Soccer: Coaches line up to take charge of Auckland sides

The scramble to find coaches for the two Auckland teams in the New Zealand Football Championship is close to being resolved.

Auckland City and Waitakere United received about 20 applications and have already come up with short lists. It appears many prospective coaches have applied for both jobs.

City are in the stronger position, having qualified for December's Fifa Club World Cup, and are expected to have first pick in the coaching stakes.

It appears that despite healthy overseas interest, both clubs will again opt for New Zealand-based coaches.

"With the overseas coaches you really don't know what you are getting," said City chairman Ivan Vuksich. "And they are talking telephone numbers in terms of remuneration.

"The four coaches we have on our shortlist all meet the criteria laid down by New Zealand Football. I must say all 17 applications we received were very well presented, including the overseas interest from Brazil, Ireland and the United Kingdom, but in the end you just don't know and we can't afford to start flying prospective coaches here for an interview."

Waitakere chairman Rex Dawkins said his club had attracted 22 applications with a large percentage from overseas. Again, he said their final choice - down to two after applications had been vetted by a sub-committee of three - would be a New Zealand-based coach.

He was not dismissing incumbent Chris Milicich, whose current two-year term ends on June 30.

"The overall standard was very good," said Dawkins. "Nobody was discounted initially but given the uncertainty of the future of the NZFC - beyond next season - we did not consider any of the overseas applicants.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the calibre of applicants. It was encouraging to see so many coaches out there with ambitions to coach at a higher level. In some ways it is a shame that we have only eight teams [in the NZFC] as that limits the opportunities for qualified coaches."

Paul Posa, who took the reins mid-season, is not a candidate.

Vuksich and Dawkins hope to have a clearer picture of where they are headed with the forthcoming NZFC after next week's New Zealand Football board meeting.

"We need finite answers on a number of things," said Dawkins. "We are especially interested to see where they are going with the suggested inclusion of a Phoenix reserve side in the league. We need to know.

"If they are included, and there are a number of issues to be resolved before that can happen, it would probably mean having a bye each week.

"I don't think that would be a good look."

Vuksich said that although a repeat of last season's two, rather than three, rounds looked set to happen, it was certainly better than nothing.

His club's planning for their assault on the World Club Cup had already started with the appointment of a head coach the most pressing concern.