Michael Burgess: New Zealand Football in a bind over 2021 Olympics coaching appointments

Junior All Whites coach Des Buckingham at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup. Photo / Photosport

COMMENT:

There might be more than meets the eye in the letter of support written by various players, urging New Zealand Football to retain the services of coach Des Buckingham for the rescheduled Olympic Games.

Such player-driven initiatives always catch the attention, but are rarely straightforward or clear cut.

Buckingham, who took over as Oly Whites coach in June 2019 following the sudden departure of Fritz Schmid, was meant to be taking the team to Tokyo, but that is now in doubt, since the Games have been postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

His contract finishes in August, and, unfortunately, it's hard to see how NZF could offer him another year, even if they wanted to.

NZF is under severe financial duress, due to Covid-19 situation, especially with little hope on the horizon for winter football.

There are major worries over the future of several regional federations, with fears a few might go under, while their ISPS Handa sponsorship also finishes this year.

And who know how much, if any, international football will be played over the rest of 2020?

But back to the letter.

Some might draw parallels drawn between this move, and the Football Ferns' action in 2018, where they told the national body they would refuse to play under then-coach Andreas Heraf, but it's completely different.

In that case it was a unilateral action, with 12 players (almost all senior) discussing and compiling their thoughts. It was also signed by each individual.

This current letter is anonymous, though it has come from a group of players who have been involved in the recent Under-20 and Under-23 teams coached by Buckingham.

But being unsigned it's hard to gain the real picture; were all the senior players part of it, including the overseas professionals? No one can be sure.

The Herald also understands that the letter didn't just evolve organically from members of the squad, but the idea was also fuelled by outside sources.

There's nothing wrong with that, as the entire Under-20's coaching and playing unit (in particular) would have forged tight bonds with their successes at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup in Poland, and it's logical they would want to stay together.

It also understandable that Buckingham would have aspired to coaching at the Olympic Games, and feels like he deserved to, after qualifying the squad.

But it was going to be an unusual situation anyway, as since 2013 the All Whites and Oly Whites jobs have been combined, and this scenario only emerged after the chaos of the Heraf and Schmid departures.

It will be sad for Buckingham if he isn't offered a new contract, especially given the wonderful achievements in Poland, where the Junior All Whites reached the second round before a controversial exit via penalty shootout to Colombia.

But Buckingham was in charge of a golden generation there, and Declan Edge, the Ole Academy and the Phoenix academy also deserve plenty of credit, given their involvement in the formation of many key players in that team.

The Englishman has been given plenty of opportunities by NZF over the years, in a situation that has been mutually beneficial.

But Covid-19 has had a massive impact across the sporting landscape, and Buckingham's situation may be another unfortunate consquence of the awful pandemic.