Central Coast coach Mark Jackson only has to point to his last A-League Men campaign to show it’s far too early for the Mariners to feel concerned.
The Mariners’ championship and premiership defence began with a disappointing goalless draw against 10-man Melbourne Victory in a grand final rematch at Industree Group Stadium on Friday.
Victory captain Roderick Miranda was sent off in the 60th minute of the season opener after kicking Mikael Doka in the head following an attempt to clear an airborne ball.
Without Johnny Warren Medal winner Josh Nisbet calling the shots in attack, the treble-winning Mariners struggled to fire despite the numerical advantage.
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Nisbet left for Scottish club Ross Country in the off-season, with Max Balard, Jacob Farrell, Dan Hall and retired goalkeeper Danny Vukovic also among the departures.
Well aware of the patience needed to fill in the gaps, Jackson is leaning on the experience of his first season at the club.
Joining after Nick Montgomery’s departure in 2023, Jackson had endured four-straight losses in a Mariners side that had lost star strikers Jason Cummings, Sammy Silvera and Beni Nkololo in the off-season.
With some astute coaching, the club then stormed home with a total of 17 wins, four draws and six losses to win the league’s two titles and add to their AFC Cup silverware for the historic treble.
“It’s better than the start last season,” Jackson said of the goalless draw with Victory.
“When a team goes down to 10 men and you have that advantage, you want to try and win the game.
“I think we went for the game. We just fell short a little bit in the final third tonight.
“Lots of positives from the game despite us out of possession and the structure, integrating new players into the team and understanding how we want to play.
“We’ve got a point on the board … We’ve got good foundations.”
Dylan Peraic-Cullen showed early promise as Vukovic’s successor after Jackson opted to give the teenager his league debut and leave Jack Warshawsky on the bench.
Former Sydney FC player Adam Pavlesic was the No.1 keeper in the Mariners’ first two AFC Champions League Elite matches but was shown the red card earlier this month.
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“Dylan got the nod tonight. I spoke to the other two goalkeepers and there’s not much between them,” Jackson said.
“I just felt that in the lead-up to the game, his performances in training and in certain games have just given the edge on the other two.
“We’ve got three young goalkeepers there who are really performing and pushing each other in training. That’s what we want. That’s healthy but as it showed there, there’s no number one just as yet.
“Dylan started tonight so he’s taken that mantle, and he’s got a clean sheet and shown lots of positive things in the game.”
© AAP