Football: Gould treasures timeout with Merrick

Ernie Merrick

It was an honour for Jonathan Gould to persuade Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick to visit West Bromwich Albion for three days at the end of last season.

"It was a proud moment for me to say, 'Come on Ernie spend a few days with us so it was absolutely brilliant'," says Gould in Hawke's Bay.

Merrick spent two days observing the EPL club's preparations during training before watching the game against Liverpool, which ended in a 1-all draw at The Hawthorns stadium on May 16.

"We even went out to dinner with Tony Pulis so it was again brilliant from my perspective because Ernie helped me a lot at the Phoenix," says Gould who is West Bromwich goalkeeping coach and did the same under Merrick from April 2012 for two seasons after serving there as assistant coach from 2009 for two seasons in the A-League.

In between, he joined Perth Glory to work alongside former Glasgow Rangers adversary Ian Ferguson.

Gould says the signing of All White Kosta Barbarouses and Brazilian Guilherme Finkler as playmakers from Melbourne Victory bodes well for the Nix.

"I know Ernie's keen to make sure defensively they recruit as well ... to make them a very competitive team again next season."

West Bromwich had helped line up Birmingham City's Alex Jones towards the end of last season for the Phoenix but an administrative blunder saw him arrive in New Zealand, train with the Phoenix and return after his transfer papers weren't cleared in time.

"Unfortunately the powers that be or something went wrong in an email or whatever it might have been at New Zealand Football so it didn't happen.

"It's a big shame because Alex was really keen to come in a set-up between the premier league championship and Phoenix but it didn't happen," says Gould.

NZ Football put it down to a resigning employee, a public holiday, a breakdown in communication and an internet outage that prevented an injury-plagued Phoenix from signing Jones through the transfer window.

"Hopefully at some point it only needs a couple of our players and we can make sure those mistakes don't happen again," he says.

Gould hopes to return to the Bay to give back any experiences he's gained in his career.

"I love this region and I think there's a lot of talent here so if I probably had a seven-year plan I'd like to come back at some point."

The biggest buzz he got was watching someone like Conroy Removals Napier City Rovers and Hawke's Bay United striker/midfielder Tom Biss play for the Phoenix.

"You ask any coach. You can win football matches but to see one of the youngsters in whom you've had a part of their development as they go on to fulfil something they've always dreamt of, it doesn't get any better in football."