Spurned opportunities, miraculous saves from the opposition goalkeeper, borderline offside calls in the lead-up to both goals conceded, and of course a prospective long-term injury thrown in for good measure.

Before you point out that this is a microcosm of the season to date, I acknowledge the familiarity of the storyline, but this really was next-level harsh.

The Jets, boosted by the presence of returning skipper Nigel Boogaard, were quite clearly superior in every facet of this football match, except on the scoreboard.

Admittedly, I don't watch every Wellington home fixture from start to finish, but I can't recall a home game in which they looked more flustered, less fluent, and indeed less likely, than this one. Not even in their winless run at the start of the season.

I almost wrote that the Jets had hit rock bottom losing a game that they should have won clearly.

But that would have been a poor expression of my thoughts and a grossly unfair summation of the teams output on Friday.

More accurate perhaps was my immediate post-match feeling, that the result was almost cruel for the players. Surely the team's fortunes had hit rock bottom?

They will lose more games this season, but I doubt they will play as authoritatively, and get diddly squat for their efforts.

The playing group await the announcement of their new coach, as do we, and in truth we outsiders are probably thinking about the appointment far more than the squad. They may be in a "holding pattern", as interim boss Craig Deans noted, but the routines of training and preparation for matches will focus the team.

On the periphery we can only speculate, although I reckon James Gardiner will return from holidays with a booming scoop, unless of course Carl Robinson accepts the job that it seems is his to take or decline.

The waiting period has of course led to speculation and rumour, some of it far fetched, some pie in the sky, some very amusing.

A well-known taxi driver caught my ear in the street when he yelled out: "Give it to Johnno." I reasoned he meant Craig Johnston, not Richie, Malcolm, or Shane.

His follow-up line , nominating Smutza as team manager, and Dudsa as assistant coach, will cause great amusement among the Men of Football and Rangers of 1884 clan.

It caused your columnist to throw his head back in laughter! "At least the boys would be happy," he reasoned, tongue in cheek , and that is definitely true.

Sven Goran was a chance until he realised that the club's offer was a salary, not a weekly wage!

Details on other candidates have been kept pretty confidential, and you wonder if the Jets hierarchy are sifting rapidly through the applications for an alternative to their apparent first choice. Will Robinson accept between the writing and printing of this column?

Above all that , how much do you think it really matters? How much difference can a coach make? It's a subject that always sparks heated debate, and has always interested me. Are Spurs better with Mourinho? Arsenal better with Arteta? Has Ole's impact at Man Utd worn off permanently? Or are the players just at the level their talent warrants?

Will Newcastle's resources, ie budget, youth development system, marketability etc in a regional area, consign the club to the once-a-decade spike we have witnessed to date? Is a coach going to be able to single-handedly turn that around?

I guess the message is that so much more than a coach has to change before the Jets can become consistent, credible performers. Getting the off-field stuff in order is important. Strengthening the playing roster is absolutely imperative.

As ever it seems I draw comparison with Sydney FC , who lost some key players and the highest-profile coach in the country at the end of the 2017-18 season. Up steps the quieter Steve Corica, he signs some proven players, maintains the standards set, and lo and behold they win the grand final last season and currently lead the league by 10 points.

For that matter Juergen Klopp is a great manager no doubt, but seems to be even better since he signed the world's best defender , and a world-class goalkeeper! Who said 80 per cent of a coach's work was done in pre-season?

Anyhow, I'm sure we will know before too long, and meantime I reckon the Jets will beat Western United regardless of who is at the helm this week. They certainly will if they play to the level displayed last week in Wellington.

The only way is up.