All Whites assistant coach Neil Emblen joins NZME journalist Steven Holloway and Seamus Marten to talk all things football.
The 'Between Two Beers Podcast' is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Soundcloud.
Show notes:
3.00: How Seamus knows Emblen.
3.45: How Steve knows Emblen and how Neil 'ended' his national league career.
6.00: We finally hear from Emblen as he justifies ending Steve's national league career.
8.18: That time Emblen turned it on for Western Springs against Melville United at age 40+ and how he still loves playing.
11.39: We go back to 2014 when Emblen was interim coach of All Whites for two games, but missed out on the top job to Anthony Hudson, then got removed as assistant coach in what he described at the "hardest conversation I've had in 12 years of football"
15.10: Was Hudson "Kiwi" enough? Emblen talks Danny Hay and being "Kiwi".
16.56: Emblen joins Hudson at the Colorado Rapids in the MLS. How difficult is it to be working overseas away from family?
20.42: Emblen talks us through what he does at the Rapids, doing it with one of his best mates and which one is bad cop.
25.03: Emblen reflects on not winning the O-League as a coach and how many players were still ahead of Steve in the pecking order.
27.45: Steve reviews Colorado's last two years in the MLS and talks the pressures of the job with Embers.
30.38: The 2019 MLS season. Why did things turn around after Hudson left the Rapids?
34.15: Hudson gets sacked, is Emblen safe?
35.43: Seamus "fan boys" over Rapids goalkeeper Tim Howard. Steve doesn't seem impressed.
38.59: Steve's monologue on Hudson. How do we judge his four years as All Whites coach? What did we have when he was here? Emblen gives some insights into the enigma that is Hudson.
45.39: Steve talks Emblen playing career in the UK but gets his age wrong. Embers takes a pay cut to go pro, could he have used Seamus as an agent?
49.32: Emblen's career in the English Leagues: A Wolves debut to forget. Is it ok to say Black Country Derby? The next Alan Hansen or the Championship David Platt?
54.44: Millwall away, Emblen goes in goal to complete the set of playing every position as a pro. Seamus understands the challenges of tight goalie tops.
56.50: Wolves to Crystal Palace and back to Wolves again. What was Emblen's best position?
1.02.31: Emblen recalls that time a Wolves teammate nicked a bus to get home after a night on the tiles.
1.06.05: Grimsby away, Scunthorpe away, or Brisbane away, Sydney away? Emblen takes another pay cut to join the New Zealand Knights.
1.08.48: How many dudes you know roll like this? Emblen gets picked for the A-League Season 1 promo at 34.
1.11.13: Emblen moves to Waitakere and talks the "toughest conditions I've ever played in" in the O-League Final in Honiara.
1.14.38: How many Waitakere players could have made it as pros? We talk Roy Krishna and could he make it in the MLS?
1:20:20.00: Emblen talks the Western Springs project and his time at Seddon Fields
1:26:08: Shout out to Maurie Wasi.
1:27:40: Che talks 2002 but corrects himself to talk the 2012 Olympic campaign with Embers.
1.32.00: Meeting Ryan Nelsen for the first time pre-Olympics in Japan and his influence on the group, including Dakota Lucas v Ryan Nelsen at training.
1.38.58: Olympic reflections: Mo Salah at Old Trafford and Neymar and Brazil at St James' Park.
1.44.15: Re-signing at the Rapids, the All Whites and Emblen coaching ambitions.
1.45.20: Canterbury United fans, Michael Gwyther and Jack Pelter, red cards in NZ.
1.52.50: "I don't see nothing wrong, with a little bump and grind", and Emblen explains his other nickname "Gribbers".
