Van Egmond let fly at the midfield duo saying they had not lived up to expectations and the pair was just one of many factors that had seen last year's champions slip to the bottom of the table.

"It is a combination of things," van Egmond reasoned for the club's position.

"It has been well documented in regards to suspensions, injuries and national team representation at different levels from the under-17s all the way through to the senior squad and I think the combination of young Patafta and Hakansson not coming up as well as we would have liked.

"Probably more so on Hakansson with the fact that he came to us with a fairly big reputation and he has not really delivered as we would have liked him to, whereas Kaz is still a young boy.

"So they are probably the areas in which we thought we would have done better than we have done."

The dream of defending their champions title seem all but gone after the Jets slipped to outright last after Sunday's 2-1 loss at home to Sydney.

The Newcastle club seems almost certain to miss out on this year's final campaign as it is eight points off the top four with just seven rounds left to play and van Egmond admitted it has been the toughest time in his coaching career.

"It is going to take a very big effort to get us back in and we will have to rely on other results to go our way but we are just approaching every game on its merits and on an individual basis," said van Egmond this week.

"No-one wants to believe they will be in that position at the beginning of the year, but we are in the position now and we have to ensure that we all stick together and get ourselves out of this. And that is not just players, coach and club it is the supporters as well.

"Results wise it is definitely (the toughest times). It is something we are all not accustomed to in Newcastle and to the club as a whole in regards to making the finals three years in a row and it is not something you want to see on your resume in regards to not making the finals.

"So it is a difficult time but at the same time rest assured we are doing everything possible to be effective on the pitch and that goes from as much work as we are doing on the training paddock to video analysis to recruitment to a whole range of things.

"The club is endeavouring to whatever they can within the A-League and obviously setting ourselves up for next year and the Champions League as well."

With nearly everyone writing off the Jets as finals contenders, van Egmond admitted there has been a lifting of the pressure on the club.

But the head coach put his players on notice that they must start to lift their form if they hope to maintain their place in the squad for their appearance in next year's