Welcome to another club and country save which seems to be the craze the cool kids are doing at the moment so allow me to jump on board. I've decided to take control of Australia and the A-League team Newcastle Jets for 2 reasons. 1) I am Australian. 2) Newcastle is where i was born therefore the Jets are my team.
Australia has struggled as Football team even though they have had some brilliant players in the past. Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka are two of my past favourites and alot of other people will know them from their time in the English Premier League. Australia used to compete in Oceania and played some very weak teams, only really competing with New Zealand. Below is a result from the 2002 World Cup qualification phase showing just how weak some of the other teams were.
Australia qualified for the World Cup in 1974 for the first time but never again untill 2006 after beating Uruguay in a penalty shootout where they were beaten in the round of 16 by eventual Champions Italy after an injury time penalty was given to Italy after Fabio Grosso "dived" after jumping over Lucas Neill wich Totti converted.
Australia has since qualified for 2010, 2014 and the 2018 World Cup but have failed to get out of the group stage on each occasion. These were slightly different for qualifying however as Australia joined Asia and therefore were playing better footballing nations more frequently and also competing in the Asian Cup.
Australia's first Asian Cup appearance was in 2007 where they were beaten by Japan in the Quarter finals on penalties. Four years later in 2011 they reached the final but were beaten 1-0 in Extra Time, once again by Japan. 2015 Australia played hosts for the Asian Cup and played South Korea in the final. After South Korea had beaten Australia 1-0 in the third group stage match the final went into extra time after South Korea scored an equaliser in injury time. Australia however scored in extra time and won their first major trophy 2-1.
In 2019 Australia failed to defend their crown and were beat by United Arab Emirates in the Quarter Final stage, however in this save i will have the chance to re-write this bit of history as the game starts in 2018 therefore my first big tournament with the national side will be the 2019 Asian Cup.
My aim for the National team is to become the dominant force in Asia and whilst i'd love to win the World Cup i'm not sure how realistic that is so my realistic aim is the progress further than the country has before so that means reaching the semi finals.
I will give a proper club introduction in my next post but my long term aim for Newcastle Jets is to dominate Australia and win the Asian Champions League.
Newcastle Jets are one of the regional teams (not in a big city) in the A-League, the other being Central Coast Mariners which is a fierce rival to the Jets.
When the A-League started Newcastle were one of the teams who were consistantly up the top part of the table reaching the peak in the 2007/08 season where they beat Central Coast Mariners in the Grand Final to win their first and only trophy. Newcastle had the chance to win the Grand Final again last season but were beaten 1-0 by Melbourne Victory where the A-League used VAR for the first time that season. The winning goal for Melbourne was controversial as it appeared the goal scorer was offside however the goal was given. Newcastle tried to find the equaliser but were stopped by Voctories goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas. Newcastle's Irish striker Roy O'Donovan was sent off late after kicking Thomas in the face with what can only really be described as a kung fu fly kick. O'Donovan received a 10 match suspension following the incident therefore will be unavailable for me during the first 10 games. The drama wasn't over there with news coming out after the game saying the VAR had a glitch and was not working when the goal was scored so was unable to rule on the decision.
Times between the 2 grand final appearances have not been rosey at all for Newcastle. In the 2008/09 season they picked up the wooden spoon which is finishing last in the league. Newcastle has finished again in the 2014/15 & 2016/17 seasons. They have been through a couple of owners during their time at one stage the club almost having their A-League License pulled from them untill current Chinese owner Martin Lee bought the club.
In the 2018/19 season Newcastle failed to make the finals, finishing 7th. It's being reported that Martin Lee is looking to find an investor for the club as his own financial situation is going downhill therefore he has not made as much money available to Newcastle. However the 2018/19 season is the season we'll be starting in the game so thats just a bit of information for you about the club.
Facilities
As far as the stadium goes i don't think i'll ever have the attendance to need an expansion but other facilities i will look to improve when i can.
Finances
As you can see the finances aren't brilliant but we'll just have to keep an eye on them and try to improve them.
First Team Squad
This is our first team squad. I'm not 100% happy with it. For example theres only one player who is a recognised left back. But this is it for now and i'll build the team i want.
Key Player
Our Venezualan winger Ronald Vargas is our key player and he is on a marquee contract. This is his second season in Newcastle after a personally dissapointing season the before. Dissapointing as he was out for nearly all the second after breaking his leg in his 3rd game and returning just before the finals which was a massive achievement as reports were that his career may be over following the injury.
The Captain
Central defender and local boy Nigel Boogard is the man who will lead the team out for the season. Although he is local to Newcastle there are fans out there who have not forgiven him for starting his A-League career with Central Coast. He is a current record holder in the A-League but not one that he would be proud of. The 10 red cards he has been shown is the most any player has rceived in A-League history. Hopefully that number doesn't rise.
Championship Odds
Newcastle are predicted to finish 9th out of a 10 team league. We are predicted to battle for the wooden spoon with Central Coast with New Zealand team Wellington Phoenix finish just above.
Personally i'm aiming for at least a finals spot which we will achieve with a 6th place finish or better.
Board Expectations
The board expects be to avoid finishing bottom and in the FFA Cup to reach the quarter finals. Very confident i'll meet the league expectations. The FFA Cup though it all depends on who we draw and how quickly the team can settle into my tactic.
Youth Squad
This is our youth team. Johnny Koutroumbis will be moved to the first team for cover however. I want to try and make bringing youth into the main squad something i focus on so there will be updates on how they are progressing etc. Though the way the youth system works in the game is pretty crappy as they don't play many games.
Next update will be Pre-season results, FFA Cup results, some transfer business and how well i think we are prepared for the season ahead. I'm not planning to do a national team update untill Asian Cup time which runs in January.
Alot of pre-season games were had which will be normal for this save. With only 10 teams in the competition and teams playing eachother three times there is 27 games in the season plus finals which is a maximum of 3 games. The FFA Cup has 5 rounds where A-League teams enter so theres a maximum of 35 games for the season domestically. There is a big off season which is why there are so many pre-season games.
They do look like great results but these are all lower division teams that we should be beating. In saying that because there are so many pre-season games i let my assistant take control of them so these were not any of my doing. In the future i may take control of some friendlies if i am trialing players so i can see them paying. The FFA Cup starts in the Pre-Season aswell so i've filtered out the Pre-Season results with the FFA Cup.
FFA CUP Results
The draw was favourable for us at first as we were drawn against an NPL (semi pro) team in Mackay Whitsunday Magpies Crusaders United. This is a little odd when you consider i left Newcastle 14 years ago and moved to the Mackay/Whitsunday region so they are actually my local team.
We won that 3-0 and were in total control as we should have been. The next round we hosted Melbourne City. I wasn't sure what to expect from this game. Melbourne City are owned by the owen of Manchester City and on paper they are the superior team. I wasn't sure how my team would go so i sent them out and hoped for the best. We held our own and a bit of a gamble with putting Jason Hoffman up front paid off and he scored the winner in the 88th minute. Happy days.
Next we travelled across the country to Perth. Perth has never been a favourite opponent of Newcastle's especially when playing at their ground. However we were absolutely faultless and we smashed them 3-0 which gets me really excited. I did not expect to win this game and as i did, and did it so comfortable i am of the belief now that we may possibly have a chance of winning the first but of silverware possible which would be a huge achievement this early in the save.
But first we have to go to Adelaide. They are a strong team and we will do well to progress past them but with the results going our way in the first few rounds, anything could happen so i'm going to give it a red hot crack. The winner will play either Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC in the final.
Transfers Out
Though the transfer window was open i can only register 23 players for the squad so i wasn't planning on doing any business. However after i was asked to register my squad i had over the 23 men needed for that so a few player were released on free transfers. Maki Petratos is probably the biggest loss here. I don't think his attributes are that great but he was highly rated in potential who knows. The fact is though i couldn't find a spot for him in the 23 man squad so unfortunately he leaves.
Pre Season Blow
Our new Brazilian Jair goes down in pre-season and as a result he could potentionally miss the entire season through injury. He played in 2 of the FFA Cup games scoring one goal. I was planning on making him my first choice striker for the season. Due to him being unavailable for the season like the players above he was not registered however he is staying with the team. I offered a mutual termination but he refused as his injury will not allow him to find another club therefore he is unwilling to accept a reduced compensation package. So now he will be sitting on the sidelines for the season and i'll have to make a call on him. I may include him in the mid season transfer window but i'll just have to wait and see how his recovery is going at the time. Otherwise re-evaluate at the end of the season as he is only on a one year contract.
Transfers In
First of all i want to point out that all but one of these transfers were not by me. They were already made at the start of the game.
With Jair's injury a spot has opened up. Instead of bringing in a replacement striker i have opted to bring in an attacking midfielder on loan. Carlos Heredia joins for the season. He will be first choice attacking midfielder as the only other player who can play there is key man Ronald Vargas andi would rather have him on the right wing. There was a 16 year old Jack Simmons who played this role untill now and he impressed me so if theres any injuries or fitness issues with Heredia then the youngster may be given a chance. Untill such time i think i wil train Simmons with the first team and play him in the youths.
Season Fixtures
We start the season with a trip to New Zealand before taking on Adelaide in round 2. We will be playing Adelaide twice in three days as our FFA Cup Semi Final is on the 24th of October so that raises questions on whether i try and protect some key players for the trip to Wellington or not.
We have to wait till 2 days before christmas for the first derby of the season against Central Coast whilst we finish the season at home to Sydney FC who are the favourites for the league so lets hope they aren't lifting a trophy infront of our fans come that time.
That brings the game up to where i currently am, updates from now on will be whenever i can get them in. I have tomorrow off work but i'm back again monday and wont have alot of time the days im at work so it may be a little while for the next update. The next update will probably be when i pick my squad for the Asian Cup with the National Team.
So Pre-Season has finished and it's time for the competitive league to start. We've made a fairly decent start and i'm overall happy. Conceding late on has been a bit of an issue as Milos Ninkovich scored in the 89th minute for Sydney FC to draw the game 2-2 and Diego Castro equalised in the 91st minute of our match vs Perth Glory.
Ben Kantarovski saw himself sent off in our worst display of the season so far vs Western Sydney Wanderers as we were humbled 3-0 by Markus Babbel's Side. Though this is the only defeat we have had in the league to date so that is a positive.
Our wins against Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory see's us sitting in 6th spot. If we didn't concede the 2 late goals mentioned above then we could have been sitting in 2nd. Either way though Western Sydney already have a bit of a gap between them and 2nd place by 5 points and are the early front runners. However with only 8 games played out of the 27 theres no need for anyone to be getting too excited about the table just yet. Top 6 is the aim so we are at my minimum expectation as it stands.
Our left back Ivan Vujica made a great start to the season and picked up the player of the month award for October. Vujica is our first choice left back and at the age of 21 still has a long career ahead of him and i'll do what i can to keep him at the club. He is eligible to play for Australia and Croatia so i may have to give him a cap to lock him into my international plans. I'm not sure how realistic a callup to the Croatian national side could be for him but it would be best not to let him get away as he could become useful for Australia.
FFA CUP
The FFA Cup semi final seen us travel to Adelaide and this time we were on the right end of a late goal as Ronald Vargas sends us into the final with an 87th minute goal.
That sets up a showdown with Sydney FC in the final with the final being held at Central Coast Stadium which is home to our rivals Central Coast Mariners. Despite having to play at our rivals home ground, it makes sense as its inbetween Newcastle and Sydney so it is the best location for a neutral venue. This is the first FFA Cup final Newcastle Jets have played in whilst Sydney FC look to retain their trophy.
What a rollercoaster of emotions that was. Jop Van Der Linden opened the scoring for Sydney early on after Newcastle goalkeeper Glen Moss saved his penalty only to leave an open net for the Sydney defender to tap the ball in. Kaine Sheppard equalised not long after. Dimi (Dimitri) Petratos scored a wonderful goal in the 82nd minute and then it was our job to hold that lead. 60 seconds to go in injury time and we are defending reasonably comfortably but Jop Van Der Linden once again scored direct from a free kick which sent the game into extra time. Another late goal conceded.
Extra time didn't really offer too much and as a result the game was sent to penalties. At this point i thought Sydney would be the favourites as our Newcastle players don't seem to have the best penalty stats.
Adam Le Fondre and Roy O'Donovan scored the first penalties for either side before Glen Moss saves another penalty for Jop Van Der Linden. Thats 2 in the same game. Topor Stanley drives one home and Moss steps up and saves a penalty from Milos Ninkovic which really puts us in the driving seat. Petratos scores then so does Paulo Retre for Sydney. That leaves my import Carlos Heredia to smal his penalty home and capture the FFA Cup for Newcastle Jets for the first time.
Fantastic achievement this is. I never expected to be winning a trophy this seaon and we've done it with some pretty good results along the way.
Asian Cup Draw
We have drawn Iran, Qatar and Maldives in the Asian Cup Group Stage. Predictions would say it would be Australia and Iran to advance but Qatar can cause problems and can not be under estimated. Maldives really are an unkown. I don't recall ever coming across them before on FM and they should be a straight forward game you never know what could happen.
Asian Cup Squad
So i was asked to submit a 25 man preliminary squad i have only chosen the 23 players who i will be taking with me. Some positions were relatively straight forward whilst some there was a bit of debating with myself on who to pick but unless there are injuries, this is who will be going to the Asian Cup.
We have friendlies aginst Lebanon, Iraq and China as warm ups for the tournament. You will notice i haven't mentioned any of my international games so far in the save and thats been on purpose. I'll do a proper Asian Cup preview and i'll go over all games that i have played so far. I'll keep playing now up untill the first game of the competition and then get that update in.
As you can see we have been undefeated during the friendlies in 2018. I am very happy with wins against Venezuela, Czech Republic and Bolivia. I have experimented with the side a little between an attacking tactic and also a tactic that allows me to sit back, soak up some pressure and then counter. They have been successful so far.
Best 11 - 2018
The years best 11 for 2018 was announced and it was fairly straight forward. However, Alex Wilkinson misses out on a spot in the Asian Cup squad as well as Jamie Maclaren who i was keen to take, but his club form when compared to Tomi Juric meant that the hard decision to leave him out was made. Everyone else in the team is heading to the United Arab Emirates with me.
Friendlies 2019 - Asian Cup Warmups
Our last game in 2018 vs Lebanon and these two games were apart of our Asian Cup warm ups. Before each game we were citicised that we should be playing teams of better quality for warm up games for such a major tournament. We easily brished Lebanon aside and were 4-1 up against Iraq at half time, the collapse in the second half worried me as my changes made little effect and Iraq nearly pulling off an upset. The China game wasn't much better and it looked like it was going to fizzle out to a bore 0-0 draw. However China scored late and to save us some blushes we were given a penalty 2 minutes later which Mathew Leckie put home to gain an uninspiring 1-1 draw in our final hit out before the Asian Cup.
So there's small signs there of complacency i guess and there will be no room for that over the next month.
Fixtures
So we start our campaign against Qatar who is ranked 90th. Our second game will be against Iran who are ranked 27th then we end the group stage against Maldives who are ranked 145th. For comparison Australia are currently ranked 40th going into the tournament.
Iran are the highest Asian ranked team with Australia being second with Japan being the third highest ranked Asian team at 52nd.
I'll be aiming to have 6 points after our first 2 games so we can theoretically have an easier run agains Maldives but i will be satisfied with only 4 points after the first 2 games. Any less and i think we could potentially be in a little trouble.
Asian Cup Board Expectation
The board want me to reach the final as a minimum expectation so there is some pressure on the squad to get results.
The Squad
There was no changes to the preliminary squad as posted before. My key player i feel is going to be Daniel Arzani. He has impressed me alot in the friendlies and i think he could be a real impact payer in the tournament.
Other key players are Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic and goalkeeper Mathew Ryan whilst Tommy Oar has been impressive on the international scene.
Goalkeepers: Mathew Ryan will be first choice and captain with Danny Vukovic and Mark Birrighitti playing backups and will only really get a chance if theres an injury or if Ryan has an absolute howler. Right Back: There's not really a first/second choice here. Josh Risdon and Rhyan Grant will be rotated throughout the tournament with Josh Risdon maybe being the preferred. Left Back: Exactly the same as the right back situation. Alex Gerbasch and Aziz Behich will rotate throughout the tournament. Central Defenders: Trent Sainsbury is our vice captain and will be first choice. Bailey Wright will more then likely be beside him but Mark Milligan and Milos Degenek will be rotated aswell. Milligan is valuable aswell as he can push further forward in a midfield role if needed. Central Midfield: Aaron Mooy and Jackson Irvine will be the two preferred but Massimo Luongo and Brandon Wilson will be ready to jump in when needed. Mooy and Luongo will be rotating the deep lying playmaker role whilst Irvine and Wilson will be rotating as ball winning midfielders. Attacking Midfield Centre: Tom Rogic is our strongest in this position though Dario Vidosic has proven to play here quiet well lately so he will have to be on his toes. Aaron Mooy can also step up here if i choose to mix it up. Attacking Midfield Right: Key man Daniel Arzani i feel is our best right winger though i have concerns over his ability to last 90 minutes constantly so it will be unclear whether he will be starting most games or be used off the bench. Mathew Leckie is more then capable of starting so either way i'm positive either one will put in a good showing. Attacking Midfield Left: Tommy Oar's impressive form for the international team probably gives him the edge against James Troisi though both have been more than capable in the friendly games. Strikers: This was one of the hardest positions to pick players for. Apostolos Giannou gets in the team and is the strongest. Tomi Juric will be his back up and is lucky to be in the team. I personally much rather Jamie Maclaren but Juric's far superior club form got him the nod. Juric's physical presence gives us another attacking option rather then having Maclaren who is a similar player to Giannou so we may be able to mix up our attacks a little more. I'm not sure if i'll get another update in today but i'll try play out the Asian Cup and get another udate when i can.
So it's Asian Cup kick off time and our trip to the United Arab Emirates starts. How will our tournament go? I've succeeded in the friendly games but can i handle the pressure in competitive fixtures? Will we reach the final as the FA expects or will we fail miserably?
Our opening game was a tactical battle. We twice battled from behind to bring the scores level though we were never down for long. After tweaking tactics throughout the entire game Apostolos Giannou scored his second goal of the game in the 59th minute in which we held on for the last half an hour to give ourselves a very hard earned 3-2 victory on the opening day. It was harder then what the media expected but we got the job done so i'm very happy with that.
Second game saw us up against Iran who were seen as our biggest challenges in the group. To be honest though we controlled much of this game and despite getting a goal, Iran never really looked like winning the game and anything less then a win for Australia would of been day light robbery.
I said i wanted 6 points from the first 2 games and thats exactly what i got. As both Qatar and Iran beat Maldives that means we have qualified for the second roud with a game to spare. With that in mind my plan was to rest a a few players who could be tired against Maldives.
There wasn't a massive amount of tired players so i put out a side that excluded some of my top players and i was hoping to get off to a good start, get a few goals early and try and slow the tempo right down and ride out the rest of the 90 minutes. We got our fast start as it was 3-0 already after 11 minutes. Mathew Leckie securing his hat trick from the spot in the 19th minute before going on the scoring another 2 goals one just before and one after half time. He scored 5 of the 7 goals we put away here and scored a perfect 10 in his match rating. An incredibly dominant performance.
Qatar and Iran have a 0-0 draw in their third game but they both qualify for the second round, Iran as second place and Qatar as one of the best third place finishers.
We were drawn against group A team North Korea who finished third in their group only winning 1 game and losing the other 2. It wasn't the hardest of teams we could of been drawn against so i was very confident of seeing them off. Early signs were showing i was right as we dominated the game in the first half with Tomi Juric putting us ahead in the 31st minute. At half time we were playing comfortably and were dominationg the match. Surely the second half we will continue to dominate and see the match out. NOPE!!! You could of sworn we had stayed in the change rooms. I don't know what the North Korean manager said or gave his side at half time but whatever it was it worked. We were being played out of the game and by the hour mark we found ourselves down 2-1. I changed tactics, personnell, shouted from the sideline but we never really looked like getting back into it. Not even a late red card to Noth Korea gave us any hope. The Koreans masterminded a victory against my Australians.
Well that unexpected defeat gives me my first defeat as Australian manager and sends us out of the competition. Oh boy did i cop it in the media. There were calls for my head after our early exit. Surely i won't be sacked after just a single loss?
North Korea are beaten in the quarter final by Syria before Syria win their way to the final to play Uzbekistan who defeat Syria on penalties after a 2-2 draw to be crowned Asian Cup Champions for their first time in history. Japan finish in third.
So when it's all said and done we are announced as the tournaments underachievers and i can't argue with that. The group stage was a positive experience but the second half vs North Korea was really something else, and not in a good way. A positive to take away from the tournament though is Mathew Leckie's 5 goals vs Maldives helps him become top scorer for the tournament with 6 goals.
There it is. The Australian FA has swung the axe. I had some very credible results in my short term in charge but i can't help but feeling it was 45 minutes of utter **** that sealed my fate. I'm absolutely gutted that my reign as the national team manager is over but thats how cruel this game of football can be.
So since i'm not in charge of Australia anymore my whole concentration will turn 100% to Newcastle Jets and i'll try and build myself as a manager ready to pounce on the Australian job if/when it becomes available in the future.
So the rest of season results are to be honest fairly satisfactory. There's alot of really close games with a 4-1 victory vs Wellington our biggest winning margin. Unfortunately we were on the wrong end of the same scoreline twice as Melbourne City and Perth Glory bag some goals against us. As for the derby games go we came out on top once with a 2-0 victory over Central Coast Mariners with the other two games being a 2-2 draw.
Kosta Petratos wins player of the month in March after his first hat trick against Wellington Phoenix.
To be honest, i am a little dissapointed in our final standings. Yeah all the board wanted was to avoid finish bottom it was my own personal goal to make the top 6 and play finals football. Despite scoring the second most goals in the league we also conceded the most goals aswell as Wellington Phoenix. It's clear which of those stats we need to reduce come next season.
I forgot to mention that because Newcastle Jets finished second in the league and were beaten grand finalists they get the chance to enter the Asian Champions League, but first have to win 2 qualifiers to reach the group stage. Lose one and they are eliminated.
Our first qualifier was against Johor DT who play in the Malaysian Premier League. We are strong favourites being at home. Two first half goals from Vargas see's us through. The whole team put in a good performance and saw the victory out.
It's a new record attendance after our first qualifier.
Our second qualifier was once against at home but despite that its Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua who are the favourites. Maybe we were a bit lucky as this is the Chinese side's first game of their campaing, coming before they even play a friendly. That may have been a factor as Newcastle stroll to victory after first half goals from Vargas and Petratos seal another 2 goal victory over their more fancied opponents.
Beijing are the standouts here as we plan a trip to China. We play Suwon from South Korea as well as Kitchee from Hong Kong. Suwon boast a familiar face as one of my favourite past Jets player, Adam Taggart, calls them home so that would be an interesting battle.
Without really knowing what to expect i would think Beijing are favourites for the group and Suwon would be favourites to go with them. I've never heard of Kitchee and i would not imagine they would be very difficult but we'll wait and see. Overall i think i'd be extremely happy if we advance further in this competition.
I must say with these results i have done better then i expected. Kitchee proved to be walkovers despite conceding three times in the two games against them. Two 0-0 draws against Suwon put our qualification hopes in our games against Beijing. After being defeated at home by the chinese side we went to China and got the victory to put our record as 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss for the group. I'm happy with our results and i feel it would be a cruel blow if we don't qualify for the second round.
Well we did qualify. We finished second behind Beijing level on points with Suwon. Fortunately it was our massive results vs Kitchee that put us ahead on goal difference. Beijing won their opening 4 games and i guess they took their foot off the gas as they lost to us and Suwon in their last 2.
We were drawn to fellow A-League side Melbourne Victory in the second round. I was quietly confident we could overcome them in the 2 legs and we did the job at home in the 1st. Joey Champness and Kaine Sheppard gift us a 2-0 win and Glen Moss keeps what has proven to be a rare clean sheet.
Melbourne Victory throw everything, including the kitchen sink at us in the return leg but we produce a great defensive display and limit them to only the one goal. Though i would have liked a goal of our own to ease my nerves we finish the game losing 1-0 but we are victorious 2-1 on aggregate. That means we advance to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Quarter finals of the Champions League is a fantastc achievement and i can't wait to see how we go for the rest of the competition. Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr (Saudi Arabia), Al-Ain (UAE), Al-Gharafa (Qatar), Beijing (China) and Sydney FC (Australia) are all possible opponents for us in the quarter final. I have no preference for an oppenent but i would rather try and avoid Beijing and Sydney FC. Beijing because i played them in the group stage and Sydney FC as they are another Australian side and i'd like the opportunity to play someone different.
The Newcastle Jets team of the season is announced and for me the team pretty well picks itself as the 11 picked where my own first choice aswell. The only position i see an arguement in is the AML position where Dimi Petratos may of snatched the spot over Joey Champness. However Petratos has left the club in the back end of the season so maybe that has something to do with it. More on that bit of news later when i go through the transfers.
Of course Ronald Vargas was our stand out player for the year and absolutely dominated the fans voting. Ivan Vujica was a joy to behold aswell through most of the season, though his performances did decrease a little from the start of the campaign he remained strong throughout.
Vargas scored 21 goals for the club last year which is a massive effort, he also gets most assists with 17 so it is very easy to see why the fans voted for him to be our player of the season.
The 21 goals Vargas scored is a new record for Newcastle Jets as he smashes the last record by 5 goals which was set by now Suwon striker, Adam Taggart.
I guess its no suprise to see Vargas as the only Newcastle player to make the team of the season with the first 11 dominated by the two teams from Melbourne.
Out of all the players our Ronald Vargas who wins the A-League Player of the Season. He has been outstanding all year and this goes to show just how vital his performances have been for us this season.
Whilst it's not a winners medal, Glen Moss is the Goalkeeper of the Year runner up.
During the season i also received a new 2 year contract.
So the team goes on their end of season break. There have been some players who have or will be leaving the club aswell as there have been some brought in. I'll do a more detailed transfer part on a later update and i think i'll try and do monthly updates next season as i have found they are more interesting to read.
The draw for the next round of the ACL is not for a couple of weeks which is why there has been no movement on that front.
Also i failed to mention that it was 6th placed Brisbane Roar who went on to win the Grand Final.
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