Speaker 1: Football Fever with News Talks MB's voice of Football Jason
Speaker 1: Payne and Bonnie Chansen. Hello and welcome into a fresh
Speaker 1: episode of Football Fever. We're here in association with FIFA
Speaker 1: Plus stream New Zealand football live and free on FIFA
Speaker 1: plus dot com. I'm Jason Pine alongside me Bonnie Jens
Speaker 1: and how was your weekend, Bonnie?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Piney, not bad. Thanks.
Speaker 3: Obviously we had that big football news on Friday, so yeah,
Speaker 3: pretty crazy weekend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to start with that. Other things to
Speaker 1: cover off today the All Whites we last spoke after
Speaker 1: their first game in their two match tour against Mexico.
Speaker 1: We were pretty underwhelmed. A lot better against the United States.
Speaker 1: Want to cover that off. And a lot of keeper's
Speaker 1: playing overseas, and still a few tbc's as far as
Speaker 1: where people might turn up for their next footballing challenge.
Speaker 1: Let's start though with, as you alluded to, the big
Speaker 1: news on Friday, the inevitable news it felt like, of
Speaker 1: Yetka Klimkova's departure a ball Ferns coach, having been the
Speaker 1: subject of an employment matter which saw her miss two
Speaker 1: games earlier this year against Japan, and then rather mysteriously
Speaker 1: stand down for the Paris Olympics. Her continuation in this
Speaker 1: role seemed untenable and so it proved. Did this come
Speaker 1: as a surprise when this news.
Speaker 3: Dropped, certainly not a surprise still, you know a bit
Speaker 3: of a bit of a shock, and while that happened. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's just just crazy and it baffles me how much
Speaker 3: under the radar it's kind of been and still like
Speaker 3: there's so many questions about what happened, why she's still
Speaker 3: working there, why the contract was six years, just everything
Speaker 3: about it is just so fishy and it makes me
Speaker 3: really gutted that it's happening in the football space and
Speaker 3: particularly women's football.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we can look at who might potentially replace her
Speaker 1: in a little while, but if we just pair it back,
Speaker 1: Bonnie and you sent me an email with the list
Speaker 1: of all a sorry football firms results since Yetka took charge,
Speaker 1: and if we discount the last six games which were
Speaker 1: matches when she wasn't in charge of the team, thirty
Speaker 1: nine games as head coach, eleven wins, seven draws, twenty
Speaker 1: one losses, and of the eleven wins, five of those
Speaker 1: were an Oceania Olympic qualifying against Pacific Island sides which,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, would struggle probably in our local league.
Speaker 1: So six wins, seven draws, twenty one losses against non
Speaker 1: Oceania opposition, even the results themselves bear further scrutiny, further
Speaker 1: examination of the coach, don't they.
Speaker 3: Oh, one hundred percent? And I mean that's half of it.
Speaker 3: I mean even the media since the World Cup has ended,
Speaker 3: or even I remember before the World Cup, we've been
Speaker 3: asking these questions about you know, surely there should be
Speaker 3: more accountability, responsibility from the coaching stuff and the players.
Speaker 3: To be fair as well, we can't put all the
Speaker 3: blame on Yika, but that in itself was really concerning.
Speaker 3: And I think the fact that her contract was six
Speaker 3: seven years, however long it was till the end of
Speaker 3: twenty twenty seven, that's not right in itself. That it
Speaker 3: was clear that she had that much time to get
Speaker 3: it right, and for a coach with that much responsibility
Speaker 3: to you know, just focus on the next six years. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's so wrong, it's not right. And I go back
Speaker 3: to how much they New Zealand football seemed to focus
Speaker 3: on that one win at the World Cup last year,
Speaker 3: and gosh it was amazing, and I don't want to
Speaker 3: take anything away from the team and the girl that
Speaker 3: that night was something special. But the fact that they're
Speaker 3: just so happy with that speaks volumes and that they
Speaker 3: didn't think they should be potentially striving for more.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the six year contract is something it's just about
Speaker 1: unheard of right in professional sport you at any level,
Speaker 1: in any co Really, I'm struggling to remember any coach
Speaker 1: who has been given a contract there that duration. She
Speaker 1: took over after the last Olympic Games, which were delayed
Speaker 1: by a year by COVID, so she took over in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. Surely, Bonnie, you say, look, we'd like
Speaker 1: you to take us to the next World Cup in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, Big One, of course co hosted Buy
Speaker 1: New Zealand we want you to take us to that.
Speaker 1: We hope you're the person to take us beyond that.
Speaker 1: But let's see how you go up to the World
Speaker 1: Cup and in the World Cup, and then we'll have
Speaker 1: another chat after that.
Speaker 2: Oh exactly.
Speaker 3: And that home World Cup was such an opportunity, and yes,
Speaker 3: we made the most of it to some extent, but
Speaker 3: at the same time, I think we completely missed that opportunity.
Speaker 3: That should have been the focus when Yitka came in
Speaker 3: or any whoever that coach may have been came in
Speaker 3: from New Zealand Football. They should have said, we want
Speaker 3: to do well at this. We want to do more
Speaker 3: than get our first win at the World Cup. We
Speaker 3: want to get out of the group and we want
Speaker 3: to change the game of women's football in New Zealand.
Speaker 3: And I honestly think they only did one of those,
Speaker 3: and that that was winning. I don't think you know, Yes,
Speaker 3: there might be a few more football fans and few
Speaker 3: more young girls playing football now, but the New Zealand
Speaker 3: hasn't done anything like what Australia have.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: Look, it's a great comparison you make, and I saw
Speaker 1: you may made that comparison in a column you wrote
Speaker 1: for the New Zealand Herald. Yeah, Australia have just gone
Speaker 1: on leaps and bounds, and yes they are a better
Speaker 1: football side, let's make no mistake about it. But they're
Speaker 1: still selling out wherever they go, way more tickets sold
Speaker 1: than the Soccer US. They've got incredible engagement with football
Speaker 1: fans male and female. On the other side of the
Speaker 1: Tasman and look, oddly enough, Bonnie, I think if they
Speaker 1: had renegotiated after the World Cup, she probably would have
Speaker 1: got an extension because of that result against Norway. You
Speaker 1: know which I would that have been, right? I don't know,
Speaker 1: But I come back to it, a six year contract
Speaker 1: and apparently without any performance triggers either, which I find
Speaker 1: almost impossible to believe that you know that it didn't
Speaker 1: have in it something like you know, you're not not
Speaker 1: even quantifiable, You've got to win X, y Z number
Speaker 1: of games something around you know, improvement of the team
Speaker 1: or improved results or better performance is something like that,
Speaker 1: because isn't that the job of a head coach to
Speaker 1: you know, at the elite level it is a results
Speaker 1: based game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: And like it's it's a comfort thing, right, like they've
Speaker 3: not gone out of their comfort zone. Giving her six
Speaker 3: years is just like, oh yeah, well, you know, we've
Speaker 3: got six years to get it right.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 3: That's a long time in football. And honestly, I put
Speaker 3: it back to the respect on the woman's game. I
Speaker 3: think it comes across as New Zealand football have gone.
Speaker 3: Yet you know, she's worked in our system before, we
Speaker 3: know what she can do. She doesn't have too much
Speaker 3: experience at this level, but she's available and let's just
Speaker 3: chuck her in and see how she goes. And I
Speaker 3: think there is a real urgency, a real need for
Speaker 3: a mind sht mindset shift in this this space in
Speaker 3: the woman's game, because gosh, it's growing so quickly around
Speaker 3: the world and New Zealand are falling fast behind.
Speaker 1: All Right, we can talk about the possible contenders to
Speaker 1: replace her in just a moment, and also be keen
Speaker 1: to hear what you think the players might think about this.
Speaker 1: But Andrew Pragnell, CEO of New Zealand Football, join me
Speaker 1: on news talks hereb over the weekend. I asked him,
Speaker 1: first of all, what actually has played out here?
Speaker 4: I think that's for her to speak to in terms
Speaker 4: of you know, I don't think it's right that I
Speaker 4: would speak on her behalf, but I think that at
Speaker 4: the end of the day, she's put it in pretty
Speaker 4: hard yards. She's achieved some things we've never achieved before.
Speaker 4: She's transitioned the team in a way that we hadn't
Speaker 4: seen her at the part of ten years, and she
Speaker 4: fills her.
Speaker 1: Times up, has she though? Andrew?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I said this is a good one. I'm glad
Speaker 4: you asked that because I think there's obviously different views
Speaker 4: on that. I think there's a couple of things that
Speaker 4: we need to do when we look at yas tenure,
Speaker 4: as you should do with every coach, and the first
Speaker 4: thing is have a look in the rearview mirror and
Speaker 4: take a few steps back, because for more than thirty
Speaker 4: years we've been trying to get a win at the
Speaker 4: Women's World Cup. The reality is she made a breakthrough
Speaker 4: that we haven't been able to make as her leadership.
Speaker 4: That did it. I know there's a lot of commentary
Speaker 4: on her win loss record. It's pretty consistent with previous coaches.
Speaker 4: I think that. I also think there's a little bit
Speaker 4: of I think we need to clarify as well. From
Speaker 4: our end, our focus is weally on Women's World Cut results.
Speaker 4: So you know, she chose to you know, she chose
Speaker 4: to play top twenty teams in the build up to
Speaker 4: that Woman's World Cup because she thought that's what would
Speaker 4: get us some results. And you know that impacted the
Speaker 4: win loss record ultimately, but it did get us to
Speaker 4: a place we haven't been before. I think when we
Speaker 4: look back, we'll look back obviously the ones will cut
Speaker 4: with real mixed feelings. It's all very well to win
Speaker 4: the first game changed the course of the Women's World Cup,
Speaker 4: but there's no doubt they want to get out of
Speaker 4: the group, and often your results and feelings sing your
Speaker 4: last game. So that's that's one thing that I don't
Speaker 4: think we should ever take from her. But the one
Speaker 4: that I think will be genuinely longer lasting is the
Speaker 4: transition of the team. So if we step back again
Speaker 4: we look at the ferns over the last ten years,
Speaker 4: I think we'd be right to acknowledge there hasn't been
Speaker 4: any true until yet has come along true transition of
Speaker 4: the team. We haven't had a professional pathway up till recently.
Speaker 4: It's meant that you know a very few group of players.
Speaker 4: Lect players accumulated literally hundreds of STAPs. I don't think
Speaker 4: that was necessarily healthy thing to do, and yet could
Speaker 4: transitioned it. She didn't, and some people would say she
Speaker 4: should have transitioned it faster, But at the end of
Speaker 4: the day, she basically brought him eighteen new players, introduced
Speaker 4: ten new players to Woman's Will Cup, certainly a bigger
Speaker 4: transition than any coach in the history of the football ferns.
Speaker 4: So I don't think we should take those from and
Speaker 4: and he goes she gives with good wishes from outside.
Speaker 1: Did you try to convince her to stay?
Speaker 4: It's a great question as well. Look, I think ultimately,
Speaker 4: you know, these things should come from the heart. She's
Speaker 4: a good person. She waged it up. I think she's
Speaker 4: given her all one hundred percent. She's been incredibly proud,
Speaker 4: she's got you know, she's a key with check at
Speaker 4: the end of the day, she's been here. For those
Speaker 4: that know her history, she's ten years prior, she's been
Speaker 4: involved in our age group side. She's been in out
Speaker 4: and out. I feel like she'd given everything. She put
Speaker 4: it hard and soul into it, and the team isn't
Speaker 4: a better place for it, although I appreciate it may
Speaker 4: not seem like it at times as well, but that
Speaker 4: transition should not be understated.
Speaker 1: What's this player driven?
Speaker 4: It's a good question. I think. I always say we
Speaker 4: can talk about player voice, and you know what, what
Speaker 4: do the players? I always say, And it's got to
Speaker 4: twenty three people, there's twenty three different views. I would
Speaker 4: say we've got some pretty diverse views amongst the score
Speaker 4: we've still got transitions happening. There's wide public sentiment on
Speaker 4: again as to whether it should be happenings or not.
Speaker 4: I think I think fair to say there's there's there's
Speaker 4: some players obviously who weren't yelling. There's some players who
Speaker 4: were so look, I think there's a player dynamic that's
Speaker 4: always complex, was a player driven players haven't impact on all. Right.
Speaker 1: So that's Andrew pregnant with some of his comments when
Speaker 1: he spoke to me on Saturday afternoon on News Talks.
Speaker 1: Here be the full interview, incidentally available on the news
Speaker 1: Talks hed B website. The bit at the end is
Speaker 1: interesting to me, Bonnie about the players. What do you
Speaker 1: think the players think about this?
Speaker 3: I think, you know, it's it's clear that there were
Speaker 3: there was some discontent in there within the group. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, you could notice it in the attitude of
Speaker 3: the players over the.
Speaker 2: Last few years.
Speaker 3: And and while we don't know what this incident exactly was,
Speaker 3: I don't think they all. I mean, I can't speak
Speaker 3: for everyone, but I do get a good feeling that
Speaker 3: that they didn't get along with Yika and maybe in
Speaker 3: probably half of that's down to the performances so I
Speaker 3: don't know, maybe there's a sense of relief that she's
Speaker 3: gone again. I think it's an opportunity. New Zealand Football
Speaker 3: really need to look at themselves in the mirror and
Speaker 3: look at the plan for the woman's game, because even
Speaker 3: though Yika is gone now, they still seem from that
Speaker 3: interview Piney with You, Andrew Pragnell still seemed really confident
Speaker 3: in the plan going forward, and he spoke about who
Speaker 3: will potentially come in to replace Yika and not wanting
Speaker 3: them to come in with a new fresh perspective, but
Speaker 3: rather just coming in and filling filling the gap and
Speaker 3: just you know, going forward with it.
Speaker 1: So who are the candidates then? Is Michael Maine a
Speaker 1: candidate to be upgraded permanently to the to the head
Speaker 1: coach role.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I mean I don't know the guy a whole lot.
Speaker 3: I think if you base, if you look at their
Speaker 3: Olympic performances, I think they've played really well the Ferns
Speaker 3: by their standards. Yes they didn't get a win, but
Speaker 3: yeah that they scored a couple of goals and played
Speaker 3: pretty decently under him. So potentially again I'd like to
Speaker 3: see what he does and what his mind is, and
Speaker 3: maybe we'll see that in the next international window they have.
Speaker 3: I don't think there's one coming up in October, but yes,
Speaker 3: I think potentially he's a candidate, maybe someone else to
Speaker 3: look at as Paul Temple.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to ask about that. I've got
Speaker 1: that written down. Wellington Phoenix women's coach has coached the
Speaker 1: under seventeen New Zealand side as well. That was at
Speaker 1: the World Cup in two thousand and eight. From memory,
Speaker 1: member Rosie White got a hat trick in Wellington. I
Speaker 1: remember Paul Temple and in the players just absolutely going
Speaker 1: mental on the bench when she completed her hat trick.
Speaker 1: He's obviously been in and around the women's game and
Speaker 1: has coached the men's game as well. Would he be
Speaker 1: or would he a be popular with the players and
Speaker 1: be be a good choice?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the thing.
Speaker 3: And I think as well, we need to remember what
Speaker 3: I was mentioning before about I'm not sure the playersally
Speaker 3: got it along with ye. And yes, players are going
Speaker 3: to have their preferences and coaches and coaches are going
Speaker 3: to have their preferences and players and you can't change that.
Speaker 3: And so while Paul might you know, not get along
Speaker 3: with every player, or every player might not get along
Speaker 3: with with Paul, or the same for Michael Maine. I
Speaker 3: think the important thing for the Ferns camp is that
Speaker 3: there's professionalism and there's a kind of holistic mindset and
Speaker 3: a bigger picture of view and I think that's key.
Speaker 3: And you know, there's there's always politics in sport, but
Speaker 3: it seems to be particularly around this this woman's game,
Speaker 3: which which doesn't help at all for the game as
Speaker 3: they're trying to get you know, investment and things like that.
Speaker 2: But yes, I think based.
Speaker 3: On what Paul did with the with the Phoenix last year,
Speaker 3: there's there's a good case for him.
Speaker 1: It's also, let's make this clear, it's not the It's
Speaker 1: not to the players to choose the coach, don't They
Speaker 1: don't sit on the appointment panel. They shouldn't have any
Speaker 1: say in who the coach is. Once they're together as
Speaker 1: a as a playing group with their coach, you hope
Speaker 1: that they'll gel and as has been proven in this case,
Speaker 1: that doesn't always happen. But it's not up to the
Speaker 1: players to choose who their coach is. They simply have
Speaker 1: to implement the strategy that the appointed coach comes up with.
Speaker 1: Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. But Andrew Pragnell said
Speaker 1: another interesting thing in the interview. He said that the
Speaker 1: average lifespan of an international coach is eleven months, which
Speaker 1: actually makes the six year contracts seem even more farcical.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I don't know. I just hope they get
Speaker 1: this decision right because as you also outlined in your
Speaker 1: in your piece, you know there's been there's been a
Speaker 1: couple of incidents now with the Yipka with we all
Speaker 1: know what happened with Andreas Haraf and the raft of
Speaker 1: problems that he caused. Tom Somani I think was a
Speaker 1: good coach of the Football Ferns, but I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what the situation was around him. Leaving what about Tony Gustaffson,
Speaker 1: the former Matilda's coach. Would he be an option?
Speaker 3: I would love to see, love to see Tony in there.
Speaker 3: He's such a carre and I mean we we all
Speaker 3: know what he did for for the Matildas and how
Speaker 3: good they were.
Speaker 2: At the World Cup last year. So yeah, I would
Speaker 2: love that.
Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe he's a little bit beyond the
Speaker 3: football fin's role. At the same time, maybe he's ready
Speaker 3: for a challenge, and I feel like he would be
Speaker 3: a coach as well that sticks, you know, sticks to
Speaker 3: his word and sticks to his ways, and you know,
Speaker 3: would potentially help create, you know, a mindset shift and
Speaker 3: in the NZF camp also. Another one would be Joe Montemurrow.
Speaker 3: I think that's how you say his last name. He
Speaker 3: coached the A League All Stars last year. He he
Speaker 3: would be another one that is quite a good coach,
Speaker 3: I believe.
Speaker 1: What about vlood Coo and Aanofsky for former US coach.
Speaker 1: I don't know whether he's turned up anywhere.
Speaker 2: Oh he has.
Speaker 3: He's currently coaching the KC Current, the Kansas City Current
Speaker 3: and the NWSL and they're like top of the table,
Speaker 3: so I'm pretty.
Speaker 2: Sure he'll be He'll be pretty settled there. Maybe I'd
Speaker 2: like to see Emma Hayes. Is that too much to us?
Speaker 3: Yes? To us?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't see Ema Hay's breaking. Look if if
Speaker 1: anybody's six year contract, it's her.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, and she I'm pretty sure she's not even
Speaker 3: on something like that. So it's just Steell baffles Meyk
Speaker 3: was on that.
Speaker 1: All right? Will you wait and see? Andrew Pagnell said yeah,
Speaker 1: they're not going to play in the October window. There
Speaker 1: are no scheduled games as far as I can see
Speaker 1: for the Football Ferns at all. But there will be
Speaker 1: World Cup qualifiers of course coming up in the next
Speaker 1: little while. But they have to get back together. But yeah,
Speaker 1: the first point of business is finding a new head coach.
Speaker 1: After what has been a drawn out and at times
Speaker 1: fairly sad chapter in the history of New Zealand women's
Speaker 1: football in this country, the ff with piny and body.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to rather brighter things. All Whites won
Speaker 1: United States of America one. This was the second game
Speaker 1: in the two match window, with the All Whites losing
Speaker 1: three Northern Mexico. This was much better, wasn't it. I
Speaker 1: thought this was a huge improvement in game two.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great result.
Speaker 3: First and foremost, what their top twenty in the world,
Speaker 3: the USA, so yeah, and they played in America as well,
Speaker 3: in front of home crowds.
Speaker 2: So yeah.
Speaker 3: By all means unreal from the All Whites, And I've
Speaker 3: spoken about it lots of times, but they're in that
Speaker 3: World Cup cycle now twenty twenty six. They've got to
Speaker 3: start getting results like these under their belt. And that's
Speaker 3: exactly what they've done.
Speaker 1: Indeed, far more intense, less possession actually than they had
Speaker 1: against Mexico. We spoke last week and possession was about
Speaker 1: fifty to fifty ready, but there was just so little
Speaker 1: in the wave of end product for New Zealand against Mexico.
Speaker 1: Way way better this time. Lots more chances created at
Speaker 1: the other in Max Crokam, I thought he had an
Speaker 1: excellent game and goal. Probably couldn't do too much with
Speaker 1: the goal that gave the United States the lead, but
Speaker 1: made some terrific saves. Marko Staminitch good again. Finn Sermon
Speaker 1: I thought was very good. And Ben Wayne's goal I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've heard it suggested that it was a fluke and
Speaker 1: it was. There's no way Ben Wayne had anything to
Speaker 1: do with getting his body into the right position to
Speaker 1: deflect a clearance up and over the goalkeeper and into
Speaker 1: the back of the net. But the fact remains he
Speaker 1: had to be there, and I think New Zealand's performance
Speaker 1: deserved a goal no matter how it came.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Ben Wayne's a finisher. I don't I don't suggest
Speaker 3: anything else, you know, I really rate him. He's a
Speaker 3: great player to bring off the bench as well, and
Speaker 3: I guess Beas is trying to figure out a good
Speaker 3: way to use him leading into that twenty twenty six
Speaker 3: Wheeld Cup. So good on him, however he scored that goal,
Speaker 3: But yeah, you're right. And something else really positive as
Speaker 3: seeing the stats that I'm just reading over again now
Speaker 3: eight shots off, which is pretty unheard of for the
Speaker 3: men or woman to be frank, you know from these
Speaker 3: New Zealand sides. So yeah, good to that it's hitting
Speaker 3: in the right direction.
Speaker 1: They had a couple of really good opportunities. Libby Cacachi
Speaker 1: had a good opportunity. Matt Garbutt had a chance right
Speaker 1: at the start. Libby Cocacci drew a good say from
Speaker 1: the keeper so did he lie just in the second half,
Speaker 1: So yeah, they were. There was just a lot more
Speaker 1: to like about it, you know. I called both games
Speaker 1: for fee for plus and there was just so little
Speaker 1: to enthuse about in the first game, you know, the
Speaker 1: second game was a lot more exciting as far as
Speaker 1: you know, a New Zealand lens was concerned. They can
Speaker 1: look forward now to World Cup qualifiers of course over
Speaker 1: the next two windows. Just mentioned Max crokeum I thought
Speaker 1: perhaps and I think you shared the view that maybe
Speaker 1: Alex Paulson might get a go, but it feels us
Speaker 1: so Darren basically at the moment is all in on
Speaker 1: Max Crokum.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how old is Max Crokum? I feel like you'll
Speaker 2: know that stat.
Speaker 1: I'm going to say twenty seven twenty eight old. Google
Speaker 1: it while you're chatting. Yeah, he's older than he's older
Speaker 1: than Alex Paulson. If that's what you're asking.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, Well That's what I'm wondering, is like, has
Speaker 3: he got another couple of years in him? And he
Speaker 3: clearly does if Bays is keen to invest in Croakum
Speaker 3: now and see him through wearing that number one jersey
Speaker 3: to twenty twenty six, So yeah, he's by all means
Speaker 3: a great keeper. My reasoning was just why not give
Speaker 3: Alex Paulson a go and try and yeah, test the
Speaker 3: waters and try and figure out that number one. But
Speaker 3: it's clear that that's their direction that BES is going,
Speaker 3: and I mean Alex, Alex Paulson is a reserve keeper
Speaker 3: not too shabby as well.
Speaker 1: No, indeed, Max Crogan will love me for saying twenty
Speaker 1: six twenty seven he's thirty one?
Speaker 3: Oh okay, yes, that changes things then, but then keep
Speaker 3: the keepers are generally older.
Speaker 1: They can go until their forty if they want to.
Speaker 1: I quite liked the I quite liked quite liked it
Speaker 1: in one way, and that you know, he played well
Speaker 1: against Mexico for the most part. As we mentioned on
Speaker 1: the pod last week. Probably could have done better with
Speaker 1: the first goal, but other than that he was he
Speaker 1: was pretty solid. I don't mind to keep her being
Speaker 1: backed and like that. Having said that, I would quite
Speaker 1: like to have seen Alex Paulson have a game. He's
Speaker 1: still only got the one cap for New Zealand and
Speaker 1: that was at the Oceanian Nations Cup, and we know
Speaker 1: he's going to play a lot for New Zealand. You know,
Speaker 1: he's what's Alex Paulson. He's twenty one is and he
Speaker 1: compared to Max Crocum's thirty one, so you know, we're
Speaker 1: talking to players a decade apart in age. So we're
Speaker 1: going to see a lot of Alex Paulson in the
Speaker 1: in the time ahead. But yeah, good to have competition
Speaker 1: Ollie Sale. You know, a year ago we thought he
Speaker 1: was the number one and now he's you know, he's
Speaker 1: he's probably under challenge for the third spot in an
Speaker 1: all white squad. All Whites Power rankings are out on Wednesday, Bonnie,
Speaker 1: I'm excited. New Zealand Herald website five o'clock Wednesday morning.
Speaker 1: I'm told they'll hit online. This is where this is
Speaker 1: extremely arbitrary. Of course, it's really just my opinion, but
Speaker 1: ranking the fifty most important male players at the moment
Speaker 1: going around, and yeah, there's a bit of movement. There's
Speaker 1: a bit of movement from the last time.
Speaker 4: I did them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I obviously had a little sneak peek and
Speaker 3: I know we can't give any sneak peeks out to
Speaker 3: our listeners now, but I mean it's it's so good
Speaker 3: how much depth that All Whits camp has. And we've
Speaker 3: talked about this before, but I mean you and I
Speaker 3: had a little debate on different rankings and things like that,
Speaker 3: and it's good. It's it's only positive for the group. Again,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna mention it or in this World Cup cycle,
Speaker 3: our tickets to the World Cup is all but guaranteed
Speaker 3: and we need that. We need to have as much
Speaker 3: competition as.
Speaker 1: We can, absolutely right, So yeah, that's Injured Herald dot
Speaker 1: co dot NZ at five o'clock Wednesday Morning Football Fever,
Speaker 1: it's look at domestic football. Auckland f C continuing to
Speaker 1: put their squad together. Even though these aren't confirmed, some
Speaker 1: names are being bandied around as possible imports for Auckland
Speaker 1: f C. One year, hear a lot as chile and
Speaker 1: midfielder Felipe Galaghos. This has been widely reported by a
Speaker 1: number of well a number of people on Twitter for
Speaker 1: starters and another number of overseas media that he will
Speaker 1: he will be signed by Auckland f C. Also hearing
Speaker 1: of a Belgian midfielder and a Uruguayan striker that'll make
Speaker 1: four if those two and Galagos are signed. We've got
Speaker 1: Rocky Sarki of course there already, so there would be
Speaker 1: one more to add. And as far as the Phoenix concerned,
Speaker 1: they've their imports sorted for the meantime. But just hearing
Speaker 1: in the last little while that twenty one year old
Speaker 1: defender Corbyn Piper out of Birkenhead who has been trialing
Speaker 1: with the Phoenix. According to Nicholas Lennon, who's become a
Speaker 1: very good source on x as it is now Twitter.
Speaker 1: He writes for the Raw Sports and has got a
Speaker 1: lot of good sources. By the looks of it, he
Speaker 1: is reporting that that is a done deal. That Corbyn Piper,
Speaker 1: the twenty one year old KIW defender slash defensive midfielder,
Speaker 1: I think we'll sign for Wellington Phoenix. Have you seen
Speaker 1: him play for Burko at all?
Speaker 3: No, I haven't, but that name rings about in one
Speaker 3: of my contacts, and the domestic league also said, hey,
Speaker 3: keep an eye on this kid. He's bloody good, so
Speaker 3: it doesn't surprise.
Speaker 1: Me, all right, So if he does sign, that'll be
Speaker 1: twenty three in the Phoenix squad. That includes two scholarship
Speaker 1: players Luke brook Smith the striker and Dublin Boone the goalkeeper,
Speaker 1: so they could add more, but that'll be twenty three.
Speaker 1: Let's say twenty one full time contracted play for Wellington Phoenix,
Speaker 1: which I think is a you know, a good number
Speaker 1: to have for Auckland f C. Just bring up their
Speaker 1: latest roster and how many they have twenty two, but
Speaker 1: seven of those of scholarship and they still have the
Speaker 1: four imports to add. So yeah, you know, we're less
Speaker 1: than five weeks away now, Bonnie. I you know, we've
Speaker 1: been saying it every week. It's it's getting closer. We're
Speaker 1: seeing lots of footage on social media of Auckland f
Speaker 1: C in particular and their training sessions. Yeah. Look, it
Speaker 1: just continues to the excitement continues to build ahead of
Speaker 1: the first A League men's season with two New Zealand
Speaker 1: teams in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, super pumped for that.
Speaker 3: I'm thinking I need to go out after that we
Speaker 3: record this podcast and book My flat's already done for
Speaker 3: that first starve you do. It's just crazy like that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we're going to have for the first time to professional
Speaker 3: teams in the country. And yeah, really really excited for
Speaker 3: what's to come.
Speaker 1: I heard there are a few a few Auckland f
Speaker 1: C fans coming. I've heard that. Yeah, there's a few
Speaker 1: who are booking flights and ready to It'll probably be
Speaker 1: the biggest waste support that there's ever been for a
Speaker 1: Phoenix game. It's guys. I remember Western Sydney wander has
Speaker 1: brought about five hundred over one year. That was amazing,
Speaker 1: My god, it was so good. So if Auckland f
Speaker 1: C can bring a few hundred down, how goods are
Speaker 1: going to be?
Speaker 2: Do you reckon? It'll sell out the game.
Speaker 3: I've already told my family down in Wellington to get
Speaker 3: tickets early.
Speaker 2: I think it will well.
Speaker 1: I mean, i'd love to think that it would. I
Speaker 1: don't know whether it will. I would love to think
Speaker 1: that it was kind of the fifteen twenty thousand mark
Speaker 1: for that. I guess it'll depend, like if both teams
Speaker 1: start really well, and once the season starts, it'll be
Speaker 1: front and center of our consciousness, so there'll be a
Speaker 1: lot more you know, well, will it'll feel more real?
Speaker 1: I like the fact that it's quite early. A question
Speaker 1: for you when the Phoenix come to Auckland to play
Speaker 1: derby matches, how many I feel like there'll be more
Speaker 1: Phoenix fans because there are already Phoenix fans in Auckland
Speaker 1: who won't championship? Is that the feeling you get that
Speaker 1: there'll be so who, even though they now have an
Speaker 1: A League side in Auckland to support, will remain loyal
Speaker 1: to the team that they've followed up until now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they will and we'll see a lot
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 3: You know that when it comes to the derbys, they're
Speaker 3: sicking with the Phoenix, but every other week they'll back
Speaker 3: Auckland f C. I mean, I'm one of them, I
Speaker 3: have to admit you know, I'm from Wellingtonough growing up
Speaker 3: with the Phoenix, so I feel like it would be
Speaker 3: terrible to jump ship just because I'm here up in Auckland.
Speaker 3: But yeah, no, that's definitely the case. And I do
Speaker 3: think as well, Auckland would be more of a more
Speaker 3: of a likelihood mount smart of selling out that they're
Speaker 3: Derby that they have here, just from as you say,
Speaker 3: the amount of Phoenix fans that are that are already
Speaker 3: up here in Auckland.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Again, Also, it'll the season will be what's seven
Speaker 1: or eight weeks old by then, won't it, or maybe
Speaker 1: even a couple of months in, so we'll get a steer,
Speaker 1: especially if both teams are playing well. I know that
Speaker 1: there's only part of it a Derby should it shouldn't matter,
Speaker 1: but yeah, if they're both playing well, both in top
Speaker 1: six contention, which I think looking at their squads they
Speaker 1: should be. They honestly should be both in top six contention,
Speaker 1: then I think, yeah, we're in for it. Well, the
Speaker 1: one down here and Wellington will be great. The couple
Speaker 1: up in Auckland to be great. I mean, just bring
Speaker 1: them on. Bring on some a league derby's football fever.
Speaker 1: Let's finish with keeper's playing overseas. You've got a few
Speaker 1: of the women to tell us about. Just a quick
Speaker 1: look at the men. Chris Wood didn't score over the weekend,
Speaker 1: but it was part of the Nottingham Forest side that
Speaker 1: beat Liverpool one nil at Anfield, first time Nottingham Forest
Speaker 1: have won at Anfield since nineteen sixty nine. Even I
Speaker 1: wasn't even. I wasn't born then, so no, not great.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: The following year I popped up, so no, even I
Speaker 1: wasn't around. Ben Old off the bench and helped Saint
Speaker 1: Ettie into their first one of the season and league
Speaker 1: in France. Joe Bell with Viking Viking rather continuing to
Speaker 1: play well another three points for them. Matt Garbett started
Speaker 1: and helped Nack Budda to another one in the air
Speaker 1: at a visit. Elliott Collier scored yesterday for Indy eleven
Speaker 1: as well. And I must think one of our listeners
Speaker 1: he goes by Young heart Hm on Twitter, who pointed
Speaker 1: out to us that it was the fiftieth first team
Speaker 1: appearance for reading for Tyler Binden over the weekend in
Speaker 1: a loss to Leyton Orient. But he's chalked up fifty
Speaker 1: appearances for reading already and he is still a teenager.
Speaker 1: He has got a bright future, Tyler Binden, and I
Speaker 1: think it'll be beyond reading as well. And of course
Speaker 1: for the national team, what about our women playing around
Speaker 1: the world, bonny unreal.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Gabby Rennie on the score sheet again for a Land
Speaker 3: United and a three ye all drawer in their latest
Speaker 3: game in Finland. Hannah Blake on the scad in her
Speaker 3: first game for Durham FC in the Women's Championship League
Speaker 3: in England, her new club over there. And vickieson She
Speaker 3: was in goal for Rangers in their six to one
Speaker 3: win in the Scottish Premier Women's Premiership League this morning.
Speaker 3: They've won six from six, which is unreal, Katie Bowen,
Speaker 3: and into a two from two in the Italian Women's
Speaker 3: Serie A League. They've beaten Napoli for one this morning.
Speaker 1: All right, it's time for feature. Where is Jackie Hand?
Speaker 1: Where is Jackie Hand?
Speaker 3: Jackie Hand isn't replying to my messages and I just
Speaker 3: want to know where she's going, because she's too good
Speaker 3: not to be playing anywhere. So yeah, who knows, planey,
Speaker 3: I haven't figured that one out yet.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, you messaged her that to all you
Speaker 1: could do. She hasn't replied. I'll ask the question again
Speaker 1: on the feature next week on the Pod where is
Speaker 1: Jackie Hand? If anybody knows where Jackie Hand is, just
Speaker 1: to either of us up on social media and give
Speaker 1: us the steer, because I mean, all joking aside, she
Speaker 1: is far too good a player not to be playing.
Speaker 3: Football exactly, and even if I mean we spoke about
Speaker 3: it last week, even if she does just need to
Speaker 3: come back to the A League for six months to
Speaker 3: get some footy under her belt and you know, just
Speaker 3: get minutes then and you know, be in the comfort
Speaker 3: of home as well, then why not? So I know
Speaker 3: that's easier said than done, but fingers crossed, Sh'll be
Speaker 3: popping up somewhere soon.
Speaker 1: And we know Mickey Foster isn't coming back to Wellington
Speaker 1: when I had that confirmed, even though we it was
Speaker 1: kind of common knowledge and you've sort of told us
Speaker 1: that last week on the Pot. It was confirmed during
Speaker 1: the week in a release from The Phoenix that she
Speaker 1: wouldn't be returning any idea where Mickey Foster might be
Speaker 1: playing her football.
Speaker 2: Next No, not too sure.
Speaker 3: She is going overseas obviously outside of the A League
Speaker 3: can confirm that I am hearing strong mail or seeing
Speaker 3: it on Twitter or x rather that potentially could be
Speaker 3: popping up at Durham where Hannah Blake plays, who we
Speaker 3: just mentioned, but only because they follow each other on Instagram,
Speaker 3: So I mean that's something in itself. The internet sleuths
Speaker 3: have done their slothing, so yeah, who knows that'd be
Speaker 3: good for her to get to England. She's obviously another
Speaker 3: bloody good player, so we'll see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, that's how we find out these days. You're right,
Speaker 1: it's when a that's how people used to find out
Speaker 1: and still do whether a player as signed for the
Speaker 1: Phoenix and now Auckland FC. You check their Instagram and
Speaker 1: if they've followed that team, they know it's a done deal.
Speaker 3: Well, I follow Arsenal and obviously like I'm going to
Speaker 3: be signing for them soon, so it just makes sense.
Speaker 1: All right. Well, we'll keep eyes on that life that
Speaker 1: we might have to have a plan B for the
Speaker 1: podcast in the meantime. In the meantime, I hope you
Speaker 1: can stay with us until that contract arrives. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to Football Fever today. Lots and lots of
Speaker 1: stuff to talk both on and off the grass. If
Speaker 1: you subscribe, fresh episodes will pop into your podcast feed
Speaker 1: each and every Monday, that is when we record these
Speaker 1: these podcast episodes. Have an excellent week, Bonnie, We'll check
Speaker 1: checking again next Monday.
Speaker 2: We'll see you then The f F
Speaker 1: Feed with Piny and Bonny