Michael Burgess: Strange timing in sacking of under-17 duo

Chris Zoricich is starting his coaching career at Central United. Photo / Doug Sherring

For all the good vibes and positive feeling around New Zealand Football at the moment, the decision to sack the national Under-17s coaches was more than a little curious.

The sport is in a good place. The Phoenix are genuine contenders, Auckland City and Team Wellington are going well in the Oceania Champions League in Fiji, the All Whites are showing some potential and the Under-20 World Cup is just around the corner.

But a brief press release, put out on a Friday afternoon when news tends to disappear, informed that Jose Figueira and his assistant Paul Temple were being sacked. The axe fell a little more than six months before the Under-17 World Cup kicks off in Chile, with the pair being replaced by Danny Hay and Chris Zorocich.

It has been rare for coaches to be removed in the middle of cycles and those occasions have usually been for some kind of misconduct, which has definitely not happened here.

So the question is why, and why now?

New Zealand Football High Performance Manager Fred De Jong says it is all about consistency and alignment across all teams and that Hay and Zorocich are a "better fit going forward". Sure, NZF has the right to make changes and sometimes sports bodies have to be ruthless but the timing and manner of the switch is unfortunate.

It suggests some kind of crisis that couldn't wait, that needed to be fixed immediately; otherwise why would you rock the boat in such a profound way, especially with such a young group of players?

Figueira and Temple apparently heard rumours of their impending demise more than a month before the news was definitely delivered, which would have made for an difficult working environment. On a limited budget they delivered World Cup qualification (albeit via a penalty shoot out in the final) so the manner of their eventual exit wasn't particularly professional. The duo have been scouting and monitoring players over the past year and now all of that intellectual property has gone out the door.

It may prove to be the right decision, though the pressure on Hay and Zorocich to deliver in South America will be immense. Zorocich has done well with the Auckland City youth team and Hay achieved great results in college football with Sacred Heart but taking on the likes of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria is a whole different level.

The former All Whites captains may well be the best men to implement the new playing style, espoused by Anthony Hudson, that NZF wants to be universal across all national teams. But we can't put the cart before the horse. Performance at the Under-17 event (and also the upcoming Under-20 World Cup) is also paramount. The last thing fans want is a repeat of the dismal 2013 Under-17 World Cup, where the young All Whites conceded 11 goals and lost all three games. It wouldn't go down well to have another fruitless tournament, but then be told that the playing style was executed well and a platform has been set for the future.