Football: Wellington Phoenix not in crisis mode, general manager says

Michael McGlinchey of the Phoenix looks on in disappointment. Photo / Getty

The Wellington Phoenix are unified like never before, coach Darije Kalezic says.

The club has been the topic of off-field chatter in recent weeks with the departures of forward Dario Vidosic and his father, assistant coach Rado Vidosic.

Both were in their maiden season with the New Zealand franchise but were unable to see out the year, "mutually" parting ways with the team just months after arriving.

Kalezic said he believed the departure of the Vidosic duo had brought the team closer together.

"Everybody feels that, everybody knows that also in the club now and like I also said many times before and everybody in the club have said before, to go in the right direction, this is the minimum we need in the football club," said Kalezic.

Following last night's 4-1 defeat against A-League leaders Sydney FC, the Phoenix had scraped to three draws, with seven losses to go with their solitary win.

They have been outscored 25 goals to 15 and are bottom of the table, four points behind ninth-placed Brisbane.

With just six points from their first 11 games, the Phoenix are battling to avoid the lowest points tally in their history — the 20 they totalled in their 2007-08 debut season, with only 21 games played in what was then an eight-team league.

Phoenix captain Andrew Durante said it was disappointing that the Vidosic pair had left Wellington but their departure has had an impact on the environment at the club.

"For me and other senior leadership players, we have a huge responsibility to make sure that it's a happy environment, that we all understand why these issues are happening and why we're not winning games.

"Especially in tumultuous times like this, it needs to be upbeat, it needs to be positive, as positive as you can be, and we have been."

While there was speculation that their exit was part of a campaign by the Phoenix board and Kalezic, general manager David Dome denied that was the case.

"They had a number of meetings where they tried to work out their differences and how they were going to proceed forward," he told Newshub. "It certainly wasn't part of an orchestrated campaign."

Despite winning just once this season, Dome insisted the club was not in crisis mode.

"We're going through a rebuilding effort. Darije has come in with a new level of professionalism," said Dome.

"We've made a lot of changes in the back room to meet his expectations and what he wants to change on the field. Those things don't happen overnight."