What's going to happen to Herbert now?

I'll let these guys speak on my behalf:   

whn i heard this news i literally started dancing in the streets lol

the ghost of post-82 can now be laid to rest

a gusty, selfless and patriotic act by Ricki

the man is a true leader


rave, rave = happy!!!

Very true.

The man DESERVES a New Year's honour. Wouldn't even consider a Halberg - Ricki is way above that.

To me, his achievements are amazing. But the truly outstanding aspect is that he has committed himself to the continued development of NZ Football (through the Nix and NZF).

Undoubtedly he has turned his back on big $$ for the love of the game and the desire to see it grow here.

Wonderful, selfless act.

There's only one Ritchie Herbert, one Ritchie Herbert
Walking along, singing a song
Walking in a Herbert wonderland.

Give that man a beer. In fact giving him a whole f***ing brewery. Legends are made of this.

I thought he would stay and for the very reasons he gave.
Majic result.

Does anyone actually know that he had other offers on the table??  Ricki is a massively political animal and there are basically 2 football coaching jobs in NZ which he has now effectively maneouvered himself into for life.  It's good news but I would be a little careful about annointing St Ricki of Cuba Street just yet, I mean it's a pretty good deal for him as well.

Burn the witch

an actual hearty LOFL

cosimo - you are on form

Good on im for squeezing a few more bucks out of the bastards.

As opposed to other football coaches, who are beacons of selflessness. Seriously - are you really the last of the Sack Ritchie holdouts? Exactly what would the guy have to do to convince you? Come home with Jules Rimet?

Now that would be something. He would have to nick it from the Brazilian FA first

Ha ha. Not sure anyone has accused me of being naive before.

At my age I'm a cynical optimist (or an optimistic cynic).

Everyone should be motivated to do what's best for him/her/their family. E.g. Mr J Smeltz.

I don't doubt that Ricki has weighed up monetary and other aspects in making his decision, but as he is around my vintage although his family is a bit older, he could have quite easily done a few years overseas on a better wicket and secured his family's financial future. If it was me I'd be greatly tempted (rest assured there would never be a St Junior82 of K-Town).

Nah, Brazilian FA don't have it. Was lost/stolen from them, and it's widely accepted now that the trophy has probably been melted down.

By Ricki! HOLY CRAP HE'S A SORCEROR!!!

Well maybe he needed a cup to go with his sorcerer...

The fact that I am pleased with the result I think you have some very valid points.

Good article by Tony Smith asking some valid questions...

How much did Herbert do for the All Whites?

irrelevant to nz - but one on aussies coaching options

No, irrelevant and panicky overreaction to the hatred and backbiting put out by (a) rugby journos; (b) football "identities" who are bitter and jealous. Remember a few weeks ago when everyone was saying "if we don't keep Ricki it'll be like losing Adshead, 82 all over again"? Now it's keeping Ricki that will kill us. The point is manufacturing a crisis because we're not comfortable with success.

I don't think he's doing that at all. I thought it was a well-balanced article that asks some sensible questions about exactly what role Ricki can, or should, play in future. It's not just about keeping Ricki, but keeping him to do what exactly?

I was going to stay out of this, but this article has really irked me. Smith's a good football journo, but here's touching on things that he doesn't seem to understand well enough. While he's right that only the people inside the camp will truly know what had gone on, he doesn't seem to understand that the managerial role iat the highest level of the game isn't actually very hands on - managers do make decisions on big issues such as tactical formations and game plans, but the implementation of those on the training field falls to the rest of the coaching staff. Now clearly NZF doesn't have the finances to employ a number of additional assistants for this in the way other countries do at this level, and it is hardly surprising that a role of that nature may be performed by some of the senior players.

Questioning of the tactics for the Paraguay game is simply misguided - we played the game that gave us the best chance to win. We couldn't pull it off, mainly 1) because we generally lack the necessary quality to attack quality opposition, and 2) because Paraguay's aim for the last 60 minutes of primarily not losing the game made what's normally a difficult task for us even more difficult.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the players that you have at your disposal. Ricki got a major break by the change of FIFA eligibility rules last year, which significantly upgraded our backline, and gave us another very good option (for NZ standards) up front. But that's the cards he got dealt, and he turned them into a best hand NZF has played. Ever. To suggest that he was a peripheral figure in all of this, is very, very difficult to believe.

Ricki is busy, according to this weeks Woman's Day, looking after his 3 year old puppy called Zico.

el grap, are you really saying that (a) ricki is the absolute best man for the job and that we shouldn't even question that statement and (b) that there was absolutely nothing that could have been done differently against Paraguay, a game we had to win where we didn't register a single shot on target in 90 minutes?  Asking these questions isn't necessarily mean that Herbert shouldn't be re-appointed but surely, at what is a critical stage, the questions need to be asked. james dean2010-07-26 22:00:00

well obviously the answer to B is that we could have brought on Wood and Brockie and taken off Nelsen and Smith and scored a hatful of goals.

If the NZF Board has the balls to commission a full debrief, I'll bet my left one that Tony is right on the mark.

Riicki probably is the best guy for the job under the current circumstances - there's no other NZ coach who could do anything better than him, and NZF doesn't really have the resources to get a foreign coach who perhaps could do better. The whole Paraguay thing really bugs me - we played the game-plan that gave a us a best chance to win, we did get as many opportunites to score in that game as we did against Slovakia and Italy (Elliottttt and Smeltz in the second half) and couldn't put them away. We weren't good enough to do it, and didn't have the luck we had in the first two games for example. End of story. I mean to suggest "we didn't even have a shot on target" in the game is a bit churlish when we only only had 3-4 shots on target in the entire tournament. The reality is that we struggle to effectively attack quality opposition (especially one whose primary aim is not to concede), and that's not changing any time fast, Herbert or no Herbert.

The question of 'what's gonna take us to the next level' has nothing to do with Herbert, or Nelsen, or this AW generation really. It's all to do with how NZF can provide good infrastructure and facilites, better coaching at youth levels and better career pathways for the best young players. But that is a long-term project that requires strategic planning and considerable expenditure, and in the meantime all we can hope for is for this current All White crop to keep punching well above their weight, like they have for the past 9-10 months.

As for Nelsen's role - he's by far our best player, with extensive experience at a very high level of club football. So if you're managing a largely inexperienced team at the level that they're playing it, you'd be stupid not to utilise the experience and knowledge that this player can offer to his teammates, wouldn't you? Or would you have prefered Ricki to say, "Sorry, Ryan, I know you have a lot to offer to the team, but this is my show and you just go sit in the corner and keep your mouth shut". Smith's story, of course, would then be slightly different - "Dictatorial Ricki alienates senior players, getting too big for his own good". But as long as there's something to write about, eh?

Oh, and as for players as sources - well, I originally wrote a longish paragraph about this, but let's just say that there's usually a bit more to sift through than often gets done in situations like this.el grapadura2010-07-27 15:56:58

I'm completely with El G on this one. Until we have a midfield that technically capable of maintaining possession and fluidly moving off the ball to create space we are never going to have a great deal of attacking opportunities in any major tournament against any sort of quality opposition. It is not Ricki's (or any managers) job to create these players, nor is it possible in the short term. The manager's job is to formulate a game plan that gives the players he has available the best chance of winning.

He definitely could have made the third sub, brought McGlinchey on for Vicelich, and I wouldn't have argued. However, he may have decided that since we were living on so little ball already (i'm sure for the last 15 minutes Paraguay must have held nearly 70% of the ball) that substituting a ball winning midfielder for a creative midfielder may have actually lessened our chance of winning. If thats the case, he chose to try and win, rather than to appear to try and win to try to pacify the inevitable critics.

As for the leadership thing, i'm certain that Nelsen had a huge part to play in things, and any good manager gives senior players a lot of authority when they are capable of this. Ricki made basically this point in an interview with Devlin on Sunday. Personally I see that as a strength, not a weakness. aitkenmike2010-07-27 12:29:48