My 10 cents - I still think he is a self-serving wanker but our players are awesome and I love football in NZ. Hard to play as team when we have so little time together but that guy just gives me the s hits. Could be just me but...
COYAW
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[quote=Maaaaaaatt]
The way he played the Chris Wood situation with the closed trainings and bringing him out for the Friday press conference (Wood wasn't obliged to be there, he brought him out as if to say "this guy is our key player tomorrow) was a masterstroke.
Maybe, come to think of it, Hudson is a machiavellian genius and the last three years, Moses Dyer, shark tactics against the Islands, Winston always being injured, the feud with Smith, calling up Fallon, ignoring Brockie, is a giant ruse and he's going to show his hand on Thursday and we'll blow Peru away!
Ah yes, Reid getting injured, Smith being a wanker and shark Island pitches = Hudson's fault. Brilliant. Oh, and Jeremy "One Goal for the All Whites" Brockie not getting picked was somehow surprising.
Who gives a shark if he's self serving? Coaching the All Whites is a shark job (also, it's just that, a job) - lets be honest, here - and he's doing pretty well with them so far. The friendlies against Mexico + USA were some of the best football I have ever seen us play, and getting a draw against Peru was fantastic.
People are ridiculously harsh on the bloke considering what he has done. The team all seem to be around him. Of course not everyone loves him like a damn father - he's a manager - but they are obviously playing for him and that's the toughest job to get right.
"Why hasn't he played like this the whole time" - erm, probably because the last 3 years have been a preparation for this moment. He was admirably trying to build depth in a country that has never had any. Whether that mission was successful is questionable - but he's certainly unearthed some players and given them experience they would've not necessarily had otherwise.
Reckon if we get into the WC a lot of you guys have a hell of a lot of crow to eat - especially the 'YF elite'. Reading this thread makes me feel like I'm in some sort of Twilight Zone where there are apparently a line of talented coaches out the door begging to manage us.
