I think all those who are thinking of youth development and NZ football endorsing the Pheonix academy as being the official national academy for the elite youth and being the answer to the problem are delusional and wide off the mark.
So wide they have hit the corner post.
Australia football doesn't give a flying fudge about our youth development. Why would they be concerned about anything else then their own youth?
All they are concerned about is the coin and are simply saying the Jerry Maguire line "show me the money"
Where that money comes from they don't care a flying fudge.
1: NZ football
2: Sky
3: The owners pockets
It's simply a shake down to see what coins spill from which pockets
I am however thinking that the party with most to lose is number one above.
If the Phoenix go then then the current occupiers of NZ football are toast
The reason we are saying that is that Rob Morrison said that NZF is skint and can't pay so they are looking for other initiatives from them to help. Ultimately putting all resources in the Phoenix camp means that more money flows towards the Phoenix academies and the Phoenix get more players to sign up and potentially onsell.
I wonder if it really goes like this though, if NZF puts all their eggs in the Phoenix basket then they can't afford to let them fail and will do everything in their power including getting the OFC to put pressure on FIFA to make sure that the Phoenix survive.
The reason Tzar Peter the Great built St. Petersberg and moved the capital there was that he knew when he died that other Tzars would not care much for the unproductive land that he'd fought so hard for in his compulsion to make the Russian empire more European. He decided that if he made it the capital though then the empire would be so invested in it that they would never let it fall.