After Newcastle Jets’ defeat at Melbourne Victory, Arthur Papas made sure his side went over to acknowledge the travelling fans. One of them, Anthony, let rip on his side’s stars, with Papas’ response a key part of Thursday night’s episode of A-Leagues All Access: Football Maniac. He spoke to KEEPUP about what triggered his spray.
WATCH: A-LEAGUES ALL ACCESS EPISODE 05: FOOTBALL MANIAC
It’s minutes after a second consecutive loss for Newcastle Jets.
After a promising start to the season that saw Newcastle win two from two, Arthur Papas’ side had been sent crashing down to earth with two crushing defeats on the road.
In both clashes the Jets failed to land a punch against Western Sydney Wanderers and on this occasion, Melbourne Victory, where they were pummelled 4-0 at AAMI Park.
The Jets players and staff – including Papas – went over to express their gratitude to the pocket of away fans in the south-east corner of the ground, with some making the long trip down south for the contest.
One of them was Jets fan, Anthony, and as captured by the A-Leagues All Access Crew, he was far from pleased with what he saw on the night.
“No hunger… This club is my life!” Anthony said to veteran Jason Hoffman.
Papas hears all of this and confronts the situation.
“This is f*****, this is crap… None of you, except maybe three deserve to wear that f***** shirt. That was f***** awful!” Anthony continues to the rest of the squad.
But how does a coach address matters, such as these, straight off the back of yet another disappointing performance – especially when frustrations are running high at the full-time whistle?
Episode Five of A-Leagues All Access titled “Football Maniac” takes you right inside Newcastle’s inner sanctum, giving fans an unprecedented look at how Papas prepares his side for the clash against Victory.
But it also shows how he reacts at different stages of the game and in the immediate aftermath of a heavy loss – to his players and Newcastle’s passionate supporter-base.
In the days after, Anthony detailed the moment after the game to KEEPUP and explained why frustrations boiled over at the final-whistle.
“I got stuck into them and probably in retrospect, I might not have gone as far as I did if I had a second to think about it,” he said.
But for some of these boys it’s just another notch in their careers and it’s probably another club they’re going to play at for a little while. For the rest of us, it’s part of our life. This town, this club.
“They might leave and we’ve seen hundreds of players come and go from the Jets but we are still there.
“Hoffy (Hoffman) gets it. Like being a local lad, he understands that if we are hurt, he’s hurt and we trust that… I was also a bit disappointed that it took Hoffy to do that.
“We’ve got three captains at our club and they all kind of backed off in the distance and watched me unravel when Jason was the only one who stepped forward and went ‘alright, let’s have a chat’.”
Anthony, who has been a Jets fan for years, made the trip down south from Queensland for the game and said his frustration came from what he felt was a lack of effort Newcastle showed – particularly after going a goal down.
“The biggest frustration, that stems from that performance was it was toothless,” he said.
“The reason why it frustrates myself and other Newcastle fans as well, all we ever ask for is a team that represents the city. For us, it’s our home, it’s the place we love. Contextually, Newcastle is always a proud, underdog city. We will back in our team if they put in effort and put in pride in the shirt.
“On the flip side of that, being an away fan in the A-League is one of my favourite things in life. I can’t tell you how much I love being in another city, another stadium, being in a hostile environment in the away team’s colours. It takes a lot of time, a lot of money.
“You’re putting in an effort and all you’re asking for is for that effort to be reciprocated… It’s very difficult to stand there and watch that performance.”
In the change-rooms after the game, Papas doesn’t shy away from from the elephant in the room – the fans’ disgruntlement.
Instead of staring the players down during his post-game address, Papas sits with them, right in between seasoned pros Brandon O’Neill and Matthew Jurman – as he looks to pick his equally dispirited players back up off the canvas.
“The supporters outside. To be honest, they’ve got the right to do whatever they want…” he says.
It’s very hard to hear. But you know what, we can also make sure that we change that very quickly.
Produced by KEEPUP Studios and JAMTV, each new episode of the docuseries will debut on Thursday at 7:30pm AEDT on 10 Play, KEEPUP.COM.AU, the KEEPUP app and KEEPUP on YouTube. It will be available on Australia’s fastest growing streaming service, Paramount+, and will then be broadcast on 10 Bold at 2:00pm AEDT on Saturday afternoons as an appetiser for the evening’s Isuzu UTE A-League Men game on the same channel.
