The last headline an A-League fan wants to read two weeks before the start of the season is “Marquee star out for season”. But so it was for all Newcastle Jets fans waking up to the news that Jason Culina needs to undergo a second operation on his troublesome knee.
How surprising. A player bought crocked remains crocked.
As was indirectly foretold by Miron Bleiberg and Gold Coast United back in February – “knees of a 50 year old”.
Where the fault lies is irrelevant.
I am not here to analyse the father-son relationship between Branko and Jason or to get into whether or not Ray Baartz really gave the final word on his signing.
He is out, it is sad and it is a big dent in the Jets’ season. Let’s move on.
There will be no-one more down than Jason and the people who brought him to the club. As fans we cannot complain.
We are not the sole contributors to the income of the Jets, like many European fans are, and Jason’s signing would not have happened without Tinkler’s millions.
So let’s look to the positives and discuss why the Jets still have a good chance of making this season’s finals and another peculiar subject, Michael Bridges.
Actually one more negative comment first. Shane Smeltz. That is all.
The team has had a promising pre-season. Out of 10 games they have drawn once and won nine, with a dominant 32 goals for and two against.
While only two have been against A-League sides (1-0 victories over Sydney and Melbourne Heart), it is still a positive that they have dispatched lesser sides emphatically.
The emergence of youngsters James Virgili, Jacob Pepper, Mario Simic and Sam Gallaway bode well.
The central partnership of Topor-Stanley and Brazilian Tiago looks solid, while Regan provides solid back up.
In Byun and Elrich we have wingbacks who have the ability and willingness to get forward, Elrich just needs to get on top of his crossing.
In the midfield I’m guessing it will be Kantarovski and Wehrman in the holding roles with Jesic playing just behind the front striker who will most likely be Griffiths.
Supporting Griffiths should be Abbas and Zadkovich.
However, with the Jets’ squad, we could line-up in so many other ways.
Abbas can play in the hole, Jesic on the left, and Brockie and Chris Payne can also offer options up front. Jobe Wheelhouse, meanwhile, has been promising to fulfill his potential for five years now.
The side is versatile, reasonably talented, reasonably experienced and hopefully motivated and fit.
Ben Kennedy (despite all the haters out there) is a fantastic shot-stopper, absolutely brilliant when full of confidence and hopefully the pressure from Nash pushes the best out of him.
It is not all doom and gloom.
We may not have flash signings like various other A-League sides, but we do have a good squad.
The only option left now since Jason Culina’s loss is to sign up Michael Bridges.
A fantastic bloke, a talented player and although he has his injury problems, he is the best bet.
He was devastated when he was forced into retirement, and I don’t believe the cause was his injury, rather a push from above.
We don’t want to bring in a panic buy two weeks from the start of the season and wait for them to adapt.
Bridgey is ready, he is popular within the squad and his experience could prove crucial in the front third of the pitch.
Culina’s loss is huge, don’t get me wrong, but there is no need to harp on about it.
It has happened, it is over. Let’s move on and make this season one to remember.
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