Papas is about to begin his first campaign as Newcastle boss and first in the A-League as a head coach, with a overhauled squad at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The Jets struggled badly during 2020-2021 and finished second from last.

But with a new coach and an influx of new players arriving in the Hunter in the off-season, hopes are rising that the revamped Jets will improve.

Asked what his target is this season, Papas replied: “Anything’s possible. In terms of what we’ve tried to do is firstly sign a team that is within the realms of how we work that’s going to give us a chance to play the type of football we want to play.

“Really, for me, that’s still the most important part – how successful can we be playing the way we want to play, and then ultimately we believe that’s the way to eventually lead us to some success.

“There’s no real timeline you can put on it, we just know we need to get better. We want to improve on where things have been with the club and the team, and that’s a daily focus.

“With me coming in and on the back of what’s been some difficult seasons for the club, it’s been trying to make an impact in regards to the environment and changes in personnel.

“It’s just been about getting on the field, and trying to get everyone on the field has been the first challenge, because it’s not been so straight forward to get players into the country [because of Covid]. Overall, it’s positive.”

Newcastle has brought in five new foreign signings in the shape of Spaniard Mario Arques, Georgian forward Beka Mikeltadze, Cameroonian striker Olivier Boumal, Brazilian Daniel Penha and Greek attacker Savvas Siatravanis.

Marques is a former Villareal junior who has played in Spain’s Segunda Division, while Mikeltadze has played in the Russian Premier League and for his country, and ex

Yokohama F Marinos man Boumal has earned six caps for the Indomitable Lions.

Twenty-three year-old Penha is on loan from Brazilian outfit Atletico Miniero and winger Siatravanis has experience in the Europa League and Super League Greece 1.

“It’s an eclectic mix of internationals,” Papas admitted to FTBL.

"We’ve got five different nationalities coming. But I’ve had the beauty of knowing each one of them through various sources, either someone I know has coached them or known them for a long time.

“So it was still quite thorough in terms of the work that went into who they are, how they’ll adjust as well. And that’s going to be the real trick – how quickly they adjust to football here, culturally, and that’s where we’re working really hard.

“But that’s just a part of it. I expect just as much from our domestic players. We’ve got some very good domestic players.”

After spending time as an assistant to Ange Postecoglou in Japan, many are expecting Papas’ Jets to play an ‘Ange-ball’ style of football.

The 41-year-old concedes there will be some similarities to the teams of the current Celtic manager, but insists his Newcastle XI will have its own identity.

“There’s some beliefs in regards to the way the team will play, I’d assume there will be some similarities because that’s been a belief of mine as well,” he said.

“But every team will have its own uniqueness to it.

"The players we’ve signed, they all have their own certain qualities and they’re going to be the ones that bring to life that sort of model and how effective it is with and without the ball.

“Obviously I’ve been overseas and had more and more experience now and grown over time as well, and the idea us to develop the team as well as possible, not only physically but also from a mentality point of view that we will be robust, we will be hard-working and they’re just traits you have to have in any team.”