Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Oli Sail has backed head coach Ufuk Talay's interest in the soon-to-be vacant All Whites job.
Current NZ coach Danny Hay will step away from the role, when his contract expires at the end of October, ending his three-year reign in charge.
Talay has confirmed he would like to take on the national job on a dual-coaching basis, where he could still be in charge of the A-League club.
"Coaching a national team is always interesting," said Talay. "For me, being the sole club at Wellington Phoenix and maybe aligning with NZ Football will help New Zealand football, and maybe the club at the same time.
"If there's an interest there, I'd love to sit down and have a chat."
Talay wouldn't be the first Phoenix head coach to hold the national job, with Ricki Herbet in charge of both simultaneously for six years until 2013, guiding the All Whites to the 2010 World Cup.
Should NZ Football consider him as a viable candidate, Talay certainly has the support of Phoenix and All Whites goalkeeper Sail.
"It's been done before, hasn't it, with Ricki?" Sail asked. "When you align things, it has got its benefits.
"I'm not going to speculate, if he is going to get the job or not, but I can see the positives. There might be negatives too, but that's not for me to decide.
"Uffy is a good coach. He understands the game extremely well tactically, so you're certainly not going to lose anything, getting Uffy as national team manager."
Hay's exit and contract confusion has drawn plenty of criticism from the likes of star All Whites players Chris Wood and Winston Reid.
Sail admits he's sad to see the coach who gave him his international debut depart, but looks forward to the next chapter in All Whites football.
"I had a great relationship with Danny," he said. "I thought he made massive improvements on the side in his tenure.
"At the end of the day, it's NZ Football's decision. They have got a plan for the next four years hopefully and I'm looking forward to seeing what it is.
"I thank Danny for the opportunity he gave me and I'm disappointed to see him go, but unfortunately, football is a fast-moving world and people don't hang around.
"It's the nature of the beast, but I wish him well."
