The season might be less than halfway through and the Newcastle Jets sit only two points outside the top six, but Gary van Egmond should begin preparing the club for next season.
Given the need to appease owner Nathan Tinkler, sponsors and of course the 10,000-plus fans who turn up each week, rebuilding is probably a little way off yet.
But even at this stage of the season there is simply no chance of the Jets even making the A-League grand final, let alone winning it.
Of their four wins they’ve managed to accumulate – all at home – they’ve beaten Melbourne Heart with a stoppage-time deflection, a Mariners side missing Amini, Wilkinson and with Ibini coming off the bench and a misfiring Melbourne Victory.
In five matches on the road they’ve managed a measly one goal, against the bottom-placed Gold Coast United, and gained one point via an uninspiring scoreless draw against Adelaide, who have since shipped seven goals in two matches.
The reality is coach van Egmond has inherited a squad full of players who do not compliment his footballing philosophies and simply will not fit into his long-term plans.
van Egmond admitted as much after his side’s disappoint 2-1 loss at home to Sydney FC on Saturday night.
“As much as I love playing a certain system, I don’t think we probably have the players here right at this moment, so we may change that,” he said.
Successful teams are often built upon a particular system or set of ideas, and there is more chance of Jason Culina returning to the club than van Egmond changing his own style in the long-term.
Of course, football is not AFL and there are no draft picks to be gained by losing matches, so there is no suggestion there should be a complete clear out of first-team players to bring in an entire team of 19 year olds.
But with van Egmond tipped to cull as many as 10 players from the senior squad at season’s end, it is clear that at least several of the starting 11 will no longer be at the club, and it’s time for some deserving juniors to start getting their chance.
Taylor Regan is by far the best example of why this needs to happen.
Regan has made four starts this season but all have been due to the injuries of regular starting combination Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Tiago Calvano, neither of whom have set the competition of fire so far this season.
Topor-Stanley seems to struggle as the designated ‘leader’ of the back four and has been a long way off the sparkling form of least season that saw him form one of the meanest defences in the league alongside Ljubo Milicevic.
Tiago arrived amid much fanfare from German club Fortuna Dusseldorf, but at the age of 30 seems devoid of pace and brings with him to the A-League the more dubious features of South American defending.
Among a sea of mediocrity Regan was by far and away the best player on the pitch for the Jets on Saturday afternoon and thoroughly deserves to hang onto his starting spot.
He is the prototype of the modern defender: fast, athletic and without fail will always look to play the ball to feet.
Reputations should count for little. If Tiago was the 23-year-old upstart and Regan the imported defender with a cushy contract, there is no way Tiago would be starting if he was performing like he is currently.
Ben Kantarovski is another who needs to be seeing more game time than he is currently.
Kantarovski’s form coming off the bench has been largely up and down but it is important to remember that he is still recovering from an ACL injury that sidelined him for the first six months of 2011.
Despite often playing out wide or in defence, Kantarovski is a natural distributor and should soon be given the opportunity to start ahead of the aging Kasey Wehrman.
Wehrman was outstanding in his first season for the Jets but is another whose pace has abandoned him, and after an interrupted pre-season, is struggling to run out 90 minutes.
Wehrman’s right-hand man at the base of Newcastle’s midfield is captain Jobe Wheelhouse, another who can count himself fortunate to be starting.
After being a loggerheads with the club following a one-year contract offer, Wheelhouse was only months later named captain by Branko Culina in a move that had many scratching their heads.
The mail was that the move came from Tinkler, who wanted a local player to wear the armband, and one suspects that if Wheelhouse wasn’t in possession it he’d also be struggling to keep his spot.
Take a cursory look over the teamsheet from Saturday’s loss to Sydney and it soon becomes clear that there are more than a few that should be nervous about their future prospects at the club.
Nobody could question Labinot Haliti or Tarek Elrich’s quintessentially English qualities – work ethic, desire and ‘passion for the jersey’ – but neither possess the technical ability to beat the competition in this league and they never will.
Whether Francis Jeffers or Michael Bridges have anything to offer up front remains hidden behind a lack of match fitness at the moment, but both remain band-aid solutions and both would be at long odds to feature in forthcoming seasons.
The likes of Mario Simic, Sam Gallaway, Jacob Pepper and James Virgili all made their senior debut last season and have all demonstrated varying levels of competency at stages during their brief A-League careers.
They mightn’t be at the level of Regan and Kantarovski but all of them should remain at the club in future seasons.
The same thing can’t be said of some of the aforementioned deadwood.
The Jets have been carrying too many passengers for far too long. It’s time for them to go.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
Mathew Leckie played a pivotal part in Melbourne City claiming an 8-nil win; playing a role in several of his team's goals.
The loser of the Sydney Derby will be under immense pressure entering the final three matches of the season.
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Phillip Cancar’s rather comical and momentarily delayed dive in the 36th minute of Newcastle Jets 3-1 win over Sydney FC on Sunday was a…
