Mark Jackson exclusive: Ex-Leeds United coach on life at Central Coast Mariners after MK Dons disappointment

He was, and still is, incredibly well thought of at Elland Road. The 46-year-old led various Leeds youth sides and was key in the development of an array of young stars, with Pascal Struijk and Crysencio Summerville among those to have thrived under his tutelage.

Jackson, however, is not the type to duck a challenge. He vacated his role as head coach of the club’s under-23s to assist Jesse Marsch with first-team duties.

Less than 10 months later, he left the club to take charge of a Milton Keynes Dons side staring relegation to League Two in the face.

It was a challenging assignment and Jackson could not keep the club afloat in the third tier. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of the modern climate, he was not given the chance to bring the Dons back up.

However, less than five months later, he moved back into the world of senior management with Central Coast Mariners of the Australian top flight.

The wheels on his appointment had been greased by Nick Montgomery, the former Sheffield United midfielder he succeeded as Mariners boss.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Jackson explained: “I was fairly close with the previous manager, Nick Montgomery. We met in lockdown actually when we were doing a webinar. We stayed in contact and we exchanged details, our paths had probably never crossed as players but we certainly had a lot to talk about as coaches.

“He was one of the people to send me a message after the MK Dons situation and like people do in this industry, they support each other. We got chatting and he sent me something about the interest of Hibernian.

“Then that kind of escalated quickly with him, without knowing the ins and outs of it. I think Monty kind of put my name forward to Matt Simon [sporting director at Central Coast Mariners] and Richard Peil, the chairman. I sent my CV in and that was it. I managed to get an interview.”

The rest, as lovers of clichés say, is history. Jackson won over the hiring committee and has steered the Mariners into second place in the A-League table. The run of four defeats from the club’s opening four league games is now a distant memory, with Jackson having overseen just one league loss in three months.

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In December, he was joined in Australia by his former Leeds academy colleague Danny Schofield. Like Jackson, Schofield had stepped out of academy football and into the senior world only to find himself jettisoned after mere months.

Only a person plagued by schadenfreude would not be pleased for the pair, who are now thriving down under after difficult chapters in their careers.

Jackson said: “People are getting less and less time. Chairmen and clubs all like the idea of someone coming in and implementing ideas to build a culture, to build a way of working, and people expect that to be working in two months. It's an impossible task. It takes time and I think time for managers now is at a premium.

“Danny's a pivotal part of what we do here and how I work at the club. Danny was in the same situation as me, losing his job as head coach at Doncaster Rovers. We kept in touch, reached out to each other and connected during that period. I had it in my mind that I certainly wanted to get back into management. I didn't know exactly what he wanted to do but we met up, we had a coffee. We talked a little bit of football and we clearly established his passion.

“He didn't necessarily want to jump straight back into the pressures which management brings, whereas I did. I felt that suited me and it was something I enjoy and like. I felt then it might have been a good fit. We had a conversation on the 'what ifs?' and if something came about, would he be interested? We were just talking football, spending time in each other's company. It became apparent we had a lot of similar ideas around the game.”

Central Coast Mariners are the reigning A-League champions but Jackson has not inherited the keys to the kingdom. They are not Australia’s answer to Manchester City and rely on selling assets for sustainability.

A brief look at Jackson’s track record of developing talent makes it abundantly clear why his appeal to the Mariners was so strong.

He said: “We knew we were going into a team where, particularly at Central Coast, there's a lot of transition year-after-year with players. They are a club who don't have the biggest resources in the league - probably one of the lowest.

“The philosophy is to develop young players from within the club, also to develop players outside of the club who have been identified by the club, who are not on the path they want to be on. It's giving them the opportunity to perform and then we're a club who wants to sell players. We have to sell players to sustain the club and grow the club going forward.”

One of the young players Jackson has been tasked with nurturing is Ryan Edmondson, a forward once deemed to be among the most exciting prospects at Thorp Arch.

A string of underwhelming loan spells failed to secure his future at Leeds and he joined Carlisle United on a permanent basis in 2022. He has now been reunited with Jackson and Schofield in Australia.

Jackson said: “We looked and we felt that we needed to enhance our attacking options at the club. We looked at the type of player we wanted and I think Ryan fits the profile for a lot of reasons. Not only his quality as a player but his age as well. He's 22 years old, I think that's a big thing for what we want at the club. We want young players who we feel maybe need a platform to go and perform.

“I know he's had a few clubs. He's 22 years old and he did his intro song at the team meal at the hotel, he had to stand up on a chair and sing a song. I said to him afterwards 'you look quite comfortable doing that'. He said 'yeah, I've done it quite a few times'. That's a good thing for him because he's experienced a lot. I think he needs a platform now where he has consistency, particularly with somebody, or some coaches like myself and Danny who he's worked with before.”

Jackson has seen players he has coached head down various paths. For every Summerville, there are huge groups of players who will never manage a professional debut.

Football is a brutal business for managers and players alike but Jackson’s awareness of the sport’s duty to young players may just prove reassuring for his Mariners hopefuls.

He said: “Of course we want to develop footballers but first and foremost, you want to develop good people - people who can make an impact in their lives, not just on the football pitch. That's the thing about working with youngsters but working with footballers as well - it's about not seeing them as just footballers. You're dealing with people, you're dealing with human beings.

“You're trying to develop players for your club, of course you are, but you understand you're developing these players as well to have a career in the game, at the highest level possible. It's great to see players doing that.”

As for his own managerial career, Jackson is focused solely on his current role having only taken it on in September. His family are now out in Australia with him and it is clear to see he is loving life in New South Wales. A return to management in England, however, is something he has not ruled out.

When asked whether he can see himself back coaching in his home country one day, Jackson said: “Yeah - of course I do. As a manager, I've spoken a lot before about existing in the here and now. I say that to players. If you're focused and you're ready, and you work hard, and you're attentive to what you do as a footballer to develop, the future will kind of take care of itself.

“[I was] really excited for the opportunity to go and experience it - but not just for the experience. We want to actually make an impact and do something worthwhile.”