KEY POINTS:
As New Zealand Soccer officials head to Melbourne today for crucial talks with their Australian counterparts, it feels like we are back at square one.
Before Christmas, NZS chief executive Graham Seatter was tasked with finding investors to take over the A-League licence.
The biggest hope was replicating
Melbourne's model of a handful of major investors and up to 60 shareholders. This was before three groups - Auckland, Wellington and Palmerston North - indicated an interest.
A return to the Melbourne model now seems to be the most realistic option and much of the discussions between NZS and FFA officials will focus on that.
"We have looked long and hard at the other franchises and the one that works the most is Melbourne," said NZS chairman John Morris who is at the meeting with Seatter and board member Phil Johnson.
"The problem for us is the timing. The FFA haven't given us a lot of time but if we sell shares in a club then I am confident there will be interest."
NZS have until March 1 to decide if they want the A-League licence but have consistently said they will not pump their own money into it. One of the main discussion points today will be about liability.
It's hard to see the combined Wellington/Palmerston North bid succeeding if the present criteria are enforced because they don't have enough cash in the bank.
The extension, though, might tempt the Auckland bid headed by former Team New Zealand boss Alan Sefton to re-enter the race.
It's debatable whether Auckland and Wellington would join forces, because of the difficulties trying to stage games in multiple cities, but, at this late stage, everything should be looked at.
Wellington spokesman John Dow said they will formalise their position on all possible options, ranging from the club being based in Wellington or Auckland, by tomorrow.
"We are going to make a few decisions around the different options on Monday and we will relay them to Graham Seatter," Dow said.
"We will present our conditions based on the various options, otherwise we don't really want it to go on for fun of it for two weeks. We've got better things to do. It's time for NZS to stand up and show some leadership."
It's easy for people to point the finger at NZS and say they should have taken a more active role earlier but they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
There is growing disquiet throughout the country that so much time has been spent on the A-League franchise when domestic problems, like sponsorship of the NZFC, need to tackled.
Carroll held discussions last week with Australian groups keen to be added in 2008, and sounded them out about stepping up a year early.
"We've already had discussions with the groups in Australia, such as Townsville and Wollongong. There's interest out of Canberra as well," Carroll said. "But we've given NZS this 15-day window. They pick up the licence, and it's theirs."
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
