Sermanni plans to bring stability
Tom Sermanni’s football journey began in Scotland in the 1970s. Since then, it’s taken him to England, Australia, Japan, the United States, Malaysia and Canada. Now he’s in New Zealand, tasked with leading the Football Ferns to next year’s World Cup and providing a steady hand after two years of instability.
The team’s immediate objective is winning the Oceania Women’s Nations Cup, which starts next Monday, something they should accomplish with ease, given they’ve never lost to another Pacific Island nation. That would qualify them for the World Cup in France next June, where they are seeking a place in the knockout stage for the first time.
Neither goal will be easy, especially when you consider all that has gone on around the team during the past two years.
Since the Rio Olympics in 2016, there have been the retirements of several senior players; the surprise resignation of coach Tony Readings last November, when there were two years to run on his contract; and the not-so-surprise resignation of coach Andreas Heraf in July, following complaints from a dozen players about his conduct that an independent review later found to be ‘‘genuine and largely substantiated’’.
During all that, the Ferns played just 11 matches against nonOceania opposition, well down on the 24 they had during the same period in the previous World Cup cycle. They could add eight or nine more next year, in the runup to the World Cup, should they play in every international window, but there’s no guarantee of that, especially when you consider that the purse strings at NZ Football are tightening. All White Chris Wood is set for an ‘‘emotional’’ return to King Power Stadium tomorrow.
The Burnley striker, who made more than 50 appearances for Leicester City during a two-year spell at the club, will take on the Foxes in their first home game since the death of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
‘‘It’s going to be a day filled with emotion,’’ said Wood, who broke a 10-game goal-scoring drought when he netted in Burnley’s last match against West Ham.
‘‘Vichai was a great, respected
It’s just as well they have a coach who has seen plenty in his time. ‘‘The first thing I’ve learned is you can never take anything for granted,’’ Sermanni said this week.
‘‘You never quite know how things are going to work out, and there’s such a fine margin between winning and losing and it’s not always performance based. That’s probably the thing that strikes you the most, that you never know how a game is going to go.’’
Sermanni’s most notable achievements came during his time in charge of Australia from 2005 to 2012, when they qualified out of Asia for the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, winning matches and making the knockout stages for the first time, the same achievements the Ferns are presently chasing.
Reflecting on how the Matildas got there, Sermanni identified two key factors.
‘‘One was the tightness of the group, the real camaraderie of the group. The second thing was the ability of the players to be on the same page playing well together. Our preparation was about having as much time as possible to get the person, both at the club and Leicester in general. There will be a lot of emotion around the game and we’ll have to deal with that.’’
Wood said he was devastated to learn that Srivaddhanaprabha, an extremely popular figure at the Premier League club, had died along with four other people when his helicopter crashed outside King Power Stadium late last month.
‘‘It definitely hit me,’’ he said. ‘‘He was a man that talked to everybody, he got to know everybody and he was a family man. He’d do anything for you.’’ their lives, so those are positives.’’
The Ferns will assemble in Auckland tomorrow, ahead of a four-day training camp that begins on Monday, one week out from their Nations Cup opener against Tonga. Sermanni has spoken to captain Ali Riley – who he tried to sign for the last team he coached, the Orlando Pride – but said he is leaving the rest of his introductions until players arrive in camp.
‘‘I thought it’s just better that I wait until everybody comes in, because inevitability what I’d do, is I’d try and touch base with people and I’d end up speaking to some and not speaking to others, and they’d be like ‘oh, he’s spoken to these players, why hasn’t he spoken to me?’ so I thought it’d be safer to get everybody in and then go from there.’’
The Ferns will be together for three weeks this month, by far the longest stretch they’ll spend together between now and the World Cup itself. While the results in New Caledonia may appear to be a fait accompli it will be what they achieve there otherwise that sets the tone for the months ahead.
Now, to cap it all, he has secured himself a full scholarship at NCAA division one college the University of South Dakota.
‘‘Basketball never stops for me. I love it,’’ he told Stuff.
Perrott-Hunt, who was named this week in Paul Henare’s 14-strong Tall Blacks squad to prepare for the next Fiba World Cup qualifying window, learned yesterday soon after sitting his year-end business studies exam that he would be heading to South Dakota to play his college hoops.
Life has certainly been flowing by at a rapid clip for the shooting guard who made his visit to the campus just last weekend, and was clearly impressed with what he saw, announcing his intention to commit for 2019 in the immediate aftermath.
The Coyotes made it clear from the outset of the recruiting process they were keen on the young New Zealander, and as soon as he saw with his own eyes what was on offer he jumped at the chance. Never mind that other schools were also showing interest.
‘‘I was really impressed with the coaching setup, the facilities and the atmosphere around the team,’’ he said. ‘‘It will be an ideal environment to pursue my academic studies as well as develop as a player.’’
It also helped Perrott-Hunt’s decision that former Australian NBL sharpshooter Brad Davidson is an assistant coach in South Dakota and further underlined a feeling of comfort for the young Kiwi.
‘‘Coach Davidson was a terrific shooter and I’m sure his knowledge will help me refine my shooting game. He kinda influenced the decision,’’ Perrott-Hunt said.
The youngster hopes to study sports psychology at South Dakota when he starts midway through next year, though he admits his ultimate goal is to kick on to a career in pro hoops.