New Zealand Men's U-17s

Just before anyone jumps to conclusions, this isn't a Steve Cain type thing.

I guess NZF will have to pay out Figueira and Temple's contract?

They'll feel hard done by after getting them to the FIFA Finals in October.

Must be something to do with Hudson's opinion?

"New Zealand Football High Performance Director Fred de Jong says “at this point in time we feel Danny and Chris are a better fit for guiding this team for the remainder of the campaign while maintaining the strong link to our teams further up the pathway.

“The U-17 tier of that structure is incredibly important with the players coming in getting their first taste of the New Zealand Football philosophy, an experience which sets the tone for their future development towards our U-20, Olympic and All Whites teams,” de Jong said.

“I thank Jose and Paul for their commitment and dedication to the side to this point in the cycle which has seen the team book their place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in October.”

Danny Hay did talk Hudson up big time in the Sunday paper and Zorro was offered the job first time around. Is Hudson just getting yes men.Sounds like a cult is forming.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/9909644/Hay-Dragging-the-New-Zealand-Football-anchor

So Danny basically says "NZF treats their coaches like shark" and now has the gig himself 12 months later.

My oh my oh my. Didn;t they have a trot last week or something? Something must have seriously gone wrong for this to have happened. especially the "better fit" line.

So Figueira takes the reigns of a team, is given fudge all preparation, plays 7 games in 14 days in Samoa, wins them all, then gets sacked.

Then they employ Danny Hay whose biggest achievement at youth level is recruiting players for high school football.  If Hay wanted the job, why didn't he apply at the time? I'll tell you why. He'd rather collect a fat cheque from Sacred Heart College. Same goes for Zoro.

Sharkty message to send to any future applicants. Do the hard yards but you might be shafted for a Johnny come lately. who wasn't keen to do it in the first place.

Wonder how the kids are feeling right about now. They go into camp next week.

Have to agree with you here Vader this has a bad smell about it. I think its time for de jong  to move on, at least they are Kiwi .All Dannys mates have jobs now Emblem  Bazeley Zorro anyone for a BBQ  at Hudsons

Surely they should give a reason for this change other than it being a better fit going forward. If it is a better fit, why?

Considering the job is re-advertised post World Cup, it makes no sense.

Figueira re-tweeted the quote below less than 72hrs ago. Coincidence? We'll never know. As for those expecting more info from NZF on the sacking of a coach. #forgetaboutit

Considering Figueira/Temple selected the training squad that Hay/Zoro will inherit next week, is it all bets off now? There will be other players who will now come into the mix surely.

Looks like a shambles

I see in the Phoenix link the NZF guy talks up the NTC program.

speaking of which my boy has just returned from NTC and each player in his group was a midfielder.

How many ex-Sacred Heart?

Def need to hear more.

Get on it Gourdie.

This whole thing just seems fudgeed up. It's not at all clear why. Results were good (very good in fact). Hope the truth comes out.

It just seems like Fred is the most devious SOB administrator around. FIFA worthy.

I wonder what Danny Hay's column will be on this weekend? 

Further thoughts

Apart from the unfairness of coaches not being given the opportunity to continue  on to the World Cup competition after qualifying in the  Islands , which is no mean feat , why would Fred appoint unqualified coaches to take their place? Is Fred  Hudson's new puppet? His track record suggests it is time for Fred to move on . The line from NZF has been that if coaches want to reach the next level and have a chance of coaching at International level they must have coaching badges. Many coaches out there have invested thousands of dollars of personal finances(not all are on PM scholarships or financially backed by Football Federation employers ). Has this all changed ? What message is being sent to coaches out there working endless hours to get their badges. Is being an All White more important than having qualifications ? Danny Hay has been talking Hudson up big time , motive now obvious.

I cannot believe the NZF Board sanctions such call for an inept High Performance manager who himself has no footballing qualifications apart from himself being an All White .

School coaches with a massive conflict of interest and no licence and/or experience taking over- that’s a joke. Hudson is creating a British yes culture and nobody is stopping him –you have to feel sorry for coaches like Figueira and Gerdsen. So bottom line is – future coaches have to be English with no licence/experience and no opinion.

Why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that Hudson is behind this?

Hudson talked about an integrated approach with All White, U23/Olympic and U20's as far as I recall.

This U16 event (drama/fiasco) seems to be with Fred at the moment. 

Don't be so sure they are wrong.

Yes, but why? It just doesn't seem like something Hudson would need to worry himself with. 

Is Hudson afraid that the young pretender JayFig is going to steal the limelight?

Can't it just be something more boring along the lines of Fred being a terrible administrator. It's not 'mutual consent' in the press release and it feels hard to believe its performance or philosophy related.

If you think Hudson is not behind this then you are naïve

New Zealand Football has been the same for as long as I can remember. They are a disgrace.

If your a mate of Fred, you got a job, it's back to the old days when Charlie Dempsey was in charge

Who are the U17 players that transferred to Central Utd?

So let me get this straight you win an OFC Championship unbeaten and you get rewarded by being replaced as head coach???? bloody NZ Football logic or lack there of. 

Don't forget they scrapped in on penalties... so whilst unbeaten some of the results weren't exactly brilliant.

From what I have heard Zoro is rated highly and likes to play a possession game so his inclusion makes sense. Also, don't forget he was the person NZF originally wanted.... so with an important tournament coming up, a coach perhaps not getting the results he should of and your first choice now available and more importantly interested you say no and stay with the status quo?... if this was a business scenario no one would be complaining!!

And has Hay actually done anything wrong to deserve the angst? He speaks his mind, but I personally prefer that. And questions surrounding his suitability to coach a national team given he has only coach at school boy level seem to forget that the U17 squad is made up of school boys and his record coaching school boys is very good.

And if that success is down to poaching and scholarships I'm even more impressed because it means he clearly identified the right players to bring about that success.

Just playing devils advocate, but some fair points (in my mind) to consider.

True Zoro is a good coach, the success that he had with the Auckland City FC youth team shows that. Also Danny Hay has done a good job at Sacred Heart. Whilst I disagree with the decision to get rid of Figueira and Temple I don't think we should be attacking Hay or Zoro let them have the chance to do the job they've been appointed to do. 

Ok please treat me (as per usual) that I have no clue about football. Explain to me in plain English why Hudson would be behind this.

As someone said above, don't be so sure that Hudson is not involved in this. Ok - tell me why he would be. There has to be more than 'Cause Hudson said so and Hay is a mate' I know NZF are incompetent but they can't be that incompetent.

I kinda need a little more than nepotism to believe that a national coaching appointment is made like this cause the guy coming in has the ear of the national coach. The press release leads to a little more than 'oh its cause Danny know Anthony'


In saying that, if someone can show that it is true, then what the hell is Andy Martin doing and the governance over his direct reports (De Jong and Hudson) cause that there should never ever be allowed to happen and if true, De Jong needs to go today.

The 'right fit' argument is nonsense. Anyone who has seen Central in the last couple of years could tell you that. He got Central to the Chatham Cup final playing mostly kids. Decent effort. They play good football.

I loathe to say who is a better coach because unless we have seen multiple sessions and games, noone know for sure. 

Zoro turned down the job in the first place, what kind of precedent does that set? Didn't do the hard yard with a tough schedule and bugger all prep. But going to get the jaunt to Chile. He made his bed. Now sleep in it. Let him apply when the job comes up post world cup. 

Zoro is a good coach but he balked because (and I think there was a paper article) no budget, no prep time and no professionalism. He is not going to come out of this looking good because he was critical of them in the first place and now has the cream from the bowl in his mouth

Jose, I was not a massive fan until I saw what he did at Central with the young kids. He got a team of kids with no names playing football and I respect that. Temple is definitely an idiot so Jose gets marked down by association but he did not deserve this.

Funny that Mili never got reappointed, Willy got gassed, and Jose is gone (not to mention Zoro walked the first time). Between them, they are all good coaches and yet somehow, NZF think none of them were right.

After this, what does this say about NZFs coaching pathways and whom is the next cab off the rank in terms of doing time and earning it?

Milicich got gassed because he spoke out about the pay to represent bullshark.

You think FdJ is the sole person picking coaches at NZF? Look how much control they have handed Hudson since he has arrived. He got the U23s job, picked his own AW's assistant, they binned Willy.  

Right from "Day One" Hudson has appeared to me as being a Flash Harry. For the sake of NZ Football I sincerely hope I am wrong

It just seems like Fred is the most devious SOB administrator around. FIFA worthy.

Ain't this the truth.

As for Martin, he needs to be very careful. This whole Hudson thing is starting to have an odor to it.

I really can't believe this is unfolding as jobs for the boys.

I'm sick of Fred