Wellington are last on the ladder, two points behind the Central Coast Mariners. This campaign is the third season in a row the New Zealand club have finished in the bottom-three.

Over Wellington’s ten-year history, they’ve made the finals four times but never finished above fourth in the league and third overall.

Phoenix also have the lowest attendance in the competition, averaging 6,182 people per game. Against Melbourne City, they only registered 5,105. These are the metrics that O'Rourke finds so concerning.

“They have metrics to hit, and we’ll continue to work with Wellington Phoenix to see whether or not they’re interested in improving their club to a point where those metrics become achievable,” O’Rourke told Foxsports.

Most concerning for New Zealand football, current Wellington owner, Chris Morgan, previously said he was "reluctant" to own the club.

In a glib interview on Newstalk ZB, he seemed to have no cohesive plan for the club's future.

“We got a renewal, we’re two years into it and that was dependant on particular performance criteria, which I have to say to you right at this stage don’t look great,” Morgan said.

“Something’s got to happen in the next two years, otherwise it’s goodbye Charlie.”