Newcastle Jets coach Ernie Merrick is content to go on without a replacement for assistant Clayton Zane after the announcement the former Socceroo was leaving to become Northern NSW Football technical director.
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The Jets and NNSWF timed separate announcements on Monday about the move, which will come in mid-October.
Zane, 42, has held a variety of roles at the Jets since he was made W-League coach in 2011. He went on to coach the Jets youth team the following year and in 2014 became interim A-League coach after the sacking of Gary van Egmond.
Zane was axed in January 2015 by then-owner Nathan Tinkler after a revolt against head coach Phil Stubbins.
He then worked with the NNSWF Emerging Jets program before returning to the Jets club in September 2015. He was again caretaker coach following the sacking of Scott Miller and before the appointment of Mark Jones the following year.
The home-grown talent, who played 14 times for Australia, has since been an assistant to Jones then Ernie Merrick, making him one of the longest serving staff members at the Jets through an often tumultuous period.
His departure will leave the Jets with one assistant coach, Qiang Li, to serve as a qualified replacement for Merrick should he miss any matches.
Jets chief Lawrie McKinna said Merrick was asked who he wanted to target as a replacement for Zane but "at the moment he's quite happy to go alone".
"Li, our Chinese assistant, he's got his A-licence and is halfway through is Pro licence anyway, so he's cover," McKinna said.
"Clayton will be there until up to the second game of the season anyway.
"We put it to Ernie if he wanted to bring someone in and at the moment he said to 'Leave me, I'm fine', so there's no rush.
"Everything just stays the same, and it's good Clayton is going to be working for the next three months."
McKinna said Merrick and the club's position could change but the decision not to seek a replacement had nothing to do with the Jets' attempts to cut costs in the wake of owner Martin Lee's business challenges in China.
"It's budgeted for us to have two assistant coaches," he said.
"We weren't expecting this and Clayton said he wasn't expecting this job to come up, but it's something he wants to do long-term, so it's an ideal opportunity for him."
McKinna said Zane would be a major loss to the Jets.
"He's been here many different occasions in different roles and he's been a big part of the club," he said.
"And I know Ernie's got great respect for him and really rates him as a coach."
Zane said in a Jets statement that: "This club has been a big part of my life for a number of years. I grew up in Newcastle and played my first professional football with the Breakers.
"I've been fortunate enough to work alongside a number of fantastic people here at the Jets since returning in a coaching capacity and making the decision to leave wasn't an easy one.
"The squad is a good one and I'm confident that Ernie and the boys will enjoy success this upcoming season."
Zane replaces Michael Browne, who resigned in February as NNSWF technical director.
"We have every confidence that Clayton has the capacity and manner required to engender the support of the many stakeholders who are engaged in the talented player pathway," NNSWF boss David Eland said in a statement.
NNSWF said Zane would make an immediate start on key initiatives before formally starting in his new role.