By TERRY MADDAFORD
Mick Waitt admits he is "a bit more laid back" than Ken Dugdale, who he succeeded as All Whites coach.
Waitt is yet to determine whether the extra freedom his players enjoy is good or bad.
On-field the response could not have been more positive. Off it, too, few
would doubt the success of his approach.
"I think we have done well," said 42-year-old Waitt, who was catapulted into the top job with Dugdale's unexpected decision to scoot off for what has proved a brief coaching stint in the Norwegian second division.
"I'm definitely keen to carry on, but in reality I'm only contracted until Sunday."
Victory in tomorrow's Oceania Nations Cup final would bring an inevitable extension to next year's rich Confederations Cup.
It would be the icing on an already glitzy coaching career - one Waitt literally stumbled into by accident.
While playing as a striker in 1987, he collided with the opposing goalkeeper in the first minute of a Conference League match for Lincoln City.
A badly broken leg sidelined him for two years.
"I was never really the same again," said Waitt, who had scored 19 times for Notts County in the old division three the previous season.
"But it did give me the chance to get into coaching." He took on the club's reserve team for a year.
In 1990, while playing in Hong Kong, Waitt visited his sister in Wellington. Contacted by his old (off-field) boss Keith Buckley, who had moved from England to Napier, Waitt played a season with Napier City Rovers, returned to England for a season, then came back to Napier in January 1992 as player-coach.
He fell in love with the place. Apart from a trip back to England last year - and four visits to Old Trafford to watch his beloved Manchester United - Waitt is firmly settled here.
"I certainly don't miss the English lifestyle. I love New Zealand. It's home for me now." As it is for his supportive Australian-born wife Karen and five-year-old daughter.
"I was away for 25 weeks last year," Waitt said.
"If things go well here [at the Nations Cup] there could be another big year coming up."
There is no doubt that the approachable Waitt can coach. Under his tutelage, Napier ruled soccer's roost in the 1990s, winning the Chatham Cup twice (once runners-up) and the National League three times (runners-up twice). They were named club of the year seven times from 1993 to 2000.
Many Waitt-coached players stepped into the international arena.
He does not profess to anything radical in his coaching philosophy.
"Sure, I do things a bit different than Ken [Dugdale].
"I prefer to go with a flat back four, a decision which I think has been justified with the results we have got.
"Even in the game we lost [to Scottish club Dunfermline Athletic] they did not cause a lot of problems at the back.
"The guys have adapted well from what they did under Ken when they had three at the back and no licence to go forward.
"I like to think we have more attacking options."
The response has been amazing.
Players such as Gerard Davis, Jeff Campbell and Duncan Oughton have been revelations, giving real hope for the immediate and long-term future of the game here.
And Waitt believes the much-publicised Michael Utting incident, when the goalkeeper was booted out of the squad last week after twice breaking team curfews, was handled professionally and in the best interests of all concerned.
"The players need to see that sort of thing done properly," he said. "Discipline has to be part of any team.
"In many ways, it was a good thing for Michael. He rang me yesterday to say there were no hard feelings and thanked me for the manner in which it was handled.
"He is the sort of guy you can't help but like."
The stance Waitt and NZ Soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan took over Utting is no surprise.
Both have the interest of the game at heart. While chief executives tend to come and go, the feeling now is that Waitt is here for the long haul and that the game will only continue to benefit from his quiet determination to give the players their head.
The tactic, in turn, makes for attractive, attacking and crowd-pleasing football.
Just the facts
Name: Mick Waitt.
Born: June 25, 1960, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.
Professional career: Notts County 1984-87, Lincoln City 1987-90.
Came to NZ: 1990 (as player at Napier City Rovers).
Coach: Assistant at Lincoln City, 1987-90, English fourth division.
Player-coach: Napier City Rovers 1992-96. Coach 1997-2000.
International career: Assistant coach All Whites 1998-2001. All Whites coach 2002.
By TERRY MADDAFORD
Mick Waitt admits he is "a bit more laid back" than Ken Dugdale, who he succeeded as All Whites coach.
Waitt is yet to determine whether the extra freedom his players enjoy is good or bad.
On-field the response could not have been more positive. Off it, too, few
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