In February the Jets appointed Robinson as the replacement of Ernie Merrick as head coach.

The hire left some wondering – Carl who? A Welshman, relatively young at 43, and only with five years experience in charge of a club, and that one in Canada as well.

Robinson was a fine player, spending 12 years in England with the likes of Wolves, Sunderland, Norwich City, also amassing 52 caps for the Welsh national team, but as a coach he was relatively unknown.

But the former midfielder hit the ground running in the A-League, making an immediate impact in Newcastle that has only been slowed down by the Coronavirus.

In his first six games in charge of the Jets, previously struggling bottom and at the bottom of the ladder, were unbeaten.

Robinson's debut started with a morale-boosting 4-3 F3 derby win over the Mariners. Consecutive draws against Western Sydney and Melbourne Victory followed, and then three wins in a row over Perth Glory, Adelaide United and Melbourne City.

Newcastle moved up the table just three points off the top six. Just as the season came to a halt because of the pandemic, the undefeated run ended with a close 1-0 defeat to Brisbane Roar.

Still, with four victories and two draws from his first seven games at the helm, Robinson's impact at McDonald Jones Stadium has been clearly felt.

The 43-year-old admits he arrived in the Hunter eager not make massive changes.

"The easiest thing a manager can do when he comes in is say he’s going to change everything and the squad is wrong and they’re not playing for the previous manager and all that. I won't do that," he told FTBL.

"The first day I walked in I said the business that we’re in, unfortunately a manager loses his job and a new coach comes in. I’m sure the last coach Ernie had really, really good ideas because he did – he proved that in the A-League.

"But sometimes change is needed. What I’m not going to do is rip up all that he had done, and some of the work might not have come to fruition even though its gone on in the background.

"I'm not going to say from day one I’m this young, whizz-kid coach who’s going to come in and do this, this and this, because I respect the previous coaches. I’ve been in that situation. There’s a lot of good players here.

"All I’m going to do is make a few tactical changes, in relation to the team and squad, and ask you [the players] to do a few things differently. Nothing that you can't do, then my main job was instill confidence.

"As I generally felt that they weren’t smiling as much as I wanted my team to be smiling, they weren’t enjoying it. If you’re happy you can work harder. I want you to train the way you play. If you don’t, you can turn it on and off on a Saturday."

Robinson switched the Jets formation from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-1-2, brought in new players like Bernie Ibini, Roy O-Donovan and Joe Ledley, and slightly modified training. The results have been evident.

"I shortened the sessions and shortened the periodization within the training," he explained.

"So we trained for short, sharp bursts rather than longer periods. Training was intense but it was to get them a little bit sharper, and then fitter, but without getting away from their strengths.

"You’ve got to tackle in training, you have to win duels in training. I just had to reset them again. It wasn’t rip up the page… just made some tactical tweaks and install the confidence I have in them.

"[Also] I tried to get Dimi more touches on the ball. I said I’ll give you the freedom to roam, but I require this when we don’t have the ball, and to be in this position to receive the ball when we have it. And he got it straight away.

"I haven’t travelled over from the other side of the world to lose – I want to win. They’ve responded brilliantly."

Since the A-League shutdown Robinson has been in Canada with his wife and two children.

Before joining the Jets the Brit had spent 11 years in North America – three as a player with Toronto FC, one with New York Red Bulls, then two as an assistant coach with Vancouver Whitecaps FC and nearly five as Vancouver head coach.

At the Whitecaps Robinson took a fledgling club to second and third place conference finishes in the 2015 and 2017 seasons, reaching the semi-finals both years, as a well as claiming a Canadian championship and getting to a semi-final place in the CONCACAF Champions League.

He left his post there in September 2018 after five years.

Robinson agrees there are many similarities between the A-League and Major League Soccer, but he has impressed with Australian talent in the competition.

 “In America it’s physical, strong, fast players because they’re very athletic,” he said.

“A lot of them come out of the college system. In Australia, in my short time I’ve been there, it seems more tactical, a little bit slower. The smaller type players are able to play a lot more based on the type and style of football.

"The understanding that some of my players had towards the game was phenomenal. I was very impressed with the knowledge that Australian players have. I was really, really surprised in relation to how warm they were to a manager.

"I’m a hands-on coach, I like to get on the field. It’s not a case of my assistants telling my players want to do – I’m telling my players want to do and they’re reaffirming my message. Some were slightly surprised at how hands-on I was.

“But the way I look at it is if I’m in charge the buck stops with me. I have to get my message across to them what I require, there are non-negotiables. If you want to play in my team you have to do this, and if you don’t you won’t.

“So there’s a line drawn there. And they’ve responded brilliantly, they really have. And I’m not surprised because the previous Aussies I’ve worked with and play against have been spot on.”

The A-League is hoping to return in August to finish the 2019/2020 season.

Robinson’s goal is for the Jets to sneak into the top six and make the finals in this campaign. But with a three-and-half-year contract, his long-term target is to turn Newcastle into consistent challengers.

In the A-League the Jets have always been the ultimate yo-yo club – decent one year but often poor the next.

They finished third in 2007, were second and grand final winners in 2008, second and grand finalists in 2018, but then eighth in 2009.

They claimed wooden spooners in 2015 and 2017, and missed the finals seven seasons straight between 2011 and 2017.

Robinson wants to break that cycle, while also encouraging and developing local talent. Giving opportunities to young players, and helped produce future Socceroos, is key.

“I will put the players in their best positions. I want to play a certain way and we will try and dominate the ball as much as we can,” he said.

“We will press at the right times. But we’ll enjoy having the ball, that’s a couple of principles in our play. The second thing is I don’t want to be a club that finishes first then last, I’d like to be club that finishes first but not a yo-yo club.

“My thing is I look at each transfer window and each season, and I’ll put a plan in place from where we can build. The first objective is to break into the top six, once you do that then you have a chance of playing and winning the title.

“Then you have a chance of breaking into the top four, which is not easy in a salary cap league… it can be done, but it takes a little bit of time. That’s the goal.

“I want to build a nucleus of young Australian players because sometimes you think of short-term. My medium and long-term is to develop a core group of players aged from 17 to 23 and five or six of them that can be the core of this team moving forward.

“Matt Millar, Stevie Ugarkovic, Johnny Koutroumbis, Angus Thurgate – if I can add two or three of them, along with the Maxi and Kosta Petratos’, then you’ve got eight players in an age group that will make you successful over a period of time.

“That is my remit now to build a team like that.

"In the short-term we might not be able to compete regularly with Sydney FC, but in two or three years time and if the salary cap stays the same and people are allowed to get their marquee players give or take, but the nucleus of my group will be strong enough hopefully to get into Graham Arnold's team.

“And if we get four or five of my group into the Socceroos squad, that’s my goal.

"So it not just helps Newcastle compete against the big boys in the A-League, it also helps Australia.”