Roger Wilkinson, Maurice Tillotson, Barrie Truman and Brian Turner are also all underused, and the 1982 and 2010 All Whites have so much untapped experience and knowledge, it's such a shame to waste it.
Also, it's about time the "disenchanted" Danny Hay, one of our most successful football exports, was tempted back into the fold. Hay, a former All White captain, has coached Sacred Heart to two NZ Secondary School titles in the past four years and has the ideal pedigree and skills to be a NZ age-group coach -- with a long-term goal to follow in the steps of Ricki Herbert and take over the All Whites.
Why do we have a former English Premier League player on the outside of the national organisation? For whatever reasons NZF ostracised our best player, Wynton Rufer, let's not do the same to Danny Hay, who is still young enough to offer a great deal to the New Zealand game.
But it is refreshing and encouraging to hear that chief executive Andy Martin has been travelling nationwide and taking time to find out about the challenges facing federations, clubs and the game in general. This is definitely a step in the right direction to inspire confidence and will help to unify the game.
Anthony Hudson has also expressed a desire to learn about the history of NZ Football and to gain experience from the people who played a huge part in it.
So I am delighted he has started his undertaking by meeting with the Friends of Football, and will be the guest speaker at the FoF dinner next month.
Not to be outdone, new technical director Rob Sherman also informed me he is planning to catch up with a wide variety of coaches, young and old, to get a better picture of what has been neglected in NZ Football. He will also look at what is required to "bring together" a coaching structure NZ will embrace and accept, something that is definitely not there at present.
I am hopeful the new NZF hierarchy will finally break free of the fear factor that has undermined previous administrations and instead embrace the gold nuggets at their fingertips of people who have previously walked the path.
Four thoughts
Ricki's Indian adventure
Good on Ricki Herbert for landing himself a plum job as manager of one of the eight franchises in the newly formed Hero Super League in India, which kicks off today.
The names involved with the league reads like a 'who's who' of international football and the pedigree on display would be enough to get me along to watch a game or two. Herbert is joined in the coaching ranks by legendary Brazilian Zico, former England stars Peter Reid and goalkeeper David James (who is doubling up as player coach) and the players include Arsenal greats Nicolas Anelka, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires, French striker David Trezeguet, and Italian star Alessandro Del Piero.
Herbert's marquee signing is Spaniard Joan Capdevila - who played every minute of Spain's 2010 World Cup win.
In an effort to develop the local game, each team must field five Indian players and Herbert's side is the youngest in the competition.
Well done to Ricki, who was recently voted as one of the top 10 A-League coaches of all time, for taking his Kiwi pioneering spirit to another part of the world to help grow the 'beautiful game'. Leo Bertos has also linked up with the team and maybe this could be another direction for New Zealand players to follow in their pursuit of a professional football career with a pathway to All White dreams.
NZ National League
My article last week on a club based national league created a lot of interesting feedback - with most pundits wanting a change. The most frequent question was 'How can it be a true National League when this year's make up consists of an age group national team and a reserve team?
The other common complaint was 'why no North Shore representation?'
They have the top three teams in the Northern Premier League (East Coast Bays, Glenfield, Birkenhead), yet many of these top 'Shore' players end up flying to Wellington or Canterbury to play (Michael Gwyther, Alex Feneridis, Jarrod Smith - Wellington, Mario Hoffman - Canterbury).
NZF and NFF should make a worthwhile investment in having a North Shore team in the league next year, especially as NZ Football are now in the black and the NZ Under 20 side are currently domiciled at Harbour Stadium and their World Cup will be over by the start of 2015/2016 season.
Lack of game time a concern
The All Whites have confirmed two internationals at the start of November against China and Thailand and Anthony Hudson must be concerned about the lack of game time his core overseas players are currently getting.
With the exception of Winston Reid and Ryan Thomas who are playing regular first team football for West Ham United and Zwolle respectively, first choice All Whites like Chris Wood and Marco Rojas are only getting token appearances.
In Woods' case, sometimes he is not making the Leicester City squad, on others he is on the bench but has only actually made one appearance. The same goes for Rojas, who until last weekend had only made three appearances as sub for German second division side Greuther Furth and played only 25 minutes out of nine games so far.
This lack of match fitness must frustrate Hudson who is searching for improvement from his international players and a rise in the FIFA rankings-where the All Whites are currently languishing in 118th position behind powerhouse football countries like Tanzania and Estonia!
UK Transfer Gossip
The UK transfer window has recently closed and the next one will not open up until January but the goss is still flowing in the English tabloids. Here are the latest rumours:
Wesley Sneijder could leave Galatasaray and join his former boss Louis Van Gaal at Man Utd-apparently the Turkish club has not paid the Dutch playmaker's wages for some time!
Italian side Roma are prepared to pay $20 million for England and Manchester City midfielder James Milner- who to me is an example of the ideal pro.
Evergreen Ex Arsenal star Thierry Henry, 37, could be returning to France early New Year when his contract with New York Red Bulls ends. Paris St Germaine and Monaco are keen on his signature.
Our own perennial 'journeyman' Rory Fallon has just joined Scunthorpe United who are currently languishing in 2nd bottom place in the English League One.
