Lowedown: Why opening the scoring is so vital for the Jets

Plenty of football for the punters to enjoy over five days.

It's also the time of year for quick departures - Ross Aloisi, the Roar coach, on the way to join Kevin Muscat as an assistant coach in China, and Marco Tulio reportedly leaving the Mariners in January to explore an opportunity in the J League.

I'm sure there will be more ins and outs in the transfer window, as teams and individuals explore new horizons, and others are encouraged to depart to make room for the incoming.

We will find out more about the ambitions of the various clubs in coming weeks, others will maintain the status quo for reasons of stability, satisfaction, or perhaps lack of bugs bunny (money for the uninitiated).

There are no prizes for guessing which category the Newcastle Jets will probably fall into, in a reflection of how the club has been forced to operate for much of the past decade.

Will that change if the club finds a new owner by tomorrow? Has a deal been finalised? The turn of the year is fast approaching.

There were two letters to the Herald's editor this week concerning the Jets. One was bemoaning the overall quality of the team - a fair question - and the somewhat optimistic columns of some journalists.

That may or may not be the case. I am not beholden to false positivity. Nor am I required to provide a daily story, but I think it's fair to say we all hope for a brighter future, the team to do well, and a pathway for our kids. No one is too keen to kill the project, or the dream.

We all understand that circumstances mean that a lot of hardworking players and their coach give their best week in and week out, often against teams with bigger budgets and better players, and as a consequence, the team faces a big battle each weekend.

The answer, as it often/always has been over a 45-year-period, is the lack of capital to buy good players and retain those already on board.

Good, independent management, membership, fan base, income stream and so on are important but class players are imperative. They win things.

The other letter questioned the interpretation of the offside rule, and the softness of the penalty awarded to Adelaide last weekend. In a way, it ties into the question of reader number one, in that the first goal in Jets games is vital to the Jets.

The Jets have won two of nine games this season, both featuring clean sheets.

In games where the opposition has scored, they are yet to claim three points.

They are vulnerable when chasing games, or opening up the pitch too often, because quality individuals thrive in those circumstances, and less defenders are left at home.

So when an inexplicable offside ruling goes against the Jets for goal number one, the Jets are chasing and more vulnerable.

I've seen a thousand goals rubbed out for a toe, or an elbow or shoulder being beyond the last defender, and the Adelaide player had half his frame beyond the last man.

That doesn't mean the Jets should or would have won, it just made things considerably more difficult.

It's hard for me as a card-carrying member of the striker's association to sympathise with defenders leaving their feet and making any contact, or impairing the balance of said attacker, so I can't decry the penalty .

Twelve months ago, the Jets were unbeaten in six games and faced the bottom-placed Western United. They played very expansively and lost comfortably to a counterattacking masterclass.

I remember warning that United should be respected as much as Melbourne City. The Jets don't need to be dominant, or flash, today.

They just need to win. As ugly, dogged, and disciplined as necessary ... with a little swagger also permitted.