Newcastle Jets CEO Lawrie McKinna says he expects the club to keep hold of all of their contracted players – including Steven Ugarkovic and Bernie Ibini – ahead of the 2020/21 A-League campaign.
The comments come during a period of uncertainty at the club after the departure of former Head Coach Carl Robinson, who took the reins of Western Sydney Wanderers in mid-October.
Both Ibini and Ugarkovic have signalled their intent to depart the club in recent times; Ugarkovic claimed he didn’t want to be a part of another rebuild while Ibini – who was Robinson’s first signing at the Jets – revealed he only signed for the club to link up with Robinson, his former boss at Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer in 2017/18.
READ: ‘I don’t want to be part of the club’ – Jets star Ibini wants out following Robinson exit
But McKinna has hit back at the claims by two of Newcastle’s star players, saying the club has the full expectation that players under contract will fulfil their commitment to the club.
“Both players are contracted,” McKinna told reporters on Tuesday morning.
“They’re contracted until the end of the season, and we’re expecting them to fulfil their contracts – simple as that.
“I’ve spoken to the PFA (Professional Footballers Australia), the PFA’s on our side.
“They fight for the best conditions possible for the players, and players have to adhere to their contracts.
“I’m comfortable with that, we’ve done everything right, the boys have been paid in full and there’s been no breach of contract.”
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McKinna continued: “The big thing is, [the] PFA have negotiated really hard over the last few years for players entitlements, well clubs have got them as well.
“Because we don’t have a [Head] Coach, we don’t have owners, bringing new players in just now is really hard, so how can we rebuild if we let them go?
“If it’s two months down the track just before the season [and] we can bring in a few players, well you might look at things differently.
“But at the moment under our circumstances we can’t look at it, because where are we going to replace the players from at the moment?”
As tensions rise between the club and its players who want out, the search continues for a replacement Head Coach after Robinson’s departure.
McKinna says the search has generated a shortlist of contenders for the job, including a number of candidates unproven as a Head Coach at A-League level.
“We’re down to more than a couple [of coaches on the shortlist],” McKinna said.
“We’ll not get a foreign coach, definitely not – it’s too hard to get them in, especially if they’ve got families.
“It’s not necessarily an experienced Ernie Merrick [type of coach] that you might have coming in, but what’s experience? Is it coaching, assistant coach at an A-League club for many years?
“There’s a lot of interest out there from coaches who have experience, but maybe not as a Head Coach.”
Butterfield tells Victory fans what to expect in his first season in Navy Blue
English central midfielder Jacob Butterfield says Melbourne Victory is the perfect fit for him as a player at this time in his career, after the 30-year-old signed for the A-League club ahead of the 2020/21 season.
Butterfield played close to 350 games in England’s Championship for Barnsley, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace, Derby County and Luton Town, and as he puts an end to a 13-year spell in English football Butterfield has outlined what Victory fans can expect from him as a player when he embarks on his first A-League campaign.
“I’m a midfield player who likes to be on the ball. I consider myself a ball player,” Butterfield told the club website.
“One of my strengths is getting on the ball as much as possible and dominating possession, dictating the way that we play with the ball.
“I pride myself on my quality, I can play off both feet. Without the ball, I try to give us a good structure as a team and be a presence in midfield and organise the team.
“As a senior player I’ve got lots of experience so I’ll bring that to the table. I think it will be important for me to help the young players and push them and make sure they’re improving every day. Hopefully the fans will enjoy watching me play.”
Looking forward to seeing Jacob in action next season #MVFC #Since05 pic.twitter.com/HSiUIAFQCT
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) October 26, 2020
Butterfield will arrive in Australia in the coming weeks, and although he is yet to arrive in the Victorian capital he’s already well-versed in knowledge of the club’s history and expectation for success.
“I know Victory is a well supported club, a very big club with lots of passionate fans,” Butterfield said.
“There is a winning history and a winning culture at the club that everybody wants.
“That’s obviously the goal every season for Victory is to win things and to be at the top of the A-League and winning trophies.
“That’s the culture that has been created at the club, that’s the standards that have been set over the years and they’re the standards that we need to get back to starting this year.”
Jets, Western United return to training
As McKinna fronted the media on Tuesday morning the Newcastle Jets squad hit the ground running in their first day of pre-season training.
Without an official Head Coach to get proceedings underway McKinna suggested himself, Craig Deans, Joel Griffiths and Daniel McBreen would all contribute to facilitating pre-season training as the search for a new boss continued.
Pre-season training has commenced ✅ pic.twitter.com/jmnbZHs7WS
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) October 27, 2020
As training began in Newcastle Mark Rudan and his Western United outfit also got to work in Victoria, kicking off their pre-season duties on Tuesday morning.
Star players Besart Berisha and Alessandro Diamanti were pictured amongst the training group in a gallery posted to the club’s website.
United enjoyed a strong end to the 2019/20 campaign; they finished fifth on the table and eliminated Brisbane Roar from the Finals Series before falling to a 2-0 Semi-Final defeat at the hands of Melbourne City.
With two months to go before the start of the 2020/21 season Rudan will hope a solid pre-season helps United build on the foundations of a promising inaugural A-League campaign.
Day 1 ✅ #WUFC #Football pic.twitter.com/VS5I1Hnc0j
— Western United FC (@wufcofficial) October 19, 2020
