Safe, for now: Newcastle Jets coach Scott Miller.

He finally dropped the spin after the latest loss against the Wanderers on Friday night. There's only so long you can pretend. Walmsley should be a better coach for the experience, presuming he makes the most of his second chance. What's been fascinating is how many other coaches have privately expressed some level of disappointment that he's survived. The message being, how do you make sense of anything if results don't seem to count?

Walmsley survives largely because he's carried out the instructions of the man who pays him, Mike Charlesworth, without complaint - even if that's decimated the quality of his squad. Those are the sorts of mitigating circumstances which have also earned the likes of Graham Arnold, Ernie Merrick and Scott Miller a stay of execution. Different reasons, same outcome. It helps explain why the four coaches who won't be involved in the finals live to fight another day. That's assuming there's some logic in the process, of course.

Miller survives because the Jets are owned by the FFA. David Gallop is not going to pull the trigger on a coach, full stop. It wouldn't be the right look, nor would it make any sense as the governing body prepares to sell the franchise. Those decisions can be made by the next owner, so Miller was always going to be safe.

Merrick has stayed safe because the ongoing uncertainty about the extension of the Phoenix licence meant there were more pressing priorities for most of the season. Even then, there was never any doubt he maintained the support of the owners, who mid-season gave him a two-year extension as a show of faith. Nonetheless a second late-season collapse in a row has turned up the heat from the fans, and you would expect Merrick will be under a lot more pressure at the start of next season than he was at the start of this one.