Reflection on the past often brings perspective to the present. If Hunter Sports Group had not taken control of the Newcastle Jets from Con Constantine in September 2010, the team would have played the following season in a strip of gold emblazoned with a Parma FC-style cross on the chest. Instead, Jets fans have marched into the stadium for the past two weeks to watch their red-and-blue clad side wearing gold to honour the club’s past while crossing their fingers for change.

After the public sacking of five senior players and three members of coaching staff, the resignation of the former CEO and chairman, and Football Federation Australia issuing a show cause notice relating to a number of outstanding debts, questions about the very existence of the Newcastle Jets were circling. Again.

Could owner Nathan Tinkler retain a club he helped place in such turmoil? Would he still own the club, or would FFA assume responsibility for operations? Could Stephen Thompson – majority shareholder in Dundee United who has held business meetings in Newcastle – finally buy in to the club?

The answer to all these questions may yet be yes.

With a new CEO at the helm in the former Football Federation Victoria boss Mitchell Murphy, the club at least has a new set of eyes through which they can construct a vision. The direction that takes Newcastle, though, may differ from what many had predicted.

Following the FFA’s edict on 2 February, the anticipation of the end of Tinkler’s tumultuous reign was rife. Indeed, most welcomed the news. It appeared history was repeating in Newcastle. In much the same way as Constantine took over from David Hall in 2000, and Tinkler from Constantine a decade later, it seemed Thompson would play the role of white knight. However, in the first sign if diplomacy in months of conflict, Tinkler may be willing to soften his stance on ownership.

“It’s very public that we still have some liabilities and some debts to clear, and we have full intentions to do that,” Murphy explained to Guardian Australia. “The second thing is that Nathan Tinkler has made it very clear that he is fully committed to the team.

“Nathan has also made it very clear to me that he has an open mind about bringing in essentially a joint owner. So at the moment Nathan has committed to re-capitalise the club. We’re also going to investigate with proper due diligence the possibility of bringing in a joint owner, in say a 49% capacity.

“There are a lot of avenues where that could come from. It could come from overseas, it could come from a locally-based situation, it could potentially come from a consortium.

“Let’s be frank, any business is always on the market for the right price. Anybody who would tell you differently is not being honest. Nathan is committed to the club, he wants to retain the majority shareholding, but he has an open mind to bringing in a joint owner. Logically, that opens the way for additional re-capitalisation, which is a good thing.”

The concept of joint ownership and diverse investment has lingered around professional football in Newcastle for as long as anyone cares to remember. Until now, this model had been rejected by those in power.

Whether a buyer for a minority share position can be found is another matter. And Tinkler – whose peak wealth was estimated to be $700 million in 2011 - may still lose his majority shareholder status over a reported $400,000 worth of unpaid superannuation to players and staff.

Murphy, however, believes a resolution in the form of outside investment is in the wind. “Our search and our due diligence around that is not going to take two weeks,” he said. “But certainly you would expect some movement prior to the start of next season – and the off-season buys you a little bit of time to spend more energy on that as opposed to the day-to-day operations associated with the running of the team.

“One thing I do want to stress is that I’ve been given a mandate by Nathan to run this club as I believe it should be run. The core principle of how we’re going to run the Newcastle Jets is this: we’ll be running this as a business that operates a football team, we’re not going to operate as a football team that occasionally applies business model principles. That’s going to be the difference.”

That same philosophy will no doubt come into sharp focus as the club negotiates settlements with the remaining axed players, who have been training separately from the squad for the past two weeks to fulfil contractual obligations.

Captain Kew Jaliens has now departed, but Joel Griffiths, Adrian Madaschi and Billy Celeski still need to sign mutual termination papers. Doing so will, again, likely hinge on the outstanding superannuation payment.

David Carney remains somewhat in purgatory, told he has breached protocols on three separate occasions. The PFA have taken up his cause as four breaches are required for a termination to occur, and he rejects the third assertion in the first instance. That drama could drag on for some time.

“I’m not interested in confrontations and stand-offs,” Murphy stated in relation to the contract disputes. “I want to sit down and have robust conversations and come to an outcome that’s in the interests of both parties.”

It is clear things must change at the Jets. Something has got to give. For Murphy, there is no doubt where the revolution will take flight. “Culture starts at the front office. That’s about having a vision, it’s about having a strategy of where we’re heading and sticking to that strategy proactively, rather than reacting to any negative headline in a knee-jerk way.

“We’re going on a journey, and we’re going to follow that journey right to the end. I’m not going to be dismissive of the past, but I’m not going to dwell on it. What I mean by that is that if I’m made aware that in a particular situation we handled it this way and we handled it poorly, we’re not going to make the same mistake twice.

“I’m confident in my own skin that we will put systems and processes into this organisation that we’ll get it right most of the time. If we aim for perfection, we’ll capture excellence and that’s what our mindset needs to be.

“There’s no professional sporting organisation that doesn’t go through, at some period in their history, lows. [But] things can turn very quickly. All I would ask of our fans is that they clearly understand that they have a CEO now who is committed to taking this club forward, but it will take time.

“We’re going through some really, really tough times, let’s not hide from that. But I know wholeheartedly that we are going to come out the other side a stronger club for this experience.

“The Hunter community needs to understand this: Without their support there is always the possibility that there will be no A-League franchise here. And I’m sure that’s not what they want. We don’t survive without their support.”

And that, really, is the answer to all the questions currently being posed of the Jets. The club needs the community and the community needs the club. The two are inextricably linked. Nathan Tinkler doing the right thing by stakeholders is ultimately about respect. Respect not just for the individual, but for the club and the game generally.

A sporting club is an idea built on a foundation of collaboration. Everyone, including a majority shareholder, will depart at some point. As with anything in life, impermanence is the only guarantee; each role is a custodian’s position. One is entrusted with guiding the organisation in a direction which upholds the values of the community therein. It’s a responsibility Murphy clearly takes seriously.

The issue the club has faced under each previous owner, at its core, is that the Newcastle Jets are not any individual’s to own. Not entirely. It belongs to the community too.

Being a football club shareholder would therefore appear a thankless task. Perhaps it is. Then again, so is working seven days a week as an employee, or spending personal savings travelling to support your favourite team.

As fans used the old gold playing strip as a means of protest in Newcastle, it reminded everyone of the value in coming together and acknowledging the journey football has taken in the region.

The current Jets owner may learn from previous mistakes in time to avoid the same fate as his predecessors. If he doesn’t, Tinkler could see his share of the club returned to the community. In this case, quite literally. But after struggling with club ownership on and off for the best part of two decades, community investment may not be a bad thing for Newcastle at all.