The Newcastle Jets are a rollercoaster of a football club, going from being threatened to be kicked out of the A-League to making deep finals runs.
The Jets are both a sleeping giant and wounded minnow awaiting their final burial, making the success of Arthur Pappas in his short career at Newcastle nothing short of miraculous.
With a shoestring budget and a few more adjustments, Pappas has Newcastle ready to be a top-six team.
The singings of Beka Mikeltadze and Daniel Penha in the season just gone are evidence of Pappas’ knowledge and scouting reach. Mikeltadze was the league’s joint-second goal scorer, with 13, while the fiery Penha established himself as a player the streets of Lambton won’t forget anytime soon.
Pappas’ first year in charge could be considered a great success from a recruitment standpoint, even if there was no finals football.
Pappas has gone an ambitious step further with the signings of Socceroo Brandon O’Neill, Wellington star Reno Piscopo and dynamic wing duo of Trent Buhagiar and Jaushua Sotirio, who all have finals experience.
The addition of Carl Jenkinson looks to be a good move, considering his late-season form at Melbourne City and the Jets’ leaky defence, and the rise of young Angus Thurgate is exciting.
While these signings don’t scream finals football, attracting talented players is a credit to Pappas’ footballing philosophy. His approach to football management isn’t underdone, with his time under Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama F. Marinos having a considerable effect.
He has experienced relegation dog fights with Ettifaq FC in Saudi Arabia, FFA Cup glory with Green Gully SC, and miraculous half-season turn arounds with Oakleigh Cannons. His coaching experience at only 42 is years beyond any current A-League coach at his age.
Are the Jets going to be playing finals football? Probably not. However, if Arthur Pappas and his support staff remain in Newcastle into 2023, the city’s long and drawn-out may edge closer to completion.
Pappas’ recruitment strategy thus far has given fans little to complain about and with another season under his belt, with the Jets playing some dynamic, fluid football, the Novocastrians may dare to dream.
Grem
Roar Rookie
You’d know more about this, I would think - the club grounds that Oakleigh Cannons play on and the one Adelaide are playing in tonight look pretty good. Could Western United use the Oakleigh ground?
fabian gulino
Roar Rookie
A.pappas is a very good coach.
fabian gulino
Roar Rookie
Newcastle might not have super stars in their side,but when the chips a down, they know how to come back from behind.They might be the darkhorse for the top 6, if they get in this season they might cause some problems for the top 4 sides in the A leaugue.
chris
Guest
I hope they do well and I like the way Pappas plays football. Whilst they have recruited well I feel that this coming season will be very tough as many other clubs have recruited well and have strong line-ups (on paper at least).
Midfielder
Roar Guru
He is a very decent coach lets hope he can bring excitement to the league
Dennis
Guest
Couldn’t agree more. I saw Natta in every game he played at Parramatta for Wsw and he simply is too slow. He was responsible for a number of goals conceded and looked out of his depth. Having said that I do wish him all the very best at Newcastle!
NoMates
Roar Rookie
Say what you like but Papas has the tightest budget in the A-League, The Jets have no owners so spending is redundant. It will be another bottom of the table offering this season with maybe a win over a top 6 side that will get people thinking for a moment before reality sinks in and you understand it was a fluke with no progress going forward. They r just a club making up the numbers at this point of time.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Thanks. Funnily, I watched the 2014 grand-final again last night Roar v Wanderers, that’s what prompted my comment. Brattan was massive, but yes, Mulvey was coach then. Brattan debuted for Roar A League in 2009 according to Wiki, hampered by injury (plus a youth player). I still love to watch Paartalu’s last minute header and goal celebration in the grand final Roar v Mariners.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Natta watch and wait style defence is not going to work at Newcastle. They need someone who is going to intervene and shut down counter attacks. The best I have seen at it was actually Simon Colosimo he was a one man guided missile against counter attacks , others like Matt Smith. Cranjar, and Adelaides Popovic these have that ability even if it misfires.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Brattan hardly played under Ange at Brisbane you mean Paartalu. Anges/ the Brains Rado Brisbane system was different , Paartalu doesn't have an equivalent in Papas system . Also most what Paartalu did there was pass the ball side to side and be good at set pieces in the air. There is another potentially great player that went down the drain with a stint in China. Very good in the air and scored a lot of goals from set pieces and suited to long ball English football but never went there. Three players if you include Milligan and Griffiths with a more solid technique and control and passing game than Jedinak, who were equally as good in the air as Jedinak, matched him in physical size as well didnt make it in Europe because they went to China and like it poisoned the rest of their career. The only thing Jedinak had over them was the rocket boot, where he could blast the ball from set pieces.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
you should include Brattan in that comparison, he was huge
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
jets are a tough one for me to say too much on, due to my friendship with papps given the clubs budget, they have recruited as well as could be expected - not spectacular signings, but they will be functional and fluid in his system (still a signing or 2 to come in as well) the achillies heel is defence - hopefully natta can force his way into the side after escaping the toxicity of wanderers and showcase what i saw in him several years ago it was a free hit last season, alot more eyes and scrutiny will be on the team and inparticular the coach in his second season. jets have got a pretty good schedule, however i dont see them making the 6 - on the positive they will make life uncomfortable for most sides in this league due to how competitive they will be
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Papas I think he has taken 1 step forward and 2 steps back in the off season. If he wants to be Ange 2 look at the key players Ange had at Brisbane to start off with, fast mobile 90 minute fullbacks, Papas had Marguis hardly played him the rest dont fit the ball, Ange had Franjic and Steffanuto when they were younger, center backs who were fast and mobile and good with the ball. Mathew Smith at the back was Anges key player. Master of stopping counter attacks whereas Papas has gone for two big and clunky defenders, Jurman is ok with the ball but is really slow. Then you have the box to box non stop 90 min midfielders, Ange had McKay, Murdocca, Mitch Nicholls in his early days that was the real engine room. Papas has Thurgate who you can compare to Mitch Nichols in effort he doesn’t have the non stop player he has some poorer players. Quality in attack with Broich and Henrique, well Papas was even more loaded last season with Penha, Boumal, and Yuel. The difference is Ange got Broich and Henrique to work hard as well, Papas the effort of those players was highly variable during the season. Strikers was it noteable is how bad Ange initial strikers were and how many goals they scored , Reinaldo never been heard of again scored 5 in half a season, Solorzano never been able to repeat his season at Roar with 11 in 3/4 of a season. The sign your playing good football is when ordinary strikers can score goals Barbarouses had 12 goals in a season under Ange, Nichols had 10 and 6 goals with half seasons. Mikeltadze might be a good finisher, he has limitations however and needs other players to set him up, I think he did benefit as well from the attacking football Newcastle played with the quality attackers. Is he going to repeat the success without Penha, Boumal and Yuel though. Barbarouses played both striker and wide for Ange then of course Ange got super striker Berisha. Both these player were non stop super pressers, Mikeltadze is an ok presser in the first half then he gives up. Look at the changes Papas made , Jenkinson if plays center back he could be a huge improvement is he adapts to the role, but if he plays fullback he isnt going to be any better than what they have. Brandon Oneill could be great if he can get fit and stay injury free. Buhagiar and Sotorio are counter attacking players dont know why Papas would go for them, Piscopo is the best attacking option they have introduced but hardly a replacement for what they lost.
Mark
Guest
That's a good point it is harder to keep a team up than bring one up for a year or two.
Tigertown
Guest
Success breeds success. For Arty Papas, it’s only a matter of time. However, my only issue with Pappas is that he’s notorious for flip-flopping between clubs in quick succession. More than 10 teams in ten years. Where’s the commitment?
Grem
Roar Rookie
Let’s hope they have a great season. They certainly are a sleeping giant and no one wants them lost from the A Leagues. Papas is a good coach and I certainly want him to do well. Is there any news on the club being bought? It appeared to be something that was about to happen last year. It’s interesting that the NRL team is underperforming greatly and is a wooden spoon chance as this should give the Jets a chance to lift the spirits in that city.