A shock resignation struck us all dumb, a man much beloved and with plenty of time still to go in the job. Sure he’d copped a few bad ones but he’d constantly rolled on through and come out with class and dignity. This was highly unexpected.

John Key!? Pfffft, nah mate. Ernie Merrick.

A 2-0 defeat in Adelaide, which was ADL’s first win of the A-League season and dropped the Nix to last on the table, was enough for Auld Ernie who told the players that he was done and promptly cleared out his desk, the resignation confirmed by the Wellington Phoenix in a statement on their website.

“Ernie Merrick has stepped down from his position as Wellington Phoenix FC Head Coach.”

Fox Sports understands Ernie Merrick has resigned as Wellington coach. Addressed players after the loss to Adelaide yesterday @FOXSportsNews
— Daniel Garb (@DanielGarb) December 4, 2016

But, but… why? The season hasn’t been all roses by any means but Ernie in a lot of ways was the only one holding it together. Since he’d signed on to be the club’s second full-time manager (following on from those early Ricki Herbert years), the Wellington Phoenix had finally begun to flourish. They were always streaky under Merrick, long spells without a win followed by huge undefeated runs and it has to be said that he never quite got his teams to reach their potential. But then he also exposed that potential.

Merrick developed a playing style that was entertaining to watch and that fit the players he had. He recruited well (mostly) and also didn’t hesitate to throw in an academy player if they were ready and deserving. Look at what’s happened to the careers of Hamish Watson and Matt Ridenton and Louis Fenton and Tommy Doyle all under Merrick’s eye… let alone the goal-scoring master that Roy Krishna has become. And above all he’s the beloved face of the franchise.

Merrick clearly felt that he wasn’t achieving like he should but if he hadn’t resigned it’s hard to believe that the board which gave him a three year contract extension in March 2015 would have sacked him in a hurry.

Ernie: “I take full responsibility for position the team is currently in. I feel that I have not performed well enough as Head Coach, as we have a very strong squad that should be higher up the table. It's therefore the right time for me to step aside and allow someone else to take over. We have a run of home games coming up and I think this will give my successor the best opportunity to take the team forward. I'd like to thank everyone at Wellington Phoenix for the past three years and particularly Welnix, the Chairman and the board who have been nothing but supportive during this time.”

Goddammit, so let’s put this in perspective. Four straight losses to begin the season. A 1-0 defeat at home against Melbourne City missing half a team’s worth of All Whites because they weren’t allowed to postpone the game during the international window. A 2-0 defeat in Perth which meant that several All Whites were flying not only back from the USA but then off to the Western coast of Australia. Back home to lose 1-0 to Sydney with the winner coming in injury time and then a capitulation away to Melbourne Victory, losing 6-1. That was when talk of Merrick’s job security began but he eased all that when the Nix reeled off back to back 2-0 wins over Newcastle and Central Coast.

Then the earthquake hit, which turned out to be the line in the sand between the A-League postponing games and not, so the home tie vs Melly Vic was put on ice. Next up a 2-1 defeat away to Melly City in which the goals conceded came from a deflection and a controversial penalty before the loss in Adelaide – two superb Henrique strikes the difference though it could’ve been so different it Roy Krishna hadn’t missed his penalty with the score still at 0-0.

Anyone might think this is an impossible job to do.

This year’s Phoenix have displayed a lot of the same weaknesses as in the past under Merrick. They string these gorgeous passing moves together but they lack a ruthlessness in front of goal. Offseason signings of Kosta Barbarouses and Gui Finkler were very tasty but arguably only strengthened an attacking mid core that was already pretty solid and instead ignored the issues with finishing that they already had – Roy Krishna has scored five of the Nix’s six goals and set up the other.

Then there’s the midfield which was never adequately strengthened after Albert Riera retired and while Jacob Tratt is growing into the right back role, injuries to Tom Doyle have left the left exposed. Transfers aren’t strictly on the manager but these are the players he has to work with so it affects him and his ability to do his job for sure, hence they usually have a huge say.

However having conceded 54 goals last season, the number one issue was with the central defence and in Marco Rossi we finally seem to have the partner that Andy Durante has been screaming for (silently, but we all know he deserves it) since Ben Sigmund got old together – Siggy another player that had a real renaissance under the Scotsman. Of course, international duty has affected Dura and Rossi’s ability to play together too. Even when he won he still lost.

I found Ernie Merrick to be engaging, honest and humorous. A pleasure to deal with. And he loves football. I wish him all the best.
— Jason Pine (@pineyzb) December 5, 2016

It just doesn’t feel fair, even if it was his decision (swear to God, if the board pushed him on this one then they’d better have bloody Brian Clough’s reanimated self lined up to replace him). Thanks to a plethora of crappy situations, the season was four weeks in before it even really started for the Nix and Ernie had to cop the brunt of that. Probably the injury-plagued ninth-place finish last season was still on his mind as well. Maybe even the ninth-place finish of his first campaign too. In between those was the Nix’s best ever season as Ernie guided them as high as first with a month to go, although they slipped to fourth and lost a home playoff game to Melbourne City.

That’s the problem, we all loved the fella and would have been happy for him to try drag the team out of this current situation but he’s a pro and he’s driven by his professional dignity. When results aren’t coming and he can’t figure things out then this is what happens. The sad fact is that as good as they often looked under Merrick, his years in charge of the Wellington Phoenix are now gonna be remembers as ‘what ifs’. What if they’d been luckier with injuries? What if they’d been a little more consistent? What if they’d had more go their way in front of goal? What if they’d been allowed to postpone games when half their damn team was missing during international breaks? What if some of those late goals they conceded had hit posts or if referees had been a little more generous/lenient at the right times?

What if Roy Krishna had scored that spottie on the weekend?

Plus the other thing is that we were always grateful that a guy who’d already had so much success in the A-League was willing to take charge of this team at all. Finding quality kiwi players to fill out the squad is one thing, finding local coaches worthy of managing an A-League team is even tougher. Ernie Merrick is a leader, a likeable man, a keen football mind and person fans are happy to see in charge of their team. It’s gonna be extremely difficult to find someone else who ticks all those boxes.

Chris Greenacre? No thanks. Ross Aloisi? No deal. Luciano Trani? Maaaybe. Anthony Hudson? Come on, no way. Ricki Herbert? Get out of my goddamn cab. Ramon Tribulietx? Well, it’s probably gonna be him but give us a second to mourn first, please.