Ufuk Talay has made a long-term commitment to the Wellington Phoenix.
Photo: Photosport
The A-League club's third coach in as many seasons has arrived in the capital, fresh from helping guide Sydney FC to the 2019 title as an assistant.
"I'm here for the long-haul," Talay said.
Unlike his predecessor Mark Rudan, his family will be moving across the Tasman.
"Whether it happens in September or late in the year when my son finishes his school year, but the family will move over to Wellington."
Talay's first job is shaping his squad, with just seven players on the books for next season, but he doesn't feel there's an urgency to make signings.
"Football is about recruitment," Talay said.
"I think 70 per cent goes to recruitment and the other 30 per cent is the motivation side of things and also the tactical side of things.
"We're in no rush to sign players. We're not jumping at every player that's thrown at us.
"I look it as a good thing where I can build a team on the way that I want to play the game and what I believe the game looks like.
"Players need to fit into what I believe the game looks like. It's not just signing good players for the sake of them being good."
Photo: Photosport Ltd 2019
Ufuk Talay says there's "already players we've targeted and we're speaking to" and
keeping hold of A-League player of the year Roy Krishna is his top priority.
"I think the club has put a lot of hard yards into that and I've spoken to Roy as well.
"He's had a fantastic season and I think he's a very important player for us and he does fit into my plans on how we want to play and what we want to do.
"We've had those discussions and we've given him some time to think about it."
Club captain Andrew Durante is another player Talay says is a "very important player for Wellington" and they have spoken about his playing future.
"He'll make the decision whether he wants to continue on the field or whether he wants to go down a path where he's involved in the administration side of things at the club."
Once he assembles his squad, the former midfielder is hoping to bring an attractive style of football to Wellington.
"The way I believe the game should be played is where the players enjoy the way that they play and also the fans enjoy what they see.
"That's an attacking style of football. When we have the ball; we're aggressive. We want to be dominant when we have the ball and when we don't have the ball we want to be aggressive...we want to be compact and not concede goals."
