Jets Saved, But How?

New Jets owner Nathan Tinkler

So the news was announced today that the short term future, i.e. until the end of the current A-League season, had been secured.  The FFA announced that they had revoked Con Constantine's licence, and also immediately announced that local entrepreneur Nathan Tinkler would take over the licence at least until the end of the season.

So what do we make of all this?

On the surface obviously the reaction is phew, thank god they've sorted the Jets out.  But have they really?  Tinkler has only acquired the licence until the end of the season, and though he apparently has an option to extend the licence, he gave no indication that he had any long term plans to stay in control of the Jets.  He even made the somewhat cryptic statement of

I have no desire to own a football club but provide a nursery for the development of the game for the thousands of young football players in the Hunter region.

Your guess is as good as mine as to what the fuck that means, but saying you have no desire to own a football club hardly suggests that he is in this for the long haul.  Which means, this is quite possibly just an interim fix that was done for no reason other than to remove the current owner Con Constantine who was clearly not happy with the way things panned out.

Constantine lashed out at the FFA and Frank Lowy, Ben Buckley and Lyall Gorman in particular for the way in which things played out.  According to Constantine, when he spoke to Lowy on Monday he was told that there was absolutely no interest from any parties with regard to investment in the club.  However less then two days later, and with Constantine giving up the licence, the FFA was able to announce a new owner.  You have to admit that unless Constantine's comments are sour grapes then there is a pretty big smell of a rat about this whole scenario, and let's face it the FFA does have some form in terms of this sort of behaviour.  You only have to look at the way they refused to honour the contracts of the players at North Queensland Fury to see the mercenary way in which they are prepared to conduct business.  Let's also not forget that the FFA was rumored to have applied a lot of pressure to the Roar to sack Frank Farina last season.  Personally I can't help but feeling that there is some truth in what Constantine has said.  If so it was a pretty poor way to treat the owner of a foundation club and someone who has pumped millions into the club.

The question now is what will Tinkler do with the club.  As I've said it's unclear whether he has a long term commitment to the club in terms of ownership.  Possibly he may be there to try and sort out some of the obvious problems such as zero corporate sponsorship.  That seems to me to be the scenario that he provides immediate operating capital, overcomes the current disconnect between the club and the local corporate sector, and then longer terms perhaps become a minor share holder as other investors come in.  But the reality is that we don't know because once again the FFA has acted without giving any real indication of what their real plan is.

To be honest I actually question whether the FFA really has a plan.  Along with the today's announcement about the Jets' ownership, Buckley took time out to ensure us all that expansion was well and truly on the agenda.  Like that is music to my ears.  Honestly, how can they even consider expanding further when the clubs are in the state they currently are.  It's madness, but sadly it's of no surprise.  The FFA has been a clusterfuck since the likes of John O'Neill left and Lowy, Buckley and Gorman are the sporting administration version of the Three Stooges.  Many painted Lowy as the white knight that rode into town and saved Australian football.  Personally I think that sort of sentiment is a load of bollocks and the sooner he and his cronies move on the better.  The game needs quality administrators not a bunch of hatchet men.