Another A-League club is in trouble. And, being an Adelaide boy, it’s nice to know it’s not Adelaide United.
The Newcastle Jets are imploding. they do not have a CEO or a chairman, so no off-field leadership. The club’s owner has no money, and the team is performing poorly on the park.
This scenario has occurred a number of times in Adelaide: with United, the Adelaide 36ers and Lightning basketball teams, the Power and late last year with the Crows. Although it has to be said that none of the aforementioned teams were in as dire position as the Jets.
The A-League has some very serious decisions to make and quickly.
But when something like this happens to a club or sporting individual there are often other forces at work that can either help or hinder the situation: the media.
When a sporting club is in trouble, the media coverage it receives is crucial. Every time a negative story is aired those at the club reel, cringe, worry, blame and look for retribution. Unfortunately for the Jets, in situations like this reporters in most media outlets are generally digging for more issues, more dirt, more debt, more scandal.
I am not saying all reporters do this and I am not saying it is wrong, I am simply saying that it is the way it often is. The Essendon drugs controversy is the perfect case in point.
The Jets need all the help they can get, and to that end the way the media report and portray them is largely up to the club to control. But that can be tough as well, particularly when there is no leadership visible. And in situations like this it is often the coach who ends up fielding questions about issues that are not generally within their area.
Let’s hope that some at the club over the years have managed to develop good relationships with members of the media, which just may translate into helpful coverage throughout this crisis.
The Jets have no one running the club, no money, their players are out of contract, and their coach can’t win a match. If they are going to get out of this mess, they need the A-League to help them immediately and they need the media on-side.
Good luck.
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