Calcutta-based Papas has taken a youthful development squad the Pailan Arrows to sixth on the I-League table.

He has confounded sceptics with a strong run at the U22 championships and at 32 is the world’s youngest men’s Olympic football coach.

With the local game in the grip of a full-scale overhaul, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) wants the former Newcastle Jets assistant coach for an extended term.

It has been a steep learning curve for Papas – from the passionate fans to the pre-game chai – but he feels there are still more learning opportunities to wring from the experience.

“I’ve taken many journeys to get to where I am now,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com. “This is one I didn’t expect but it’s been really good for me professionally and personally.”

Papas credits the stoush between Jets owner Nathan Tinkler and the FFA, which threatened to derail the club, for his present situation.

With no certainty at home, he headed abroad at the request of former Australia Technical Director Rob Baan who had taken up a similar role in India.

Baan knew the Victorian from his days down under when the ambitious Papas was a scholarship coach at the AIS working nights as a cleaner to earn extra money to fulfil his dream.

He was originally earmarked for a position at the Mumbai Regional Academy, one of many elite football centres bankrolled by the AIFF and FFA. But at the last minute the Olympic team coach quit and Papas stepped into the breach, also taking the helm of the U22s, many of whom make up his Pailan Arrows squad.

“We are completely under 22, we don’t sign foreigners and we play against all the top I-League teams,” he said of the Arrows.

“It’s a huge task for a team that age. I think we’re probably only the second team in Asia to do this.

“But it’s incredibly worthwhile because not a lot of young players between 18 and 21 in India are getting exposed to professional football at a young enough age.”

Two years ago Papas was the youngest head coach in the VPL, taking the Oakleigh Cannons to the grand final and winning coach of the year honours. These days he is on the radar of leagues throughout Asia and recently turned down an offer to coach one of the biggest clubs in India.

In just six months since he took over the reins of his various squads the transformation has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Last season the Arrows finished second last on the ladder and won only two of their 26 games. This year they are sitting mid-table after nine games, having won four and drawn three in the 14-team league.

In the U22 Asian Cup, India defeated more fancied rivals, Lebanon and Turkmenistan, drew with the UAE and lost to Iraq in the last five minutes.

“No one expected us to get a point in the tournament,” Papas admitted. “But it’s not really the results that concern me as we’ve also improved the style of football and that’s one of the key criteria.

“(The Arrows) get a lot of positive publicity about being a very attacking team, controlling the game – so even though we’re a youth team we’re controlling a lot of our games in possession.”

A key strength of the players is their strong personal and family values and the ability to adapt quickly.

“They’ve got exceptional attitudes,” he said. “They’re so desperate to get better and that’s what you want to work with.

“They’re really receptive to new information. Early on it was about giving them the confidence to say, hey I can keep the ball on the ground, I can pass it around a bit more, I don’t have to get rid of it straight away.

“And for me it was also about adjusting because there are so many different things you’re exposed to in a new culture.”

Papas tinkered with the diets of the players but knew where to draw the line – keeping his hands off the traditional pre-game cup of tea.

And while there is a lot India has to learn about the world game, passion isn’t one. The local derby between East Bengal and Mohun Began attracts 100,000 and is one of the biggest rivalries in world football, though few outside the country have heard of it.

Every day the papers are filled with football news and every day brings a new experience. Just this week the Aussie coach ditched the personal driver and took to the crowded streets of Calcutta in a rent-a-car. And he meets regularly with a growing band of ex-pat Aussies and former A-League greats such as Carlos Hernandez now playing for Prayag United.

“I don’t know what happens next,” Papas said. “I’ve always had an ambition to go to Europe and I’d love to come back to Australia as a head coach.

“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices over the last few years to get somewhere with my coaching and at the moment I feel like I’m really building something here.”