Football: New Zealand Football 'confident' of keeping Anthony Hudson

New Zealand Football want to keep coach Anthony Hudson for another four years, and are confident they can make it work.

Hudson, who was appointed in August 2014, was contracted until the conclusion of the current World Cup cycle, which came to an end on Thursday (NZT), with the All Whites' 2-0 loss in Lima.

NZF had previously intended to have Hudson's future decided before the end of the four year cycle, but that hasn't happened.

However NZF CEO Andy Martin hopes they can retain the 36-year-old Englishman.

"I'm a big fan of Anthony Hudson," Martin told the New Zealand Herald. "It's obvious what he has done, especially if you look back to the Mexico game four years ago and where we were, to where we are now. We have a good team, good players and a good structure and a lot of that has been driven by Anthony and what he has put together."

"We are lucky to have him," added Martin. "If we can make it work and he stays with us going forward and we can keep him then we will be happy. I think we can, but there is a bit of work to do."

Martin said discussions around Hudson's future won't be rushed, but they will be concluded by next month.

"We have talked a lot over the last few weeks over what the future holds and we need to finish those conversations when the dust settles - it's not a conversation for now," said Martin. "We will both have a break, get back, and start talking again next week."

Hudson has made no secret of his future coaching ambitions, and he has been consistently linked with the Colorado Rapids job in the MLS over the last few weeks, but Martin sees that as a positive.

"If we hired Anthony and he did a bad job, no one would be interested in him," said Martin. "But he has done a good job, and there is interest in him, which is flattering for him and us. He has been very open with me all of the way through about other parties, he has had interest along the way before and he has never hidden anything. We have talked about it openly."

The All Whites will have a limited playing schedule over the next two years - particularly in 2018 - which might decrease the attractiveness of the job going forward for Hudson.

There will be attempts to arrange meaningful friendlies - according to Martin there have been plenty of requests already via match agents for future games, in light of the Peru series - but budgets may be an issue.

NZF spared no expense for the All Whites this year, especially with the pre-Confederations Cup tour, and their resources will be limited over the next 18 months.
But Hudson's role at NZF offers stability - and the guarantee of a four year contract - which doesn't exist in club land.