NZ Football is focussing on the positive from Jitka Klimkova's tenure as Football Ferns coach, but admits it will change its recruitment approach to find her replacement.
The Czech ended her three-year stint at the helm of the national women's football team last week after stepping down from the role during an employment-related investigation and missing the winless Paris Olympics campaign.
NZ Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell admitted player dissatisfaction was a contributing cause to Klimkova's departure, but insisted that's not necessarily a bad thing, given the previous make-up of the programme.
"At the end of the day, three years is actually quite long for an international football coach," Pragnell told 1News. "She's done a great job of transitioning players through and into the team and when you look at a team that hasn't had a lot of player movement prior to her leadership, that was always going to be a bit challenging.
The Football Ferns coach has stood down after three years. (Source: 1News)
"Sometimes that involves some players that aren't being selected — that can cause friction, that can cause tension — and that's part and parcel of international coaching."
Pragnell highlighted 18 new players introduced to the squad by Klimkova at a time when many of the veterans were coming to the end of their careers.
"In international football teams, tension is inherrant," said Pragnell. "Looking back at the last 15 years, were we playing too much as a national team without a sufficient talent development pathway?
"Potentially, we created a scenario where there wasn't enough competitive tension in the team and actually we've got that now — that's great. Tension's not a bad thing and we're looking forward to it."
Those pathways have become more clear with professional opportunities opening up through Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC involvement in the Australian A-League.
The highlight of Klimkova's reign was New Zealand's trailblazing win over Norway at Eden Park to open last year's FIFA World Cup, but Pragnell admits the team failed to build on that result, dying in poolplay, after a disappointing loss to the Philippines in their next outing.
The national body has set its sights on the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, but won't rush into finding Klimkova's replacement.
"It's really important, when we recruit head coaches, that we recruit people who are willing to work into a system and on't bring a clean slate, new staff, 'I'm changing everything' mentality," said Pragnell.
"Over the next couple of months, we're really going to focus on making sure we've got a robust campaign plan for 2027, that we're aligned from the boardroom to the grass and then recruit a coach into the system, rather than the other way around.
"We'll look at [recruitment] early in the New Year."
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