Carl Robinson wants Newcastle Jets to tighten up at the back

New coach Carl Robinson is determined to stamp out Newcastle Jets’ alarming habit of conceding early goals.

Newcastle Jets coach Carl Robinson, right, with assistant coach Kenny Miller. Picture: Getty Images

New coach Carl Robinson is determined to stamp out Newcastle Jets’ alarming habit of conceding goals early in a half, after praising his side’s fightback in his first A-League game in charge.

The Jets conceded in the fifth minute in Saturday’s game away to Western Sydney and were under the cosh in the early stages, but dominated for most of the rest of the match and earned a 1-1 draw. The point was enough to lift them off the bottom of the ladder, above local rivals Central Coast.

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The early penalty, converted by Wanderers captain Mitchell Duke, was the 11th time in 17 games this season the Jets have given up a goal in the first 15 minutes of a half.

“I’ve watched a number of games and conceding goals in the first 10, 15 minutes of the first half or the second and it’s not a good habit,” Robinson said. “We’ve got to try and eradicate that pretty quickly.”

Newcastle manufactured plenty of opportunities on Saturday, as they have in several other games this season, but they have scored only 18 goals. Only the Mariners, with 17, have a worse record in front of goal this season.

“We created a number of chances today and we only scored one goal, so we’ve got some work to do in that,” Robinson said. “Bringing (recent signing) Roy (O’Donovan) back in, getting (Abdiel) Arroyo fit and up to speed.”

The Welshman said was pleased with the way his squad responded to his instructions.

“You put demands on players, players either go under or they stand up and perform,” he said.

“I put demands on them this week, it wasn’t an easy week, their legs felt a little bit heavy.” Robinson is wary of trying to cram too much information into his players in a short space of time.

“I’ve got to pick and choose what I decide to implement in the training week, because if you try and give them too much it’s overload,” he said. “I want (midfielders) Dimi (Petratos), Steve (Ugarkovic), Angus (Thurgate) to get on the ball and play with freedom.

“But they’ve also got to realise they’ve got some roles and responsibilities in the defensive side of the game when you’re out of possession.”

Robinson hoped to have former Irish international Wes Hoolahan ready to play his first A-League game either next week or the week after, with the veteran sidelined since he suffered a serious ankle injury in a FFA Cup quarter-final last September.

Meanwhile, interim Western Sydney coach Jean-Paul de Marigny is convinced mindset rather than fitness is behind his side’s struggles.

Wanderers haven’t tasted victory at home since October, failing to win any of their last six matches at Bankwest Stadium.

Saturday’s game wasn’t the first time this season Wanderers have struggled to sustain intensity, and it frequently happened under previous coach Markus Babbel.

De Marigny said the players are in good shape and fitness isn’t the problem.

“It’s a mindset of keep on doing it for longer periods of time,” he said.

“You’re not going to be doing it (for just) 45 minutes. But if we can do it a little bit longer.” De Marigny said he was introducing “new things” to strengthen and extend Western Sydney’s intensity.

“We’ll look at how we can stay in the game longer in that regard of being aggressive and (on the) front foot,” he added.

“We’re implementing something into the club, something new that wasn’t there before and it’s a process.”

AAP