KEY POINTS:
Ricki Herbert takes charge of his first Phoenix training session in Wellington on Monday, just under three months before their opening A-League clash against champions Melbourne.
It's been 25 years since Herbert was part of the golden days of New Zealand football, when the All Whites reached the
World Cup finals stage in Spain.
Now, the 46-year-old is in charge of the All Whites and the Phoenix as football tries - yet again - to reach its enormous potential in this country.
As the unflappable Herbert prepares to haul out the Phoenix cones for the first time, we put a few questions to him.
Pressure. what pressure? You never seem to age, Ricki - what's the secret?
Throughout my playing career, one of my strengths was being fit, which kept me in good stead with coaches and selectors. I keep myself ticking over - try to do things right. I like running. I love golf.
New Zealand soccer needs heroes - who were your heroes as a soccer-crazy kid?
Ahhhh ... it's hard to reflect back. None in particular. Back then, English football was everything. Match of the Day on TV, with Brian Moore, every Sunday at 12.30. We'd even watch it before national league games - it was quite inspirational. I supported Chelsea as a young kid.
Has football always been your sport?
I've always loved the game and I don't really know why. As a four-year-old kid, I signed up with Papatoetoe and I've never deviated to any other sport. I'm passionate about it and will remain so irrespective of whether I still have these sorts of jobs. When things haven't gone smoothly, the bigger football picture has always got me through. Whether I'm coaching the All Whites or 14-year-olds in a few years ... I just love it. It's been bloody tough at times and I guess the toughest was wondering whether there would be any light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of people would have said I was crazy 20 years ago, pursuing this. I've sunk my life into football. I haven't carved out any other sort of career.
Your wife, Raewyn, and twins Kale and Sacha remain in Auckland. Will you continue commuting between the two cities?
No. I've moved down to Wellington, although in these early stages I've gone home a lot on the weekends. But as of Monday, it's 24/7 for me. That's the commitment I've made. If I need to be here the next five months without ever going to Auckland, that's the throw of the dice. The family will come here - we've already booked flights for the pre-season home game against Sydney and the opening game against Melbourne.
You are not the only one changing homes. You've even got a couple of Brazilians on board. Did you talk to Daniel Lins Cortes and Felipe de Souza before signing them?
It was a lengthy process finding them, watching DVDs and talking to contacts you can trust. I've got three boxes of DVDs of players who want to join the A-League. Daniel's brother is with him and speaks very good English. But neither of the Brazilian players speak much English.
That should test your communication skills.
There are common football expressions and hand signals ...
I know - Chelsea supporters are famous for using them - but it must cause some problems
It's probably harder for non-Europeans to adjust to life here and making the two Brazilians feel comfortable is going to be a priority for us. We had a Chinese boy at the Knights who didn't speak any English at all and we reached a good understanding, although the day-to-day conversations were difficult. There were times on the training pitch where you would ask him to cross the ball to the far post and he'd dribble instead. Communication over long distances was the hardest.
Che Bunce and Noah Hickey have communicated over long distances recently and they weren't exactly showering you with praise. Bunce questioned whether you could do both jobs.
I found the comments from Che Bunce totally unjustifiable and quite strange. The day I rang the New Zealand manager - I think it was Ian Marshall - to say I was going to retire, I preferred to reflect on what 10 years in the national side had given me. Che's retired and life moves on. The beauty of sport is that people do have opinions and that's fine.
What's the biggest immediate challenge with the Phoenix?
Evolving the 23 players as quickly as possible, to get some good early outcomes. As one of the Aussie journos said to me, it's like you are 30 metres behind at the start of a 100m race - if we beat one franchise across the line, it is an amazing job because we are two years behind everybody else. If I was a player, I'd be looking at it with some uncertainty. But these guys have come over with an amazing attitude. Really professional. They are qualities I would expect but it's nice to experience them. They all want to make a difference.
Will Wellington's wind be a problem?
I've been at the Cake Tin on windy days and it's not a problem at ground level. It is arguably one of the best complexes in the whole competition.
What's your greatest fear?
We don't want to finish eighth. But I don't have fears, which is important. Fear can limit you, make you too cautious. Look what we've done with the national team. We've thrown them up against amazingly high levels of opposition. From a selfish point of view, I could have said I don't want that because if we get beaten, it's not a good reflection on me. But I've said there are good lessons to be learnt, that we will all be better for it.
First season prospects?
Hopefully, we will capture people's imaginations. We have more New Zealand players back, and whether that makes it better or not, time will tell. But it will give a better reflection of the game in New Zealand. We want to do the best we can, without saying we are top-four contenders. We could finish fifth and miss the playoffs by a point and still have an amazing season with 15,000 at every home game and regenerate the game here. I've been blown away by the amount of support down here.