NZFC ROUND EIGHT
Auckland City v Otago United
Kiwitea St tomorrow 2pm
Don't dare to suggest to Otago United coach Malcolm Fleming that having the only New Zealand Football Championship team in the Deep South makes life simple.
While most coaches can count on a full turnout for their twice or thrice weekly training sessions, much of Fleming's work is done by remote.
Seven of his players, and almost all are regulars in his starting line-up, live in Christchurch where, three times a week, they get out and train.
"I set out what I want them to do," said Fleming. "As the senior player in that group, Stu Kelly tends to run the sessions but he does have some local help. The players are usually joined by five or six other players to make up a decent training group.
"I have the other 10 or 11 training with me here in Dunedin and again we call in some of the better winter league players to make up the numbers.
"There are a lot of people who have questioned what we are doing but it is working really well. I'm not pretending it is easy but the guys are really committed and keen to see it work."
In past seasons Otago went with young local players who often were not up to the standard the NZFC demands.
The results were not great and when he stepped up from being Terry Phelan's assistant to take over as coach - and after filling other coaching roles with the club - Fleming made a conscious decision to do whatever it took to be competitive.
"The trouble in the past was that we were asking 15, 16 or 17-year-olds to play at this level before they were ready," said Fleming. "And when we went to the bench all we had were more players of the same age. Obviously we had to look outside Dunedin and I now feel we are getting somewhere.
"No one in the Otago team gets paid. They are all dedicated, even if we only get to train together as a team every couple of weeks."
On the weekends when they have a home game, the Christchurch-based contingent drive to Dunedin on Friday afternoon. They train soon after their arrival and again on Saturday morning, play on Sunday and then take the four-hour plus trip home.
And it has paid off. Otago are the only team to have taken points off defending champions Auckland City - holding them 0-0 at Carisbrook in their first outing of the season.
Now, going into tomorrow's return with City at Kiwitea St, the southerners find themselves in foreign territory.
They fly north as the third-placed team - behind Waitakere United and Auckland City - and with the confidence of last weekend's 3-0 away win over YoungHeart Manawatu to further boost their confidence.
