JETS chief executive Lawrie McKinna said the club had been "inundated" by expressions of interest from prospective coaches, even before yesterday's announcement confirming Carl Robinson had been released to join Western Sydney.
Robinson has signed a three-year deal with the Wanderers after exercising a get-out clause in his three-and-a-half year contract with the Jets. After a highly successful stint that delivered six wins, three draws and a loss, Robinson attracted the attention of Western Sydney, who sacked their recently appointed coach Jean Paul de Marigny on Monday and then unveiled his replacement three days later.
He will take with him his Scottish assistant coach, Kenny Miller.
McKinna said "everybody at the club" was disappointed to learn the former Welsh international midfielder was leaving, less than two weeks before the start of pre-season training.
He had no complaints about the conduct of Wanderers, who he said showed appropriate professional courtesy.
"Wanderers did nothing wrong," McKinna said.
"They were straight above board and dealt with me directly ... they never poached. That's different. Poaching is phoning up the coach directly, and they never did. They went through the right channels."
McKinna said Newcastle's remaining coaches and strength-and-conditioning staff will oversee pre-season training on an interim basis until a replacement for Robinson is found.
How long that will take is anyone's guess, as the Jets will defer any appointment until they learn if the club is under new ownership.
Incumbent licence-holder Martin Lee has been eager to sell for more than a year, and Football Federation Australia are conducting due diligence on "multiple" options, McKinna said.
McKinna said there had already been a rush of applicants for the coaching job, including "three or four" who were "top, top-level".
"We've been inundated with potential coaches already," McKinna said.
"The announcement hadn't even been made.
"We'll take stock of the coaches, but that will be a decision for the new owners ... it's not going to be hard to attract a new coach."
At the same time as McKinna was addressing the Newcastle media, the Wanderers unveiled Robinson at a press conference in Sydney.
"Lawrie McKinna's been working night and day for months and months and months to try and sell the football club and there's a lot of uncertain times, not just in football clubs but in life in general," Robinson said.
"Was it the main reason [I left]? No. Was it a reason? Yes.
"But I'm joining the biggest club in Australia and when you get that opportunity and that comes calling, you don't say no."
Robinson was confident he could turn the Wanderers around after three seasons as play-off spectators. "I'm joining a club where we think not just top six, we want top four, top two - we want to win championships," he said.
"I like that pressure."
