NZ Knights - Disgrace!

The stabbing of six teenagers at Bondi Beach has raised the spectre of further beachside violence and prompted claims police are not adequately resourced to deal with the threat.

Two men were arrested and questioned about two separate attacks, seven minutes apart, on five males and a female in Bondi.

An 18-year-old Sydney man charged in relation to the fights on Saturday was yesterday refused bail by a Sydney court.

Ahmad Elchami from Chester Hill in Sydney's south west is charged with one count of affray in relation to the altercations.

The six teenagers, aged 16 to 19 years, were injured when three men, described as being of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean appearance and armed with small knives, set upon the group.

Superintendent Mark Walton said the attacks were "vicious and unprovoked". A police fact sheet tendered to the court said that witnesses told police a man of Middle Eastern appearance got out of a white van on Park Drive in Bondi and stabbed a 17-year-old male in the neck with a flick knife.

The offender and another man left the scene in the van but returned 10 minutes later with a group of men and a brawl broke out.

Another five males aged between 15 and 18 were stabbed during the altercation and taken to hospital.

Sorce: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10366986

Yeap it is obvious that New Zealand has HUGE ethnic problems while Australia is a glowing example of what we all should aspire to be

A-League bosses have spelled it out to them, but nobody's listening at the Knights.

Despite urgings by A-League head of operations Matt Carroll to give the franchise a strong Kiwi flavour, the failing franchise seems intent on stacking its team with foreigners again, in the process ignoring viable options like All Whites defender Che Bunce.

Bunce has been in talks with the club about a contract but has yet to be offered anything concrete. At the same time, he's been offered a firm deal by a club in Iceland.

"I told John Adshead that I had been offered a contract by a club in Scandinavia but that I preferred to play for the Knights because I have a young family and it would be hard to uproot them," the 30-year-old said.

The response Bunce got was not what he expected.

"He [Adshead] said, 'You are in the mix but right now we are looking at bringing foreign players in and if nothing evolves from there we will look at you then'."

It's hardly an endorsement for a guy who has played 24 times for his country and whose last professional contract was with Randers FC in the Danish league, which is of a similar level to the Championship in England.

One of his last games for Randers was a 4-0 win over Watford, who are currently in the mix to return to the Premiership.

"I would be interested in playing for the Knights," Bunce said, "but I'm not going to wait around for them to weed out who they can't get. I'm not sure what their strategy is. He said he was looking at players overseas first.

"They really do need some Kiwi influence. It's up to them and they need to pick the best team they can but, let's be honest, the New Zealand players are going to have the most passion. I did all right against the Australian national team last year so I think I can handle the A-League."

Prolific striker Keryn Jordan has been sounded out by the Knights but the former South African international is still waiting on a deal to be put to him.

The Knights face an uphill battle to regain credibility and confidence among the New Zealand and Australian footballing public but they're not exactly endearing themselves by their words and actions. They face a tough ask in attracting top players to the club after their dreadful finish last season and it's one of the reasons they missed out on Leo Bertos, who was a standout for the All Whites in their series with Malaysia, but who opted this week for Perth instead.

"My choice was for football reasons," Bertos said from his base in Worksop. "I don't really know what went on last season off the field but they won only one game. I didn't really want to go to a team and then have that happen. I know there's no promotion and relegation but it would still be good to actually win and not finish bottom."

It's likely to be one of the motivating factors for both Jeremy Brockie and Jeremy Christie, who have moved to Sydney FC and Perth respectively.

When a handful of the New Zealand under-20 side were asked last week if they wanted to play for the Knights, they were emphatic in their response - no. Mismanaged, poor coaching, poor results, they said.

It's a sad indictment when the future of the game can see things aren't exactly rosy with the one professional club in the country, a destination that might catapult them to where they want to go.

So far the club have announced the signings of an Australian goalkeeper, even though the New Zealand No 1 Glen Moss was on their doorstep, and 31-year-old Australian midfielder Richard Johnson, who reportedly was released by Newcastle. To date, All White Noah Hickey is the only Kiwi signed up to the Knights.

Speculation continues to circulate that major changes in personnel at the club could be just around the corner, including Adshead, O'Hara and chairman Anthony Lee.

The A-League have little patience - Carroll has already issued them with a stern warning that they need at least 10 Kiwis on board and must turn their fortunes around or they will be axed from the competition.

"It would not worry us if the Knights were the All Whites in a different strip," Carroll said recently. "Ultimately we would like to see half the playing roster from New Zealand.

"We would be much more tolerant if they had a plan - it does not appear to us that they have one."

The New Zealand public also have little patience if the dwindling crowd support is any indication.

Owner Brian Katzen, however, seems to have patience in large supply.

Carroll also suggested New Zealand Soccer needed to be more involved in the running of the club but they have little jurisdiction and it's questionable whether they would want to jump on board unless there were major changes with the set-up.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=86&ObjectID=10375653

The name will ring plenty of bells among Scottish fans of a certain generation, and the New Zealand Knights hope Scott Gemmill will bring them some of the class his celebrated father Archie Gemmill did during his career.

Scott Gemmill yesterday became the Knights highest-profile signing for the second year of the A-League as the club set about pulling themselves up from a distant last placing in the inaugural season.

The 35-year-old played 26 internationals for Scotland, most recently a 2-0 loss to Austria at Hampden Park in April, 2003.

He made the bulk of his 368 English league appearances at Nottingham Forest - in the first and Premier league - and top-flight club Everton, for whom he played seven years until 2004. He parted company with lowly Oxford United a few days ago.

Archie Gemmill played 43 times for Scotland, scoring one of his country's great World Cup goals in the 3-2 win over the Netherlands in 1978, and was at Forest when they won the first of their back-to-back European Cups (now Champions League) in 1979.

Scott will bring vast footballing wisdom to the A-league side. Knights coach Paul Nevin has seen Gemmill operate as a box-to-box midfielder and in a central defensive organising role.

There will be questions over the wisdom of signing a player of his age, but in addition to the on-field acumen he'll bring to a club who last season were sorely in need of a firm guiding hand, Nevin envisages the Scot playing a significant part off the field as well.

"He's happy to do either role within the framework of the team, and that speaks volumes for him," Nevin said. "I've got a plan of what type of player we need in each role. He's a very respected professional and with the young developing players we'll have in the squad, having a role model like that will be invaluable to us."

Gemmill, who is coming on a one-year deal, and his partner arrive in Auckland soon. The league starts again in August-September. The draw has yet to be announced.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10376574

exactly what is the football situation in new zealand.

I honestly thought that New Zealand didn't care about football...

New Zealand has an extremely strong rugby tradition. I can't remember the last ime New Zealand was out of the top three in the world rankings.

However, football is now the most popular sport in people below 16 and it is the scond most popular sport, behind netball, for women. At the start of this season rugby was actually advertising to get junior players and I have never seen that before. We have some very talented juniors but the seniors aren't anywhere near the standard of their counterparts overseas.

I know that Oceania in general is a rugby loving part of the world.

Do you think that someday that New Zealand will want to challenge itself and go to the AFC as did Australia?

I mean with the kids you say you have coming up, it seems like New Zealand might actually give Uruguay and Paraguay a run for their money for the last WC spot in a few years.

I spoke to some people quite high up in NZ Soccer about the OFC/AFC situation when Australia joined the AFC as there were mixed messages coming out of NZ Soccer as to whether NZ would try to enter the AFC as well. The main issue here is that NZ is only a country of four million people so sports don't get the huge funding that Australian teams, for example, get. If NZ joined the AFC we would have all these opportunities but under NZ Soccer's current funding we would struggle to take advantage of too many of them. In the OFC NZ Soccer gets more funding than it would in the AFC and NZ teams have a much better chance to qualify for world tournaments, such as the Womens U20 World Cup in Russia and the World Club Championship - the later has a US$1,000,000 prize just for qualifying and NZ Soccer can do a lot of good with that money.

Certainly in the future we should be able to give them a better run for their money than we can now. The major changes being made here will take time to see results but we are now regularly beating Australian age group sides, where five years ago we would get destroyed.

One of the issues I see with the football community in New Zealand is that we have a club vs federation issue. New Zealand is divided into seven federations and representative football has changed from a club based tournament to a federation based tournament and some of the bigger clubs, who are an extremely important part of the football community, are not happy with the changes.

Adshead happy to go on his terms

John Adshead feels blessed to pen his own soccer obituary.

The former All Whites coach yesterday resigned as manager of the New Zealand Knights, the Auckland-based Australian A-League club which last season finished a distant last.

His decision caught club officials by surprise, and Adshead today moved to dampen suggestions his departure had anything to do with the Knights' struggle to establish themselves.

"To bow out of the game, hopefully gracefully, on your own terms is very important," Adshead told NZPA.

"People might not understand this but I think I'm leaving the club in pretty good condition. A lot of work has gone on and the club is ready to move forward."

Adshead, 64, who last May was diagnosed with prostate cancer, said his health was a consideration in his decision to step down and effectively end a glittering coaching career.

However, equally motivating for Adshead, who guided the All Whites to New Zealand's only World Cup finals appearance in 1982, is his 13-year-old son, whom he wants to spend more time with.

Adshead said he awoke this morning and felt refreshed simply because there was nothing he had to do.

"I was ready to retire two years ago," said Adshead, who was signed by the Knights in 2004 after working in the Middle East, based in Oman.

"I never really intended coming back to work, but the Knights job was a good challenge to come back to."

That proved a challenge too far for Adshead as the Knights floundered in the maiden season, losing 20 of 21 A-League matches.

Adshead not only had to battle cancer, the team's results and subsequent fallout saw a number of players leave the club, notably captain Danny Hay, who was signed by Perth.

Adshead was criticised for signing a swag of overseas players and not developing New Zealand talent. He admitted late in the season he had underestimated the strength of the A-League.

"I'm obviously disappointed that I'm not leaving the game on a high," Adshead said.

"I've been in the game for 38 years and 37 of them were very, very good."

Adshead stressed his decision to retire had nothing to do with the side's results.

"If I was going to get out because of last season I'd have got out a long time ago. It came down to what do I want to get out of life? What can I afford, what do I want?"

Knights board chairman Anthony Lee said Adshead's decision to retire came out of the blue but, after discussions last weekend, the club's board reluctantly accepted his resignation with immediate effect.

Paul Nevin, Adshead's assistant, has been named caretaker coach as the Knights look for a successor.

Knights chief executive Steve O'Hara said there was nothing sinister behind Adshead's decision.

"It's a very high pressure job, and while he's beaten the cancer well and truly now, there's still some ongoing treatments that take some time and I'm sure that was part of John's thinking," O'Hara said.

"It's really just a case of John having had time to get away from it all, had time to reflect on his position, and he's come to this decision. It's one that caught us by surprise."

Adshead said he now had every intention to retire as a coach, but he still held a ticket as an Asian Football Confederation instructor and could conduct the odd course around the region.

"The immediate intention is to sit back and say I don't have to do anything today. That's a nice feeling."

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3634558a1823,00.html

Can't see it happening..

I think one of the reasons that people, like MVFC, see New Zealanders as poor footballers is that the NZ football community has a policy of sending our best young players to overseas leagues so we have 14 year olds playing in Germany, for example. What we all know is that if you are a 20 year old and still are still playing football in New Zealand, or Australia, then you are not going to make it against European and South American players who are playing extremely competitive football day in and day out from when they are 7 or 8. These overseas youths will return to play for the All Whites in the future as battle hardened players and this is what we need to be able to compete.

Knights chairman dismisses rumours

Knights chairman Anthony Lee insisted last night it is "business as usual" amid a swirl of rumours over the future of New Zealand's flagship club.

The sudden resignation of manager John Adshead on Monday led to speculation more changes were likely at the beleaguered A-League franchise.

Federation Australia head of operations Matt Carroll was in Auckland yesterday for meetings with club officials. Knights owner, British-based businessman Brian Katzen, is also in Auckland.

However Lee reckoned the speculators had put two and two together and made seven.

Lee was fishing at Tutukaka yesterday and is not expecting to meet Carroll, who is due back in Sydney tomorrow.

"There's no major controversy at the Knights or I wouldn't be here," he said last night.

Among the claims doing the rounds yesterday were:

* Katzen is preparing to sell the club, which finished a distant last in the inaugural season of the A-League.

* Federation Australia is in the market to buy the franchise, then put it up to the highest bidder.

* Knights players had been told the club was about to be sold.

* A consortium of New Zealand businessmen is looking to ensure it stays in New Zealand hands.

Lee said Carroll visited all A-League clubs at regular intervals. It made sense for him to come to the Knights when majority shareholder Katzen was in Auckland.

Katzen's visit also had nothing to do with Adshead's resignation. It had been planned for some time.

Adshead's announcement was pure coincidence.

Lee was emphatic that Katzen was not about to sell up.

"No, not at all," he said, although conceding "the club is far from happy".

"We had a terrible first season. We've been taking a pasting from the so-called experts.

"We've got to batten down the hatches and get on with what we know we've got to do at the club to get it right."

Carroll told the Herald a month ago that off the field the Knights "have problems".

"We have said if you [club administration] can't do the job you should step aside," Carroll said.

Lee confirmed the club has been looking for people with fresh expertise to enhance its operations.

He knows the club will struggle to shake off months of bad publicity, going back to its dismal 11-game losing streak during the competition, until good things start happening on the field and that won't be until the second A-League season starts in September.

"When Brian and I said we were going to get involved, we knew it wasn't going to be easy. The reality is it's not going to get any better until we get results on the park."

Adshead yesterday made it clear he had been ready to retire two years ago after several years working in the Middle East.

"I never really intended coming back to work, but the Knights job was a good challenge to come back to."

He was disappointed not to be leaving the game on a high.

That made me laugh

I found this letter to the editor on the Football365 site (http://www.football365.com/opinion/mailbox/story_181934.shtml) and it reminded me of why Aussies like MVFC exist:

"Dear Australia, Your Television Sucks.

Hey Steve, I've just been to your fantastic country, also for three weeks (no, this is not PC writing in in disguise) and I can confirm that, yes, you do own TVs.

Problem is, they are almost entirely devoted to all things Australian, such as the one Oscar an Aussie won this year (no mention of any other winners in more important categories), or your exploits in the Melbourne Games (hardly got the impression any other nation was competing). When it wasn't Aussies ruling the world of sport, entertainment and just about anything else, it was Aussie 'true blue, all other products are FOREIGN and therefore SH*T' adverts, interspaced with about two hours of Aerial Ping Pong (Aussie Rules) news.

So yes, while I appreciate you have TVs, they're not actually pointed at the rest of the world too often, are they? I found it really tough to find any footie for the three weeks I was there."

All countries, and cultures for that matter, have good points and bad points and it is a real shame when you can't appreciate what other countries and cultures have to offer.

NZ Knights Press Release - 26th April 2006

The NZ Knights Football Club can confirm that Chris Turner has tabled his resignation as a Director of the club, effective from Monday 24th April 2006.

The resignation is as a result of a clear difference of opinion between the club and Mr Turner as to the future direction of the club and in particular the relationship between the NZ Knights and New Zealand Soccer.

Chairman Anthony Lee wishes to acknowledge at this time the considerable energy, resource and time that Chris Turner has put into the game in this country. In particular with the setting up of the Football Kingz and the subsequent entry of the NZ Knights into the Hyundai A-League.

The club wishes to emphasize however that comments made in the media subsequent to the resignation reflect the opinion of Mr Turner and do not in any way represent the NZ Knights Football Club.

The NZ Knights will continue to pursue a close working relationship with New Zealand Soccer and A-League governing body the Football Federation of Australia.

The Knights will not comment on the specific detail of that relationship until all areas have been finalised to the satisfaction of all concerned other than to say that discussions continue towards a common goal of success in the Hyundai A-League.

NZ Knights Chairman Anthony Lee is available in the UK to comment from 6pm NZT on Wednesday 26th April.

Maybe they should replace NZ with South Melbourne. But I don't think they can do that.

http://www.melbournevictory.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6137

I see Chris Turner's resignation as a good thing for the Knights. No offence to Mr Turner, as he has done some great work for football in New Zealand, but his belief that the Knights, and the Kingz before, should be completely separate from NZ Soccer is flawed. New Zealand may be a country, but is is only a country of four million people in an area larger than Britain. Sports are nowhere as well funded as the Aussie state sides, and you have to compare NZ to an Aussie state, so we have to work harder to beat these sides. Without help from NZ Soccer I don't see how this is going to happen. Kiwis have to want to play for the Knights first because it is a NZ side and with NZ Soccer's help the Knights can identify the up and coming Kiwi players and feed them into the Knight's structure.

Aussies turn up heat on the Knights

There will be no letting up in the pressure on the New Zealand Knights by soccer bosses in Australia.

Knights chief executive Steve O'Hara yesterday joined the growing list of casualties at the club, announcing his resignation 10 weeks from the start of the season, as Football Federation Australia (FFA) further tightened the screws on the Auckland franchise.

And there are strong hints that O'Hara's departure, after seven months at the club, may not be the last.

Hyundai A-League operations manager Matt Carroll was making no apology for the blunt message handed to the club. From Sydney, he said the FFA was determined that neither the Knights nor any other club would be allowed to drag the A-League down.

"Did we require the club to reorganise and be better prepared for the new season? Yes. That message was delivered bluntly to the club in January," said Carroll. "We have seen some improvements but not enough.

"We expressed our concerns but we saw no plans. Off the field we have not seen the strategies and plans to take the club forward.

"We expressed those concerns to [Knights benefactor and 60 per cent shareholder] Brian Katzen and Steve O'Hara two weeks ago. This was not done behind his [O'Hara's] back.

"We said to [chairman] Anthony Lee and Steve O'Hara if the whole board has to be changed so be it," said Carroll.

Asked if Lee could be next, Carroll said that was entirely up to the board and shareholders.

Carroll did not shy away from suggestions from some quarters, including former director Chris Turner, that there should be no connection between the Knights and New Zealand Soccer.

"We have always been in favour of an involvement between the two bodies. It seems logical. We see it as being good for the game to have the national technical director having a similar role with the club."

Carroll admitted the FFA had injected hundreds of thousands of dollars - reportedly A$600,000 ($721,000) - into the Knights since January, adding that O'Hara had not acknowledged that in his open letter of resignation.

In that announcement yesterday, O'Hara said: "I understand that as the major shareholder [Katzen] is not prepared to solely fund the club, the FFA's financial involvement has meant they are essentially controlling the club."

Carroll pointed out that the money being used to bail out the club would have to be repaid, but some of that could come from the A$1.2 million clubs are expected to receive in instalments from the league's new television deal after July 1.

All clubs apart from Adelaide United have received FFA money, but the Knights and Central Coast Mariners have been the major beneficiaries of the bailout.

Carroll said he felt the appointment of Paul Nevin as head coach and former Queensland Roar midfielder Jonathan Richter to the playing roster could be steps in the right direction.

He is not so pleased with the Knights' failure to retain young New Zealand players Jeremy Brockie, Glen Moss and Jeremy Christie.

On suggestions that Bob Patterson, former Soccer New Zealand chief executive, Oceania Football Confederation competitions manager and chief executive at Sydney FC, might be in line to succeed O'Hara, Carroll said he had had such discussions with Katzen, but not necessarily about that role.

"We have just said that they have to move quickly and put their house in order. The lack of organisation off and on the field last season can't be tolerated again.

"It can be turned around with some late recruitments.

"It is important the club is operationally secured. Paul Nevin appears to be on track. They must now recruit a new chief executive post-haste and have Brian Katzen and the shareholders determine the structure of the board and present a credible way forward."

Carroll said he hoped to meet club officials in Auckland in the next 10 to 14 days. Katzen and Lee were unavailable for comment.

Player and Staff Movements at the Knights




Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10380868

O'Hara blames dumping on FFA

New Zealand Knights continue to haemorrhage staff with chief executive Steve O'Hara the latest casualty to depart the battling A-League soccer club.

Soon after O'Hara's marching orders were confirmed he fingered the league's governing body, Football Federation Australia (FFA), as behind his axing.

His dumping after just seven months in the job follows the resignation of manager John Adshead last month while board member Chris Turner also quit the club, citing the growing influence of the FFA.

O'Hara, who was informed of his sacking last week, said yesterday that the FFA was pumping cash into the financially stricken club and wanted a greater say in its operations.

"It came out of left-field and its taken me the whole weekend to recover, I'm very upset," O'Hara said.

"I was rung by the chairman (Anthony Lee) and told the FFA said, if they were going to have continued involvement, they didn't want me to be in place.

"(Majority owner) Brian Katzen has obviously accepted that, or agreed with it and so that's how it came about."

O'Hara said the involvement of the FFA and Katzen was unprofessional as there was a lack of honesty in the process.

The move came as a surprise because he felt the club was about to "turn a corner", helped by some recent quality player signings. While the FFA has not brought an ownership stake in the Knights, O'Hara said it was writing cheques to keep the club afloat.

He said it was more beneficial to have New Zealand interests backing the Knights, who finished with the wooden spoon last year.

"They (FFA) are not resident. They're not aware of what's going on here," O'Hara said

"You always have to look after the group and the network.

"In hindsight, what I should have done is everything I could to have the club 100 per cent New Zealand owned.

"New Zealand investors will be resident here and will understand what's going on, whereas (UK based) Brian Katzen is 12,000 miles away.

"I believe that's not in the best interests of football because you need to be here to understand what's going on."

The Knights are not the only A-League club to have the FFA breathing over their shoulder. O'Hara said it had a large say in the running of Perth Glory, had a heavy involvement with Central Coast Mariners, and a big shareholding in Melbourne Victory.

He conceded the FFA may have the experience and expertise required to shake the Knights into action, "but the question is are they there to run the best possible competition they can, or are they there to run individual clubs.

"The FFA are not part of the club. Their job is to run the league."

O'Hara hoped this latest personnel purge would be the last as the club desperately needed some stability after Adshead's departure. In the playing stocks they lost promising New Zealand youngsters Jeremy Brockie and Jeremy Christie to other A-League clubs.

His main regret in leaving the club was the good acquisitions they had made after introducing a new recruitment process.

O'Hara admitted last year's recruitment was shocking as the club secured some Englishmen past their use-by dates but this year he felt the Knights would be much tougher.

"Is the club in a better position? Yes it is. Will it be competitive this season? Yes I believe it will," O'Hara said.

"But it's been hamstrung by a lack of finance at the moment and now it's also being effected by an outside agency."

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3661595a1823,00.html

Lee not comfortable with O'Hara's axeing

New Zealand Knights chairman Anthony Lee is unhappy at the latest departure from the club's management, and conceded today that A League soccer bosses were calling some of the shots.

Chief executive Steve O'Hara was shown the door yesterday, blaming interference from Football Federation Australia (FFA), which has injected a reported A$600,000 ($737,200) into the ailing Auckland-based club.

Lee, speaking to Radio Sport, said he was "definitely not pleased to see" O'Hara go.

"Steve's done a great job for us over a difficult period of time and I was disappointed.

"He felt he couldn't carry on with the way things were put to him, and that he needed to go."

"What they (the FFA) want is what everybody would like, which is certainly not to have a repeat of last season.

"In his time, Steve has turned a lot of things around to get a lot of very good people in place, and there are some massive changes since last season."

O'Hara said yesterday the FFA wanted him out after the Knights recorded just one win from 21 matches to comfortably claim the wooden spoon last season.

His dumping, after just seven months in the job, follows the resignation of manager John Adshead last month while board member Chris Turner also quit the club, citing the growing influence of the FFA.

Lee admitted that the FFA's investment, the amount of which was confidential, brought with it a greater degree of control from the league bosses.

He agreed that FFA pressure was behind O'Hara's axing and "I wouldn't say I'm comfortable with it.

"But I think it is fair comment, so much as obviously the FFA are assisting us financially.

"It's the old story -- whoever pays the piper gets to call the tune."

Lee denied the FFA was running the club, but it was recommending what changes needed to be made.

Lee said no conditions were attached to the FFA's cash injection, and he denied that Adshead's resignation was forced by the national body.

With the A League operating under a licence system, as opposed to the English premier league which was club-owned, Lee said the FFA would always have some input into a club's operations.

"We knew very well after last season that we couldn't carry on," Lee said.

"Things that have transpired would be things that any club in our position would have looked at anyway."

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10380962

Knights appoint Nevin to top job

The New Zealand Knights Football Club is pleased to confirm the appointment of Paul Nevin to the position of Football Manager as the club prepares for the second Hyundai A-League season.

Head Coach Nevin has been working as Caretaker Manager since the retirement of John Adshead with Chairman Anthony Lee more than impressed with his work during a difficult time.

“Paul was one of a large number of quality applications but the one that ultimately stood out from the rest. As was the case when appointed Head Coach, Paul has a CV in football that few others can match with his technical qualifications backed up by great references with regards his work with players. He came to us highly regarded by English Premiership club Fulham and his work in recruitment and planning for the new season has been thoroughly professional in every regard. We are pleased to be entrusting the fortunes of the team to Paul Nevin and wish him well in the season ahead. Everyone that has met Paul during his time with the club so far has without exception been impressed by his knowledge, dedication, drive and work ethic.”

Nevin says the news is both a relief and a thrill.

“I am delighted to be given this honour by the Chairman and believe me I know the responsibility that goes with it. We have a unique opportunity at this club to lead the game at the professional level in New Zealand and I am pleased that the decision now allows me to move ahead with great certainty with our planning and preparation for the new season. We are on the verge of something special and while a massive challenge, it is one that I am ready for, and an opportunity that I believe I have earned during my time with Fulham and in the few months I have enjoyed here as Head Coach.”

The priority for Nevin is twofold, to continue and complete the player recruitment programme and to appoint an assistant, both of which he has firm views on.

“The recruitment has gone superbly well to this point and we have a great deal of research and information collated on other targets to complete the squad. Over the next 3 to 4 weeks we will go about bringing in the remainder of the squad to join those already assembled. With regards an assistant, that is also a priority with applications to be called for immediately. I believe however that the successful person will come from within the New Zealand environment and bring with them a considerable knowledge of the local game and local players. That knowledge will be critical to provide the final piece of the jigsaw with regards team management for not only this season but in the years ahead.”

PAUL NEVIN BIO

Newly appointed NZ Knights Manager Paul Nevin is a recent arrival to New Zealand having emigrated with his New Zealand wife Christine and two young children. The Nevin family has taken up residence on the North Shore of Auckland, right in the heart of the home of the NZ Knights.

36 year old Nevin has spent the past 8 years in football employment at English Premiership club Fulham FC and during that time was promoted to the position of Reserve Team Manager and Academy Manager. Nevin has worked closely with current Fulham Manager Chris Coleman in that time and is used to running a dressing room with a mix of full internationals and fast developing talent.

His qualifications will make one of if not the most qualified coaches in the country, with a UEFA Pro License achieved in 2004 to complement the UEFA A License successfully earned in 1998. Paul is a career coach with many years of practical work on the training field and in the classroom to complement the technical qualifications on the CV.

During that time Paul has had the opportunity to work with top class international senior players and also been instrumental in the development of young players to Premiership and international Level. The following are some examples of the caliber of player:

Louis Saha - Man Utd / France
Edwin Van Der Sar - Man Utd / Holland
Andy Cole - Man City / ex England
Steve Finnan - Liverpool / Rep. Ireland
John Collins - Ex Celtic, Monaco, Everton, Fulham and Scotland

Apart from a few recent additions Paul has worked closely with all the players in the current Fulham team for example - Boa Morte (Portugal) Malbranque (France) Diop (Senegal) McBride (USA) Jensen (Denmark) et al.

Nevin has also been involved in the development of the following young players:

Zat Knight - Fulham / England
Sean Davis - Portsmouth / England
Liam Rosenior - Fulham /England U21
Zesh Rehman - Fulham
Adam Green - Fulham
Mark Hudson - Crystal Palace
Elvis Hammond - Leicester City

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2003 – 2005 Reserve Team Manager / Academy Manager Fulham FC
2000 – 2003 Assistant Academy Director U17 – U21 Fulham FC
1998 – 2000 Assistant Academy Director U9 – U16 Fulham Football Club
1997 – 1998 Centre of Excellence Coach – Part time Fulham Football Club

QUALIFICATIONS
2004 UEFA Pro License
1998 UEFA A License
1997 UEFA B License
1991 FA Preliminary Badge

EDUCATION
2004 Portuguese Level OCN
1991 BSc Communications, Minor Public Relations
University of Evansville, Indiana USA
1987 2A Levels – English & History
Shrewsbury Sixth form
1985 7 O Levels
Meole Brace Comprehensive School