COACH Phil Stubbins has started to rebuild the Newcastle Jets, a squad he assembled four months ago.
Stubbins and the 13 players remaining from an initial squad of 23 hit the training paddock for the first time on Friday since the 7-0 capitulation to Adelaide and subsequent mass sackings after a failed player push to have the coach removed.
Assistant coach and former skipper Michael Bridges joined the departure list before the training session, tendering his resignation.
Youth team boss James Pascoe, who is the only survivor from the initial coaching group, and Stubbins conducted the field session at Ray Watt Oval.
Former Central Coast custodian Jesse Vanstrattan worked the goalkeepers.
Vanstrattan and former Jets assistant coach Mark Jones, who was not there on Friday, are expected to be formally announced as part of a new-look support staff.
Previously on the books at Juventus, Vanstrattan replaces Neil Young, who, along with assistant Clayton Zane and trainer Andrew Packer, was dismissed on Wednesday.
Captain Kew Jaliens, former A-League Golden Boot and Johnny Warren medallist Joel Griffiths, and senior players David Carney, Billy Celeski and Adrian Madaschi were also shown the door.
Stubbins recruited Young and Packer, who both moved to Newcastle to join the Jets’ coaching staff last year in the build-up to the 2014-2015 A-League campaign.
The coach also signed Madaschi and Celeski.
Two other Stubbins recruits, imports Marcos Flores and Jonny Steele, left the club less than six months into their contracts.
Appointed in May, Stubbins brought in nine new faces for the start of a season in which the Jets have won once in 15 games.
Apart from the departure of the five senior players on Wednesday, the coach has signed off on the release mid-contract of Mark Birighitti, Flores, Connor Chapman, Adam Taggart, Josh Brillante, Ruben Zadkovich, Zenon Caravella, Mitch Oxborrow, Craig Goodwin, Steele and Sam Gallaway.
In defending the decision to gut the club, owner Nathan Tinkler said it was ‘‘hard to judge a coach when he is forced to take on not just an inherited squad but also an inherited coaching staff’’.
There are not too many coaches in soccer who can say they will win with any squad and any coaching staff. They need their people around them, people they trust and believe in to implement the style of play they want,’’ Tinkler said.
‘‘Now Phil will get the chance to have the squad he wants by the start of next year, and for the rest of this year he will have a bunch of players there that will have to prove they are worthy of being in that squad next season
’’In Jaliens, Griffiths, Carney, Madaschi and Celeski, the perceived leaders in the failed player-led coup to oust Stubbins, 333 A-League games and 72 internationals’ worth of experience is lost.
The Jets are also yet to replace Flores, Birighitti, Steele and Gallaway.
Former Olyroos striker Travis Cooper arrived in Newcastle from the United Kingdom on Friday and, pending a medical, will be added to the roster as an injury replacement for James Virgili.
Defender Daniel Mullen has been released by Western Sydney Wanderers and is poised to join the Jets for the rest of the season.
Brisbane Roar third-string keeper Matt Acton trained on Friday and is likely to fill the void left by Birighitti.
The Jets are believed to be close to finalising deals with Thai-based Spanish defender David Rochela, Northcote City (Victorian premier league) captain Adrian Chiappetta and former North Queensland Fury midfielder Alex Smith.
The transfer window closes on Tuesday but does not apply to players who are not under contract.
Mullen’s departure has opened the way for Gallaway to join Wanderers’ A-League roster after signing a deal for the Asian Champions League last month.
