Chief football writer for The Australian, Ray Gatt, has revealed that former Newcastle Jets assistant coach Luciano Trani’s relationship broke down with Scott Miller after growing close with the new Chinese assistant, who was assigned by new owner Martin Lee.
Speaking exclusively on the Daily Football Show, Gatt said: “Luc (Trani) was assigned to look after him (the Chinese assistant coach) when he was brought into the club. Show him the ropes, and just be a bit of a mentor to him and I understand that the two of them got very close, and that was something that Scott Miller wasn’t happy with, and that led to a major breakdown in the relationship of (Scott) Miller and Luciano (Trani)”.
The veteran journalist seemed in disbelief that another management fiasco has engulfed the Novocastrian club, this time just a month out from the new A-League campaign.
“It bewilders me that this thing keeps happening at the Jets. It’s been a tumultuous 11-year run for them – they’ve won a championship, finished last, gone through eight or nine coaches, four or five CEO’s, three or four different owners, as I say, it’s bewildering, I don’t know how they can keep going like this.”
After news of Miller’s sacking became public, rumours surfaced yesterday concerning a potential players strike such was the discontent amongst the group, who were reportedly considering boycotting training.
Gatt confirmed: “They (the players) were certainly seriously considering it but the players were told beforehand, before Trani was sacked, that legally they had no legs to stand on.”
“There’s an element within the group that weren’t happy with the situation, and not happy that Luc Trani was going to have control of that training session.”
CEO Lawrie McKinna has stated that the search for a new managerial team is underway, with an Australian coaching team expected to fill the void left after Miller and Trani’s dismissals.
Friday’s edition of the Daily Football Show can be heard in full, below.
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