Plenty of Black Caps have cashed in on cricket's Indian Premier League, and now Ricki Herbert is set to do the same in football's equivalent.
The former All Whites and Phoenix boss will coach North East United in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League (ISL).
- VIDEO: Ricki Herbert full interview
"[I'm] just thoroughly looking forward to it," says Herbert. "A new league, as you know, and a lot of top players coming from around the world for it, so pretty exciting times."
Top players include the likes of French legend David Trezeguet, while Herbert has already landed his own star in Spain's Joan Capdevilla.
"This is a really big league, and Capdevilla's with us at North East United, so [it's] huge when you've got a World Cup-winner," says Herbert.
The ISL is in its debut season running from October to December, and taking a similar format to cricket's IPL.
And the cricketing influence is clear to see - former India superstars Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly both own franchises.
"It's terrific," says Herbert. "It's such a big country and football's on the up and up."
And while he's no longer involved with the All Whites, Herbert says New Zealand Football needs to have stronger rules in place regarding player availability, in the wake of Tommy Smith's 12-month exile from the national side.
"I think that comes down to policy, and that's a New Zealand Football decision. In my tenure I was always keen on making sure there was a policy., but unfortunately it wasn't put in place."
But Herbert's no longer worried - his focus now on the sub-continent.
3 News
source: newshub archive
