Soccer: It's new management and new players for the Kingz

The Kingz have added two more players to their roster and are confident they are on the verge of signing a manager who is considered a household name.

The club's chief executive, Guy Hedderwick, says a shortlist of three managers has been finalised, with final interviews taking place this week and an announcement possible before Christmas.

One of the candidates is a Kiwi, whilst the remaining two are from overseas. Although many observers remain sceptical about the Kingz' ability to attract genuine top quality personnel, Hedderwick says all three men on the shortlist "would be considered household names."

Once the manager has been finalised, the club will begin a serious recruitment drive to sign players ahead of the launch of the Australian Soccer League next August.

Hedderwick confirmed that two more players have put to pen to paper in the last week, joining Danny Hay and Noah Hickey.

"We have four players on our books now and when the football manager comes on board we will start recruiting in earnest," says Hedderwick. "The applicants for the football manager's job are two global, one Kiwi. Without a doubt you would recognise all three applicants. One is from Australia, one is from the UK. One would be a household name and the other one played a few first division games in the UK. You might not know him, but he's a potential find."

While only four players have definitely signed, the Kings have agreements in principle with Jason Rowley, Jeremy Christie, Michael Utting and South African Keryn Jordan.

Hedderwick said he would prefer for the squad to be made up predominantly of New Zealanders, but accepted that has to be balanced against the need to be successful.

He said: "I don't want to pre-empt what the football manager is going to do. As the chief executive, I would like a Kiwi flavour to the team and the majority of the players should be New Zealanders because that is what it is about. But at the same time they have got to be winners. We can't be coming second. Whatever the balance is will do me fine."

Whether the Kingz will keep their name remains to be seen. Comprehensive research into whether the club should rebrand has been completed, but Hedderwick was not willing to reveal the outcome. Having previously failed to capture the New Zealand public's imagination, there could be some mileage to be had in ditching the Kingz name and starting afresh in a new league with a new name. On the other hand, the brand is well recognised and synonymous with soccer.