New Gold Coast recruit Charlie Miller is almost certain to be rushed into the team to play in Sunday afternoon’s Round 18 Hyundai A-League clash with the Newcastle Jets.
Miller joined the Gold Coast from Brisbane on Tuesday and had been spied training with his United team-mates in Newcastle ahead of the match with the Jets.
Despite the playmaker’s presence Newcastle coach Branko Culina said he wouldn’t be making any major changes to try to blunt the talented Scotsman’s influence.
“He is just another player but as shown he is quite capable of making a difference for the team he is playing for,” Culina said.
“But you have to deal with what is in front of you and if he happens to play, we will worry about it there and then. We have played against better players than Charlie Miller and we haven’t had to change our system – we will be prepared for it but we are not going to change our system to accommodate Charlie Miller.”
Culina said Gold Coast was full of dangerous players and to concentrate on just one or two individuals would open a potential can of worms for the Jets.
“They have got a lot of good players and you have to be careful not to overdo it on certain individuals because they can hit you in different areas – they are capable of doing it in a number of positions Smeltz, Jason, Anderson down the left, Caravella has done his bit,” he said.
“Smeltz has proven himself to be a prolific goal scorer. He can score goals out of nothing and you can be fooled thinking you have the job done on him and you back off for a second and in a fraction of a second he does something.”
“And Jason (Culina) particularly when the game is open and he can come from deep and make runs and can be very dangerous and he is also a person who can pull strings in their team – but we will be aware of it – we know how they play.”
Culina was also critical of his son’s decision to take the week off training to compete in Australia’s Greatest Athlete competition in Queensland this week and stressed there was always a competitive challenge in their father-son relationship.
“He is still in Stradbroke Island competing in the Australia’s Greatest Athlete and I spoke to him Friday morning and I said there is no need to rush to Newcastle – just rest up there and relax,” said Culina senior.
“It is not ideal but then again sometimes players respond better when they have had a break from their normal routine but I am glad it is one of their players and not ours.”
“There wouldn’t be a player at the Gold Coast, including the coaching staff, that would like to beat us more than Jason – just so he could have bragging rights for the next however long – but I am in the same boat, it gives you that little bit of extra satisfaction.”
“Not only because we need the three points and we are playing the Gold Coast but because I know what a great competitor he is, so it would give me great satisfaction for us to get the three points.”
