‘‘At the end of the day I was happy to be judged the following season on how we went. Ultimately that is what you get judged on. You don’t get judged on who leaves; you get judged on who comes in.’’

Postecoglou’s clean out polarised opinion. Finishing second last in his first campaign did little to instil confidence in the supporters.

‘‘Fans are after a win on the weekend,’’ Postecoglou said.

‘‘That is what makes them feel good. They are not really interested in what is going to happen in a year’s time.

‘‘But I had a plan in my head and nothing was going to stop me from doing it. I was confident of success. It was not an experiment for me.

‘‘I was pretty headstrong and confident it would be successful, and I was willing to cop whatever flak in the short term to see it through.’’

He underwent an extensive recruitment drive. To the average punter Thomas Broich, Erik Paartalu and Besart Berisha were hardly names that jumped off the page. But for Postecoglou they were the perfect fit.

‘‘You needed a certain type of footballer to play the way we wanted,’’ he said.

‘‘Some of it is athleticism, some of it is technical proficiency and some of it was in relation to the competition in Australia.

‘‘I believe it is a young man’s league. The amount of travel that is required, and the conditions we play under, the heat and so forth, it is very hard to carry too many experienced players in your team.

‘‘We had a set criteria to the type of player we were going to recruit and didn’t deviate from it.

‘‘If you are prepared to work hard and do your research, you are more likely to get it right. I didn’t want to stuff that up, so I did not take any short cuts. I travelled to Europe; that was how we picked up Thomas Broich.’’

Reinvigorating the squad was only part of the process. The most important element was ensuring everyone believed in what Postecoglou was preaching.

‘‘It was probably when we got back to [the 2010-11] pre-season that I felt we had the right group of players and could start working,’’ Postecoglou said.

‘‘The people that left the club, that is why they left. I felt there would be resistance there. I didn’t have the time or energy to try and convince people.

‘‘For me it was about people buying into it. I had to show them it would work. I had to show them that this way was the way to go forward. Once I did that, everything else fell into place.

‘‘We played Everton in a pre-season game and I could see what we had started to build was taking shape.

‘‘From there it was full steam ahead.’’

There is no hiding the similarities between Postecoglou and van Egmond, and not just their philosophy on the game.

Both are 46, are former Socceroos defenders, coached teams to a national league title before guiding Australia’s elite juniors and are strong-willed.

Like Postecoglou, van Egmond has watched the game evolve and developed his playing style accordingly.

‘‘If you look at world trends, the last World Cup, the three teams that had the most possession finished one, two, three,’’ he said.

‘‘They all played a brand of 4-3-3.’’

It is already clear that Kasey Wehrman and Chris Payne do not figure in his plans, and with eight others off contract there is bound to be more casualties.

‘‘There will obviously be some players who can adapt, some players who can’t adapt,’’ he said.

‘‘It is not to say that they are bad players. It is just a different way of playing we feel over the long term will be the most effective.

‘‘We have made some good steps in how we control a game, but it is a process. You just have to keep working with the players. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Then you see who joins you on that journey.’’

Though fiercely committed to a high-energy, possession-based game, van Egmond is also mindful that the club and the fans have expectations.

‘‘It is a results-driven business,’’ he said. ‘‘You have to ensure you are getting points along the journey.

‘‘My belief is that we will get points by controlling the game.’’

The Jets, boosted by an upset 1-0 win over the Roar on Saturday, have jumped to seventh place on 22 points. It was their fourth win since van Egmond took charge after round three.

A section of supporters have queried why he did not wait until the end of the season to implement change.

By then, they reason, he could have assembled a squad capable of carrying out his instructions.

‘‘It’s a fair point,’’ he said.

‘‘But it takes longer than one season. As you go along, you are recruiting and developing players who are going to buy into it. You keep on adding and adding.

‘‘We want to be successful and make sure Newcastle are up there challenging every year. But again we want to do it in a way that is sustainable.’’

Postecoglou, for one, hopes van Egmond sticks to his guns.

‘‘There are probably people questioning where Gary is going, especially if the team is not getting results in the short term,’’ he said. ‘‘That is the challenge. That is how you find out how strong the belief is in the group and within the club to go in a new direction.

‘‘The easy thing to do would be to compromise areas and release the short-term pain, so everyone feels good.

‘‘But ultimately you won’t reach your long-term goals.’’

As for the Roar and the challenge facing Postecoglou, whose seemingly unbeatable team have slipped to third: ‘‘The competition was never going to stand still. Our beliefs won’t change. What we have to do is do what we do even better.’’