The history of football is littered with stories of players who sign with a club after impressing one coach but fail to cement their position when a new boss is appointed.
The events of the past year at the Newcastle Jets would give any new recruit cause for concern, but promising young forward Andy Brennan remains excited to begin his Hyundai A-League career there on Monday, when he starts pre-season with the club.
While Brennan was one of 13 players offered ‘new for old’ contracts last week, it could be argued the former South Hobart striker has more to lose than any of them, as he agreed his two-year deal with the Jets during ex-coach Phil Stubbins’ tenure, but has yet to play a game for Newcastle.
Brennan has never met new Jets boss Scott Miller, who was unveiled on Thursday.Â
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But the 22-year-old reckons it makes little difference.
“If at the end of the day, you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough,” Brennan told Goal Australia.
“If you go up there and you look like you’re not up to speed then they’re going to find you out, whether it was Phil or not. If I go up there and it doesn’t work out, that’s football but I’m not going to die wondering. I’m going to go up there and give it all I’ve got.”
Brennan has a low profile at the top level of football in Australia and this time last year was playing for South Hobart in Tasmania’s Victory League, helping the 105-year-old club win their second consecutive title and qualify for the inaugural FFA Cup round of 32.
But having signed for South Melbourne for the 2015 NPL Victoria season, Brennan quickly impressed and was snapped up by the Jets in April.
It has been a whirlwind journey but the versatile attacker insists he can make an impact in the A-League.
“I didn’t feel out of my depth at Newcastle [during a trial], which was a big thing,” he said.
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According to his agent – former South Melbourne midfielder David Clarkson – Brennan’s trial went even better than that: “His first training session he fitted in beautifully with the boys, in fact, three of the players – higher-profile players at the Jets – said that Andy’s the best triallist that’s ever been through the club since they’ve been there.”
Brennan scored seven goals in all competitions for South Melbourne before leaving after their Westfield FFA Cup qualifying win over Melbourne Knights earlier this month.
Having previously trialled unsuccessfully with Melbourne Heart and spent a season with Bentleigh Greens in Victoria’s state league, where he barely played due to injury, Brennan knows chances in football can disappear as quickly as they present themselves.
It makes him seem carefree as he prepares for the biggest moment in his career thus far but Brennan is keen to underline he is far from indifferent.
“This is a massive opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.
“But I’ve got to be smart about it and not be one-dimensional … I’m definitely going to put 100 percent in and take every chance I get, I’m sure.”
