HE looks certain to fall short of the finals in his first season as an A-League head coach, but the Newcastle Jets are poised to reward Arthur Papas with a contract extension regardless.
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Papas initially joined the Jets at the start of this season on a two-year deal, but the Newcastle Herald understands the club is close to announcing he has agreed to stay for an additional 12 months, until at least the end of the 2023-24 season.
Papas has transformed the Jets as an attacking force. They have scored 41 goals in 23 games this season, more than any team except competition leaders Melbourne City (53 goals) and Central Coast Mariners (44).
Last season Newcastle scored a league-worst 24 goals across their entire 26-game campaign.
Despite the increased potency of their strike force, the Jets have leaked 40 goals, many at crucial times, and that has left them with next to no chance of featuring in this season's finals.
With three games remaining in the regular season, Newcastle are ninth on 25 points, eight points behind the sixth-placed Mariners.
They would need to win all three games and hope for a miraculous series of results in other games to avoid a fourth consecutive season as play-off spectators.
Nonetheless, Jets officials are believed to have identified Papas as the man to take the club forward and are keen to extend his tenure as a statement of stability.
They are then expected to start re-signing a host of off-contract players who have been identified as retention priorities.
Teenage striker Archie Goodwin is understood to be at the top of their list.
The former Newcastle High School student debuted in the A-League as a 16-year-old and, after being sidelined for much of this season with knee problems, returned recently to become the youngest player in the competition's history to score a double, in the 2-0 win against Sydney FC last month.
