Soccer: Waitakere ask Emblen to recapture glory days

Neil Emblen has been handed the difficult player-coach role with Waitakere United for the New Zealand Football Championship.

Chris Milicich, the current head coach, has been replaced at the West Auckland club by his assistant from last season.

It is understood Milicich was on the "very short list" for the job but the club has opted for Emblen, who made an impact as a player with the oft-lamented New Zealand Knights.

Emblen, 38, had another stellar season with United in 2008-09, playing a vital role in their NZFC and O-League campaigns, which resulted in a return trip to the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan last December.

A former English Premier League player with Crystal Palace, Emblen is short on senior coaching experience but has shown a deep understanding of the game and is popular with his peers.

Emblen will have former Knights and Waitakere defender Darren Bazeley and former All Whites midfielder and Waitakere stalwart Carl Jorgensen as his assistants.

Emblen, Bazeley and Jorgensen have had a close involvement with the club's youth programme.

Chairman Rex Dawkins is looking forward to a new era.

"Chris Milicich served us well for the past two seasons in his second stint with the club and took us to an unprecedented NZFC/O-League double in 2008," he said.

"It became clear last season that if we were to progress further we needed to make a change and went to the market in search of a new coaching team."

Emblen's first priority is recruiting a solid core of players with the goal of recapturing the NZFC and O-League titles.

The new season's format, including the proposal to include a Wellington Phoenix reserve side for 2009-10 and the implications of Canterbury United's withdrawal, will be discussed by New Zealand Football next week.