Ernie Merrick - former Phoenix manager

Breaking news: Late candidate throws his hat in the ring to be Nix coach!! 

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/270565,barton-targets-managerial-career.aspx

Management is taking far toooo long

Plus I thought he said we needed to get excited about the coach that he knew was about to show up - and then said it was gonna be ernie merrick lol

Wow, disturbing amount of Wynton groupies on the FB page.

Hey man. Maybe NOW we will start believing him.

Both Coppell and Dowie have been interviewed, face to face when the Phoenix board members were in the UK, and then on Skype after they returned.

Ya gotta think after all this time management will get it right .... 

Just as an aside and an update for me how many places to you have unsigned ... or better put how many players are signed up ... 

Then coppell, for sure, no brainer

The way I look at it, and I would love for someone to pick holes in my theory, is that the A League, being a low level professional comp, is great for rising talent ala Oar, Rojas, Kosta etc. For those that come in, like the Ifills and the Greenacres, its a nice change of pace playing once a week with no media scrutiny of any note, a relatively anonymous lifestyle with no fans getting in your face in a nicer climate than the UK - almost a holiday home. Coppell said he is done with managing so why would he come here? He is most likely to be priced out of our range unless the board do something extraordinary so lets leave that aside for a moment. Over here, this will be easy for him. There is no promotion or relegation, his first year, which will be a sighter is always going to be 'well I inherited 3/4 of a squad I can't change till next year'. Newtown Park wont be the Ritz to him and he faces squad quotas, salary caps and a team full of internationals from 1 side.

Don't get me wrong, I would love this to happen, I would just love to know what the motivation for him is. When you have been in the EPL, why do you come here? Unless of course you are burnt out which then comes back to my comment about the A League being a holiday home league.

I am intrigued Frankie. How do you know the good oil on Dowie and Coppell and the details (Skype etc)

Can you imagine Coppell's face on his first day at training and one of his imports, with his second touch, dribbles it out over the touchline?

If we can get Steve Coppell I will be seriously impressed. It still might not work but you couldn't blame the club for not trying.

The only doubts I have about him is that he has quit a couple of jobs in the past after very little time (Man City, 1996 and Bristol City, 2010) and is there a risk of that happening, especially with the unknowns of coming to the other side of the world?

On the other hand when he has had a good long run at a club (first spell at Crystal Palace 1984-1993, Reading 2003-2009) he's done well.

That made me laugh out loud. Well done JV.

That is a big worry for me. The last thing we need is a manager pulling stumps after a couple of months when he realises that Wgtn weather isn't the same as the Gold Coast, and finds out what he has to work with.

Still pleasantly surprised by the calibre of people putting their name in the mix though. Good experienced coaches with experience at top levels.

being a bit harsh on Welli here. Ifill and Greenacre have loved the place - so why shouldn't a fellow pom?

(I'd probably prefer Dowie on the basis of his name being decent for Yellow Army)

My source says Welnix have delayed announcing the coach a little while.

Surely that'd be something that is known before moving out here and starting the job. 

He bites when he wants, he bites when he wants

Hahaha !

yep.

Actually, I thought that was quite funny by nufc_nz for once. Verging on self-deprecation.

JV missed the joke. Obvious joke is obvious.

too easy

Jonathan Millmow finally gets around to confirming what we already knew...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/8639014/Man-Utd-great-Coppell-linked-with-Phoenix-job 

Throws Glenn Roeder's name in there as well, which I hadn't heard about yet.

Reckons an announcement could be made as early as this week. 

nufc_nz - can you please check with your sources and confirm?

well if I'm right about nufc_nz's source the nix are not close to a decision - it was announced on "FB" yesterday on the official nix page.

Country or Western?

Baked beans or spaghetti?

Coppel is obviously an experienced manager but there is something niggling me about this link - I just don't know whether this is the future.  Has his time at the top been and gone?  Is he going to take us forward with good, up to date modern coaching?

I only just realised this morning that there might be a reason two ex-Crystal Palace managers are in the final mix. Palace CEO Phil Alexander has strong connections to Wellington through his playing days at Miramar and would be well known to the Chote brothers, for instance. Coppell and Dowie both worked for him so that's an excellent reference source.