BAZEball - The Darren Bazeley Era

ClubOranje

LG

Meanwhile, no updates as to any possible new coach. Embarrassing for NZF

What’s really embarrassing is the fans who think NZF should forego any integrity and privacy issues and name their preferred candidate who has agreed terms but not yet finalised contract due to the fact his [redacted] year old [redacted] has [redacted], and until [redacted] or [redacted] or otherwise, is not wanting to leave their home in [redacted], because what [redacted] really needs right now is to get hounded by mediocre journalists.

NZF have already clearly stated they would not comment on individuals and they were in no major hurry as it is about the 2026 World Cup, and even if the situation with [redacted] was not resolved after the March games, if [redacted] was still open to the offer NZF would wait until after the June window if needed.

If what you're saying is correct and there is another standout candidate that has an offer on the table and they are delaying signing it due to some family crisis then I say this. Where in any employment situation does an employer leave this to run as long as NZF has. Any employer who makes an offer to their preffered candidate will, fairly, say sure deal with this and we'll keep in touch. But at some point the employer will be saying "come on now sign the contract, let us know your keen and we'll delay the start date". NZF could easily end all the bollocks and just get the conrract signed and say we have our man and he will announced soon. Let whoever it is deal with whatever it is and announce when it's all sorted. If this person can't/won't sign the contract then we move on to the next one. I don't care how good this person is, having this incertainty and unkept promises is bad for the fans, horrid for the team and just makes us look like backstreet hicks who can't run an organisation.

ClubOranje

LG

Meanwhile, no updates as to any possible new coach. Embarrassing for NZF

What’s really embarrassing is the fans who think NZF should forego any integrity and privacy issues and name their preferred candidate who has agreed terms but not yet finalised contract due to the fact his [redacted] year old [redacted] has [redacted], and until [redacted] or [redacted] or otherwise, is not wanting to leave their home in [redacted], because what [redacted] really needs right now is to get hounded by mediocre journalists.

NZF have already clearly stated they would not comment on individuals and they were in no major hurry as it is about the 2026 World Cup, and even if the situation with [redacted] was not resolved after the March games, if [redacted] was still open to the offer NZF would wait until after the June window if needed.

i would say that nzf betrayed a sense of privacy/professionalism even announcing what they did announce. There was no need to refer to a personal situation. They could have just said the process is taking longer than expected/hoped, we are going for an interim in the meantime. I suspect if it is even the case that there was a coach keen to coach us and the only reason they aren't is because of this personal family situation, and they said as much to nzf, that that person would not have expected nzf to allude to it at all and might feel betrayed by something they could have thought was said in confidence. 

given where we are in the 2026 World Cup cycle, you give the right person all of the time they need i guess

reg22

given where we are in the 2026 World Cup cycle, you give the right person all of the time they need i guess

who's to say theya re gonna be around for the 2026 WC? But you're right give them as much time as they need to resolve said issue, but at least have a contract signed. That at least gets some committment from all parties and makes things a little more secure going forward.

Given the Oranje insight, I’m thinking Hiddink is still as good a shout as any! 

76? Current assistant with the Aussie squad. Maybe? Is he a little old?

He is a little old, but still better than any other potential coach mentioned anywhere in this stream.

Won't be him, but gee that would've been good...

I have this sinking feeling that whoever the current "preferred candidate" is we are going to be really dissappointed! Both with who it is and the explanation as to why it took so long to get the signature.

Ted Striker

ClubOranje

Ted Striker

ClubOranje

Ryan

Interestingly, Jay Herdman has been selected for NZ U20 under Beazely
https://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/124941?newsfeedId=1275622

My guess is they hope everyone moves on then go back to market for a new head coach.

Not sure why Jay Herdman being selected is ‘interesting’ given he got best player award at qualifiers, Canada didn’t qualify and age group representation doesn’t tie him to NZ for seniors.
Would have been more interesting had he not been selected.

Its "interesting" from the point of view he is still committed to NZ rather than deciding it's time to switch to Canada. 

Canada didn’t qualify, it doesn’t commit him to NZ beyond this, and the U20 World Cup is a shop window. 
I thought I said all this already.
What else was he going to do? Say no thanks I’ll watch it on TV.?

Don't get salty! Perhaps he could just say "no thanks" and look to get into the Senior Canada squad which his father coaches. That is a bigger shop window than playing for NZ at an U20 world cup. Also playing for NZ puts him further into the NZ system who could call him up to the senior squad tomorrow and prevent him from playing for Canada ever. 

Perhaps he could say yes please, do really well at both this and the U20 World Cup which would make it easier for him to break into the International senior side of his choice, without the cries of nepotism that would surely follow if he was selected by a near relative without having proven himself first.

Based on what exactly? The most probable medical issue that Gus would be involved in would be his own (at his age). With Australia anyway, he only came in to run the team for the WC, not act as their manager for the full WC cycle.

martinb

Given the Oranje insight, I’m thinking Hiddink is still as good a shout as any! 

i don't know if anyone caught the arnie and hiddink 'comedy' act during the world up build up games, but it was a dreadful watch. they came across as a couple of bumbling geezers with no idea what was happening around them.

My mate reckons Kevin Muscat applied - but i don't think he would survey well with our younger players - he's a proper coach like Hay. 

 shouldn't call them coaches anymore. No longer named coaches role....more "seeking applications for team facilitator".

We will get the male version of Jitka Klimkova.

Muscat definately not the fit that NZF want.
If Muscat/Hay are your examples of "real" managers what did you think of Herdman, he doesnt strike me as the "manage by fear and anger" type as Iexpect Muscat is? I don't think Hay was that kind of manager either, he just didnt like working with others at NZF.

That would be surprising if Muscat applied. I would see him as trying to follow the same path as Ange Post. Do well in Japan (both have won a J League title), then head to Europe.

Admittedly for Muscat, it would be a 2nd go on the continent, after getting sacked in Belgium. 

And whilst he was an absolute cod on the pitch, I think he's smart enough to know he needs to moderate his personality as a coach. Not sure how your average Japanese player, would take being yelled at (in expletive laden English) in the dressing room. Wonder how Libby found him at Sint Truiden.

you're making big assumptions about muscat's personality, which is probably fair enough based on some of the rubbish he dished out as a player

as a person and as a coach i am told he is nothing like that

and his short coachign career has been first rate

coochiee

That would be surprising if Muscat applied. I would see him as trying to follow the same path as Ange Post. Do well in Japan (both have won a J League title), then head to Europe.

Admittedly for Muscat, it would be a 2nd go on the continent, after getting sacked in Belgium. 

And whilst he was an absolute cod on the pitch, I think he's smart enough to know he needs to moderate his personality as a coach. Not sure how your average Japanese player, would take being yelled at (in expletive laden English) in the dressing room. Wonder how Libby found him at Sint Truiden.

It does feel like it would be an odd career step to go from winning the J1 - after doing so well at the Victory - to coaching in the relative international backwater that is New Zealand. It seems almost the antithesis of capitalising on your hype. He didn't last at STVV, but that job was a lot more difficult than Ange's at Celtic, where it's almost impossible to finish lower than second given the disparities, not to mention Belgium is a big step up from Scotland.

I think we possibly need to temper the expectations, given; A: who would really want to coach the All Whites? and B: who could NZF really afford to hire as coach of the All Whites? You get what you pay for and NZF don't have very deep pockets to hire 'name' managers. 

I'm almost at the point I don't care anymore and just want anyone announced.

reg22

you're making big assumptions about muscat's personality, which is probably fair enough based on some of the rubbish he dished out as a player

as a person and as a coach i am told he is nothing like that

and his short coachign career has been first rate

He won a J1 title. There’s no way he’d be able to do that as a caricature of a Gordon Ramsey type boss. 

He’s obviously got a good football brain, was a good passer of the football, and is also a good motivator of people. He’s won titles in Aussie and Japan. That puts him behind only Ange in terms of Aussie coaching success, surely? 

The only thing that wouldn’t make sense is his applying for the NZ job, unless he’s looking at the quality of players available and thinking a good WC run could be translated into a good country or club job somewhere? 

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport/23351048.des-buckingham-contender-oxford-united-job-michael-appleton/

guess he's not coming back to NZ then?

theprof

guess he's not coming back to NZ then?

Well, it is interesting. If he is in contention for Oxford United or other managerial roles perhaps there is still a chance for the NZ role? Especially if this "preferred candidate" situation with NZF falls through (unless he is the preferred candidate all along). Either way it seems re-signing with Mumbai is not an insurmountable obstacle.

An update from up north, but the president of Canada Soccer resigned yesterday - finally - and he still might be summoned to speak in front of a parliamentary committee that is trying to determine where the money is going.

The women's budget for this year (a World Cup year) has been cut in half and the men's budget is also significantly down. In total $5M Cdn has been cut from the national team programs.

This is a pretty good column on the subject
https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/opinion/2023/02/24/inside-the-battle-for-the-soul-of-canadian-soccer.html

and features this graph:

Canada Soccer’s head of sports medicine, Sarah Smith, recently left for Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League and the cuts were a factor. There are fears more staff will follow. Some in the organization worry about their highly regarded coaches, John Herdman and Bev Priestman. Herdman did not return messages for this piece, but a source close to the men’s coach said of the recent reports linking him to New Zealand: “The All Whites job was real.”

I have only seen Jay Herdman a couple of times and he's a likeable player, but if he wants to play for New Zealand, that's surely a sensible path. No questions of nepotism (one of Canada's all-time best players just criticized an outstanding 16-year-old midfielder for being the U17s deputy captain because his dad is also Herdman's senior assistant, it's ridiculous) and unless something very dramatic changes, Jay is nowhere near the picture for the 2026 World Cup. I hope he and the AWs do well in Indonesia.

You think these “family reasons” might be code for “Canada is in a mess and Herdman will probably leave”?

Napier Phoenix

You think these “family reasons” might be code for “Canada is in a mess and Herdman will probably leave”?

🤞

Napier Phoenix

You think these “family reasons” might be code for “Canada is in a mess and Herdman will probably leave”?

Sounds like the President of Canada Soccer was unpopular. I'd guess now that he's gone Herdman will be more likely to stay on there. Their financial issues, and impending cuts to their international programs have been known for sometime.

Herdman came out and strenously denied he is going anyway. He'd look a right untrustworthy cod now if he back tracked on that. And again why would he give up on a home WC, a reported $CDN750K salary (which NZF can't match) - for the OFC pisspot. Was great to dream about it for a day, when the rumours first broke, but it makes absolute no sense at all.

Depends how dysfunctional Canada is. But you'd think that after his denying it won't happen, it might have happened if the press didn't leak it and Canada is as bad as everyone says.

Nice to know its not just NZF that seems to be a clusterfudge.

Article on the Herald website yesterday says that there's no guarantee - and that it's preferred but not imperative - that they'll have a permanent head coach for the European games in June. They apparently won't be re-advertising the role though and that a number of unnamed candidates are still in contention - despite Herdman, Buckingham and Talay all gone from the original five-man shortlist.

The interview panel - which consists of Pragnell, Keir Hansen, board member Jacqui Barron and two senior players (Wood and Bell did Talay say?) - will reconvene in April.

Pragnell also mentioned that despite Jordan announcing the game against the AWs, it's not yet final and that NZF is weighing up a few options to play in Europe in June, though Jordan is one of them.

I said to a friend before they advertised originally it will be Bazley and its shaping up that way it seems.

carlind

Article on the Herald website yesterday says that there's no guarantee - and that it's preferred but not imperative - that they'll have a permanent head coach for the European games in June. They apparently won't be re-advertising the role though and that a number of unnamed candidates are still in contention - despite Herdman, Buckingham and Talay all gone from the original five-man shortlist.

The interview panel - which consists of Pragnell, Keir Hansen, board member Jacqui Barron and two senior players (Wood and Bell did Talay say?) - will reconvene in April.

Pragnell also mentioned that despite Jordan announcing the game against the AWs, it's not yet final and that NZF is weighing up a few options to play in Europe in June, though Jordan is one of them.

What is the longest time frame a FIFA nation has gone without a named head coach?

How long since Hays contract expired now?

MetalLegNZ

What is the longest time frame a FIFA nation has gone without a named head coach?

How long since Hays contract expired now?

Think it was a month after the Socceroos friendlies, so about October last year.

Pisspot OFC is a bit unique though with no competitive games in the first 2 years of any WC cycle. So compared to other countries, yes is definitely no rush.

Fresh nzf statement in the new Voerman article, seems they are sticking to the story that they are in positive dialogue with their preferred candidate. Really quite amazing. Basically all interested media declared that the preferred candidate was definitely Herdman, who confirmed he would stay with Canada. Is this NZF pathetically sticking to a disproven story? They could have quietly de-emphasised that angle, but they're not budging. Or is the entire media getting it wrong? Or is Herdman actually still considering ditching Canada for us? Whatever it is, this has been such a bizarre episode for NZF. 

it will be interesting to see who (if he exists) the preferred candidate is - its not Herdman, depsite the chaos over there he said it wasnt him early and he wasnt leaving Canada, so it would be a huge surprise if it was him.
time is fast running out for NZF, China games are done in a few weeks. They promised to have a coach in place soon after!

imanixsupporter

Fresh nzf statement in the new Voerman article, seems they are sticking to the story that they are in positive dialogue with their preferred candidate. Really quite amazing. Basically all interested media declared that the preferred candidate was definitely Herdman, who confirmed he would stay with Canada. Is this NZF pathetically sticking to a disproven story? They could have quietly de-emphasised that angle, but they're not budging. Or is the entire media getting it wrong? Or is Herdman actually still considering ditching Canada for us? Whatever it is, this has been such a bizarre episode for NZF. 

I would still not rule out Buckingham. He is being mentioned to take over Oxford United.

Des Buckingham 'contender' for Oxford United job with Michael Appleton | Oxford Mail

theprof

it will be interesting to see who (if he exists) the preferred candidate is - its not Herdman, depsite the chaos over there he said it wasnt him early and he wasnt leaving Canada, so it would be a huge surprise if it was him.
time is fast running out for NZF, China games are done in a few weeks. They promised to have a coach in place soon after!

Do we know it is definitely a "he"...

Khalil Media

theprof

it will be interesting to see who (if he exists) the preferred candidate is - its not Herdman, depsite the chaos over there he said it wasnt him early and he wasnt leaving Canada, so it would be a huge surprise if it was him.
time is fast running out for NZF, China games are done in a few weeks. They promised to have a coach in place soon after!

Do we know it is definitely a "he"...

I hear there's this coach called Klimkova that's really good...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/131558789/all-whites-star-chris-wood-confident-nz-football-will-find-team-a-worthy-head-coach

Wish I had his confidence in Pragnell and co.

theprof

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/131558789/all-whites-star-chris-wood-confident-nz-football-will-find-team-a-worthy-head-coach

Wish I had his confidence in Pragnell and co.

Woodsman basically saying he doesn't mind an "old school" coach, and getting a dressing room spray if needed. But some his (younger?) AWs team mates may struggle with that. No Sean Dyche was the AWs then. But yeah as Wood says, times are a changing, and sounds even Hay was trying to moderate himself. 


Wood said that while he understood NZ Football’s decision to look beyond Hay, which was also rooted in the detachment of his All Whites setup from the organisation more broadly, he felt the descriptions of the former coach as “predominantly autocratic” and “demanding and intense” in the review were “a bit harsh”.

“I don't see it like that. I think if you experience football in a different culture and a different environment, you see different things.

“I've grown up in England, which is traditionally known for its tough culture. Whether that's right or wrong, it's made me who I am and shown what I can tolerate.

“Whether that's going to stay in the future or if football is evolving and that's coming out of the game … I think people need to worry about themselves and just enjoy and learn how to deal with situations as people, because everything's not nice and fluffy in the world, even outside of football.”

A key recommendation of the review was that the All Whites needed a more collaborative environment.

Wood said he had already seen changes in Hay’s approach from last June, when they lost a World Cup qualifying playoff against Costa Rica in Qatar, to September, when they had a pair of defeats against Australia on either side of the Tasman.

“I could see that he was trying to change and become a better manager. He's young and he's inexperienced in the grand schemes of things, so he wanted to learn and change.

“He just wasn't given the time to do so, which is fine and that's football.”

Do you really want the national team head coach to be learning on the job?

coochiee

theprof

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/131558789/all-whites-star-chris-wood-confident-nz-football-will-find-team-a-worthy-head-coach

Wish I had his confidence in Pragnell and co.

Woodsman basically saying he doesn't mind an "old school" coach, and getting a dressing room spray if needed. But some his (younger?) AWs team mates may struggle with that. No Sean Dyche was the AWs then. But yeah as Wood says, times are a changing, and sounds even Hay was trying to moderate himself. 


Wood said that while he understood NZ Football’s decision to look beyond Hay, which was also rooted in the detachment of his All Whites setup from the organisation more broadly, he felt the descriptions of the former coach as “predominantly autocratic” and “demanding and intense” in the review were “a bit harsh”.

“I don't see it like that. I think if you experience football in a different culture and a different environment, you see different things.

“I've grown up in England, which is traditionally known for its tough culture. Whether that's right or wrong, it's made me who I am and shown what I can tolerate.

“Whether that's going to stay in the future or if football is evolving and that's coming out of the game … I think people need to worry about themselves and just enjoy and learn how to deal with situations as people, because everything's not nice and fluffy in the world, even outside of football.”

A key recommendation of the review was that the All Whites needed a more collaborative environment.

Wood said he had already seen changes in Hay’s approach from last June, when they lost a World Cup qualifying playoff against Costa Rica in Qatar, to September, when they had a pair of defeats against Australia on either side of the Tasman.

“I could see that he was trying to change and become a better manager. He's young and he's inexperienced in the grand schemes of things, so he wanted to learn and change.

“He just wasn't given the time to do so, which is fine and that's football.”

Good to see the Woodsman is made of sterner stuff than the staff at NZF. If he didn't mind Hay then I can't imaging the younger players trying to follow his lead would've either.