Talay’s focus on finishing on a high
Ufuk Talay’s focus is clear, even as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to interfere with the planned restart of the 2019-20 A-League season, and he begins to be linked with vacancies elsewhere.
The Wellington Phoenix have six regular season games to play, starting next Friday night against league leaders Sydney FC, and as far as their coach is concerned, they want to finish as high as possible, then take the final series by storm.
Talay was described by The World Game this week as a ‘‘leading contender’’ for the coaching job at Melbourne Victory, one of four that are currently up for grabs in the A-League.
For some Phoenix fans, that report brought back memories of the lead-up to Mark Rudan’s premature exit at the end of last season, which began with similar links being made, but Talay was quick to dismiss it as ‘‘speculation’’.
‘‘There’s always going to be speculation, because there are a few interim coaches at A-League clubs, and names are going to be thrown in the hat,’’ he said yesterday.
‘‘I’m focused on what I need to do here. We’ve started something well here, and we want to finish on a high.
‘‘The next six games are so important for us, and then the final series.’’
The report from The World Game wasn’t the only curveball out of Victoria this week for the A-League, which is meant to restart with a match between the Victory and Western United in Melbourne next Thursday.
As things stood at 5pm yesterday, that fixture was still scheduled to go ahead, though no venue had been confirmed, with the league’s three Melbourne-based teams unsure of their immediate plans.
They were unable to make it to New South Wales before the border with Victoria was closed this week, following a spike in Covid-19 cases in the southern state, and were waiting to be granted an exemption to travel north and to either be able to train while quarantined or avoid quarantine altogether.
What impact that will have on the fixture list remains to be seen – there are eight days free between the grand final, scheduled for August 23, and the end of that month, when many players’ contracts expire, which could be needed if any matches are postponed – but as far as Talay’s concerned, it’s not something he has to worry about.
‘‘It’s a very fluid situation and I can understand if people get frustrated, but for me, when I look at things, I look at what I can control, and what I can control is what I can do with my players and my staff here, and we’ll just let [the rest] happen.’’
The third-placed Phoenix were one of the form sides in the A-League when it was suspended in mid-March as the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear and Talay said they were excited about what lies in store.
‘‘We’ll push the boys as hard as we can to finish in the top two [which would mean a bye in the first round of the playoffs].
‘‘The reality is, with the way things have played out with players being in quarantine then coming in at different levels, the aim is to go as high as we can, but for me the most important thing is to get into the final series.’’