Unleash hell! That’s the mantra Andrew Nabbout says Newcastle Jets will live by as they aim to end their Hyundai A-League finals drought in the 2017/18 Season.
ALL-OUT ATTACK UNDER MERRICK
With new boss Ernie Merrick in charge in the Hunter, there’s a renewed sense of optimism at the Jets after the disappointment of finishing with the wooden spoon last season.
The club has recruited strongly with the likes of Roy O’Donovan, Dimitri Petratos, Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Daniel Georgievski on board.
It’s been eight years since the Jets last played finals football and another season without making the top six won’t be tolerated.
Nabbout says the entire squad has bought-in to Merrick’s plan and vowed a more pro-active, exciting style from the Jets in the new campaign.
“We’re just going to be on the front foot. We’re not going to be sitting back and let teams attack us like we did last season,” Nabbout told www.a-league.com.au.
“We’re going to attack them and we’re going to give them hell going forward.
“The first couple of rounds last season that really worked for us, we played an attacking brand of football bit I felt like we dropped off a little bit and let teams at us which is what cost us towards the end of the season.
“If we maintain that front-foot mentality from the start I think we’ll be very hard to beat.”
GOING TO A NEW LEVEL
In a frustrating 2016/17 season for the Jets, Nabbout was a clear shining light.
The 24-year-old scored eight goals, provided four assists and created 24 chances in 24 appearances in easily his most consistent season in the Hyundai A-League.
After setting an impressive benchmark for himself, Nabbout insists he will improve.
“I’ve set myself a good standard and I’m going to do my best to top that and increase my stats from last season,” he said.
“I’m very motivated and I’m ready to go this season.
“Every season I’ve got a point to prove and this season is no different.”
JUST FINALS NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Given the club’s long finals absence, you would think just making the top six would be enough to suggest a successful season for the club.
But not for Nabbout, who believes the Jets’ depth will ensure their potential has no limits.
“We’re expecting nothing less than [finals] but we’re going to be pushing for higher spots up the table than just that,” the ex-Victory man said.
“And we’ve got the team to do it. We’ve got depth now which is something we didn’t really have last season.
“We only had a core group of players last season and we couldn’t match it with depth to the other teams. This season we have depth and it’s going to be really good for us.”
