Newcastle Jets CEO Lawrie McKenna has shot down rumours that the club’s Chinese ownership was responsible for the sacking of Scott Miller.
After the shock announcement came yesterday afternoon, there was speculation on social media that Miller’s refusal to sign a player from China was the reason for his departure.
However, McKenna claims it came down to a difference in ideals between the club and the now ex-coach.
“There were some rumours going about on social media that he was being forced to sign a Chinese player, but that wasn’t the case,” McKenna said to Fox Sports News 500.
“We did have a Chinese trialist who actually did quite well. It was never on the owners books that we had to sign a Chinese player if he wasn’t good enough.
“There were disagreements with different opinions on the direction of the football at the club and there was no backing down from there… so the club decided to move Scott Miller on.”
However, McKenna did concede the Jets are now in a tough position with the search for Miller’s replacement yet to begin.
“No time’s a good time to get rid of the coach, and this certainly four weeks out is not good timing,” McKenna said.
“Over the next 10 days, we need to be getting very close to getting the new coach appointed, which we’ve not started yet because this all came out of the blue yesterday.
“The big thing for us is we’ve got a short time frame, we play a game against local premier league champions Edgeworth then we’re down in Ballarat next weekend to play Melbourne City.”
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