Two contenders have already emerged for the Wellington Phoenix A-League head coach role.
Former Adelaide United coach and Socceroo Aurelio Vidmar has been sounded out about the role and Auckland City mentor Ramon Tribulietx is also on the club's early shortlist.
After Darije Kalezic's resignation, the club has wasted notime in identifying possible replacements.
There is still a chance Kalezic could stay on until the end of the season, but that seems unlikely, as the club would be caught in an awkward holding pattern.
It's more likely that the Wellington franchise will find a caretaker manager, with Phoenix reserves coach Chris Greenacre the obvious choice, having stepped into the breach on two previous occasions.
Of other possible Australasian contenders, draw a line through former Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic.
He achieved a lot of success at the start-up Sydney franchise, and is highly regarded, despite his subsequent stint in Turkey ending after only 11 matches.
But it's unlikely the Phoenix could match his salary expectations — he was one of the highest paid coaches in the A-League at the Wanderers — and the instability of the club would also be a disincentive to the Australian.
Former Socceroos striker Vidmar (17 goals in 44 international matches) was in charge of Adelaide for three seasons between 2007 and 2010.
After finishing sixth (of eight teams) in his first year, Adelaide made history the following season by reaching the A-League grand final (lost to Melbourne Victory) and the Asian Champions League final (defeated by Gamba Osaka).
Things went south for Vidmar and Adelaide the following year, as they were left with the wooden spoon, and Vidmar was disciplined by the club for inflammatory comments.
Vidmar has also coached the Australian under-23 and under-20 teams, and was in charge of Bangkok Glass in the Thai first division for 30 matches last season before departing "by mutual consent".
Tribulietx's credentials are well established. He has led Auckland City to seven consecutive Oceania titles and overseen a sustained spell of dominance at domestic level.
Under his watch, Auckland City have also performed some remarkable feats at the Club World Cup, as well as winning the Nike Lunar Cup in Hong Kong last year, all achieved with a style of football unprecedented for a Kiwi-based team.
Meanwhile, further upheavals are looming for the Phoenix. It's understood the commercial manager and media and communications manager have offered their resignations and won't be around next season.
The Phoenix already have a smaller front office staff than any other A-League club and this won't help matters.
