Going into the tenth season of the A-league, only five teams have ever become champions (Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, Sydney Fc, Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets). Yet when looking at those names, Newcastle Jets have to be the most disappointing. Ever since the tittle winning campaign of 2007-2008, the jets have often been chasing their local rivals in the Mariners and have only managed to reach the finals once. During this period it has very much been a period of turmoil, Van Egmond has come and gone as head coach, Nathan Tinkler has come and gone as owner of the club and the squad has gone under heavy rotation.
Pre-season has been a mixed bag for the Jets, most recently they managed to beat the Young Socceroos 2-1 in a behind closed doors match. Beforehand however they have had a mixed bag of results against fellow A-League teams. Drawing with Mariners 0-0, beating Wellington 2-1 and going down to Brisbane Roar 4-0 and Sydney Fc 4-2 respectively in the Townsville Football cup. Other results include losing to European heavyweights Juventus 1-0 and beating the North Queensland all-stars 3-0.
Given this you would be forgiven as a Jets supporter for being pessimistic about this forthcoming campaign. However times are changing at the hunter based club, Phil Stubbins has taken over interim head coach Clayton Zane and with that has made several new additions to his squad. Experienced and proven A-League campaigners Marco Flores and Jeronimo Nuemann have replaced last year’s top scorer Adam Taggart and Josh Brillante who are both off on European adventures. Other notable inclusions are midfielder Jonny Steele and former young Socceroo Sam Gallagher.
Head Coach: Phil Stubbins returns to the Australian football scene after gaining experience in South East Asia. Stubbins is most notably known for his role as assistant to Aurelio Vidmar in Adelaide’s run to the Asian Champions League final in 2008. Judging from the pre-season he is likely to employ a 4-3-3 possession based formation.
Season 2013/2014: As referenced earlier, it hasn’t been uncommon for the Jets to disappoint in their history. Unfortunately season 9 was no different. Despite having the league’s top scorer in Adam Taggart, the jets only managed to finish in 7th place after a late season run under now assistant Clayton Zane. Having started the season under Van Egmond, unfortunately for him the club had once again found itself established in the bottom 4 when they decided to terminate his contract. That move however proved too late to make a significant difference to their season finishing 2 points behind Adelaide FC in 6th position.
Arrivals: Adrian Madaschi (Jeju United), Josh Barresi (Western Sydney Wanderers), Marco Flores (Central Coast Mariners), Jonny Steele (New York Red Bulls), Sam Gallagher (Hanoi T&T), Edson Montano (Barcelona SC), Jeronimo Nuemann (Adelaide United), Billy Celeski (Liaoning Whowin), Allan Welsh (Croydon Kings), Zenon Caravella (FNQ FC Heat).
Departure Lounge: Adam Taggart (Fulham), Joshua Brillante (Fiorentina), James Brown (Melbourne City), Connor Chapman (Melbourne City), Ruben Zadkovich (Perth Glory), Connor Chapman (Adelaide United), Zenon Caravella (FNQ FC Heat), Joey Gibbs (APIA Leichhardt Tigers), Josh Mitchell (Liaoning Whowin), Mitchell Oxborrow.
Key Player: Jeronimo Nuemann has a lot to live up to this season. Why you ask? Mainly because with Adam Taggart leaving, someone needs to stand up and score regular goals. Jeronimo played in a backup role to Bruce Djite particularly towards the end of last season at Adelaide United. Jets fans will be hoping to hear the iconic call of Brenton Speed this season when the ball hits the back of the net. At the other end, a notable mention goes to now captain Kew Jaliens who featured in 23 games last season and is bound to add stability.
What’s he still doing here? Joel Grittiths, Admittedly I am not a massive fan of the experienced striker. The clubs highest goal scorer who is now 35 years old is susceptible to the brain neutral plays. His suspension record isn’t pretty viewing and with the club signing fellow striker Jeronimo, I personally don’t see the point in keeping him on the roster.
Extra Time: Newcastle Jets head into season 10 of the A-League with little expected from them (outside the club at least). However I see them as a potential surprise package this season and will challenge if not make the top 6.
Prediction: 5th place.
We sat down with Newcastle fan Gary Fish and him about Newcastle’s chances. Follow him on twitter @GazFish35
You beat Brisbane all three times last season, Does this give fans the belief the Jets can beat anyone in the competition?
I know it’s a cliche but in this league any team can beat any other, I think getting three wins over Brisbane just shows what can happen when a team believes they are a chance, we seemed to play with inconsistent self-belief last year but against Brisbane we played like we knew we could get three points. I’d swap three wins over Brisbane for a few Derby wins though. With our attack this season we should be hard to contain so we can beat anyone in the comp if we are disciplined in defence and adaptable in our structure. How big phil changes the game from the bench will be key.
How important is the signing of Marcos Flores?
His form will be vital, we’ve not had a decent creative midfielder in Newcastle since Troy Halpin. He appears to have fitted in well with the group and interacts with the fans really well, he seems a genuine character and newcastle will respond positively to that. How he is able to pull the strings going forward, linking with Griffiths, Edson and Jeronimo and how well we defend in behind him will be the determining factors in his signing being seen as a success. That, and him staying injury free.
What will Phil Stubbins bring to the team?
Hopefully some straight talking and better man management than his predecessor. If he can bring consistent self-belief by not tearing players down and a more flexible adaptable game focused on on his player’s abilities I think we can have a better season. He appears to have a better mix between philosophy and pragmatism with many reports out of preseason suggesting we are playing with more intent to go forward. He’s made a lot of right noises at the start of his time here and hopefully he can show us all he can walk the walk not just talk the talk. I’m looking forward to him being able to make key changes from the bench and impact the result of a match.
You open the season with four away games, how does that impact supporters at the beginning of the season?
Our crowds this year as always will depend on results. We’ve been screaming out for a new pitch since Reg Date was a boy so four weeks away from home is a small price to pay. If we can win a few on the road and show everyone last years problems are over then I think the first home game will be big. If we run out at home in round 5 with zero points I’d expect a bigger crowd down at Bar Beach than in the stadium. More home games through rd5-27 might help crowds towards the back end of the season, but again this will be dependent on results on the pitch. Having said that, if we win the Derby in rd1 whatever happens after that is irrelevant.
Who is the most important player of the season?
Griff. He has the ability to inspire the rest of the squad and the crowd. If he is fit and firing early I expect everyone in the stadium to follow his lead. He’s always played with his heart on his sleeve and fought with pride for Newy. We need all the squad to learn from him what it means to represent our city on the pitch. The link between him, Flores, Jeronimo and Montano will dictate how many goals we score this season.
I’d also suggest its a massive season for Jacob Pepper, with Billy Celeski injured and Ben Kantarovksi up and down, Pepper looks like getting a fair bit of game time in the middle of the park. Even an as an old Goalkeeper I can admit Central Midfield is a rather important area of the pitch so whoever we end up with in that space has to have a big season, at the moment it’s looking like the local kid could be the man.
Will Newcastle fans see Finals action this season?
Absolutely we will see the finals. Wether we are playing in them, I’m not so sure. Every off-season we seem improve despite the usual off field dramas. We are a better squad than 5-6 years go, the issue is every other team seems to improve more than we do. If Big Phil can turn his cheese sponsorship into the managerial success it deserves we’ll show the country that 6th place is achievable!
Make three predictions about the season ahead?
People will think Edson Montano is overweight and compare him to Jardel and because he’s from Ecuador they’ll compare him to Zura.
David Villa will be forced to make a number of horribly awkward media appearances involving a wombat an AFL player and some other native animal that you wouldn’t want near your kids
FFA will find new ways to balls up fan relations across the league
Originally Posted by plague
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