Central Coast Mariners head coach Mark Jackson said he is targeting attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window, while revealing some of his players could be “potential targets” as the two-time reigning Isuzu UTE A-League champions brace for offers.
Central Coast – who lost stars Josh Nisbet, Max Balard and Jacob Farrell to overseas moves on top of Championship-winning defender Dan Hall joining Auckland FC – have only won one of their past six matches.
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With the January transfer window set to officially open on January 16, Jackson is eyeing reinforcements.
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“The good thing now is we have scope to maybe explore the transfer window,” the Englishman told reporters. “That might be an option for us. It’s something we can do and it might help us in the attacking part of the pitch and our game.
“That’s something I’ll be working hard with the club to explore.”
“Obviously there’s names we’re aware of and who are on our list but until that transfer window opens, we can’t go attack it,” Jackson added.
“Listen we have limitations, of course we do. Whether we do anything in January, we will have to wait and see but the attacking part of the pitch is somewhere I want us to get better and I want to develop the squad and maybe add to the squad.”
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He continued: “Mike’s (chairman Mike Charlesworth) been very supportive. He said whatever I need and he knows what I feel I need, he will try to support us with that.
“He’s been very good with us as a football department. I take ideas to him and we will be having those discussions with him going forward.”
The Mariners have already exhausted their five visa spots for the 2024-25 season, with Brazilian pair Mikael Doka and Vitor Feijao, Vanuatu international Brian Kaltak, English striker Ryan Edmondson and Northern Ireland international Alfie McCalmont making up the squad.
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So when quizzed on whether the Mariners will be looking to sign Australian players, Jackson replied: “That’s right. We’re up on our visas.
“Listen, we might have offers for our players coming in. We have to wait and see.
“I’ve already heard about some of our players being potential targets. But ultimately, I want to keep the squad and add to the squad but that probably won’t be a visa player, it will be Australian-based players.”
