There’s Only One Ricki Herbert

Yesterday marked the end of an era at the Wellington Phoenix with long serving coach Ricki Herbert announcing his resignation. The club says it was Herbert’s decision and he wasn’t told to resign or be pushed but after this season’s results it’s hard to imagine the management not wanting a change at the end of the season. Whispers out of camp Phoenix suggest he left before he could be sacked.

Ricki hasn’t said much publicly so far on his decision to resign apart from he believed it was the right time for a change at the club and for someone else to take a “fresh look at things”. He has indicated that he will remain the coach of New Zealand’s national team and it’s also been announced that he will stay on staff at the Phoenix in some sort of advisory role. Phoenix captain Andrew Durante has confirmed he was in the dark about Ricki leaving and that he hasn’t spoken to him since the announcement.

The resignation of Herbert comes on the back of one of the worst seasons in the short history of the Wellington Phoenix. Having made the finals the last three consecutive seasons many thought this could be the year the Nix push for the top prize, especially with the current squad considered one of the best ever assembled in Wellington. The season started well for the Nix with a first up win over the much fancied Sydney FC followed by solid draws with the Heart and Roar. It wasn’t until round 4 that the Nix experienced their first loss of the season, however it all went downhill quickly after that as they went on to lose five of their next six games. Then came the embarrassment of losing 7-1 in Sydney and 5-0 to the Mariners. It was probably around this time that Ricki saw the writing on the wall. Long serving fans began asking for his head as a place in the top six continued to get further away as the Nix slipped to the bottom of the table.

Whether it was right time for Herbert to leave or not, he will still be missed at the Wellington Phoenix. Following the disasters that were the NZ Knights and Football Kingz Ricki, along with original Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos, is responsible for the resurgence of professional football in New Zealand.

Ricki leaves the Phoenix as the longest serving coach of a club in the history of the A-League and the only man to have ever held the job at the Phoenix. Assistant coach and former Nix striker Chris Greenacre will lead the team through to the season’s end but has announced he does not want the job full time saying he still has too much to learn before taking on a head coaching role. Possible candidates for the position include former Adelaide manager Luciano Trani who also served as an assistant at the Nix in the past and Ernie Merrick who is out of work and apparently keen to return to the A-League. There are also a few home-grown options such as All White’s assistant Neil Emblen and former All White Gavin Wilkinson who is on the coaching staff at the Portland Timbers in the MLS.

Whoever ends up with the gig will have a tough job picking up the pieces of this season and attempting to get the club back on track and back to winning ways for the 2013/14 season.

Personally I am sad to see Ricki go. The Nix have always been an up and down team and although it might be time for some fresh insight it will take a while for me to get used to seeing someone else commanding the team from the sidelines.

Farewell Ricki and thanks for all the memories.

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