New Zealand Men's U-17s

she would be just as quilified if not more then the girl i presume she is replacing!

You reckon? (see #259 of Womens Under-17 thread.)

Ah, thanks.

What have Zorocich, Andy Hedge, Stuart Pearce and Vinnie Jones got in common?

Great to see the one hour show on the recent Auckland City u-17 tournament on Sky TV last night. If you missed it, it's a must for anyone interested in our best u-17 men and women. Contact Sky on their webpage if you missed it and ask them to repeat it.

Good spread of sides from all around the country including several from Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson.

Best thing on youth football I've ever seen on TV here. Match highlights and good little interviews with coaches and players. Good commentary tying it together by Dennis Katsanos.

Ellerslie the men's winners, Dunedin Tech the women's.

Christchurch sides did well - Coastal Spirit boys scored 13 goals on Day One; Cashmere Technical from Christchurch (my local side) unlucky to lose out on pens in the semi (beat Napier and Waitakere in earlier round).

Ermal Fusha, the striker who scored Ellerslie's winner in the final looks a talent. Kosovo refugee family. They said he's on Kosovo's radar for national selection but the kid said he'd rather play for NZ where he's grown up. 

The Mata twins who played for Onehunga Sports boys seem good too - one of them scored against Arsenal in the Nike Cup in Manchester last year apparently.

It is repeated BP. Tomorrow at 9 a.m. And Sunday at 4.15 a.m. (See ACFC Under-17 Youth tournament thread on Regional Leagues plus go to www.acfcyouth.com

PS ACFC & Sky did same thing last year.

so who is the U17s target now that Zoro has said thanks but no thanks?

Appointment to be announced this week.

Who!!

He is prolific on twitter 

Central Utd coach. Ex NY Red Bulls Academy.

Impending disaster on the horizon. If he is involved, his BFF Temple will be too.

wtf, what has he done and who has he coached?? Red Bull academy (community role) assistant to temple with u17 girls hmmm, don't know whether to laugh or cry. 

Bye Bye NZ coaches..No pathway. Sean Douglas had the right idea. Applied for a National Team role after doing his apprenticeship, thanks but not thanks. Moved to Aus now heads up FFA Coach Education with Rob Sherman ( Another NZ Football reject).

He says on the Central Utd website he has returned from New York where he "spent 3 years as lead coach of the Red Bulls key training centre " (for players aged 9 to 14). He must have something to have lasted 3 years in Manhattan. They don't accept mugs too easily there. (Unless he's just another hipster!)

He has done most of his coaching in NZ (AFF, Central etc) then moved to New York.  Looks to have had as much experience as most who have been touted for the job and started doing Uefa A licence apparently.  IMO Not a bad choice given the Candidates seams to like to play football not smash and run.  Time will tell....

This appointment is indicative of Fred de Jong's thinking. Seems to think that New Zealand born coaches are not up to it. This appointment appears to be a last minute decision as we all know from reports and rumours that the job was offered to others before Figueira . Will he be asked to step down from his coaching role at Central as was requested by NZF to their first choice to step down from his other coaching position?   \Yes JV , his best friends are  Paul Temple ( another unsuccessful coach) and  Paul Smalley (let's not go there !)\By all accounts I have heard he is a nice person , but has had no success coaching at any level.  This may not be a prerequisite  for success against at Oceania qualifiers.

As for the pathway mentioned by others on this forum, you only have to look at the NZF set-up to see the number of Kiwi coaches involved.  Aaron  McFarland Leon Birnie are only 2 I can think of . It goes further - just analyse the number of coaches in Federation coaching positions.  Northern Football is a prime example.

I am not judging him as a person. I agree he is a nice guy but would not know a football from the pointy end of a broomstick. Someone said hipster? Jesus with him you have a Temple clone. They are twins right down to the matching underpants.

The unfortunate thing (in my uninformed opinion) is that there are better coaches and the man picking them, well I serious doubt (based on his other decisions) that he has a clue. Zorro said yeah, got the details and then went nah. There would be others that are equally smart (and by implication, smarter the FDJ) who would have gone, 'sorry Fred, but you are off your rocker. Don;t need this gig'

By all accounts, if you touch any of these gigs, how much are you on an ass raping to nothing before you even start? The words 'poison chalice' seem appropriate because it no longer seems to be an honour getting these roles - more of 'which mug will work within the confines we apply'

Zoro seams to be the choice Dejour for the job. What qualifications does he have over the others? What real experience does he have other than coaching the best , I mean best by a country mile, youth squad to win in a league with no opposition. How has he done with an average squad against squads that are equal or better than his (Central). Not a dig at him just query how much success people think he would have with U17 against the worlds best. Easy to get results when you have the best tools but not so sure when the tools are inferior?

Wow, so much hate.
Don't know the guy so I'm not about to judge him. Instead, questions:
What importance does or should NZF place on this age group? Once that is determined are appropriate resources then allocated? Does NZF's apparent preparation time, budget, planning, resource etc reflect the 'born to fail' opinion that seems prevalent in these forums? What should change, if anything?

Agree in general smithy. It's only because we are in Oceania (realistic chance of WC qualification) that we pull together the usual shambles. If we were in AFC with higher costs/less chance to qualify, would we even bother?
As to your question, I guess he'll be given a list of players from NZF/NTC and then ask if these are even the best players, then ring Wynton, Kevin, Danny, Declan, Jess, plus whoever is in his circle of coaching mates. Then pick those that live in Auckland ;)

Staff appointments for National Youth teams is such a crucial stage not only for the players, but also for the growth of our coaches/managers/medical staff.

IMO we have a wealth of Kiwi talent in the coaching stable. To not acknowledge this by appointing someone who has NO experience/track record and who is foreign is a travesty. 

I would like to know who applied for this position/who got interviewed and how Figuera was identified as the right coach for the job. My understanding is that he was not 1 of the 3 interviewed!!!

NZ coaching pathways. Yeah right

I'm interested in how they pick the team also.  NZ Football send emails out uninviting you to NTC if you choose your training elsewhere and haven't participated in FTC. They then go on to warn you that you are not guaranteed a trial for U17's unless you are at NTC.  

To me, it shouldn't matter if your Nana trains you. If you are good enough, why do you have to follow the NZF designed pathway and why does the pathway have to include FTC-NTC?

Wellington - Rules are Rules but it makes no sense!

So they don't get every kids whose parents thinks the sun shines out of their ass turning up to U17s trial? At least with NTC some of that filtering should have occurred.

thank you.

regardless of the 'correctness' of the policy it needs to be applied across the board. 

then followed by GG's selection scenario :)

NTC players have a better chance of making the team as they are seen by the people who pick the team. If a player isn't picked for NTC the likely hood of them getting anywhere near the team a low when you consider their are about 60 players for that age band at NTC. No player is guaranteed anything so that shouldn't be a suprise. 

I think at the end of the day if the player is good enough they will get a look in at some stage. 

The point is not all the best players attend FTC/NTC.

WYNRS, APFA/WPFA, Ole Academy etc.

Coach will find the non FTC/NTC players who deserve  a shot I 'm sure.

So the consensus is;

despite what we are told by NZF do what we feel is best?