SEASONED Jets striker Roy O'Donovan has urged teammates to put the departure of coach Carl Robinson behind them and focus on the up-coming A-League campaign as another star attempts to jump ship.
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Three days after midfielder Steve Ugarkovic sought a release, Bernie Ibini wants out.
Ibini, 28, signed a one-season extension in August, believing that Robinson, whom he played under at Vancouver, would be in charge.
The latest development has heightened urgency for the Jets' ownership situation to be finalised and the appointment of a replacement for Robinson, who exercised a get clause to defect to Western Sydney.
The Jets assemble for pre-season testing on Monday and Ugarkovic and Ibini, as contracted players, are required to attend.
O'Donovan rejoined the Jets from Brisbane in January before Robinson took the reins.
"In football players come and go and managers come and go," said O'Donovan, who wasn't aware Ugarkovic and Ibini wanted to leave when he spoke to the Herald. "Sometimes they get sacked, sometimes they walk away.
"You have to recover very quickly because nobody is going to care this time next year if you use excuses 'oh the manager walked away or players had their salaries cut or we lost two or three of our good players'. Nobody is going to give you any excuses. You have to make sure you are fit, that you are ready and have a point to prove for the season ahead. Show everybody how good you are regardless of what is going on behind the scenes with coaches leaving, with players leaving or what have you.
"We have to be the best Newcastle Jets we can possibly be next year because it's important for the community, for the region and it's important for ourselves.
"Everyone has different scenarios. They have families to feed, they want to earn new contracts, they have ambitions of playing overseas ... everybody has their own reasons.
"The manager leaving is disappointing. It's disappointing for everybody but, unfortunately, it's part of football."
Ibini and Robinson have the same agent.
"I only signed for Newcastle because of Carl, who I worked with in the MLS," Ibini told The World Game. "The club officials know this - it was clear this was the only reason. The Jets have let key figures go, including players and coaching staff, and it's obviously been unsettling. I hope for the club's sake new owners come in but for me moving forward I just don't think it's the right fit for me anymore."
The Jets confirmed on Friday that Nick Fitzgerald had been released to take up a lucrative offer from Indian club Jamshedpur.
With the A-League salary cap to be cut by a third to $2.1 million, Fitzgerald was the fourth player to be sold or loaned out since the end of last season and follows Dimi Petratos, James Donachie and Matt Millar.
"We have got a good group," O'Donovan said. "The core of the team has been there a while. Coming back I will be wanting to push a very positive message for the team going forward. I'm feeling good physically and looking forward to the new season. We are back to a little bit of normality from Monday and I'm optimistic about the season ahead."
Robinson spent 10 games in charge of the Jets, taking them from last to within a win of the play-offs.
Jets chief executive Lawrie McKinna is compiling a shortlist of potential coaches for the prospective new owner and has indicated that the successful applicant would likely be in Australia.
If that's the case, they would have noted the improvement by the Jets under Robinson
"In football you can talk all you want about a coach's philosophy and style of play, but at the end of the day it is how good your players are," O'Donovan said. "The best managers, if they have two good wingers, they play with two wingers. If they have two good strikers, they player with two strikers.
"If you can get your best XI on the pitch, more often than not, and you play a style around them, then you will get results.
"That is what Carl did very well here. He had a look at what he had in his players and made the best of it, and we delivered for him as well. That's the trick."
O'Donovan, in his second stint with the Jets, has received Australian citizenship and will no longer occupy a visa spot on the roster.
"We passed the Australia exam," the 35-year-old said. "As soon as we did it and passed, I walked out of the examination and instantly liked [the band[ Cold Chisel and Vegemite is now a favourite of mine.
"To get a passport and all that we need to go through the ceremony, but for football purposes, I'm sure I am as close as I could be."
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