Hail ___ the Chief - Giancarlo Italiano

It will have to be Greenacre but I'd give Ifill a chance if he's got the right credentials. 

Also, wonder how Buckingham is liking Saudi Arabia.

But, wonder what the team will do. They've said that the A-League is too unique to go for international coaches.

Will forever remember the 23/24 season. Never got to met him personally but sounds like Chiefy was a top person. Wish him well and all the best for his future! 

Now Dome can fu*k off.

i'm not being facetious when i say this. it will be genuinely interesting to see where his career goes. 

the a-league is at the low levels of pro football. where to from here?

it was a left field appointment no doubt. he did really well in season one. and he assured us that he had many options on a previous occasion when the axe was hovering over his tenure.

reg22

i'm not being facetious when i say this. it will be genuinely interesting to see where his career goes. 

the a-league is at the low levels of pro football. where to from here?

it was a left field appointment no doubt. he did really well in season one. and he assured us that he had many options on a previous occasion when the axe was hovering over his tenure.

My bet is he goes back to being an assistant, maybe at one of the big clubs in the A-League. Maybe follows Ufuk if he tries overseas. 

brookem

Will forever remember the 23/24 season. Never got to met him personally but sounds like Chiefy was a top person. Wish him well and all the best for his future! 

 
100% this.

Even though this season’s been an unmitigated disaster, the few times I’ve chatted to Chiefy in person he’s come across as a true gentleman. My favourite memory will always be talking to him after the Darwin game last year and his grin as he said I was mad for following the team there.

Onwards and upwards.

He had his time and it didn’t end well but it rarely does for many in football management.

He always gave the impression of being a very likeable honest guy who was out of his depth managing people and I never gained the impression he enjoyed that aspect.

Football wise and analytically, I’m sure there will be a place for him at a pro club.

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

AucklandPhoenix

He had his time and it didn’t end well but it rarely does for many in football management.

He always gave the impression of being a very likeable honest guy who was out of his depth managing people and I never gained the impression he enjoyed that aspect.

Football wise and analytically, I’m sure there will be a place for him at a pro club.

Totally agree with this. If anything Chief may have been too nice. When managing a group of guys in football there should be some separation between coach and players when things gets tough. Being friends with the players is fine when stuff goes well as it did in the first season

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

I haven't enjoyed the way the team has digressed as the season has gone on. We recruited for and spent an offseason trying implement a style that got abandoned far too easily, who cares what the pundits say - results are arguably worse and, imho, the aesthetics worse. The way the defence has operated with and without the ball since Tuiloma has joined has been poor. Far too many errors technically and mentally. Some of the senior players as they have come back need to hang their head in shame. In general the team/club is far too reactive - some scrutiny on style of play, gets abandoned, a lot of injuries last season relying on youth, recruits a bunch of filler ~25-30 journeyman. That said, its generally there to see what Chiefy has been trying to do and sometimes the best coaches its not about the tactics its about mentally preparing the team and simplifying instructions so that players can implement them. I don't know what the future holds for Chiefy but he's been very likeable and I have enjoyed the various ambitious tactical approaches he's tried.

I think he was set up well by Uffie in season one which is why the team did so well (yet still won nothing).

Seasons two and three showed the real Cheify, easily out of his depth. 

Analytics was what he came here to do and I think that is what he thrives at, not being a gaffer or man manager. This can be seen with the way he treated Al-Taay and Ball for instance. He clearly lost Barbs too.

https://youtu.be/NxH0_5IXrto?si=Y6pvK9ERhp_Dlttz

anaveragestem

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

If Ifill didn't have the badges to coach at Central League (at Olympic Quainoo's were used), he won't have them to coach in the A-League.

Just watched his press conference. Nice guy and I wish him all the best but his views on the game just don't quite add up at times.

The guy had a tough run with squad injuries over two seasons and I'd always make some allowance for that given how thin our squad was and the club's approach to development out of the academy. Compared to the big sides he had a hand or two tied behind his back. 

But this season he's had the opportunity to recruit greater senior depth and to bring in injury replacements. The results and the defensive chaos tells us how well that went.  Though we are not sure just how strong his budget was for that.   

I feel for the guy.  It is a very public fall. Aspiring to do a job and falling short isn't fun times for anyone involved.  But I don't think anybody here thinks this reflects well on those running the club, including those who selected and retained Chief and who left him largely publically unsupported.   The problem isn't just Chief.  

We can hope for better but I think we've not sorted all the club's problems.

Just want to say everything else aside, credit to him for doing the press conference in full after resigning. A lot of coaches would've just walked out without a word or just some generic quotes for a press release.

InsulinMachine

Just watched his press conference. Nice guy and I wish him all the best but his views on the game just don't quite add up at times.

In some press conferences of his yes but in this one what are you hearing that im not? I saw the same thing as he did. First goal was insane shark, the rest of it was mostly just the teams mentality in shreds

Nelfoos

anaveragestem

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

If Ifill didn't have the badges to coach at Central League (at Olympic Quainoo's were used), he won't have them to coach in the A-League.

Remembering when Greenie was interim, interim coaches (not sure on how many games) don't need to meet the Pro level required for foreign coaches (I think this includes NZers though may have changed since APL tookover). I'm not sure if there is a minimum for interim coaches. 

Genuinely sad that its come to this. I echo the sentiments of all those saying Chiefy was a very top guy but this gig just hasn't worked out for him. Going to be interesting to see what the backup plan is.

anaveragestem

InsulinMachine

Just watched his press conference. Nice guy and I wish him all the best but his views on the game just don't quite add up at times.

In some press conferences of his yes but in this one what are you hearing that im not? I saw the same thing as he did. First goal was insane shark, the rest of it was mostly just the teams mentality in shreds

He said he thought we should have won a lot more of the games we've lost or drawn. I don't agree, we've been mediocre across the park all season.

Also in his eyes we have a nice playing style. Sorry, but no way.

I thought the same from the press conference. He was confident but a bit dislusional. 

One min he says i can't fault the players this season...

Next said they were crap the first half today and not up to it. 

Nelfoos

anaveragestem

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

If Ifill didn't have the badges to coach at Central League (at Olympic Quainoo's were used), he won't have them to coach in the A-League.

I'm not sure I understand why,or support, coaches having to have "badges".

I can understand a clubs administration needing to have certain qualifications to ensure the club operates within regulation.

But if someone can make a team tick,why the hell do they need to have "badges". How do badges influence his knowledge of the game, or his ability to build a team?

I suspect it doesn’t 

What’s Ramon up to these days, he manage to get them badges yet.

InsulinMachine

anaveragestem

InsulinMachine

Just watched his press conference. Nice guy and I wish him all the best but his views on the game just don't quite add up at times.

In some press conferences of his yes but in this one what are you hearing that im not? I saw the same thing as he did. First goal was insane shark, the rest of it was mostly just the teams mentality in shreds

He said he thought we should have won a lot more of the games we've lost or drawn. I don't agree, we've been mediocre across the park all season.

Also in his eyes we have a nice playing style. Sorry, but no way.

Yeah that's mostly subjective on your part. People see what they want to see in sport.

I've seen many comments here saying they thought our style this season was much improved. Some even called it exciting. I also agree with Chief that we've been 'in' most games. We've often lost from silly player errors - especially the last 5 weeks.

Also, Chief's first season we did have a good style when it worked and it often did.

I‘m so happy he’s gone.
You have to separate the coach from the man. I never liked his football, not even the successful season. But he‘s probably fun on a fishing trip.

May not be correct here, too lazy to look it up, but i think its a protectionist rule established when the league started, to ensure any non-Aussie coaches taking jobs from Aussies needed to be very high quality, so they instituted a very high level requirement for foreign coaches.

From memory, at one point Aussie coaches were exempted from needing the particular badge that foreigners or Kiwis needed.

Fenix

Nelfoos

anaveragestem

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

If Ifill didn't have the badges to coach at Central League (at Olympic Quainoo's were used), he won't have them to coach in the A-League.

I'm not sure I understand why,or support, coaches having to have "badges".

I can understand a clubs administration needing to have certain qualifications to ensure the club operates within regulation.

But if someone can make a team tick,why the hell do they need to have "badges". How do badges influence his knowledge of the game, or his ability to build a team?

I suspect it doesn’t 

Fair point.

imanixsupporter

May not be correct here, too lazy to look it up, but i think its a protectionist rule established when the league started, to ensure any non-Aussie coaches taking jobs from Aussies needed to be very high quality, so they instituted a very high level requirement for foreign coaches.

From memory, at one point Aussie cosches were exempted from needing the particular badge that foreigners or Kiwis needed. 

Fenix

Nelfoos

anaveragestem

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

If Ifill didn't have the badges to coach at Central League (at Olympic Quainoo's were used), he won't have them to coach in the A-League.

I'm not sure I understand why,or support, coaches having to have "badges".

I can understand a clubs administration needing to have certain qualifications to ensure the club operates within regulation.

But if someone can make a team tick,why the hell do they need to have "badges". How do badges influence his knowledge of the game, or his ability to build a team?

I suspect it doesn’t 

There's no good reason it shouldn't apply to Kiwis without the right badges too. The club should just appoint who they want and if they complain, point out the hypocrisy to the APL and tell them to get fudgeed.

Feel sorry for the guy. He's better than this. With a different group of players I think he'd be a class manager.

Feels like a victim of far deeper Phoenix issues.

Wonder if Dura might be worth a look if he has his badges.
No point getting PO about coaches having to have a particular level of coaching dont most leagues require them.

Bittersweet ending in the end. I'll always  remember  that 23/24 season, was one of the most unreal experiences at the stadiu, that Zawada goal forever imprinted. Wish all the best to Chiefy in his next endeavours 

So, next question? Who will take over for the rest of the season?. I guess the Brazilian assistant could step in. There will be lots of talk about Greenacre but Im not sure he wants the job. Hes just become director of something at the Nix. I think he fancies a long term career and head coach is never a long term job.

Whoever comes in next, the team needs a coach who instills belief back into the players and gets them back to basics.

We don't need any more "vision, philosophy and strategising"
We don't, and never will have the players for that.

Imo, The Nix suit a simple, efficient play style with a high work rate from each player. And then we can go from there

This post hits the nail squarely on the head!

You dont start building flexibility and variety into players/strategy/tactics until you have sound fundamentals covered at whatever level you are playing at. Yes some changes are forced upon a team due to injuries, game circumstances, even weather/pitch issues

. . . but basic errors and glaringly obvious deficiences have cost the club big time in recent years

Since2007

Ninja

austin111

Chiefy said that playing KH as keeper is a good option as he is  good at playing out from the back.
We are not going back to last years football are we?
Because we seem to be giving up on the high line. Maybe the style is changing to slot in the new arrivals.
But we have lost momentum. I loved the first half of the season.....it was fun. Its a big call to change style and setup with only 10 games to go.

I'm not sure we, the players, the opposition, nor the coach know what style we'll be playing week to week.

100%, some coaches set their team up based on countering how they think their opposition will play, while some coaches stick to their style/philosophy of how they want their team to play week in and out regardless of their opponent. I think given Chiefy was an analyst he leans towards the former. 

In my opinion, given the quality of the A-League, I think it's best to do one or two things right and mostly stick to it. I don't think there's many players who can be highly effective playing in a new position/role/different instructions every week. Particularly not the younger players coming through. 

As an oversimplified example: what's De Vries role for AFC? Get forward, cross balls in. What's Sheridan's role for the Nix been this year? Right back, Centre Back, Left back, CDM all with different instructions. It must be difficult to keep up and get particularly good at anything. 

(with the cavaet that yes, injuries have played an influence in these changes - but hasn't always been the case, e.g. Armiento to 10 and LKH as our new LWB) 

ballane

Wonder if Dura might be worth a look if he has his badges.
No point getting PO about coaches having to have a particular level of coaching dont most leagues require them.

Dura is a snake. Fudge him.

zonknz

ballane

Wonder if Dura might be worth a look if he has his badges.
No point getting PO about coaches having to have a particular level of coaching dont most leagues require them.

Dura is a snake. Fudge him.

Yes he left with Rudan but he didnt walk out i  think his contract had finished. Yep i was bitter at the time but he gave us some great service and surely its way past time to forget.

I am sick of us giving Aussie rookies their first go at A-League coaching, I want somebody more accomplished and experienced this time (I know we probably will be getting another Aussie rookie though)

Fenix

Nelfoos

anaveragestem

MetalLegNZ

Nice guy in person. Poor coach imo.

Lost the changing room last year and I suspect.this year too.

Greeny to get a run? Or is happy with his role currently?

Ifil has done well locally.

Yeah id like to see a (ex)player coach next season

If Ifill didn't have the badges to coach at Central League (at Olympic Quainoo's were used), he won't have them to coach in the A-League.

I'm not sure I understand why,or support, coaches having to have "badges".

I can understand a clubs administration needing to have certain qualifications to ensure the club operates within regulation.

But if someone can make a team tick,why the hell do they need to have "badges". How do badges influence his knowledge of the game, or his ability to build a team?

I suspect it doesn’t 

the courses and processes the coaches go through to achieve those badges are exactly the answer you're looking for, they study player management, game management etc, each coach obviously has their own tactics and plans but when it comes to actually managing players and staff that is something that needs to be taught and each league has it's own minimum standards.