New Phoenix striker knows what he must do

MAARTEN HOLL/The Dominion Post

EYES ON THE BALL: English import Chris Greenacre, who replaces Shane Smeltz at the Phoenix this season, gets the feel for his new surroundings at practice with his new club this week.

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Wellington Phoenix signing Chris Greenacre has a to-do list for his time in New Zealand longer than his wife's shopping list.

The English striker and wife Lynsey have already bought a car and high on the list is their desire to explore the country as much as possible after all, "it's like England's Lake District but better."

Greenacre loved team trips to Queenstown and Christchurch and, on a recent day off, he and Lynsey went for a drive to Wanganui. Rotorua is one of the next priorities.

Also high on the list are golf, eating out, immersing himself in the capital's culture and, of course, drinking plenty of coffee, to which he has become addicted since he arrived because "the coffee houses here are amazing".

But it doesn't take a genius to figure out what the undisputed No1 on the list is.

Greenacre came to Wellington with the priority of scoring goals, and plenty of them, as he assumes the No9 shirt vacated by the name he has heard mentioned ad nauseam since his arrival Shane Smeltz.

Greenacre has never met Smeltz but he knew of him back in England and he certainly knows of him now.

One gets the feeling that, when they do meet, he might just demand a beer or two from the All Whites gun, who scored 21 of the Phoenix's 48 goals over the first two seasons before moving to the Gold Coast.

"I've had this Shane Smeltz thing ever since I arrived," Greenacre chuckles.

Not that it appears to bother him.

"I'm a different type of player to Shane Smeltz. I'm me and the club knows what I'm about. Hopefully I can fit in well.

"I've been in the game long enough to know how it works. As a striker, no matter who you are replacing, it comes with the territory.

"You've always got that pressure to score goals and obviously, being the new boy in town, you're replacing the golden boot and the player of the season."

It goes without saying that there was a certain amount of relief when fellow English pro Paul Ifill and Chinese striker Jiang Chen were signed by the Phoenix late in the piece, sharing some of the burden. "I know Paul from the UK, I've played against him and I know his capabilities," he says. "He will do really well in this league."

AND what about Greenacre? Well, he describes himself as an old-fashioned striker.

"My career has been about getting on to the ball, bringing people into play and getting into the box. I made a comment in the UK about scoring ugly goals, and that seems to have followed me around since.

"If it goes in off somebody's backside that will probably be me."

Given what happened at the Knights, it's only natural that questions will arise about the merit of bringing a 31-year-old Englishman who had back-to-back injuries last season to New Zealand.

But the impression Greenacre gives is anything but of an ageing old Pom looking for a comfy retirement package.

"I work hard for the team, anyone who knows me will tell you that.

"I'm not a `look at me' character. I'm just a quiet, normal guy who loves playing football."

He hasn't really known anything else.

He was playing in the under-11s when he was eight and, by the time he left school at 16, he had been spotted by scouts at Manchester City, who signed him as a professional a year later.

"Thankfully Man City saw something and decided to pick me up," he says. "I was there for five years but there was a change of manager and things changed for me.

"Looking back, though, it gave me an opportunity to step down a level and really get some games under my belt, and I had a couple of great years at Mansfield Town, which set me up for the move to Stoke."

And subsequently a move to League One team Tranmere Rovers, where he became a crowd favourite, scoring 52 goals in 150 appearances before successive injuries ruined his 2008-09 season.

"It was the worst season of my career, to be honest," Greenacre admits.

"The longest I had been out before that was for three months about seven years ago.

"It was a horrible time but, touch wood, I've never had an operation in football so I've done pretty well.

"I'm certainly good now."

Football fans throughout New Zealand will be hoping that is definitely the case and that coffee isn't the only thing he becomes addicted to in Wellington.

After all, scoring goals will give him a much bigger buzz.

AT A GLANCE

Name: Chris Greenacre Age: 31 Wife: Lynsey Born: Wakefield, England Height, weight: 1.80m, 80kg Position: Striker Shirt No: 9 Club history: 2000-2002 Mansfield Town (131 appearances and 58 goals), 2002-2005 Stoke City (83 appearances and eight goals), 2005-2009 Tranmere Rovers (150 appearances and 52 goals)

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