Rejuvenated Jets playing with purpose

Nathan Tinkler sinking beers with the fans, Graham Arnold suffering heart palpitations, Phil Stubbins channelling a politician and a fast, furious game that had me on the edge of my plastic seat. The view from the sidelines was a thrilling one on a strange night of football at Hunter Stadium.

Sydney FC players celebrate their thrilling win over Newcastle Jets. (Getty) Source: Getty Images

"This team is going to give me a heart attack."

Those were coach Graham Arnold's exact words as he lined up for his post match interview with me, after his team's heart-stopping 4-3 win over Newcastle Jets at Hunter Stadium last night.

On air he said: "I had my heart tested the other week and it's all good. I think it needs to be good and strong at the moment with this team."

Rightfully so. Slow off the mark, it took Sydney some time to settle into the game and it paid for it when the Jets' Serbian attacker Enver Alivodic capitalised on a some lax defence in the 21st minute.

Reflecting on the first-half, Arnold said: "There wasn't enough forward runs. There was a lot of space in between their stoppers and fullbacks. I pretty much said If you play like you did in the first 20 minutes, we're going back down the freeway with no points."

From my position on the sideline, perched just behind the visitor's bench, Arnold's frustration was palpable as he angrily threw water bottles and grasped at his head in dismay.

It went on for most of the match. He was able to breathe a small sigh of relief at his team's stellar comeback in the second half, scoring three goals in eight minutes via Alex Brosque and Bernie Ibini.

But Arnold conceded that once his side did go 3-1 up, the "foot went off the pedal", owing to a lack of concentration.

Marquee Sky Blues striker Marc Janko had several chances in the first half but wasn't as clinical as what we've seen him be in previous matches and he was hooked in the 64th minute.

Bagging another brace, Brosque has now scored four goals in two games and his standout performance was worthy of the man of the match award.

Echoing Arnold's sentiments when I spoke to him post match, the striker agreed that it was disappointing that Sydney "switched off at times during games".

"That's something we have to look at but you've got to give credit to Newcastle. They're a changed side at the moment." Brosque told me.

While Sydney FC's greatest weakness appears to be allowing teams to get back into the game, which it has done several times this season, it seems to be blessed with strength of character and quality individuals that are able to get it out of a jam.

Substitute Robert Stambolziev proved this point less than a minute after coming on, netting the winner, 4-3 to Sydney. That said, Newcastle went into the dying minutes of the match still testing Arnold's patience. Those of us on watching on were on the edge of our seats.

"I know we've got an extra gear, I think they know they've got an extra gear. But once you get into the finals series, you can't let that happen." Arnold said.

With just one round left to go for Sydney until the finals series, this result takes it to second spot on the ladder and puts pressure on Melbourne Victory to produce a win over Brisbane Roar up at Suncorp, just three days after its 2-1 win at the same venue.

Jokingly, Arnold also said that he'd given up on his aim for clean sheets at Sydney FC saying: "I am Ange Postecoglou, it's all about scoring goals. I don't worry about clean sheets anymore."

For Newcastle, when I spoke to Taylor Regan a day before the match, he said that after its big upset over Melbourne Victory last week, it had to go into games with the mindset that it could beat teams, no matter who the opponent was.

On the ground for my pre-match interview, Daniel Mullen also offered up that the Jets had taken an enormous amount of confidence away from their win against Kevin Muscat's side and were hoping to replicate the same kind of performance against Sydney.

Although they weren't able to put a dent in Graham Arnold's unblemished away record for the season, which stretches to thirteen games now, make no mistake, Newcastle is a different team to the one that we've been used to all season.

Having travelled to the Hunter five teams already, I can tell you that something had changed; both in the mood and the vibe at the ground.

In all of my previous trips, there has been an undeniable cloud hanging over the team, one understandably steeped in turmoil and angst. It was contagious and you could see it written all over the players' faces every time I greeted them.

This was very much reflected in their performances but over the past few weeks, we've come to appreciate a new and almost revitalised Jets side.

Even the home fans seemed to be more engaged and buoyed by the performance on the pitch.

The jeers and sniggers usually directed at Phil Stubbins which I've heard so many times before were virtually non-existent.

Talking to Stubbins post-match, he was his usual pragmatic self, and to his credit, it's something that he's maintained in all of the times I've interviewed him.

Rarely flappable, even when I've asked the tough questions and put him on the spot about whether or not he's sees a future for himself with the club or if he holds himself accountable, he has the unnerving skill of a politician to be able to deflect and respond without batting an eyelid.

"There's a lot of hope for us now. We've shown some big improvements," he said. "You've got to show resolve. I wanted a shot in the A-League and there's no bigger critic of himself than me."

Most surprising was owner Nathan Tinkler's presence at the match. In what appeared to be a bid to show solidarity to the fans, Tinkler stunned everyone when images of him drinking a beer with the Jets' supporter base came onto the screen.

Was it a brazen public relations stunt? Perhaps, but even more interesting was the information that the The World Game was told just yesterday from a credible source that Tinkler was prepared to sell the club to the first available buyer.

He categorically denied this when I confronted him about it and through a laugh, said that we should 'stop reading other publications.

Off-air when I pressed him about it further he said it was "complete rubbish" and that he was looking at a five-year plan to build up the Jets and sell it off to a Premier League team, much like an "MLS model."

Going back to my discussion with Taylor earlier in the week, he said that "everyone at the moment has an opinion of Phil Stubbins and Nathan Tinkler and they both know that. But we just have to believe that they're the right people for the job."

Whether they are is still up for debate. What's decidedly different, though, is that the players, many of whom are playing for contracts, have decided to take matters into their own hands.