BAZEball - The Darren Bazeley Era

sorry should've said not your most natural of footballers, always looks awkward to me. But he can take a pen that's for sure.

But personally i think we would score more goals with Rojas and Greive on the pitch. More suited for free flowing football. Wood struggles with that. But he's the captain and the coach must find a way to make him useful. Aussies have better strikers in players like Duke who is similar to Wood in stature but can play different styles with players around him like Maclaren, Leckie and McGree - I've always been jealous of that.

i think i good overseas coach would take a pay cut to coach us because if we get to the world cup and lets be honest we should....well it would look great on their cv and could simply lead to bigger and better things for them. But NZ definitely want a coach who has some connection to the NZ culture and our way of life so leaves limited options.

Showtime Nixie

sorry should've said not your most natural of footballers, always looks awkward to me. But he can take a pen that's for sure.

But personally i think we would score more goals with Rojas and Greive on the pitch. More suited for free flowing football. Wood struggles with that. But he's the captain and the coach must find a way to make him useful. Aussies have better strikers in players like Duke who is similar to Wood in stature but can play different styles with players around him like Maclaren, Leckie and McGree - I've always been jealous of that.

i think i good overseas coach would take a pay cut to coach us because if we get to the world cup and lets be honest we should....well it would look great on their cv and could simply lead to bigger and better things for them. But NZ definitely want a coach who has some connection to the NZ culture and our way of life so leaves limited options.

We'd score more goals without our record international goalscorer, but with two guys who have 7 All Whites goals between them?  And you're suggesting Wood only plays because he's the captain?

What are the odds of one or two total outsiders being considered right now? Outside of Uffie and Darren B, there hasn't been too much speculation, at least not with real names attached to it.
I'd argue against Ramon as he would be the second coach running to get the job purely because he did well domestically. I'd like us to see us shoot higher than that, although Hay did better than I expected all things considered. 
Of course we can't offer huge $$$ but the incumbent will be able to spend a long time in Europe/USA if they choose and working in NZ for a while could actually entice someone looking for a new experience...and there's the massive carrot of all but guaranteed WC participation in 3.5 years' time! 

So I would really like hear some decent names have at least been considered

NZF don't want the coach to live overseas, or just see the role as a stepping stone to something better. Pragnell has made that clear. They can get Winnie Reid or someone else to monitor the Euro based players for them, like Rory once did.

The new coach needs to be fully invested in NZ, and work in with other NZF staff especially the new TD at all levels of the NZ game. Personally I like that approach. Trying to hopefully get all our teams playing the same way, with clear pathways etc.

NZF can't offer a big salary, nor a very exciting WC qualifying campaign but there are other attractions to the role. Coach will likely also be in charge of Olywhites for Paris 2024, and be involved with U20s this year.

I think there have been hints the other 2 unknown names on the shortlist, also have existing links to NZ. So Emblen, Tribuleix (spp), Figueria, Simon Elliott, Cam Knowles, a Hudson return - guess away.

What they will need to be after than Mckinnon report, is a collaborative type, needing to work closely with the TD especially. No Hay like, 'my way or the highway'. I think that counts against Uffie (among other issues).

100% agree. Hopefully hear soon! 

Khalil Media

Showtime Nixie

Martinb i agree re Woods he's a battler against nations outside of the pacific or these last minute countries we get. He's not a genuine footballer he's definitely hard to watch sometimes. Plays he best football when teams launch it long or bang crosses into the box. But at the end of the day to his credit he does put NZ first and has a reputation that he holds a lot of power inside the camp. Fair play he's made a more than decent career being a bang average footballer.

Re your comment on TALAY....you'd hope every coach wanted to try score...that's not the issue...the issue is he struggles to win games and his teams leak like a seive.

Not a genuine footballer?  Wow.

Definitely not what I said. He’s a gold standard number 9. 

I think the point I was making was that our midfield attack hadn’t scored. They’d blazed from distance, but low percentage shots. And yeh we’d have done better with Rojas- he’d have created more space for Wood. I think one of our best chances against Peru was his crossing…the point I was making too, is that Wood doesn’t usually drag defenders deep and try and create for someone else. But that really shouldn’t be his responsibility. 

The goal we did score (which got chalked off) was a Wood finish. Once described as a poacher in a targetman’s body (which I disagree with, I think he’s got a bit more than just that) I think Wood thrives with interplay around the box and accurate set piece service. As well as pouncing on scraps. But scraps come from others competing and winning the ball. 

The other way we could score of course is to use him as a distraction while a less heralded player delivers the coup de grace. But again, waiting on the player…

Peru 2017 or Peru 2022 in Barcelona? Rojas didn't get on in the latter game.

But yes is easy to forget that as well as missing Singh & Thomas against CR in the playoff, Rojas (and McCowatt) was out contention at the 11th Hour with some sort of illness.

We'll never know if he had come off the bench, whether he could have created an opportunity against the Ticos. He had been a form player 2nd half of the ALM season, and he could only have gone better than Barba & his inglorious cameo.

This is a barely on topic, but just had to get off my chest my frustration that uffie had been playing maraugis over Sutton when Sutton was available (understand he isn't now). Maraugis hasn't exactly been noticeably better than Sutton and he is on loan from the jets! We are developing a player for them at the expense of our own. Especially if uffie wants to coach the all whites, that's like shooting yourself in both feet! Bloody great goal from zawada earlier though

I guess this is sorta illustrative of the sort of conflict of interest that might arise if he is given the all whites job. I really don't want him to get it

imanixsupporter

This is a barely on topic, but just had to get off my chest my frustration that uffie had been playing maraugis over Sutton when Sutton was available (understand he isn't now). Maraugis hasn't exactly been noticeably better than Sutton and he is on loan from the jets! We are developing a player for them at the expense of our own. Especially if uffie wants to coach the all whites, that's like shooting yourself in both feet! Bloody great goal from zawada earlier though

Except Mauragis has been really good since tking the spot, Sutton will be back but right now the loan player is doing the job well.

He's been alright, I'd grant that, but that almost makes it worse, that another team will reap the rewards of a promising player being given decent game time. But i'd still argue we would be no worse off with a fit Sutton in there instead. Perhaps we have to play him a minimum number of games as part of the loan deal agreement, that's the only thing that would make it make sense. If not, I question why a prospective nz coach wouldn't prefer to be playing a kiwi instead 

imanixsupporter

He's been alright, I'd grant that, but that almost makes it worse, that another team will reap the rewards of a promising player being given decent game time. But i'd still argue we would be no worse off with a fit Sutton in there instead. Perhaps we have to play him a minimum number of games as part of the loan deal agreement, that's the only thing that would make it make sense. If not, I question why a prospective nz coach wouldn't prefer to be playing a kiwi instead 

gametime is definateky a possibiity, to be fair Talay was not a prospective NZ anything when he made the loan deal, Hay was well locked into the job and under no threat.

Hire Ramon, coax Vicelich out of retirement, play in navy blue… we’ll never lose again!

imanixsupporter

This is a barely on topic, but just had to get off my chest my frustration that uffie had been playing maraugis over Sutton when Sutton was available (understand he isn't now). Maraugis hasn't exactly been noticeably better than Sutton and he is on loan from the jets! We are developing a player for them at the expense of our own. Especially if uffie wants to coach the all whites, that's like shooting yourself in both feet! Bloody great goal from zawada earlier though

Sutton has been out with the same 'illness' that Waine had before signing for Plymouth.

Might be the next to leave the Nix, hence why he's being omitted from the squad.

Any proof to this??

MetalLegNZ

Any proof to this??

 Speculation.

it's what happened with Waine before the Plymouth deal.

AV sums it up.

I'd say not only playing but scoring regularly. That hasn't nappened since Wood was banging them in at Burnley, in the 2020/21 season.

We also need Singh fit.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/130913352/all-whites-forward-ben-waines-plymouth-argyle-move-makes-him-one-to-follow-closely

Much has been made of the national men’s football team’s failure to score in any of their last five matches, including the playoff for a place at the 2022 World Cup against Costa Rica in June.

The appointment of a new coach, due any day now, won’t be a panacea as far as that is concerned.

More than anything former coach Danny Hay did, the goal drought was the product of poor finishing and more generally, poor decision-making in the final third.

Those flaws can only be fixed by getting the country’s attacking players playing regularly at higher levels of club football.

Even if he (Waine) only becomes a regular scorer in third-tier League One or the second-tier Championship, which Plymouth are on track to be promoted to, it will be a massive boost for the All Whites.

As things stand, Alex Greive is the only young Kiwi forward regularly finding the back of the net at a decent level in Europe, having scored five times in 29 matches for St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

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On our Wikipedia page. Both games in Japan. 

lthomas20

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On our Wikipedia page. Both games in Japan. 

Well the Japan FA is planning a 4 team tourney to be played over both the March & June windows (2 games per window). But Pragnell has been promising for awhile now the AWs playing at home in March.

https://www.jfa.jp/eng/international_match/
https://www.jfa.jp/eng/samuraiblue/news/00031318/

The KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2023 will feature four international friendlies, at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on Thursday 23 March, Yodoko Sakura Stadium in Osaka on Tuesday 28 March, Toyota Stadium in Aichi on Thursday 15 June, and Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka on Tuesday 20 June.

lthomas20

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On our Wikipedia page. Both games in Japan. 

I don’t believe this is real. 
It looks like someone who reads Japanese has mistranslated the Japan Football website or offshoot news article from 23 December when they announced upcoming fixtures for 2023. 
Japan have not yet announced participating teams for the Kirin Cup. but their website talks about the Kirin Cup, their national team getting back from Qatar, their U20 side going to U20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan and their Women’s side going to (Australia and) New Zealand.
The wiki page editor who edited via a mobile device only edited the national team pages of Japan, Qatar, Uzbekistan and New Zealand, adding in these tournament details.

NZ Football going to blow past another deadline this week? They were supposed to make an announcement by this Friday and it's been awful quiet...

imanixsupporter

NZ Football going to blow past another deadline this week? They were supposed to make an announcement by this Friday and it's been awful quiet...

I think it's clear as day Buckingham was going to be given the gig by NZF. 

Buckingham has likely used this to leverage more cash out of his Arab paymasters. Fair play to him after being dicked around by NZF a few years back.

imanixsupporter

NZ Football going to blow past another deadline this week? They were supposed to make an announcement by this Friday and it's been awful quiet...

Looks like we got him.

https://sport.news.am/eng/news/137289/zidane-refuses-to-lead-national-teams-of-brazil-portugal-and-us.html

Ted Striker

imanixsupporter

NZ Football going to blow past another deadline this week? They were supposed to make an announcement by this Friday and it's been awful quiet...

Looks like we got him.

https://sport.news.am/eng/news/137289/zidane-refuses-to-lead-national-teams-of-brazil-portugal-and-us.html

Cool, he can give Pennington a few tips about head contact

Doloras

Ted Striker

imanixsupporter

NZ Football going to blow past another deadline this week? They were supposed to make an announcement by this Friday and it's been awful quiet...

Looks like we got him.

https://sport.news.am/eng/news/137289/zidane-refuses-to-lead-national-teams-of-brazil-portugal-and-us.html

Cool, he can give Pennington a few tips about head contact

I remember Disco getting sent off for the head pressing thing. Tbh, don’t know how much Zizou would have helped Pennington there. 

What he really wants is the Griffiths course (J) on how to do insane things like punch a linesman in a sensitive area and not even get a free kick against you…

Was the coach not supposed to by named by today? After already being pushed back from before Christmas. Pragnell said he wanted it done before the FF vs USA to not divert attention from those games, yet we still don’t have it. If not this weekend, then are we looking at another two weeks away?

I did see under Michael Burgess’ tweet that one of the March AWs games is set to be at Mt Smart that Gordon Glen Watson (Auckland City media man and NL commentator) and Sam Wilkinson (Melville coach up to last year and possibly also ex U17 assistant) said they’ve heard Herdman is floating around as a potential name. Wilkinson also mentioned Nevin was also a potential name, which I assume would refer to Paul Nevin, who was head coach at the NZ Knights back in the day and currently a first team coach as West Ham and is also assistant to Gareth Southgate for England. His son was apparently playing first team football in NRFL Div 1 last year, so they’ve not forgotten NZ, and both him and Herdman would fit the “knows NZ landscape” test and we haven’t heard two of the applicants of course.

Paul Nevin, Darren Bazeley & Neil Emblen as an experimental triumvirate to bring back the glory days of the Knights? Perhaps the plan is they can coach NZ into the ground to convince Ricki Herbert the once and future king to return and take us back to the promised land. It's worked before 

Wonder if the delay is whether Herdman is getting offered an extension for Canada. Did well in qualifying but I guess underachieved at the World Cup.

Also heard it was China coming down which should be very winable.

2ndBest

Wonder if the delay is whether Herdman is getting offered an extension for Canada. Did well in qualifying but I guess underachieved at the World Cup.

Also heard it was China coming down which should be very winable.

Dunno, Since 2000 we have 3 draws and a loss against them.

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Also heard Nevin's name a little while ago. So that would make our 5:
Buckingham
Bazeley
Herdman
Nevin
Talay

"Herdman is on the lower end of salaries compared to the other 31 managers at this World Cup. Given how transformative his time with the men’s national team has been, a raise on the reported $700,000 (Canadian) he’s earning would be warranted. It’s believed there have been some initial discussions between Herdman and Canada Soccer about an improved contract" - Canadian source

$700,000 CAN is about 820K NZ. He would be taking a massive paycut for us. But lure of another World Cup could entice him. Would like to see how he would go at a club? who knows

All the fan talk I read out of Canada about Herdman is the love him. Yes were disappointing at the WC, but will be better for the experience heading in to a home WC 2026.

I’d be really surprised if they didn’t re-sign him, but if not he’d now be my no 1 pick for AWs since Buckingham pulled out

Davies converts his 10th min pen in the first game against Belgium (they lost 1-0), and they gain some confidence with a result who knows how different it could have been for them 

I guess we can can now count out a return of the one and only Antony Hudson. Who by some miracle has been just appointed head coach(interim) of the USA National men’s team. That guy could talk his way into any job. Trouble is the action never got close to the talk. His last  club coaching gig was at Colorado where he got sacked with the worst coaching record in the clubs history. So go figure how he got the USA MENS TEAM  job. 

2ndBest

Also heard Nevin's name a little while ago. So that would make our 5:
Buckingham
Bazeley
Herdman
Nevin
Talay

Ramon Tribulietx (if he applied, should be in the mix too).

I must say I had been thinking about Herdman too but hadn't posted as I thought surely he would be off to bigger and better things. Sure his WC results weren't sensational (they still held their own), but I don't think many people realise how groundbreaking their WC qualifying campaign was. For a team like Canada to demolish their group the way they did....
If he's in the mix, he's absolutely my number one candidate! 

I guess there is always the prospect that he is using a potential NZF contract to get a new/better one at Canada 

Ted Striker

2ndBest

Wonder if the delay is whether Herdman is getting offered an extension for Canada. Did well in qualifying but I guess underachieved at the World Cup.

Also heard it was China coming down which should be very winable.

Dunno, Since 2000 we have 3 draws and a loss against them.

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We are ahead of China as a footballing nation right now and friendly results should never be used as a barometer for ability

More so because the AWs games have always been away in China. From memory China’s football record away from home is poor, and it’s rumoured these March friendlies will be in NZ

2ndBest

I guess there is always the prospect that he is using a potential NZF contract to get a new/better one at Canada 

Likelihood I would have thought. It’d be a big step down to go from jumping ahead of the USA and Mexico to coaching NZ.