It's been a very average festive season for the Jets.

Yes, they won on Wednesday, with some great goals then lost against Victory, playing better football.

But that only papers over the cracks.

The Jets are in disarray, with Gary van Egmond moving players around all over the place in an attempt to get things to work. Apart from the game against Gold Coast, the playing recently in the back third has been very poor. At least Gary figured out it was a good idea to play with two holding midfielders against Gold Coast, but we still let in two goals.

The earlier game against Wellington was absolutely awful. The defending was poor. Tiago, the appointed Captain was caught out ball watching on a number of occasions. While he might look okay going forward, his defending is poor. Why on earth was he captain? And the way he went down in that tackle that had Mehmet red carded during the Perth game just isn't on. I don't know about you, but I don't want play-actors on the team I support. Toppa also had a game to forget too in Wellington but I dont think he deserved not to start against Gold Coast.

To those who cried "Branko Out!", I wonder what you would be thinking now. I didn't necessarily agree with all of Branko's choices either. But how is Gary van Egmond doing?

When van Egmond came in, I thought we might be in for a bit more flowing, passing football instead of the "ball over the top". That hasn't eventuated at all. So what is the van Egmond philosophy? He keeps talking about it but I really cannot see it. He seems like an intelligent guy but if you can't get the team to play how you want to without resorting to blaming the players publicly, maybe you need to go and do some people management courses. Isn't people management part of coaching? Yes, it is, that was a rhetorical question.

If it's possession based football that Gary is trying to play, why can't he teach the players to keep the ball or pass accurately? Passing has been dreadful at times, with a few players in particular to blame. But can all the blame be laid at their feet? I don't think it can. van Egmond is the coach and he must instill in them the desire to keep the ball, to look to receive the ball and to pass it accurately to a team mate. Now if he can't do that, with nearly half the season at his disposal, he needs to look at his training regime or his coaching technique.

I don't buy into the "we don't have the cattle to play like that" argument. I saw the Jets play a possession based game in Adelaide a few weeks back and while it didn't result in a winning scoreline, and was weak on attacking power, it was something to build on. It looked like Brisbane when they aren't scoring goals. And that's better than disorder.

At present, the team looks fractured and unstructured, saved by the midfield work of Michael Bridges and the tireless energy of Griffiths, Haliti and Brockie up front. Wehrman is class, but needs to be used sparingly. He's coughing up possession, losing his footing and generally looking tired at the moment. When he looks to take people out instead of the ball, you know he's getting to that point where his previous speed isn't there any more.

I actually thought van Egmond's plan to try Tarek in a more attacking role worked well, but it meant that a midfield enforcer, Zadkovich, was held down the back. As soon as Tarek moved back to his usual position, he gave too much time to attackers and let two goals go in. What's going on with Tarek? Is it a form dip, a rise in the standard of the league (I don't really think so), or some sort of mental thing? Only once did he defend with the vigour he needed to, to deny Gold Coast an equaliser at the death.

There are a number of players who are putting in a huge effort and deserve acknowledgement. Ryan Griffiths is one, Jeremy Brockie is another, Labinot Haliti, who I have my reservations about, is also working his guts out when he comes on. Ruben Zadkovich, who  doesn't get a lot of plaudits, always plays hard, and keeps it simple. Bridges is still a classy player but is looking quite rusty. He still manages to make some excellent plays and is one of the most creative players we have at the moment.

After looking a little  nervous earlier in the season, Taylor Regan is making that position at the back his own. Sorry Tiago, you'll have to show some great improvement before I'd put you in before Regan.

So if there are a number of decent players putting in big efforts, there has to be something else that isn't working. What is it?

I can only put it down to van Egmond not clearly spelling out the plan to the players, or some of the players not executing it right. The Jets have noticeably improved their efforts down the wing over the past few games, with a number of goals coming from well placed crosses meeting their target in the centre. Unbelievably, Topor Stanley took the initiative and put the ball in to Brockie against Gold Coast. That's what Byun and Tarek should have been doing for the first half of the season and haven't been. Other recent example of better wing play include Griffith's excellent first touch and cross to a waiting Labinot Haliti among other recent efforts.

Gary keeps telling the press that the players musn't compromise on the game plan but except for the noticeable possession based game we saw in Adelaide, I'm confused what his game plan is. Recently I saw Byun wandering around in midfield high up the park. What's he doing up there? I'm not going take aim at him for those two own goals. But Byun hasn't looked "all that" all season and has been guilty of giving attacking players way too much time to line up their shots or get in behind. Let's see what Mario Simic can offer in that position.

Right now, it's very frustrating to be a Jets fan. We can only hope that there are improvements taking place that just aren't visible yet. We can hope that van Egmond becomes a Postecoglou and not a Coolen or a Durakovic. Football is a very immediate sport and the disappointment of seeing losses and wonky draws against ten men doesn't give a fan any happiness or instant gratification. It looks like we're stuck with Gary until the end of next season, so lets hope that something good will come, and soon.

The way things are playing out now, I can't see the Jets consistently competing with teams like Brisbane or the Mariners, and then there will be some dismal road trips like the one to Wellington. That means even if we do make the finals, we won't get very far.

That's a pretty glum round-up but I'm sure I'm not alone in pulling my hair out at the team's"progress" at the moment. There was a definite improvement against Melbourne Victory and I thought a share of the points would have been fairer, as the Jets made Victory look better than they were.

However, it looks like a long road before the Jets can start to act like a team the deserves to be in the finals.