Gary van Egmond said there would be no quick fixes, and the newly installed Jets coach was right as Newcastle conceded three goals in seven minutes in a 3-0 loss to Canberra at No.2 Sportsground on Sunday.
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Despite a hungrier and more desperate first-half performance from the Jets, the game was put out of their reach in a devastating period midway through the second half.
Laura Hughes got the ball rolling in the 63rd minute with a left-footed finish from close range after Grace Jale made a game-changing run down the right and cut the ball into the box.
Michelle Heyman made it 2-0 two minutes later when she struck from the top of the box after swooping onto a back pass by Jets right-back Cannon Clough.
Grace Maher sealed the visitors' win from the penalty spot in the 70th minute after Hughes was deemed to have been fouled by Jets captain Cassidy Davis in the 18-yard box.
It left the Jets with by far the worst defensive record in the league of 31 goals conceded, nine more than any other side.
But the scoreline was not a true reflection of the game with Newcastle creating plenty of chances and positive attacking play.
Jets striker Ash Brodigan hit the left post in the 85th minute and substitutes Lara Gooch and Sophie Stapleford had stoppage-time efforts denied by Canberra goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln.
Both sides had chances go begging in a scoreless first half.
Van Egmond, who led the Jets men's side to the 2007-08 A-League championship, made just one change to the starting side which lost 1-0 to Western Sydney in round 12 with left-back Leia Puxty replacing striker Tara Andrews.
Lauren Allan reverted to an attacking role after being deployed at fullback against Wanderers.
He was encouraged by the "grit and determination" in winning the ball but conceded there was plenty to do with it.
"We had good opportunities to score but if you don't take the chance there's always going to be a window of opportunity for the opposition and they took their chances, and therein lies the game," van Egmond said.
"The mindset was good after the first goal and I think it was the case that we wanted to score, it was just an individual error. You can't coach that.
"But what we can start to coach, where I felt a big improvement has to happen with the team, is how can we play forward. And there was so many times where we looked to play backwards when we could have played forward.
"That now has to come out of that game ... So that's where we need to start to work as a team and look to see how we can take the next step."
The result left the Jets second-last on seven points after 11 outings as they face a quick turnaround to meet league leaders Western United (27 points) in Ballarat on Wednesday night before flying to Perth to play sixth-placed Glory next Sunday.
Perth (12) beat Western United 3-1 at Morshead Park Stadium on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, third-placed Sydney downed second-placed Melbourne City 3-0 at Allianz Stadium and Melbourne Victory, fourth, were 3-1 winners over Western Sydney at CB Smith Reserve.
Brisbane beat Adelaide 1-0 on Sunday in Adelaide.
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