Dual A-League championship-winning coach Ernie Merrick is reportedly set to be unveiled as the man tasked with reconstructing embattled Newcastle.
According to multiple reports out of the Hunter region, Merrick has been given the nod ahead of former Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean, who was overlooked due to his lack of A-League experience.
The Jets could announce him as early as Tuesday.
The 64-year-old ex-Wellington and Melbourne Victory mentor has been the frontrunner for the role vacated last month, when Mark Jones was sacked one year into a two-year deal.
Jones, who oversaw a woeful late-season collapse to seal the wooden spoon, was the third first-year A-League coach to be dismissed in as many years.
It led Jets chief executive Lawrie McKinna to highlight the need for an experienced head coach to haul the club out of a static seven years, and may have been the factor that ruled out interested candidates Robbie Fowler and Harry Kewell.
Merrick is the most seasonedcoach in the league, having led Melbourne Victory to two titles during his six-year tenure before returning from a Hong Kong stint to take over at the Phoenix.
He resigned eight games into his fourth season with Wellington after a poor start featuring two wins and six losses.
The Jets have already recruited Central Coast striker Roy O’Donovan, and Melbourne Victory defender and Joe Marston Medallist Daniel Georgievski, but still have 10 players off contract.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Manchester City have chalked up another big win in their hunt for an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title, with Phil Foden continuing his…
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Despite the short nature of his tenure as a professional manager, Arne Slot has established himself as arguably the most impressive manager outside of…
Everton won the Merseyside derby 2-0, with Toffees supporters taunting Liverpool after the game at their home ground Goodison Park.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have blasted a hole in Liverpool's Premier League title challenge as Everton powered their way to a priceless derby…
The real concern comes down to football's growing trend of big corporations taking up slices of the world game at the expense of smaller teams.
