Ricki Herbert resigns

All the best to Ricki. Served us well and probably went at the correct time for the Phoenix, NZ football and himself. I just hope that whoever is the new coach has the standing/reputation to tell Morgan to shut his gob about football before accepting the job.

I assumed no such thing. Whether he resigned or was asked to resign, it doesn't change my thoughts about it being odd timing. I'd have waited until after the Dunedin game before doing anything. But as I said, hopefully we can get a winning run in under greenie. 

I would have thought that if the players weren't happy about how management was treating their coach that would motivate them to play well for their coach.

This may be a bit far fetched but..... surely being a professional footballer is motivation enough. Especially for senior players who have been around various teams etc for a number of years.

If you can't motivate yourself to play well after 10 years as a pro, move on.

well it's all about the players now. Ricky has gone and the players need to know we are still here

 Durante said on the news that Riki had the players behind him.

You mean the same Luca Trani who has been our 'spy' in Australia this season to mastermind better away results? THAT Luca Trani?

My short message the Ricki nay sayers:

You got what you wanted.

I'll admit, in the last month, I was kinda 'yeah I think its time' but some of the haters (like Danny Hay for example) have been on a crusade for a very long time. Now that you have your wishes granted, I would expect to you to be the first ones cheering and supporting although I suspect a few regular suspects will never be happy regardless.

As they say, the king is dead, long live the king.

personally, i'm not delighted about ricki going

i think he had to go, but i have serious doubts about our ability to fin anyone better

i shudder at the thought of some of the currently unemployed a-league coaches being mentioned.  i think therefore that there may be merit in appointing the next best kiwi option, even if he is untried

Didn't know they stopped using him, however we were not exactly doing well away up to that point.

Well I'll be there tomorrow. And I've never stopped supporting...in my own way.

Can't pretend I am sad about it though, more excited about the possibilities ahead. Of course this requires the right appointment, so lets hope that happens. Only time will tell.

Brownie? You are right though, Paston and Lochhead should go. Again, thanks for your services, but your time is up.

My thoughts on the Herbert sacking here:

http://in-the-back-of-the.net/2013/02/26/herbert-out/ 

Hat tip to this thread for alerting me to the Barbarouses comments on the 'Herbert out' facebook page. I doubt I'm the only media who'll pick that up...

Why would I suddenly change my mind a out the ability of players because the coach has left?

That tv3 report from ross karl proved what a corpse he is. Jesus

Also herbert not telling the players is unprofesh

Or if his agent went blabbing to someone else and gazumped his plans.

 "What have the Barbarouses family got against Ricki Herbert? I’d love to know…"

Er... they feel that Kosta never got a fair shake at the Nix? Not hard to divine.

Well, this is what I wanted, but I still feel sad for Ricki.

However, it should benefit both the All Whites and the Nix.

Which is probably fair. I think Ricki realised how to deal with youth after taht.

Wow, a bit surprised.  For all I found Ricki's apparant weaknesses frustrating you have to admire what he achieved.  Easy for us to criticise, but harder to do better.

That's the challenge now.  Some-one who can bring the calmness under pressure, ability to work in trying circumstances, passion for New Zealand football and the ability to create a loyal team spirit and work ethic in his squads, as Ricki has managed.  But then to improve on all that with a step up in player selection and development, tactical nouse and a more winning and entertaining football style.  Probably all with the same budget.

It's been quite an era, the Herbert era, and thanks and respect to the man.  Beating that era won't be easy, but it's what the club needs to do.

Go well Ricki.  And go well Welnix.  No pressure ;)

Unfortunate for Ricki to lose his job but his time had well and truly come and we needed something to shake things up and move forward.  First time I've been excited about the Phoenix for some time.

If you look back to 09/10 season that was his peak and to be still living off that today isn't good enough.  Much is made of ending up a single game off the grand final but it has to be remembered that we only ended up with a home game against Newcastle due to their upset of Gold Coast the week before.  We've still never managed an away win in the finals.  

We've been on a slow but steady downward trajectory since then.  I began to have doubts about him at the end of that season.  After the trip to the UK the previous winter bagged Ifill and Greenacre - still two of our best ever recruits - we chose to effectively stand still rather than push on with more qwuality overseas signings (despite the fact we'd only finished 4th on the regular season ladder).  Perhaps we believed the hype of a successful finals run?

That off season we signed Nick Ward, Musa, Toto, Pavlovic, Jade North, Vukovic and D-Mac - while losing McKain, Caceres and Kosta.  Clearly not enough to push on into the top 2 and in fact we began to go backwards with most of the recruits unable to make much of an impact.  Herbert began experimenting with 3 at the back (after using it as a defensive formation with the All Whites) early in the season unsure how to integrate three centre backs who were all expecting to be first choice - a problem never really dealt with.  What looked like being a disappointing season was saved by the emergence of Marco in the second half of the competition but we still finished 6 out of 11.

11/12 was overshadowed by off field issues but recruitment was still a problem.  The weakness of traditionally wealthy sides Melbourne Victory and Sydney, an excellent defensive record and key goals from Tim Brown and Ifill meant we made the finals but were well off the top sides Brisbane and Central Coast Mariners.  The football was at time turgid and despite results major concerns about the direction of the club on the pitch were beginning to emerge from a vocal minority of fans while crowds fell.

And then we have this season which has been done to death really.  Some good, some bad - his Phoenix reign will be memorable more for great moments rather than outright successes.  Herbert can take some credit for the re-establishment of professional football in New Zealand, but shouldn't be eulogised, players, owners, fans must share equally in that praise.  His lack of a legacy is a little troubling and he lacks a truly landmark achievement to go down as a Phoenix great.  Much depends now of course on the success of his replacement, and maybe his achievements will be subject to reassessment in the future.

However, managers will always come and go and the time is right.  I just hope the fan base can now leave him behind cleanly, move on and rally together in support of the new guy whoever he is.