What is it like to coach the Wellington Phoenix? A Football Manager diary - part 1

stuff.co.nz:

What would it be like to coach the Wellington Phoenix? Simulation video game Football Manager 21 gives you a chance to find out. Stuff reporter Ben Strang charts his time in the hot seat.

OPINION: The last time I coached a football team was 2008, when my sister’s Kāpiti College second XI side needed some guidance.

We won the third division of mid-week Wellington college football playing an aggressive 4-1-4-1 formation, using our pace, pressing and swift counter-attacking to clobber all comers.

The team even registered a training match win against the boy’s third XI. That was the moment I knew we were onto something.

Phoenix chairman Rob Morrison obviously took notice.

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The headlines after my Phoenix appointment were unsurprising. Stuff’s own Phillip Rollo said “eyebrows had been raised in the world of football,” and he wasn’t wrong.

Rollo has contacts, you see. And so when he said eyebrows had been raised, I figured he was talking about the players. It made that first meeting with the squad all the more important.

I laid out my plan right from the off. We’re going to play possession football, in a 4-2-3-1 shape. I want us high up the field, with a bit of pressing when we lose the ball, then we hold our shape and stay tight, compact.

Most of the lads didn’t like what I was saying. There was no respect, and things were about to get worse.

“As far as team goals, I’ll be looking for a top-half finish,” I said, pumping my fists in hope it would inspire the lads.

Gary Hooper, sitting to my