Departing Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay would likely have remained with the club if his All Whites application had proved successful.
Talay will leave Wellington when his contract expires at the end of the current season, and the Phoenix plan to announce his replacement next week.
But it could have been a different story had Talay been appointed to the still-vacant position of All Whites coach, with the Australian having expressed an interest in aligning the national team and the A-League club.
That dual role was once held by Ricki Herbert, but New Zealand Football told Talay in January that his application had been overlooked, reportedly offering the job instead to Canada coach John Herdman before being rebuffed.
The Phoenix will now almost certainly appoint a new coach before the All Whites, while Talay has held discussions with offshore clubs as he looks for a move to Asia or Europe.
“If the All Whites gig was given to me at that time, maybe there was something to build on there,” Talay said. “I think it was something where we could have had a very good alignment with the club at the same time.
“I’m trying to work very hard to get an opportunity to go overseas — that is the first aim. But one thing I can’t do is predict the future and where I will end up.”
Talay, who after four seasons will leave the Phoenix as the most successful coach in the club’s 16-year history, will be an attractive prospect for any A-League team with a coaching vacancy.
On track to guide the side to a third finals appearance in four years, he has the best record of any Phoenix coach, despite being based in Australia for two seasons. The team have won 41 per cent of the 103 A-League matches they have played since Talay took charge while claiming 1.45 points per game — both marks better than any of his predecessors.
The 47-year-old has installed a positive brand of possession-based football at the Phoenix, finding success with almost all of his import players while ridding the side of the “underdog tag that we have currently in New Zealand”.
While silverware has so far eluded him - and the fifth-placed Phoenix are yet to book their finals spot with three games left in the regular season - Talay will be leaving the club in a better position than where he found it.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time but I’m ready for a new chapter in my coaching career,” he said. “The club is in a fantastic place with the academy and the facilities at NZCIS. I believe the Phoenix have the best set-up in the competition, and I know they’ll find a great coach to continue the work that we’ve done for the last four years.
”The club’s heading in the right direction, and I wish them all the best for the foreseeable future. Wellington Phoenix will be a club I’ll watch from afar. It will always have a special place in my heart.”
Talay was appointed coach in 2019 after serving as Steve Corica’s assistant at Sydney FC. In his first season in the capital, he recorded a club-record third-place finish in the regular season, being named coach of the PFA’s A-League team of the year.
Wellington finished one point outside the top six in his second year, with Covid forcing the team to play all but two of their home matches in Australia, before guiding them back to the finals in 2022 despite again being based across the Tasman.
Phoenix chairman Rob Morrison thanked the coach for his immense contribution to the club.
”Ufuk has had a massive impact on the Phoenix from the moment he arrived in Wellington four years ago, and he will leave foundations that we can build on,” Morrison said. ”He’s been a fantastic coach for us, and has put in place structures and methodologies that we will continue to use in the future.
”I would have loved for Ufuk to stay on, but he has always had aspirations to coach beyond the A-League and I have no doubt he is good enough to do so.
”We have spoken a lot about his future and his desire to coach internationally, and I know he’ll be a success wherever in the world he lands.”
