Central Coast Mariners boss Mark Jackson hailed the club as a “special place to be” after they reached their second straight Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final on Saturday night.
In his post-match press conference after a 0-0 second leg draw against Sydney FC, Jackson also revealed what he will say to his assistant Danny Schofield after he was shown two yellow cards in 10 seconds in an instantly infamous Finals moment.
“What am I going to say to him? Thanks for being by my side on this journey,” the Mariners boss said.
“I thank him every day. He’s a massive part of what we do at this football club.
“He is an extremely talented coach. He understands the game, he understands what we want to do and I’m privileged to have him by my side.”
Schofield will now miss next week’s Grand Final, the first decider ever to be hosted by the Mariners at Industree Group Stadium.
That match could see the club make Australian football history by becoming the first side ever to win a treble including a continental trophy, adding a Championship to the Premiership and AFC Cup trophies they have already won this term.
“The squad are a part of it. The players are a massive part of it, of course are out on the pitch. But the club, well it’s a special, special place to be,” Jackson said.
“Everybody working together, everybody singing from the same hymn sheet in regards to what we want to do and what we want to achieve.
“It’s a special place to be and the fans as well to top that off, to get a sellout crowd as well and get behind the team and you know, windy, cold conditions.
“You know, I’m so proud of the club.
“And like I said, you know, we’ve got one more game to go. We’ve managed to secure a Grand Final at a home stadium for the first time. So really, really proud of that.”
It may be a historic occasion for the club, but don’t expect anything different in the way the Mariners prepare for what will be the biggest game of sport the Central Coast has ever seen.
“We’re gonna stick to the process,” Jackson said.
“We’ll stick to the process, what we do. Of course, we’ve got fantastic staff around us and we’ll have other commitments as regards to the media and stuff like that, and rightly so, but that won’t take away our focus as a team.
“We know we’ve got into a really good rhythm of how we work now and we’ll do that. Yes, we’ll do all the interviews and what we need to do and spread out from the players because you know, that’s part and parcel of football when you’re successful.
“If these players want to go on to bigger things in their careers and play at, you know with all due respect, bigger clubs and bigger leagues across the world, then they’re going to have to deal with the media and these responsibilities.
“So in some respect, that’s part of their learning curve to do that as well. But no, in answer to your question will be exactly the same, we’ll follow the process”
Jackson’s press conference finished on a light-hearted note when he was asked about new haircuts sported by three members of his squad for the second leg of the Semi-Final.
Alou Kuol, Christian Theoharous and Ronald Barcellos all showed up with bleach blonde hair for the occasion.
Asked if he would be adopting something similar for next week’s Grand Final, the head coach joked: “I can’t have a go at them because way, way back I did the same at one point when I was a player, so I can’t have a go at them.
“Please don’t search for that picture because it’s out there somewhere. I’ve killed myself there, haven’t I really.
“It is what it is: Personality. They’re good, personalities, within the group, we never want to stifle anyone’s personality and we’ve got some characters in the group.
“We had a laugh and joke about it, but it’s fine.”
