Jets coach Gary van Egmond has assured fans that the Kasey Wehrman saga has not distracted his side from the task at hand in taking on F3 rivals the Central Coast Mariners this Saturday night at Bluetongue Stadium.
Jets coach Gary van Egmond has assured fans that the Kasey Wehrman saga has not distracted his side from the task at hand in taking on F3 rivals the Central Coast Mariners this Saturday night at Bluetongue Stadium.
Van Egmond and Wehrman have played out a public disagreement of the team’s tactics in the media over the past week and a half that resulted in the veteran midfielder being dropped from the squad for the last match against Victory.
Speculation has been rife this week that Wehrman will be traded once the January transfer window opens this weekend and he has once again been left out of the squad for this weekend’s clash against the league leading Mariners.
However, van Egmond believes that the Jets squad have not weighed into the off-field drama and are fully focused on the Mariners match.
“We have spoken about it and it has been resolved in as much as Kasey won’t be involved this weekend so because we got that resolved fairly early there has been limited distraction,” van Egmond said at the squad announcement.
“The focus of the players is well and truly on the game against the Mariners, who are by far the best team in the comp right at this moment. So we can’t afford to have distractions.”
Van Egmond admitted that his relationship with Wehrman was still frosty after the midfielder had told the media that employing the coach’s high-pressure pressing game away from home was ‘naïve’.
However, the coach said that Wehrman was still training with the squad.
“(It is) not so pleasant shall we say,” van Egmond said.
“We are still a little bit apart in regards to dialogue so to say but those things happen as far as football is concerned.
“He still has my respect and he is training with us and he is respecting the training environment and while that happens there is no problem.
“It is not what you want to do as far as a coach is concerned, you want to ensure that you create a training environment that is the right type of environment for all players but the other thing is you can’t have a case where a player is going against a head coach. In any type of business that is not acceptable.”
Van Egmond wouldn’t be drawn on whether the club would try to trade Wehrman in the July transfer window.
The former Socceroo is contracted to the club until April so trading him would allow the Jets to recoup some money for him and/or give them a chance to get another player in under the salary cap.
The other option is to pay out Wehrman’s contract which would leave little room under the cap to replace him for the rest of the season.
“Again that is one we are trying to resolve with the player and the club and we will know more about that down the track but right at this moment we haven’t got a resolution at this stage,” van Egmond said.
“We want the best resolution for the club and for Kasey as well, but It depends how that all works .
“If we are in a position where Kasey leaves and we have no money under the cap then we won’t (be signing anyone) but if we do have some money to utilise then we will bring someone else in.
“There is a few things happening behind the scenes and I am not at liberty to say at this moment but I can assure you that we are looking to resolve the best scenario for all parties.”
