Craig Deans may never have played at the highest level, like Harry Kewell, or coached an international team at a World Cup, like Sven-Goran Eriksson, but he has served enough of an apprenticeship to suggest he is more than capable of handling a full-time A-League role.

At the moment, Deans has two advantages over all the other contenders queuing up to replace the recently departed Ernie Merrick.

First and foremost, he has been handed the job on an interim basis, and if the Jets are able to spring a couple of upsets on the likes of Sydney FC and Melbourne City, suddenly the man in the hot seat might have some serious bargaining power.

Moreover, as a foundation player who has been associated with the Jets in some capacity for most of the past 15 years, he knows the club and the region and presumably has an understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

The 45-year-old is clearly no stranger to hard work.

He was an assistant to Gary van Egmond in 2007-08 when the Jets won their only A-League title and has since juggled dual roles as Newcastle's W-League and Academy coaches.

At the start of the 2011-12 season, after Branko Culina was unceremoniously sacked by then owner Nathan Tinkler, Deans filled in for three games, of which the Jets won two.

That gives him a 66 per cent success rate - the highest winning percentage of any coach in Newcastle's history.

Cool, calm and collected, and with a dry sense of humour, Deans is never likely to be a coach who rants and raves at his players or fumes at post-match media conferences about controversial refereeing decisions.

He's unlikely to feature in discussions if Jets officials decide they are looking for a man with extensive head-coaching experience and/or a high profile.

But for mine, what Newcastle really need now is a coach they can lock in for the long haul. Someone who can do the job for at least five years and build something that delivers sustained success.

Asked if he was interested in securing the role on a full-time basis, Deans played down that prospect and said he was quite content coaching the W-League side.

Others might have grabbed the chance to spruik their claims, but Deans realises the team comes before anyone's self-interests.

Newcastle's players, in due course, might yet state an irresistible case on his behalf over the next few weeks.