Wellington Phoenix Men

Interim coach and next mens team coach

185 replies · 7,324 views
26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
That was definitely my thoughts from reading the initial statement but was hoping to be convinced otherwise.

Auckland will rise once more

26 days ago
I guess it doesnt mean they are only going to consider Greenie for next season, just right now they are only in any form of discussions with him. I would expect that if he managed to trun the team around and they won all 8 games he'd be a shoe in. But ontherwise there'd be a proper search with him in the mix.

Queenslander 3x a year.

26 days ago
theprof
I guess it doesnt mean they are only going to consider Greenie for next season, just right now they are only in any form of discussions with him. I would expect that if he managed to trun the team around and they won all 8 games he'd be a shoe in. But ontherwise there'd be a proper search with him in the mix.

Totally agree. I would have thought that he would either want a long-term contract or the security that he can go back to the Academy if things don't work out. Hell of a tall order to turn things around in 8 games when you are inheriting someone else's underperforming team. 
26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
Hell, if Greenie turns the Nix around in 8 games then he should get a contract for life, plus coach the AWs at the WC finals, and open the bowling for the Black Caps.

We do not have any easy games left. I would cut Greenie some slack. While I would love us to feature in the finals round this season, I will settle for a visible improvement of our on-field structure, much better positional awareness, and a bit more of sustained confidence. That is my wish list for the remainder of the season, regardless who is on the field of play and who is riding the pine.

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

26 days ago
yeah, gotta be realistic, top 6 is always a target but a notable change in how we play would be good. Gotta keep scoring the goals but defensively we need to be better

Queenslander 3x a year.

26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
Nothing against Greenie but I think the club needs a shakeup and Greenie is Phoenix through and through, no doubt gets on with Gill and Domey famously, and wont represent much of a cultural shift. And we have a losing culture

Edit: will be enough of a shot in the arm to be an interim and if he does really well in the rest of the season then he would be worth looking at seriously for next season, but I hope the Nix dont have tunnel vision here. Would be so on brand for Domey and Gill to be lazy and make the easy and obvious choice for Chiefy's permanent successor though
26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
We got pretty close to winning when he was a player under Ricki 

Central Hawkes Bay Nix
and tragic follower of Charlton Athletic 
26 days ago
I guess youre right. Am I wrong or is Ricki still the only Nix coach to win a finals game?
26 days ago
In a professional sports club where results matter why does it seem many here have the attitude that Greenie should be able to coach only lower levels with the inference that he’s safe from scrutiny of results? 

When you embark on a career as a professional coach you know what that entails. 



26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
Just watched the Gill press conference. Some pretty good transparent answers. But it seems pretty clear based on Gill's comments that Plan A is for Greenie to be the permanent boss next season. 
26 days ago
I‘m against Greenacre for the full time gig, it’s to much bros club, we are all are buddies and cover our asses, not enough ambition and no new outside influence.
26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
number8
I‘m against Greenacre for the full time gig, it’s to much bros club, we are all are buddies and cover our asses, not enough ambition and no new outside influence.
Same here but for me its not those reasons for me its the fact he has only really coached at the Phoenix and its not as if teams he has taken have played exciting winning football and challenged for trophies. 
Great guy and a club legend but is that enough if your wanting to turn Derby results around and wanting  to attract a heap of players after much of the playing groups contracts expire.

GET YOUR SHIRTS OFF FOR THE BOYS

26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
A little strange this part

“He is in ongoing discussions with the club about the head coaching position for rest of the A-League season and beyond”

Why is that word there in this press release? It doesn’t need to be there at this stage.

The bit that made me pause was “for the rest of the A-League season”. Doesn’t that imply he’s only agreed to cover the Sydney game so far?

For all the club don’t seem to have any choice right now except to agree to whatever terms he wants, what would their Plan C for the season be if he ended up saying “yeah nah”?
26 days ago
Yeah , I’m fine with the rest of the season but he shouldn’t be perm coach next season. We need fresh ideas and arguably a bit of a name. Someone to build around. 
 
Barry Robson famously took over interim at Aberdeen, won 8 games on the bounce which completely transformed the end of our season. Was given it permanently due to stupid fan pressure and it all turned to shark in the new season. I am absolutely wary of interims becoming permanent.
26 days ago
Kenny Dalglish also did fantastically when he came in as caretaker for Liverpool in the 2010s but did a terrible job once he was confirmed as the next permanent boss. The Nix would be stupid not to consider all options for next season no matter how well Greenie does for the rest of the season 
26 days ago
The thing with Greenie is that he has to win/get a decent draw this weekend to have any look in at getting the gig full time, I say this as a lot of people including me would say depends on how we play and what happens in game.

If we lose this weekend, the general public will turn on Greenie and the club. Also in all this, the silence from DD is very very telling and he needs to walk.
26 days ago
Simon B
A little strange this part

“He is in ongoing discussions with the club about the head coaching position for rest of the A-League season and beyond”

Why is that word there in this press release? It doesn’t need to be there at this stage.

The bit that made me pause was “for the rest of the A-League season”. Doesn’t that imply he’s only agreed to cover the Sydney game so far?

For all the club don’t seem to have any choice right now except to agree to whatever terms he wants, what would their Plan C for the season be if he ended up saying “yeah nah”?

Not to be negative but if they lose first up in his fourth stint as caretaker boss, not gonna look good for Greenie.
26 days ago
Consider... but don't rule out. 

Some of the questions around his success with the youth team kind of ignore the context of his role and the fact he has kids playing seasoned adults for example.

See how he goes... I also see Ball etc working harder to find Greeny players than Chief etc. 
26 days ago
Making a comeback, apparently.
Elemenop
AucklandPhoenix
Jesus 



Isn't he dead?
26 days ago
rua_taniwha
In a professional sports club where results matter why does it seem many here have the attitude that Greenie should be able to coach only lower levels with the inference that he’s safe from scrutiny of results? 

When you embark on a career as a professional coach you know what that entails. 



Not every position at a football club can be cutthroat in the way the senior role coach is. In Greenie's position his absolute main job is to develop players for the first team and good products the club can sell. Is he passing that metric? The club must think so. 

The results his team gets are secondary to the other metrics he is likely hitting.
26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
observerfromuh
The thing with Greenie is that he has to win/get a decent draw this weekend to have any look in at getting the gig full time, I say this as a lot of people including me would say depends on how we play and what happens in game.

If we lose this weekend, the general public will turn on Greenie and the club. Also in all this, the silence from DD is very very telling and he needs to walk.

Well, I have to totally disagree with all of that! I think your suggested expectations are ridiculous.
26 days ago
observerfromuh
The thing with Greenie is that he has to win/get a decent draw this weekend to have any look in at getting the gig full time, I say this as a lot of people including me would say depends on how we play and what happens in game.

If we lose this weekend, the general public will turn on Greenie and the club. Also in all this, the silence from DD is very very telling and he needs to walk.
this is another horrendous take. No actual fan will "turn" on him after one game
Annual finals disappointment enthusiast.

26 days ago
Jazzy Jeff
observerfromuh
The thing with Greenie is that he has to win/get a decent draw this weekend to have any look in at getting the gig full time, I say this as a lot of people including me would say depends on how we play and what happens in game.

If we lose this weekend, the general public will turn on Greenie and the club. Also in all this, the silence from DD is very very telling and he needs to walk.
this is another horrendous take. No actual fan will "turn" on him after one game


Chiefs tactics were utter dog shark, and it's clear that has tainted the players to the point where I'm unsure if they were dog shark or had no idea what to do in chiefs system. The right move is for greeny to play a real basic strategy/formation the players are familiar with from a life of football. But if it's the case the players don't care and suck there is nothing greeny can do. Either way, greeny has a free pass at this point.
26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
yeah, there's a lot of low hanging fruit (hate that cliche) that greenie can pick off. just fixing some of the basics should take the team forward.

the biggest problem is the work ethic / morale of the team. 

greenie's taking a risk stepping up now, because he's inherited a mess.

360footballnews.com

26 days ago
After listening to the Gill presser and Piney's 1 on 1 interview with him, it is as clear as day: Greenacre will finish this season as head coach and the only way that he isnt the permanent boss for at least next season is if he has a really shocking end to this season. There is no appetite for a wider coach search.

Piney gave his own endorsement for Greenacre, for what it is worth. 
26 days ago
Fourth times a charm

Auckland will rise once more

26 days ago
I know a lot of people will think it's uninspiring and more of the same, but I'll be really happy if Greenie gets a proper go. It's not the sexy option but I don't think we're in a position to go with a sexy option, not is that probably what the club needs most atm.

Excited to see how he goes for the rest of the season. 
Annual finals disappointment enthusiast.

26 days ago · edited 26 days ago · History
In relation to discussions above, I have mixed feelings on Greenie potentially becoming full-time coach. 

However, for the here and now, if he can dish up more of what we saw in that second half against Wrexham with the academy lads (only this time with the first team) I think the rest of the season could be quite a fun watch. No easy task though with the current situation.
26 days ago
Absolutely no problem for Greenie to come in for the rest of the season. There were no real obvious choices once Kelly G resigned.
Many times in these situations you get a bounce in positive results. However I dont think we can think of top 6. We would have to become serial winners and hope lots of clubs drop points to make 6.
I wish Greenie all the best....hes going to need it.
26 days ago
Chief seemed to be a reasonable analyst, and did many of the things a good boss needs to do well. 

But Greenacre has played a lot of football at a high level. I think he’ll bring that awareness to his coaching. We know he’s a good motivational speaker. I assume he’s a reasonable manager of players on an individual level too. We’ll see if he can bring a team together and provide them with the instructions necessary to win games. 

As for the longer term, I don’t know. But we talked about developing Kiwi or local coaches too. This seems to be a Phoenix thing now too, with a promote from within mindset. So we’ll see! 

Whelmed. Neither over or under. 


26 days ago
Sounds like Greenie has done his required coaching badges. Don't think there are many coaches in NZ that have the required badges to coach in the A league.
I wish him well.
26 days ago
Greeny will do fine.  The team has been fine going forward as evidence by the number of goals scored.  Problem has been defence and the loss of Griff this year has been evident.  Greeny should be able to fix that with the return of some football basics in defence..rather than Chiefy's theoretical wishful thinking.

But the main area where Greeny will improve is in morale.  Chiefy had his qualities but was not a leader of men and having not played the game at the highest level was hard for him to have the empathy needed to connect with the team.  Have heard some pretty ordinary examples of Chiefy's training ground antics and that had to impact player morale.

I don't agree with the comments that Greeny is a soft appointment and part of a bros club.  Greeny is a proper football guy who, at times, has seen him clashed with management...who to be fair don't have the same football experience.   

I think part of the problem we've had is that we have a management team with little football experience combined with a manager without a football background.   Putting Greeny in there is big step in the right direction.




26 days ago
Bradman99
Greeny will do fine.  The team has been fine going forward as evidence by the number of goals scored.  Problem has been defence and the loss of Griff this year has been evident.  Greeny should be able to fix that with the return of some football basics in defence..rather than Chiefy's theoretical wishful thinking.

But the main area where Greeny will improve is in morale.  Chiefy had his qualities but was not a leader of men and having not played the game at the highest level was hard for him to have the empathy needed to connect with the team.  Have heard some pretty ordinary examples of Chiefy's training ground antics and that had to impact player morale.

I don't agree with the comments that Greeny is a soft appointment and part of a bros club.  Greeny is a proper football guy who, at times, has seen him clashed with management...who to be fair don't have the same football experience.   

I think part of the problem we've had is that we have a management team with little football experience combined with a manager without a football background.   Putting Greeny in there is big step in the right direction.




Agreed, I don't think Gilly had enough technical football experience prior to becoming DOF and Domey shouldn't be near the football committee. The combination of an administrator turned DOF, analyst turned rookie coach, and a GM involved in the football committee is simply too make-shift for a competitive professional side. 
26 days ago
Yes, agreed with the above.  

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

26 days ago
Since2007
Bradman99
Greeny will do fine.  The team has been fine going forward as evidence by the number of goals scored.  Problem has been defence and the loss of Griff this year has been evident.  Greeny should be able to fix that with the return of some football basics in defence..rather than Chiefy's theoretical wishful thinking.

But the main area where Greeny will improve is in morale.  Chiefy had his qualities but was not a leader of men and having not played the game at the highest level was hard for him to have the empathy needed to connect with the team.  Have heard some pretty ordinary examples of Chiefy's training ground antics and that had to impact player morale.

I don't agree with the comments that Greeny is a soft appointment and part of a bros club.  Greeny is a proper football guy who, at times, has seen him clashed with management...who to be fair don't have the same football experience.   

I think part of the problem we've had is that we have a management team with little football experience combined with a manager without a football background.   Putting Greeny in there is big step in the right direction.




Agreed, I don't think Gilly had enough technical football experience prior to becoming DOF and Domey shouldn't be near the football committee. The combination of an administrator turned DOF, analyst turned rookie coach, and a GM involved in the football committee is simply too make-shift for a competitive professional side. 
 If you contrast the Auckland FC Management team and Coachs level of football experience with Nix the results are pretty easy to explain.  Having said that they have assembled a capable squad which needs direction and man management.

I'm optimistic on how the season will finish.
26 days ago
Mainland FC
Hell, if Greenie turns the Nix around in 8 games then he should get a contract for life, plus coach the AWs at the WC finals, and open the bowling for the Black Caps.

We do not have any easy games left. I would cut Greenie some slack. While I would love us to feature in the finals round this season, I will settle for a visible improvement of our on-field structure, much better positional awareness, and a bit more of sustained confidence. That is my wish list for the remainder of the season, regardless who is on the field of play and who is riding the pine.

Probably not quick enough to open the bowling.  Could be a useful opening bat though and also might be able to sort the netball ladies out
26 days ago
Heidleberg Coach!!
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

26 days ago
he has the necessary badges and some experience as an assistant, but still an unknown at Aleague level - sure he's been successful at NPL level but for some reason coaching in Wellington seems to change people. Also would he want to go for the role?

Queenslander 3x a year.

26 days ago
austin111
Absolutely no problem for Greenie to come in for the rest of the season. There were no real obvious choices once Kelly G resigned.
Many times in these situations you get a bounce in positive results. However I dont think we can think of top 6. We would have to become serial winners and hope lots of clubs drop points to make 6.
I wish Greenie all the best....hes going to need it.
I don't think it's as unthinkable as it seems right now! A club finding form after a new coach is far from unheard of, and we're only sitting 5 points outside the 6.

Don't get me wrong there's still a good chance we'll just meander in the bottom half of the table, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what Greenie can do with the club again. It'll at least be something different.

Goes to shows how tight the leagues been given we're arguably still in playoff contention after being so crap. Makes you wish we were an above average team cuz then we might be sitting near the top!