Terry Maddaford: Knights heading for last hurrah

It's decision time yet again at New Zealand Knights HQ.

John Adshead was on the mark when he said they must, this time, get it right: there will be no third chance.

Tommy Mason became the fall guy even before the team play for the last time - against the almost-as-disappointing Melbourne Victory at Olympic Park tonight.

Who is next?

The drums have been beating in anticipation with players and staff under a cloud in Operation Cleanout.

Early suggestions point to a new head coach - as chief executive Steve O'Hara branded the role this week - being named as early as next week.

We must hope the apparently long and meaningful search has unearthed an appropriately qualified person conversant with the game and its demands in this part of the world.

An Australian, well-versed in what the A-League has done and will continue to do, is an obvious shoo-in.

Franchises in Australia have quickly learned that big, and some not so big, names from Europe do not guarantee success.

Some have even been tagged as disasters.

Up to four clubs are expected to make coaching changes in the off-season, with Adelaide United seen as the benchmark. The only club to go home-grown defied the predictions to run away with the minor premiership.

Few are now prepared to bet against former Socceroo John Kosmina and his largely local-based team going all the way to the grand final.

There are coaches in Australia prepared to "jump through hoops" to get a shot at working with the Knights.

Their board, we must hope, would have considered any such candidates seriously.

An established Australian coach would attract (and bring) players - which too would only benefit a team found wanting on too many occasions to ever be taken seriously.

It is not clear what the new head coach role means but it is safe to assume football manager Adshead will again be pulling the reins, taking a Sir Alex Ferguson/Jose Mourinho-type approach with his coach(es) under him. Team selection will remain with Adshead.

Once the coaching strategy is in place, the search for players will follow with the same hard-nosed "must get it right" approach.

There can be no place for sentiment or the "mates of a mate" way this initial team - and not only the players - was put together.

The broom again must make a decisive sweep, leaving only a handful of incumbents - including perhaps Zenon Caravella, Glen Moss, Darren Bazeley and maybe Ioaki Imaya, Jeremy Brockie and Xiaobin Zhang to kick-start the new era.

There are players (including Auckland City's South African striker Keryn Jordan) in the New Zealand Football Championship who have shown they are good enough to play A-League.

Jordan and others like Andy Barron deserve a chance.

There is, granted, a need for experience but only if blended in the right mix.

There should also be a call to players like Tony Lochhead, Ivan Vicelich, Shane Smeltz and even Vaughan Coveny to check their status.

Nothing can be left to chance. There is too much at stake for that.