Michael Burgess: Ex-All Whites should help pick coach

All Whites looking for a replacement for coach Anthony Hudson. Photo / photosport.co.nz

There's a major problem with the selection process for the next All Whites coach.

It was reported on Friday that the new man will be chosen by a panel comprising three from New Zealand Football — chief executive Andy Martin, technical director Andreas Heraf and a board member — plus somebody from High Performance Sport NZ's senior management team.

There's a glaring omission among the quartet — the voice and input of an ex-player or two.

What about former captain Ryan Nelsen, even if he has to be involved via Skype? He played almost 200 English Premier League games and would have some strong thoughts on the key ingredients for a national coach.

Or Simon Elliott, a key figure behind the 2010 World Cup success who represented the Silver Fern with distinction for 15 years. Closer to home, there's Ivan Vicelich, our most capped All White, or New Zealand Professional Footballers Association president Harry Ngata.

Player representation is surely a necessity but is sadly absent.

NZF should have learnt from Football Federation Australia. When they were looking for a successor to coach Ange Postecoglou, they asked former Socceroos Mark Bresciano, Mark Schwarzer and Stan Lazaridis to provide input.

The PFA wanted to be part of the current process but their request fell on deaf ears.

When asked by the Herald on Sunday if ex-players should be part of the selection panel, Heraf said that was "more a question for Andy [Martin]".

The FFA had a nine person panel, which allows for constructive debate, differences of opinion and more ideas thrown into the mix. It can sometimes be uncomfortable but that kind of process often leads to the best decisions.

It's hard to see how that will occur in New Zealand's case, with a four-person group that lacks in-depth football knowledge. Martin has more of a rugby background and few members of the NZF board have extensive football knowledge, with their strengths more focused on business and operations.

It's unlikely the HPSNZ representative will bring much football nous to the table, which leaves much of the analysis, comparison and evaluation on the shoulders of one individual (Heraf), never a healthy situation.

Given the current generation of All Whites is one of the best in New Zealand history, the appointment of the next national coach is critical.

NZF need to recognise this with an inclusive process that will ultimately lead to the best possible outcome. It feels like they haven't.