Durante calls for decisive action on Phoenix coach
Swift action on a new Wellington Phoenix coach is needed if they are to avoid the mistakes of this campaign.
The club has been searching for a head coach since Darije Kalezic departed on March 8 after overseeing the worst 21-game start to a Phoenix season in their 11-year history.
Kalezic had a lot of excuses for why things went so horribly wrong, often publicly criticising his players, saying they were not up to playing in the A-League. He was able to bring in 11 of his own players over the course of the season, but also sent four packing.
Phoenix captain Andrew Durante said with just nine players on the books for next season there was a lot of potential for a new coach to shape the squad for next season.
‘‘We want the coach to come in and have no excuses that he has been given a team that he didn’t want.
‘‘There are 14, maybe 15, players off contract. There are a lot I’m sure he’ll want to keep, but there are a lot he might see as not needed.
‘‘We really need to give the coach the opportunity to pick the players he wants to make sure there are minimal excuses come the end of next season.’’
There was sure to be a lot of movement of players around the league in the off-season, given there were more players coming off contract than signed for next season in the A-League.
To capitalise on that, the Phoenix would need to be making moves to sign players already, but unlikely to happen before a new coach was signed.
‘‘It’s stalled at the moment to see do we want to wait for a coach, or do we sign him [me] without a coach being done.
‘‘That’s kind of the roadblock at the moment, which I completely understand. I’m not pushing the club, I’m not in a rush to do anything, but we’ll see.’’
In terms of who might be the next coach, it remained up in the air.
Aurelio Vidmar was approached early on, but has been ruled out for a number of reasons, including not being able to agree about how the club would be run under his leadership.
Former Newcastle Jets coach Scott Miller’s name came up last week. He’s an ambitious young Australian coach who knows the league, but has also been linked to the Central Coast Mariners job, vacated by Paul Okon. Okon was not expected to be interested in the Phoenix job.
Former New Zealand Football technical director Rob Sherman has been linked to the job after he went through part of the All Whites head coach interview process. He has a pro licence, which is a requirement for a foreign A-League coach.
Current interim head coach Chris Greenacre cannot do the top job on a permanent basis given he does not have a pro licence. Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx was in the same boat.
The Phoenix take on the red-hot Adelaide United in Adelaide tomorrow night. Their five All Whites rejoin the squad, while Monty Patterson has been cleared of a serious knee injury and would be available for selection.