A-League 2023: Newcastle Jets zero in on new coach after Arthur Papas quits mid-contract

Arthur Papas resigned on Monday bringing an end to his two-year stint at the helm of the A-League club and is expected to return to Asia.

"Whilst the departure of Arthur has only just been confirmed, we have been aware of the potential of a change and in the background have been considering a number of potential candidates," Mattiske said.

"We are now accelerating those discussions with the intent to close them as quickly as we can, ideally by the end of the week."

In a text message to the Newcastle Herald, Papas said he was "fairly certain" that he would be heading to Asia and was "in the process of finalising some things".

He had a year to run on his deal in Newcastle.

The Jets began preseason testing on Monday and tackle Melbourne Victory in the Australian Cup play-off in Darwin on July 17.

"The Australia Cup on July 17 is an important consideration," Mattiske said. "The players are coming back early to prepare. It is important for us, if we can, to have the head coach in position to guide the team and have an impact on the way we perform in that match."

As well as prepare for the Australia Cup qualifier, a new coach has at least four places to fill on the playing roster. Defender Carl Jenkinson is the only foreign player on the books, leaving four visa places available.

Jason Hoffman and Kosta Grozos are understood to have agreed to new deals, which would take the squad to 19.

The news faces Papas had already brought in are young or fringe players.

Replacements for Beka Mikeltadze, Jaush Sotirio, Angus Thurgate and Manabu Saito are yet to be signed.

"We have built a strong roster already," Mattiske said. "Arthur has played a key role in doing that. That has put the club in good stead. We do have flexibility to add other players and there is an opportunity for the new coach to add their touch to the make up of the squad."

Assistant coach Arthur Diles has also resigned and is expected to join Melbourne Victory.

Women's coach and academy boss Gary Van Egmond and youth team coach Damien Zane are likely to take charge of the A-League squad in the interim.

"The players were scheduled to assemble for an on-field session on Friday. That will now happen on Monday," Mattiske said. "Through the course of this week, we will make some decisions around what that training session looks like."

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Van Egmond has served two stints as head coach, famously guiding the club to its only championship in 2008.

Former Jets captain Ruben Zadkovich recently parted ways with Perth Glory.

A number of other former players, including Labinot Haliti and Adam Griffiths, are coaching NPL clubs or are assistants at other A-League franchises.

Mattiske would not comment specifically on potential candidates but it was clear that the successful applicant needed to start immediately.

The new coach will appoint an assistant but other support staff are likely to remain.

"The lead role needs to be filled," Mattiske said. "It is also important to have people in place who know the team, know Newcastle and have strong connections here. The focus is to keep that element in our coaching staff structure."

Mattiske said the ownership group would be involved in the appointment of a new coach but he "would be leading the process".

Papas, who steered the Jets to ninth and 10^th position in the past two seasons, has expressed publicly his frustration at the ownership situation at the club.

For a third season, the Jets will be bankrolled by the owners of four rivals clubs.

Papas has previously worked in India and Japan, where he was an assistant to Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama F Marinos.