JETS management are continuing talks with No.1 target Carl Robinson and other prospective coaches and could make an appointment by the weekend.
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Sources have told the Newcastle Herald that Canada-based Robinson, who spent four days in Newcastle last week, remains keen on the position and it is now a "process of negotiation".
In the meantime, it's business as usual for interim coach Craig Deans and his support staff, who will take charge for a fourth week ahead of the visit by Western United on Saturday.
"Our conversations aren't around when is a coach coming, it is about preparing the week and preparing each day," Deans said. "We have to give the players as much support as we can and get them in the right frame of mind and tactically get them right for the opposition."
Deans said the players had adopted a similar approach and praised their work ethic and attitude.
"Lawrie McKinna (CEO) is very transparent about everything that is going on," Deans said. "That makes it easier for the staff, and we can transfer that on to the players. The players' attitude in the past four weeks, every session has been top quality. There have not been any questions about 'when is this happening' or 'we need to know this'. I can't fault that side of things. The players know it will happen when it happens. Their job is to play football and win football games and they need to keep their minds on that. We have mapped things out until the weekend after the Mariners game. It's business as usual."
Deans put his first major stamp on the squad, reverting to a 3-5-2 formation, in the unlucky 2-1 loss to Wellington - a match they dominated everywhere bar the scoreboard.
"A formation doesn't win you the game but it can help you get into some better positions to score goals," Deans said. "We struggled in my first two games in charge getting Bobby Burns and Matty Millar higher up the field a bit earlier.That helped solve that little problem. The back three we had and the back three we finished [the game] with are more than capable of defending one-on-one and defending as a unit. I was comfortable to go with that, and it put Dimi Petratos back in as a No.10 which is where he is more comfortable. It also gives us two strikers, which means we have more options for goal-scoring hopefully. I think the formation worked well."
Deans confirmed that Johnny Koutroumbis would replace Lachy Jackson (knee) on the right side of the back three against Western United, who they beat in their previous encounter.
"We need to make sure we play as good as last week as a starting point, and obviously improve the areas you need to improve," Deans said. "We haven't been beaten soundly in the past three weeks and we have played the three top teams. We need to maintain the effort and turn it around.
"We are not playing badly. Maybe playing Western United, a team we have had a win against, might be the little trigger that gets them over the next hurdle. If we can get one win, I'm pretty sure they will continue to flow."