Major Club Announcement

Surely a joke?

the FFA would need a bigger fine jar. 

Speaking of Mulvey 

http://www.espnfcasia.com/blog/football-asia/153/p...

Hiring someone who cannot set up a team to do the most important aspect of football, winning matches. Yeah i don't think i can see your logic behind this one Ryan.

I understand your misgivings Doloras about a long stint for a coach, but I do not agree with the notion that Ricki somehow "went to shark within a few years". He did not change for the worse -  the A-League rapidly changed around him and he failed to see that, or maybe he did but had nothing new to offer.  Funny how Ernie is way older than Ricki, and yet his brand of football seems more up to date than Ricki's in today's league. He clearly did not waste his time away from A-League either.

Ernie is so far able to produce an effective performance from the Nix in today's A-League, to the point that we are not seen as a wooden spoon candidate anymore. Will the magic touch work the same way in 3-4 years' time?  I do not know for sure either, but I am prepared to take a punt on Ernie since the signs are great, and I've always thought he was one coach we should not overlook when shopping around for Ricki's replacement.   Hell, we might have a shocking season sometime in the next few years, simply because injuries and players wanting to move on may affect the best laid plans of a good coach.  But I am happy to ride out one shocking season in that kind of scenario and move on.  

Owners of Melbourne Victory sacked Ernie when he could not deliver one more championship. Luckily we have set ourselves more realistic goals, like getting into the playoffs series every year, but a premiership would not hurt our pride either.

Ricki did well given the limited resources at his disposal ,by the end of the Terry years it really was a case of re arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic !

Yeah JV, I was going to make the Warriors/Cleary example also. Lemanis got offered the national team job so probably a bit different but not signing Cleary to a long-term contract set the club back at least 5 years in my opinion, but more likely much more.

I'm happy that he will be around for another 3 years. Ernie seems to be heavily involved with the Wee Nix & the Academy, he will be around long enough to see these start to bear fruit now.

Comparing Ricki & Ernie is impossible, both operated in vastly different landscapes.

I have to ask are you Adam Thomas cause to be that big a supporter, you have to be a disciple of Edge cause even the most outrageous football commentators in NZ would NEVER suggest Declan as a coaching candidate for the Phoenix. Besides, we are looking for a smaller football ground and as it stands, even Westpac is not big enough for that guys ego.

*facepalm*

Settle down Vader. He just included the name in a list of four, it was hardly a tribute to the guy.

3 years is the perfect length for this contract I feel.

Standard would be 2 years, but he deserves that extra year for what he's achieved so far, and it helps to ward off any potential suitors. 

4 would've been too long.

Herbert/Merrick comparisons, sigh. Every time Merrick is discussed this comes up, and it's not fair on Ricki. Things were very different for him. We needed someone like him to begin with, and now we need someone like Merrick. It has worked out perfectly for all. 

I think this is brilliant. What i love about Ernie is that he has gone through the club like a dose of salts and reorganised and fine tuned pretty much everything. He has made the club a lot more professional on a smaller scale budget and so much more organised despite this weekend but that was the FFA cockup. 

Greenacre is sticking around because I think he sees a lot in Ernie that he wants to follow and help make him a more accomplished manager one day. That both of them love it here in Wellington and that fans have warmed to them as much as they have, has perhaps played a small roll.

We now have a plan B for the rest of the season. If nutpuncher is not kept on, I can see the club going after a similar type player.

Full kudos to Wellnix for having the foresight to see the future and now all we need is that extention on our licence which I think the FFA will rubber stamp after this club announcement.  I think they can see the club heading the right direction on and off the field with Ernie.

Okay, okay, most of you are making good points on security of tenure for a good coach.

One issue which I'm still not convinced about Merrick on is building a strong team culture around Kiwi players. You can argue Ricki went too far on this to the extent that "his boys" would never get dropped no matter how much they sucked. But we've lost solid if unspectacular Kiwi names (Brockie, Boyd), in favour of near-to washed up Aussie journeymen. Yes, and I know the evidence that Boyd has a bad attitude. But the question isn't just the Nix winning (although that will be mighty fine), but its overall role in building Kiwi football.

which is mainly dependant on the Nix winning

That washed up Burns is really quite shark.

The best thing for kiwi development is to have good coaching. Simples.

Reckon Ernie is doing a great job on culture (look at this season's red card count, and adding to Siggy repertoire of skills as examples); but also think Ernie's background in yoof development is one reason why he was hired and as someone said, he's involved in building the reserves and academy concepts - so he has a critical role in building Kiwi football.

Hicks, Ridenton, Rufer, Doyle in. Thats before you include McGlinchey. Out Bertos, Lochhead.... Refreshed the squad with younger Kiwis. Thats not including Sail and Blake waiting in the wings (and being developed)

Can you tell us about which of Ernies favourites that have sucked and are still there? Lia on the bench and I suspect permanently, Boyd, gone, Brockie gone. Doyle didn't scratch up just yet and back to get more reserve football. If you also notice, we are winning and you don't change a winning team, or perhaps you would just because.......there are not enough Kiwis?

Shall we talk about the Phoenix reserves and putting that in place SPECIFICALLY to get a pipeline of Kiwis into the HAL squad?

Did you actually read this before you wrote it cause if you did, I actually question if this is a deliberate troll attempt.

Having the WeeNix is a huge step in building NZ footy.  Brockie and Boyd will still play football so aren't lost to NZ.

Ernie has looked for talent in NZ, the islands and anywhere else he is aware of (Roly, Alex).

Griffiths is short term.

Problem is what?

I think these days even Declan would see his area of expertise more as a "producer" of young football talent than first team gaffer. It's more the Euro club model - specialist coaches aspire to produce more talented youth for the club, rather than aspire to coach the first team.

The problem is pessimism. Welcome to internet forums.

It actually goes below the Wee Nix.... the real younguns (15 , 16 and 17 year olds) from the academy and further afield will be playing and more importantly training  under the watchful eyes of the clubs coaching staff at Welly utd

Damn that Merrick. ACFC will be delighted he is there for another 3 years to destroy Phoenix football and its cultural impact on NZ footballers.

The NZers recruitment hasn't been stellar (in production on field). May change.

You KNOW I meant Nutpuncher. As to the WeeNix/Academy, isn't that down to Welnix finally doing a deal with the FFA, not Merrick?

I can't shake the feeling that Merrick was let go by the Tards for a reason and that in 3 years we will be really regretting giving him such carte blanche. And if we had been beaten by the Tards 5-0 last week, you know most of you would be agreeing with me, like you would have been if the agreement had come, say, after the loss to WSW.

Ha! I knew Declan would get you guys going. Seriously though there isn't much after Merrick.

I'm also not a supporter of Boyd either. Here is what I said about him pre-season:

"If you are worried about goals then starting Boyd with 2 goals from 43 games seems strange. Yes, he's young and yes, he's often played on the wing but he hasn't looked like a goalscorer for NZ U-20 or Waikato either. I think Boyd should be kept on the wing."

I'm not a supporter of Boyd and did not have him in my starting line up pre-season. A lot of people did want Boyd to start pre-season - I didn't. 

Personally, I was just bemused for a little while as to why a player who was playing well in the second team and did well when given an opportunity was on the bench. At this point you too agreed that Boyd should be given more opportunities:

 "Boyd showing enough to say 'I should be the next man off the bench up front' do you let both Brockie and Kenny go in the offseason and     use the combined wage to sign an out and out striker? Krishna is to be a local.... There would be decent cash tied up in both of them and it creates game time for Boyd whom the Phoenix have invested in."

So at that point we were on the same page.

 In early November Ryan was one of the first to claim that Boyd had an attitude problem. At this point you found this difficult to believe while accepting that it was possible:

JV: I would hardly call Boyd and Boxall prima donnas and if they are that way, just release them and they can go flip burgers at McDs. Ask Pav how thats working out for him....

Jerzy Merino: Boyd and Boxall looked to me to be the two reserves giving 100% last sunday. Well, I suppose others were too but B & B seemed more convincing about it IMO.

 JV: Exactly, which is why I don't get where all this stuff Ryan is spouting is coming from.

Once again at this point we have the same opinion of Tyler Boyd. Obviously at some stage between November and late Ferbruary you changed your opinion of Boyd. This is not surprising people change their opinions over time. I don't know what changed your opinion but I'm guessing how Tyler left and the fact that Merrick hardly said "good luck" to him were factors. 

My opinion of Boyd did not change until I heard that he went to the movie when the team was playing. I called it disappointing and unprofessional because I thought it was. 

It seems that you and me have basically always had the same opinion of Boyd! The only difference seems to be that your opinion of Boyd went south a couple of weeks before my opinion of Boyd. Apart from that we basically agree on everything! I admit that one of my posts I made in the Boyd thread was strident. However, I just feel that I would not like to be judged by a community of people who have not met me if that community of people did not have strong evidence to do so. I made a similar post about Boyd as I did in the Chris James situation. Maybe he was a "dick" too but I don't feel comfortable enough saying so because I have no evidence or right to judge. I still don't have the right to judge Boyd's character or personality but I do feel I have a right to criticise him when he does bad things.

I don't know whether Boyd has an ego, is a dick or is a bad person. I do know that going to that movie was a dick move. I would like to leave it there for Boyd and wish him luck in Portugal regardless.

double post

"You KNOW I meant Nutpuncher. As to the WeeNix/Academy, isn't that down to Welnix finally doing a deal with the FFA, not Merrick?

I can't shake the feeling that Merrick was let go by the Tards for a reason and that in 3 years we will be really regretting giving him such carte blanche. And if we had been beaten by the Tards 5-0 last week, you know most of you would be agreeing with me, like you would have been if the agreement had come, say, after the loss to WSW."

Glad to this thread has stayed on topic

Would Ricki have played Ridenton and Rufer as much as he did? The only reason he ever played NZ youngsters was when his hand was forced.

So what would you have Doloras - 

the situation the Phoenix are in now with a reserve side, an academy farm, a strongish looking side and 4th in the table and getting results, which is an improvement on where we were prior to him taking over

or 

your reality where Ernie never arrived, we also lose to Melbourne 5-0 and en masse agree with you and all just be a shark cod team in a shark town with shark fans in a shark league in the middle of nowhere?

Anthony Di Pietro. You have to remember he came in as MV chairman and sacked Merrick and a couple of back office people. De Pietro wanted to make a name for himself. Victory still made the finals that year BTW. I think Ernie was a dead duck as soon as De Pietro became chairman. Goes like that sometimes.

I think Doloras feels backed into a corner. She was very staunch in her defense of Herbert and bitched and moaned about Merrick being hired. Now that Merrick looks to be the goods, the team is playing attractive football, in the top 4, the only thing we have to worry about is a kid going to the movies instead of watching a team he wasn't selected for and Doloras feels the need to put on the headscarf, cheap jewelry, burn the incense and polish her crystal ball [leaving the broomstick in the corner] and tell us all that Merrick was not a good idea and we should be getting rid of him instead of offering a 3 year contract. Surprisingly enough, only she feels this way. Maybe I'm wrong and Jeff was right - she is just trolling and has caught the big snapper that is me.

We had a few kiwis in there. Just the whole setup was not as good for youngsters as is the case now. Kosta left to play NYL for the Roar. What was Ricki to do given the form of Ifill and Leo at the time? Almost 30 kiwis were signed by Ricki.

Merrick was sacked because he did not win the Victory yet another title. I think he has found the more relaxed approach by our club to be to his liking. He has been given more room, scope and opportunity to set this clubs future up on and off the field with various coaching, medical, dietry systems put in place. He has asked the players to be a bit more professional on and off the field and they have responded. We are playing decent football, even when we are losing we are no longer dropping our heads and giving up the ghost. Sure some of the games have been crap but it is not for the want of trying.

Nutpuncher has given us a plan B. he is bigger than the rest of the forward line and could easily be a target man for our wide players and the midfield.

Herbert was limited to a defensive style and hopefully a quick counter attack. With Smeltz leading the line it worked fin, once he left we struggled till Ifill & Greenacre & later Brockie showed up. Ricki had a bigger budget than we give him credit for. Season 1 was like it was because most players around the world had already signed for clubs when we were formed. Ricki had his moments and they were good moments for some part and bad moments for others. As a guy, he was one of the most approachable guys I have met and I wish him well, but like Merrick has, Ricki needs to study more for a plan B and a Plan C if he is to succeed in India.

men is plural so who is the other one?

Uncannily accurate!

But seriously: Merrick looks to be the goods now. Most of us regard the day after tomorrow as belonging to the dim and distant future. Remember "Long season beckons"? Remember the angst after the WSW loss or the two home draws? A 4th place finish, even making the semis don't impress me much, because Ricki got us there with the help of some good signings. If I were in control, I would have given him a 1-year extension with options for renewal to see whether he can really get us in silverware contention.