Why the Newcastle Jets should offer Ruben Zadkovich their head-coaching job

After the departure of Arthur Papas, whose resignation as head coach was announced by the Jets on Monday, there will no doubt be myriad highly qualified candidates who express interest in the position.

But for mine, it's a no-brainer. Zadkovich is the man who can transform the Newcastle Jets from perennial also-rans into the team this town has been crying out for.

No matter who else sends in a resumé, Zadkovich has two priceless attributes any other contenders will struggle to match.

The first is his passion. The second is his connection to Newcastle.

Ruben has always worn his heart on his sleeve.

As a player, he spent four seasons and 97 games in Newcastle's colours and, for much of that time, he was an inspirational captain who led from the front.

If you were picking an all-time Jets line-up, I'd suggest the boots-and-all midfielder would be among the first names on the team sheet.

Perhaps the greatest testament to his value as a player is that in his last season with Newcastle, 2013-14, they finished two points adrift of the play-offs. The following season, after he had been inexplicably released to join Perth Glory, the Jets finished stone-motherless last.

If you were going to war, Ruben is the type of bloke you'd want alongside you in the trenches. Not surprisingly, the same will to win he exuded as a player has become his trademark as a coach.

Forced by injuries to retire ahead of his time, he was soon making an impact at the helm of Broadmeadow Magic, whom he steered to a Northern NSW NPL championship in 2018.

That was enough to attract the attention of Perth, who initially offered the former Socceroo a position as coach of their youth team, before handing him the reins of their A-League squad, after the mid-season sacking of Richard Garcia.

The Glory were last when Zadkovich took over and ended up with the wooden spoon. But within 12 months they had climbed three rungs on the ladder, finishing above Newcastle in the process.

When he announced recently that he had resigned, as Perth prepare for an expected ownership change, it seemed unlikely he would be out of work for long.

He's served the perfect apprenticeship and now, coincidentally, his dream A-League job is up for grabs.

The difference between Zadkovich and the vast majority of other hopefuls who will apply to fill the vacant position is that he has an emotional attachment to Newcastle.

He's lived here for many years, his wife is a Novocastrian, and he gets Our Town, which is more than can be said of Papas, who always gave the impression the Jets were just a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

And at just 37, he is young enough to potentially become the first real long-term coach in the club's history.

Of the 12 coaches the Jets have had during their 18 seasons in the A-League, only one - Gary van Egmond - has racked up more than 100 games, and that took two separate stints.

With youth on his side, Zadkovich could feasibly coach the Jets for a decade or more and build something to last the test of time.

That, of course, may well depend on finding a new owner, or owners, to bankroll the club, which has been an interim operation funded by rival A-League outfits for the past three seasons.

True, there might be the odd drama along the way, because Ruben has never been afraid to speak his mind.

But surely that's exactly what players and fans want to see in a coach.

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