Soccer: One final fling for the Kingz

By TERRY MADDAFORD


Football Kingz fairy godfather Brian Katzen does not suffer fools or failure.

Fronting up with the readies to bail out a struggling soccer club is not something he would ever contemplate without careful consideration.

The lifeline he has tossed the controversy-racked club this week must be seen for what it is.

The very, very last chance to get it right.

Across the Tasman the ghouls will gather as the Kingz prepare to mount their bid for a place in the much-touted revamped national league.

Australian clubs will not surrender a place in a league likely to be reduced from 13 teams to 10 to any New Zealand entity without a fight.

Only by presenting the best-possible bid and with an ironclad guarantee the numbers are right, will the Kingz hold their place.

With Katzen and his backers, the Kingz importantly now have two other powerful allies.

In convincing New Zealand Soccer board members they have made the tough calls and will ring the changes - including moving on (or out) the long time face of the Kingz, Chris Turner - the club were able to court the national body.

It brought no financial commitment, nor should it, from NZS. But in getting their support, and that only after top-level discussions with, and apparent agreement from, the new-look Australian Soccer Association they got something even more valuable.

The franchise will still require the Fifa stamp of approval.

With support from the respective national associations in place, and after meeting all criteria requirements for the new league, Fifa will, surely, give the nod.

That is really only the start.

Having the off-field house in order is fine. Producing results on it is the real issue.

The Kingz, apart from the odd show of defiance in their four and a bit seasons, have achieved little.

Turning up with some ragtag mob struggling to escape the bottom rung will do no good. For anyone.

In saying he is in for the long haul and has immediately addressed key player/coaching issues, Katzen gives much-needed confidence the old regime never managed.

The New Zealand-born businessman has signalled his intentions to get on with a restructure vital not only to the club's future but the game as a whole here by saying he intends to have the key administrative roles filled within days rather than weeks.

He has indicated he wants the "chairperson" and a new chief executive in place within the next week or two.

He has dismissed any suggestion of taking either role himself, preferring to find someone from New Zealand with the time the position(s) will demand.

There are lessons to be learned from the way the Kingz lurched seemingly from crisis to crisis losing any support along the way.

As NZS chief executive Bill MacGowan has often said: "New Zealand soccer needs the Kingz [or a New Zealand team] playing at the highest level."

Katzen, as the majority shareholder, is doing his bit to ensure that will happen.

Surely no one is going to stuff it up now.