Ernie Merrick (in blue) deserved better from a rash of players who he put faith in to embark into a new era of A-League existence. PHOTO/FILE
OKAY, so John Key stole his thunder but the resignation of Ernie Merrick as coach is not just a loss for Wellington Phoenix but anyone who understands and enjoys the utopian beautiful game.
That Merrick fell on his sword after another frustrating defeat last night away to the Adelaide United is, to say the least, honourable.
His detractors will fire cheap salvos at him so, in some ways, the prime minister has done the affable Scotsman a favour.
A smart Alec suggested it was perfect timing as the franchise can appoint Key coach and the country can usher in Merrick as the next PM.
Jocularity aside, in a dog-eat-dog world of professionalism, it is fair to say he had no choice but to step down after six losses and two wins from eight games so far this season in the A-League.
However, it's also undeniable that the 63-year-old took the yellow-and-gold brigade to a new era - an epoch in which many players failed to come to grips with a philosophy of simplicity.
Those relics who had come out of the dark ages under the tutorship - if one can call it that - of Ricki Herbert were pruned off like dead branches but, regrettably, the impending renaissance had its share of labour pains.
Ultimately Merrick has to take responsibility for how he recruited, especially in defence where some blokes seem to think that muscling in on players to concede countless fouls is a tick for commitment and mongrel.
How do you plead Marco Rossi, Jacob Tratt and foundation player Vince Lia? It wasn't so much that his picks were poor at the coalface but more a case of how he intended to use them.
There's little doubt that some big signings let him down badly.
Midfielder Roly Bonevacia springs to mind. The Dutchman was notably on the bench a couple of games ago but sadly that was too little, too late.
It was painfully obvious the 25-year-old professional was, never mind a misguided pride of scribes, intoxicated with his own dazzling skills and, I believe, the cause of multiple malfunctions in the engine room.
Yes, oppositions hacked him down but he brought it on himself and almost became a multi-Oscar winner in projecting toe-extracting pain to wear the unheralded badge of "most targeted player".
Merrick reacted late but the solution was to farewell him. Let's hope rumours of Melbourne Victory chasing him are true because the Curaçao national rep has been found wanting in his first touches and ability to shift the ball around.
That aside, buying the former Victory combination of Kosta Barbarouses and Guilherme Finkler again was visionary but their portfolios seem to baffle.
Instead of working like cogs in the wheel, the All Whites striker and Brazilian import midfielder appear to be in the throes of desperately trying to justify their contractual obligations.
Ditto Bonevacia and Spanish midfielder Alex Rodriguez who, in more than 50 games, has yet to score a goal.
It's not that scoring goals should be a yardstick for stability but Barbarouses, Finkler, Bonevacia and Rodriguez seem hellbent on finding the net just to quell the groundswell of opinion on who should score apart from Fiji international Roy Krishna.
What is indisputable is that Barbarouses and Finkler were lethal at Victory because others around them toiled to put them into spaces to score.
Unfortunately that hasn't been the case with last-placed Nix. Former striker Nathan Burns used to score because others drip-fed him passes.
In fact, there were times when Barbarouses and Finkler, never mind Bonevacia, should have made way for a chunky Hamish Watson whose frame and hardnosed approach was the antidote for rival defenders who had fire in their eyes and whose words weren't so clear.
Kiwi-born Watson was the ideal bodyguard for Krishna but, for reasons best known to Merrick, he continues to pick crumbs off the table.
Using Krishna to take all penalty kicks, considering he looked predictable in the previous round although he scored on the rebound, makes one wonder about the confidence of other pretty boys.
Logically won't slotting one from the spot put a spring in the stride of Barbarouses, Finkler, Bonevacia or Watson?
I have always defended the human fallibilities of match officials but this time I will stray from tradition.
How appalling is the refereeing in the A-League?
I stand in Merrick's corner of eye-patch officiating. Let's look at the Adelaide match on Sunday night, never mind the rest of the seasons.
Fourth minute, Krishna and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic chased a 50-50 ball and both went down.
Referee Stephen Lucas, always kept in check from the sea of parochial fans in red, flashed a yellow card at the striker.
TV commentators Mike Cockerill and Travis Dodds, on watching replays, couldn't find anything in it. In reality, Krishna was attempting to pull his foot out of the way of a sliding Galekovic.
It was even worse in the 21st minute when Adelaide defender Iacopo La Rocca was all over captain Andrew Durante like a cheap suit, even before the ensuing cornerkick from the blocked Krishna penalty kick.
Replays showed when Durante yanked his hands off him, the Italian grabbed him by the neck, prompting the Aussie All White to retaliate.
Why is everyone so afraid to use TMOs in soccer?
But that aside, Phoenix players are culpable and need to address a defence that gave Adelaide's Brazilian loan striker, Henrique, enough time and space to drive through a ride-on motor mower.
All sorts of names will be plucked out of the air in the next few weeks as Merrick's successors and, dare I say, if Donald Trump can be president why not Key for coach.
The reality is players' egos have to be weeded out if the contemporary game is to grow legs in a country of bad beginnings.