Des Buckingham and Chris Greenacre have been appointed co-coaches of Wellington Phoenix until the end of the A-League season.
Buckingham, who holds a Pro license, will be head coach under Football Federation Australia (FFA) regulations, while former Phoenix striker Greenacre will be co-coach with his A License following Monday s announcement.
Appointed on an interim basis after Ernie Merrick s resignation four weeks ago, the pair have overseen a four-match unbeaten streak since taking the reins.
The Phoenix played out a scoreless draw with lowly defending champions Adelaide United on Sunday, with Wellington only two points outside of the top six and the finals places after 12 matches.
I still think this team is capable of making the top four which was our aim at the start of the season, Buckingham said looking ahead to Thursday s match against Perth Glory.
It is good that we have gone four games unbeaten, which I ve been told hasn t happened since February 2015, but we could have won all three with a bit of luck.
We have been handed a fantastic challenge and have been fortunate to have worked with Ernie Merrick who upskilled us and exposed us to a lot of stuff that wouldn t have happened with other coaches at other clubs.
Greenacre added: To lose our mentor was tough but that is the nature of the game of football and it has presented us with a fantastic challenge and life is all about challenges.
