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NATHAN Tinkler admits he has trust issues with the FFA and chairman Frank Lowy, and has accused the five senior players he sacked from the Newcastle Jets last week of baulking over their termination payouts.
But in this explosive interview with Barry Toohey, the Jets owner and former billionaire mining magnate says he has no intention of being walked over by the FFA or the players and is not about to lose control of the A-League club like he did the Newcastle Knights.
Nathan Tinkler is determined to hold on to the Jets licence. Source: News Corp Australia
BT: You appear to be on the brink of having your A-League licence revoked after being issued with a show-cause notice for failing to meet your financial obligations to the club. Is that your take on it. Nathan. after your phone hook-up with FFA on Tuesday?
NT: The FFA have reiterated the points they wanted addressed a few weeks ago and when they stressed those points before, I said it would take until mid-February to get those things done and I've stood by that time frame. The January 31 date (deadline) was news to me. I said mid-February and that's what I'm standing by.
BT: If everything is okay at your end, what is the hold up?
NT: It takes time to secure CEO's and it takes time to get things in order. I've effectively had all this dropped in my lap a few weeks ago and I think I'm responding to it better than most. But that hasn't stopped the FFA dropping the boot in along the way, making it that bit harder.
BT: Given the turmoil at the club, surely the FFA is entitled to be seeking assurances from you on the Jets' future?
NT: The trouble is it's kind of hard to take the FFA at their word. I'm supposed to go ahead and fix all these things in good faith that I'm going to keep the licence after it is done. While they are looking for assurances that these things are going to get dealt with, I'm looking for assurances that when they are dealt with, I am going to keep the licence and we move forward.
BT: Are you referring to a conversation with Frank Lowy over the payment of $5 million for the Jets licence?
NT: It was absolutely about the fee, yes. I was told that all clubs had paid it. We've had a few conversations about that and it hasn't changed the fact. I can guarantee you the liabilities of the club now are nothing like the $5 million that was paid to them.
BT: How much are the club's liabilities?
NT: A million dollars injected into the club will fix all those issues.
BT: Where is the money coming from?
NT: It will come from me. I'm not a public company and everyone can go around and worry about all that sort of stuff. It's ridiculous the conjecture and the bullshit that goes on around me. Everyone wants to line up and have a kick but lots of people would be happy to be as poor as me.
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BT: Creditors are lining up to be paid. Why haven't you injected that money in already?
NT: Because of a combination of reasons. There are a few things there that I want the new CEO to come in and get on. There are some pretty uncommercial arrangements around the Emerging Jets (junior) program and other areas that I think need restructuring. If I come running in and pay the money, then what happens? Everyone just keeps their hand out. There has been a real hand-out culture at the club to the point where now, even players think they can dominate it. We have started putting money in. You've seen players being signed — that doesn't happen with no money. Getting the roster right has been the first thing we have taken on.
BT: Shouldn't the creditors be the priority?
NT: The creditors will get dealt with. They always get dealt with. No-one is running away from them. I've paid more soccer bills than anyone in the Hunter, I can tell you that.
BT: The club doesn't have a CEO. When will that be remedied?
NT: I am hoping he will start in the next week or two. I had planned to announce it (on Monday) but with the FFA going out and shooting their mouth off like they do, that sort of places a bit of a storm-cloud over everything. Anybody taking on a new job is entitled to seek some assurances and I've told the candidate to go and have a chat with the FFA and get those assurances as well.
BT: You don't seem to have much faith in the FFA?
NT: We need to know that if we fix all these problems, the FFA, in relation to the licence, is going to stand by their word. They don't have a great track record of doing that. We are entitled to be concerned. I want an assurance from the FFA that when I deal with all that, then I will be treated fairly and stop being discriminated against and there'll be no more conjecture and bullshit around us holding the licence.
BT: Given you publicly said you badly wanted the Jets out of your life late last year, what is your motivation in all of this?
NT: I put a lot of money into the club and I've put a lot of money into the town and the region — into supporting its sport. The NRL saw fit to line up and take it (the Knights) off me and some people and the media are claiming there was a win in all that. But I can tell you right now, the NRL aren't putting the $1.5 million into junior development in the area that I was putting in. The club lost. The club lost the best coach the game's ever had and they lost the most generous owner they'll ever have.
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BT: So now you don't want to lose the Jets?
NT: If the FFA want to line up and do the same thing with the soccer, well I'm not going to take it lying down this time. I've put a lot of money into that club and I'm the first to put my hand up and say I wish it was managed better but it hasn't been. But now I'm bringing in people so that it will be. I haven't lost anyone else's money — it's my own.
BT: Was it your bitterness over the way you lost the Knights then that led to you putting the boot into the Jets and the town like you did in August last year?
NT: Yes, at that point in time it was. I was extremely disappointed in a lot of people the way that went down with the Knights.
BT: To the point where you put the Jets up for sale and said you didn't want anything to do with them or any sporting club. You said you "wanted them out the door".
NT: I said I was keen to get the Jets out the door at the time but look, it was a poorly chosen phrase. I'm not going to go away from that. It's been the beat-up line for you blokes in the media so that everyone could run around and hack on me. But the club is no longer for sale. My hands are on the wheel now and we are putting in place measures to secure the future and turn this club around.
BT: What about the way you went about sacking the five senior players and coaching staff last week that has plenty of people off-side. Any regrets?
NT: No, none at all. Big decisions needed to be made because of the culture of losing at the club over a long period. Have a look at how the senior players we've got rid of have carried on since they left. They say they are good examples for the club and yet all they have done since they were terminated is to prove to everyone they are the sort of senior players and leaders you don't want in your club.
Joel Griffiths was one of the sacked five. Source: Getty Images
David Carney got dumped as well. Source: Supplied
NT: They are getting what is entitled to them in full. Everything is there including superannuation. Not a dollar has been left out. All they have to do is sign the mutual termination with the agreed amount on it and they will be paid. But they want me to pay them first before they sign and that's not going to happen. Sign the paperwork and it will be dealt with — simple. They haven't got a job here. They are terminated from the club and that's it. I don't know why they are hanging around because they made it clear it was an environment they wanted to change and not be a part of. They can now not be a part of it but they don't want to go.
BT: Given where the club is on the ladder and the season is a lost cause, what is the point in bringing in another five players now?
NT: So you advocate we never start rebuilding, Barry? We just let it go do we or wait until this time next season and start again?
BT: No, you rebuild but with a long-term strategy, not filling holes for the sake of it.
NT: Everyone is obligated to have 21 senior players on your roster and if five of those are sitting on the bench doing nothing, then you are at a distinct disadvantage.
BT: Will you be at Hunter Stadium on Friday night for the game against Brisbane?
NT: Yeah, every chance.
BT: Are you expecting Jets fans to vent their frustration at how the club is being run?
NT: What at me, you mean? Maybe, if they are happy losing they will. Anybody who is happy at how the Newcastle Jets have been going is a fool. We are all in the same boat though because that's what a club is. I'm not happy. But it's a bigger fool that thinks they can go to bed tonight and wake up in the morning and it will all be fixed. This club has been failing for four years. There is an inherent culture of failing here. We had the top goalscorer in the league last year (Adam Taggart) and still couldn't make the semi-finals. Please … I apologise for not being a loser. I'm not going to accept that. Any member that does, they can whinge their heart out. I'm sorry but this club is going to win and we are going to make the necessary changes so it does win.
BT: How long is it going to take?
NT: Do yourself a favour and do a little Google on Perth Glory sacking their coach and having an upheaval last year. How are they travelling now? Or Google who almost won the competition last year (Western Sydney) and where are they travelling? Things can turn around quick in this game. The only thing that won't change is the media's perception of me.
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