Mariners want to recruit four more
FOOTBALL: Mariners boss Mike Mulvey is promising that fresh troops are coming, but in the meantime it’s his shellshocked existing corps who have to avoid setting another unwelcome record.
Central Coast’s season from hell will register a new low tonight night if the Mariners fail to beat Melbourne City at Central Coast Stadium – a result that would equal the club’s longest streak of games without a victory in the A-League.
Equalling that record of 19 games – held jointly by the long-extinct New Zealand Knights and Melbourne City – would be another blow to the fortitude of a squad who Mulvey has admitted are suffering under the cumulative strain of a winless campaign and only two points from 12 games.
With the transfer window open, Mulvey is pledging that up to four new faces could arrive to invigorate a group that has conceded a total of 12 goals in their past three games.
“It’s part of a manager’s job, to keep quality in the joint and make sure we don’t drop standards,” Mulvey said yesterday.
“At times we all have dropped standards, myself included. We’re on a journey – one that at the moment is very, very unpleasant at times.
“But I told the players three weeks ago that I need to look at how I can help them. That was to ensure we bring in some extra bodies in the transfer window and that is going to happen.
“At least one or two, maybe three or four. We’ve got the room in the squad and also the capability and so the club is backing us 100 per cent on that.” — Tom Smithies