Ernie Merrick - former Phoenix manager

"The identity of the former Man U player is not known but he has apparently held coaching positions in the UK and abroad"

So Mr UK Kiwi, are Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland no longer part of the United Kingdom?

Ole Gunnar Solskjær??

Tweeted Piney to see if he had heard any gossip, but he says they have kept everything close to their chests.

I like Vader's suggestion of bringing Rufer in a developmental role.

It would raise his academy profile and attract better players as they may see this as a direct path to getting noticed for the Nix academies. Additionally any young quality players will probably through him have better chances to trial overseas than if someone else held the role.

He gets his face in the media promoting the best young players and increased $$ whilst we get "hopefully" more players playing overseas Win Win.

Id be happy if Rufer was the youth coach if we actually had a team in the NYL...Academy is essentiall bogus until that happens IMO

I wouldn't put Rufer in my top 5 youth coaches in NZ.

solksjaer is on the wanted list for most EPL clubs.  therefore, you can take him off our list

'At the time' is key.  Think most people would say the game/league has moved on.

Wasn't he also critised for having no plan b.

My 2 cents is that Merrick's success came in the early days of the league and the league has developed significantly since then. The same squad and tactics that won the league in earlier seasons wouldnt have cut It this season. I hope Merrick isn't the man for he job. Think we can do better.

yeah I sort of believe Merrick essentially had the best players in the league rather than the best tactics or coaching ability.

Don`t let them put you off the scent

I was going to mention Steve Coppell but you already new !!!!!!!!!

 I am not saying that Merrick would win us the toilet seat next season. He may not be as good anymore for the current level of A-League as some of the posters said - Popovic, Arnold and Postecoglou raised the bar in the seasons immediately after Merrick's exit. 

However, some of the wishful thinking bandied about here, regarding some of the possible UK coaches, miss one point - that the only coach who arrived fresh from abroad and tasted success was the German coach of Sydney FC in their first season, whose name momentarily and embarrasingly escapes me. Every other coach winning the A-league since then has been around the local scene for some time.

It may be a mixture of factors - lack of player knowledge, different seasons, local psyche...whatever. The reality is that neither the Heart with van't Schipp nor Adelaide with Coolen nor Melbourne Victory with the brief and unfortunate Jim Magilton interlude.

Merrick may not be the best option there is, but not the worst - he had seven seasons with MV and the team did not come last every time.

 I clearly lost track of my own thought there:

"The reality is that neither the Heart with van't Schipp nor Adelaide with Coolen nor Melbourne Victory with the brief and unfortunate Jim Magilton interlude..." were able to win the league.

Doesnt mean it couldnt happen

Lavicka, a Czech, took Sydney to the title at first try in 2009-10. Always seems to be forgotten in these foreign v local debates.

However basically I agree - Merrick has a lot of A League experience and having him as coach wouldn't fill me with dismay.

One thing I've not seen mentioned in relation to Merrick and which may appeal to Gazza, Noah, Dominho et al is his relationship with (and ability to get the best from?) Carlos. Could be a big plus for him given he'll be the key to the style of football we play and how well it's implemented (or not).

Not saying I agree - I dunno, you lot here are the experts.

Self appointed experts. 

Decent point regarding Hernandez. Unsure of you should sign a coach on the basis of his relationship and ability to get the best out of 1 player, but it doesn't exactly hurt his case. 

Essentially why Rafa was brought in to Chelsea in my opinion. Not entirely sure it worked for them.

That said I wouldn't be sad to see Merrick appointed. Could do a lot worse.

I'm not sure, but I think I heard somewhere that Merrick and Hernandez ended on a foul note?

Could be wrong though...

After a wee bit of internet googling I came up with this list:

Michael Appleton, Steve Bruce, Steve Coppell, George Graham, Stewart Houston, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, Joe Jordan, Roy Keane, Brian Kidd,  Bryan Robson, Gordon Strachan, Ray Wilkins, Peter Beardsley, Lou Macari.

Only Bryan Robson has "International" managerial experience...

Roy Keane, as player coach

Merrick wouldn't shout Hernandez KFC?

 Yeah, there was something about that sour note in the Melbourne media at the time - but my gut feeling (pardon the pun!!) about Hernandez is that he'd get past his use-by date quicker than Merrick would, assuming Ernie would be considered at all (WelNix, are you reading this?).

 ... and that "gut feeling" brings me to consider that Hernandez went to play in India, where "Life of Pi" was partially filmed....

It's going to be Robson isn't it?  He's completely discredited in England and has already shown willingness to travel by going to Asia.  I wouldn't favour that as an appointment personally, I don't see what the upside is.

Wiki says he's currently a global ambassador with Man U. I can't see him giving up that role, practically a job for life, a nice wage surely on par with what he'd get with us. Would you give that up?

The only upside would be the media coverage, then the downside with the fall out as the Dominion start going on about how we've fired 2 coaches, (3 if you count Greenie), in under a year as Robson crashes and burns.

Give up a backroom bore to get back into football? I can see the appeal. 

I'm not quite sure what people expect from Welnix. Just dismissing people like Hugo Sanchez and Bryan Robson seems pretty odd to me. I am surprised as hell that people like that are rumored to have applied. Whoever we get is going to be a risk. At least people like them will be able to teach our players things. In high level european leagues it is more of a management role but in the a-league the coaching/management balance is much more even. I would be quite enthused if Robson got the job.

I ask you, if you took his coaching record, and give it to a different person not named Bryan Robson, would you be equally as enthused?

I want the Phoenix to make the choice on the best person for the job, not the best name for the job. Without knowing the candidates and if in fact Robson is or is not one, he may well be the best coach for the job. Without knowing whom the candidates are though, I guess ultimately, we are going to have to assume that the person that gets the job IS the best person for the job.

In regards to Bryan Robson. He is still very well respected by players which could mean we could get some very good players reaching the end of their careers. His coaching career as had some ups and downs. At Middlesbrough he made the League cup and FA cup Final in the same season however they got relegated. He was also the manager at West Brom when they went from bottom of the table at christmas to staying up. The first team to do it in the Premier League Era. On another down side he is known for handling difficult yet talented players badly which may not be an issue at the Nix as we don't have that kind of player currently at the club.

Saying all that I highly doubt he would be one of the guys on the list.