel.
Even after Sunday night’s loss to Adelaide United, he believed his side could still make the finals. They still might, but not under him.
Merrick had a lot of credit in the Phoenix bank. He came to the club at a time when a reinvention of their playing style was badly needed and duly delivered.
From the start, Merrick encouraged his players to pass the ball, mount attacks and spend time in the front third.
This was in stark contrast to Phoenix sides under Ricki Herbert which were set up to defend, be hard to break down and hit teams on the break through flashes of brilliance from the likes of Paul Ifill.
Conversely, Merrick’s Phoenix were fun to watch. They wanted to get forward, attack and score goals. Yes, they conceded a few, but it hardly mattered.
Merrick had one good season in Wellington and two average ones.
After injuries decimated his first year in charge, the 2014/15 campaign was the Phoenix’s best regular season, during which they scored more goals, claimed more wins and collected more points than any previous side.
For three weeks in March 2015, the Phoenix topped the table and fans dreamed of a first A-League title. It wasn’t to be, but Merrick was top of the pops and admired for his attacking intent, so much so
that even a ninth place finish in 2015/16 hardly raised an eyebrow.
As always, there’ll be questions about whether Merrick jumped before he was pushed.
We’ll never truly know the answer to that, but the fact is professional sport is a results business, and the Phoenix weren’t getting the wins or providing the performances they should have been given the attacking resources at Merrick’s disposal.
Stats can be used to prove or disprove just about anything, but no one could have possibly predicted that after eight games Roly Bonevacia, Gui Finkler, Kosta Barbarouses and Michael McGlinchey wouldn’t have a single goal between them. That alone is at least cause for questions.
Had he lost the dressing room? It’s impossible to gauge, but the majority of his players appeared to like and greatly respect their mentor, certainly publicly.
Many flourished under his stewardship and several young
Had he lost the dressing room? It’s impossible to gauge, but the majority of his players appeared to like and greatly respect their mentor, certainly publicly.
players were given their chance to play A-League football under his guidance.
Ironically, a number of young Australians — Dylan Fox, Jacob Tratt and famously Nathan Burns — had to come to New Zealand to get their chance to play A-League football when clubs in their own country weren’t interested. Others, including Vince Lia and Ben Sigmund, had their careers reinvigorated by the Scot. The front-runner to replace Merrick appears to be Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx who was courted by Brisbane Roar ahead of the 2015/16 season before the deal fell through. The Spaniard has long been regarded as a professional coach in waiting and may now get his chance to prove whether he can make the step from the amateur national league to the day-to-day demands of the A-League. Former assistant coach Luciano Trani has significant A-League experience and has indicated a desire to be a head coach, while Roar assistant and foundation Phoenix captain Ross Aloisi could also be in the mix. Phoenix assistant coach Chris Greenacre is probably too early in his career to be considered.
A roughie could be All Whites coach Anthony Hudson. New Zealand has just two international matches before the end of the A-League season (in March against Fiji), and Hudson has worked with several Phoenix players during his time in the national job.
It would need the Phoenix board to go back on their pledge not to consider national coaches for their club job after Herbert’s resignation in 2013 and Hudson himself would need to want to do it, which is far from certain.
Merrick made the Wellington Phoenix a watchable side and moved them forward. But under his watch, they’ve stopped winning. When that
happens, all bets are off.