Wellington Phoenix and New Zealand attacker Jeremy Brockie has joined us at tribalfootball.com to provide a column on a regular basis.
Firstly we have tackled the Toronto FC coaching appointment of his All Whites teammate and QPR defender Ryan Nelsen.
Brockie, who returned home to New Zealand in May last year, shares his views on how the former Blackburn Rovers captain will perform in a coaching role and also tells us a bit about how the Phoenix are shaping ahead of this weekend's A-League clash with Western Sydney Wanderers.
"For me it is great to see Ryan appointed as the TFC Head Coach. His professionalism and knowledge of the game will quickly be instilled into a club that struggled last year and I'm sure he will turn into a very successful manager," Brockie said of 'Nelly's' appointment.
On how the New Zealand national team will fare without Nelsen's services when he decides to retire from international football: "Ryan has been a massive part of NZ football, especially over the past five or six years and has led our country to some huge results.
"Lucky for NZ, centre-back is a position we are not short of quality players, as there is Tommy Smith of Ipswich Town and Winston Reid from West Ham, but obviously it will be different to have a player with so much experience and quality not a part of our squad!"
On the qualities that QPR will lose when he departs: "Nelly's Leadership is one of his best qualities. He will be a massive loss at club level and I'm not sure if he's playing the rest of the season with QPR but I'm certain Harry Rednapp will be trying to keep him for the relegation battle. He has a lot of EPL games under his belt and is a player you can always rely on for 110% the minute he walks onto the pitch."
On his feelings about Nelsen calling time on his playing career: "It's a shame for the game that Ryan will be moving on from a playing point of view because even this season he has been able to keep quiet some of the best strikers in the world. However, he has this great opportunity to move onto the next stage of his career and I wish him all the best."
As for his own club, Wellington currently sit second bottom on the 10-team A-League table but Brockie, who has netted 10 goals so far this term, is confident of a home victory over the fourth-placed Wanderers on Sunday.
"West Sydney have been one of the consistent performers this season and are a very organised team that are hard to break down but we are at a stage of the season now where every game is a must-win if we want to play finals," he said.
"Last time we met (at the Westpac Stadium on December 2) we came away with a 1-0 result (in which Brockie scored the only goal) but we could have had a couple more.
"Now we face them back at home after losing away to the Victory last week and must take three points!"