ARTHUR Papas may have "a few more grey hairs on my chin" but the innovative coach is confident his Newcastle Jets project is travelling in the right direction.
As reported by the Newcastle Herald on Friday, Papas will be at the helm of the Jets until the end of the 2023-24 A-League campaign after extending his contract by a year.
The extension was a show of faith by club management after a maiden campaign disrupted by COVID and a seemingly endless number of unexpected hurdles.
With three round games remaining, starting with Sunday's trip to Macarthur, the Jets are ninth on 25 points, eight points behind the sixth-placed Mariners.
They would need to win all three games and hope for an extraordinary series of results in other games to avoid a fourth consecutive season without play-off football.
Three poor results could also see the Jets tumble down the table to as low as 11th - the position the club finished last season.
Papas set out to change the struggling club's "identity". He brought in a near new squad and implemented an attacking, high tempo style of play that has yielded 41 goals in 23 games, the third most behind competition leaders Melbourne City (53 goals) and Central Coast Mariners (44).
"It is clear we have made progress over the past 10 months from our initial starting point and yet we are well aware that there remains much room for growth," Papas said. "We will finish the season disappointed not to be playing finals. I felt for large periods of this season, we have shown we can play the type of football that is of a bigger team in the competition."
Papas, 42, said his desire to " bring success back to this club" was as strong as ever and was "grateful" to have the "ability to build".
"They (management) have enough belief in what they have seen this year to extend and keep growing," he said. "Ultimately, we want to be playing in the finals. We have to build success and it might take a little bit longer. That is the goal still."
Jets chief executive Shane Mattiske said Papas' contract extension was "really important for the stability of the team".
"Our fans will be very proud and excited to see him locked away," Mattiske said. "Now that is done, we are starting to lock away the playing squad."
The Jets have nine players contracted for next season, headed by captain Matt Jurman, leading goal-scorer Beqa Mikeltadze and rising star Angus Thurgate.
"We want to keep the core of what we have established this season," Papas said. "There are good signs in that area. There are a lot of talks going on about where we can improve and where we will try to improve in the off-season."
An American consortium, led by Brett Johnson and Jordan Gardner, are in negotiations to buy the Jets, which is currently being bankrolled by the owners of four other A-League clubs.
Mattiske said the interested parties had been kept abreast of the clubs' contract developments.
"I am absolutely comfortable that any owner that would come into the club would have confidence that Arthur is the right person to build the club around," he said. "We will continue to focus on other shifts that will bring strength to this club - whether it is player contracts or other contracts."
Brazilian Daniel Penha is among the players with an uncertain future. On-loan, Penha will return from a two-game suspension for the final round grudge match against the Mariners. The feisty playmaker was not at training on Friday.
"He hasn't been feeling well so we kept he away from the rest of the squad," Papas said. "He is not n a holiday. He will be back for the Central Coast match [in the last round]."
Sunday's game is the first of three in six days for the Jets to finish the regular season.
"We are focused on making sure we finish the season strong," Papas said.
Defender Taylor Regan suffered a heavy knock at training when collected by keep Michael Weir but is expected to be fit for Sunday.
