NEW assistant coach Karl Dodd hopes a "fresh voice" and "energy" will help the Newcastle Jets out of their current rut.
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Dodd joined the group for his first session on Monday.
The former Guam national coach spent 14 days in quarantine, where he analysed the Jets' recent games.
However, he said it would take time to get a proper understanding of the players and what was required to turn things around.
"You can make a mistake of making an assessment without knowing the players," he said. "Whilst you try to form some opinion from the outside, I think it is really important to get on the ground and get to know them."
It is Dodd's second stint at the Jets after spending the 2013-14 season as the strength and conditioning coach under Gary van Egmond. Current coach Craig Deans was the assistant at the time and the pair have maintained a relationship.
"Craig and I know each other fairly well and respect each other's opinion," Dodd said. "It doesn't have to be the same [opinion]. A fresh voice, fresh energy coming in maybe will be a good thing.
"We [Dodd, wife Shannon and eight-month-old daughter Harper] were coming back to Australia and he touched base and asked if I would be interested.
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe in his plan. It wasn't the case of 'it's a job, take it'. I am past that point of looking for jobs. It has to be something meaningful and what I believe in.
"I have been here before and know the potential Newcastle has. I think this plan is the right one, it will just take time."
The Jets sit in last place and have gone a club-record 11 games without a win.
Foxtel commentator Andy Harper on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the club's direction and called for an inquiry, declaring: "The decay and the decline [this season] has been nothing short of alarming."
In an interview on ABC Radio's "Talking Sport" show, the former Newcastle Breakers striker said: "The leak of performance, the leak in confidence, the leak of output has become a flood ... I just watch this team and it's lifeless."
Dodd said he "hadn't read" Harper's comments but had "heard some things".
"I don't think commentators have a full understanding of what goes on inside a football club," the former A-League defender said.
"We have a plan in place and it is going to take time. It is not a quick fix. That is what a lot of clubs struggle with. They try for the quick fix and that puts you in more trouble. You are just adding another band-aid to the problem rather than fixing it properly.
"Craig has a great plan and it needs to be seen out for this club to go forward. It will take time. That is the reality.
"There has been an ownership change, coach changes. Craig has also lost six experienced players and has brought in players who don't have that experience. It is not an excuse but it takes time for those players to develop. Having a pre-season under you belt is massive. That is when you can really implement how you want to play."
Though working to a long-term plan, Dodd said he and Deans has identified areas for immediate attention.
"Two weeks is a long time in quarantine. I was trying to do as much as I could and get my head around where we can make change," he said. "One of them was the accountability and analysis aspect of it. We put on a session today that challenged the players - have they watched the opposition, how do they think we can exploit that. Planting the seed for the week on how we are going to take on Sydney FC.
"At the end, we spoke as a group and then some of the defenders gravitated and started asking some other questions. That is what we are after. We all have tp work together to solve this problem."
Dodd said his time in Guam was unbelievable learning experience.
"It is a lot different working in the international realm with how things operate," he said. "The learning was unbelievable. It is an experience you can't explain unless you are there. I would not have got that in club land in Australia.
"It was a tough [decision to come home] one because I had World Cup qualifiers coming up and we had been preparing for that for a long time. COVID had kept pushing it back and back. It wasn't an easy decision but it got to the point where it was at a T-junction. I didn't want to leave the team in Guam in disarray. They had to find a new coach in time."
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