KEY POINTS:
It wasn't hard to convince Brian Turner to join the Wellington Phoenix on a permanent basis but finding the right job title has been more difficult.
Turner has been Ricki Herbert's right-hand man since 2004 and they are now plotting the All Whites' passage to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Their association goes back to 1978 when they were team-mates at Mt Wellington and they were also part of the All Whites side which qualified for the 1982 World Cup.
Last week Turner joined Herbert at the Phoenix at a time when the side were at their lowest ebb and, whether it was coincidence or not, last weekend brought their first win of the A-League season over Sydney FC.
Bringing Turner on board was something first mooted by Wellington chief executive Tony Pignata five weeks ago after the embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Adelaide. Turner will commute from Auckland on a part-time basis and attend some away games.
"His skill is talking to players and putting an arm around their shoulder if necessary," Herbert said. "He is someone I turn to in the tough times, like last week.
"He's pretty much on board. Finding his title is the hardest thing. He's not an assistant coach. I don't know what you call it. He could be a project manager."
Tony Pignata went with "football consultant".
"His main role is to be there as a sounding board and give advice," he said. "He's pretty good in the dressing room and is someone else Ricki can chat to."
Wayne Sullivan will continue as assistant coach and Ed Baronowski as strength and conditioning coach and Herbert said there were "no problems" about having Turner involved.
Tomorrow, the Phoenix will be looking for consecutive A-League wins for the first time in the club's history when they travel to Newcastle.
Club captain Andrew Durante comes back into the side while Ben Sigmund is likely to shift out to right-back. Goalkeeper Glen Moss is still out, so Team Wellington's Phil Imray comes onto the bench, but there's no room for Leo Bertos, Jon McKain, David Mulligan or Manny Muscat.
