Improving in attack key to Mariners hopes -- Jackson

Central Coast Mariners boss Mark Jackson says his side needs to lift their level in the attacking third if they want to start turning the many draws they have picked up this ALM season into wins.

As his side enters a jam-packed and potentially season-defining run of fixtures, Central Coast Mariners boss Mark Jackson says his side needs to be better in attack if they want to start turning the many draws they have picked up this season into wins.

Thanks to two quickfire goals from Mikael Doka and Ryan Edmondson to cancel out Noah Botic's opener, the Mariners took a 2-1 lead into halftime of their Wednesday evening clash with Western United, only to be pegged back by Ben Garuccio's 74th-minute free kick. Surrendering the majority of possession and territory and being outshot 13 to nine across the contest, the Mariners did nonetheless have their chances to win the game late – Doka denied twice in the dying stages by United keeper Matt Sutton to ensure the points were shared.

Moving above Western Sydney and Wellington into eighth position on the A-League Men table with the draw (albeit, with one game more played) the Mariners find themselves in a position wherein they’re not the same outfit they were in previous title-winning seasons – both from a personnel and performance perspective – but still in a place to potentially stage a push for finals. Much of this, in both a positive and negative context, can be found in their predilection for drawing rather than winning or losing games; Wednesday evening’s draw made it seven from their 15 games, with no other side in the A-League Men having drawn more than four times.

“I've highlighted in games before this season, [we’re] probably not creating as many chances as we want to, not taking them opportunities and not firing in the attacking third,” said Jackson. “We've obviously conceded more goals than we want to concede but we've shored that up a little bit – we defended well when we had to defend today against a good team.

“But it's probably in the attacking phase of the game where we need to be better. Whether that's a little bit of quality and that little bit of composure in front of goal and that little bit of confidence from our attacking players. But we're working on that and we got two goals today. The goal with Nathan Paull overlapping and the fullback; that's an area where we said we need to get better, at attacking on the flanks and getting good balls into the box. And we work a lot on set players – I know [Doka’s] goal has gone straight in – but we work on that type of delivery as well.

“That's an area where we can improve, for sure. And I think if we get that improvement and still keep that defensive solidity, we'll start winning games.”

Certainly, drawing games rather than losing them is a good thing. And when the likes of reigning Johnny Warren Medalist Josh Nisbet, midfield commander Max Balard, and goalkeeping anchor Danny Vukovic become the latest players needing to be replaced on the Ship of Theseus that is the Mariners, no reasonable observer could expect the same maintained level of success of years past. At the same time, though, only Newcastle, Perth and Brisbane – three sides having seasons nobody will be seeking to emulate – have won fewer games than their four in the 2024-25 campaign and just under half — eight of 17 — of the side’s goals this season have come from dead balls.

And it’s the Jets, as it turns out, that next await the Mariners; the two set to clash in an F3 Derby on Saturday evening in Gosford. That clash will be followed by a trip to Perth for Jackson and his side, with a home Asian Champions League clash with Malaysian powers Johor Darul Ta'zim, a trip to face J1 League side Kawasaki, and a visit from Western Sydney to follow.

“I wish we had the luxury of rotating but there's opportunities now,” said Jackson. “Abdul Faisal coming in; he's new to the club and he's learning how we play. He's had two good impacts from the bench now, so I'm sure he'll be pushing for a starting place soon.

“We've got Miguel di Pizio coming back from injury, he played in a practice game today and had some minutes in that back at the training ground on the central coast. So we'll assess that and see how he came through that. I'm sure he'll be vying for a place shortly.

“We'll recover the boys, we'll see where they are from a physical point of view. We'll be [get] ready and everybody to go again. We'll look at what Newcastle are going to bring. But we'll be looking to take our game to Newcastle playing at home”

The comings and goings in Gosford, however, aren’t just limited to the A-League Men side as of late.

On Monday, Alyssar Narey posted on her LinkedIn that she had departed her role as chief executive officer of the Mariners earlier in January, a post she had assumed last August after previously serving as chief operating officer and head of operations since arriving at the club in October 2023. After nearly nine years in the role, widely popular Shaun Mielekamp departed as chief executive in February of last year, since taking up a position with NRL side Wests Tigers, and the club has also seen turnover across its backroom staff in recent years, including sports science mentors such as Brice Johnson and Andy Bernal.

The club’s ownership, and thus future, also remains in flux. After landing in May of 2022, Richard Peil announced on the eve of the season, citing reductions in the central distribution from the league, that he had “handed the operations and funding of the Central Coast Mariners back to Mike Charlesworth” – with the future of the club left up in the air amid the Englishman’s attempts to sell the licence.

It’s not exactly the most stable of circumstances but when asked if this was affecting the players, Jackson, himself in just his second season at the club after replacing Nick Montgomery on the eve of the 2023-24 season, said it didn’t. Instead, the coach pointed to the significant on-field churn the club’s financial status enforced as being the biggest anchor.

“Off-the-field stuff, in the office and with the staff, has not really affected the team,” he said. “What does affect the team is a turnover of players. Losing big players... you've got Danny Vukovic, Jacob Farrell, Dan Hall, Max Balard, Josh Nisbet, you've got Angel Torres as well, not available. [They’re] big players; really, really, big players and hard to replace. You can't go like, for like — we got those players to a level to move on and progress in their careers, and where we can go attack the transfer market is not to replace like for like.

“I've said this before, any team in the world who achieved what we achieved last year with that squad would probably add to the squad, not dismantle it, but it's the things we have to do at the Mariners.

“Players have ambitions to go play higher in Europe and different countries. And we respect that. We know what it is. We know what the process is, and we've got to bring players in who we feel have got the potential to get there.”