Alen Stajcic’s new role as interim Mariners coach a positive for the FFA

Ever since Alen Stajcic was sacked as Matildas coach legal action has looked likely but now he has accepted this new role his position may have changed.

Alen Stajcic fronts the media for the first time as interim Mariners coach. Picture: Richard Dobson

• Stajcic primed to take over Matildas
• Not even Mourinho could save Mariners

To say the appointment of Alen Stajcic to the Mariners caused widespread surprise is an understatement – but at FFA Towers, it’s likely to have been greeted with as much relief as shock.

Ever since Stajcic was sacked as Matildas coach in January, speculation has raged over the likelihood of legal action following on, for perceived damage to his reputation.

Stajcic was paid the equivalent of nine months’ notice, but in an emotional press conference several weeks later, he made clear his belief that reputationally he had effectively been assassinated.

But to go to court to prove that, and seek damages accordingly, is a big step in emotional and financial terms.

Alen Stajcic fronts the media for the first time as interim Mariners coach. Picture: Richard Dobson

So for Stajcic to be given this opportunity to coach again so quickly would on the surface make the possibility of an ugly legal battle with FFA less likely, something that benefits both parties.

Much still depends on what happens in the final six games of the A-League season.

If Stajcic does well, he will be in pole position to talk about filling the post in the long term – but will also have advertised his suitability to other potential employers.

If the Mariners show no sign of improvement, he could argue convincingly that no one could have made a difference – not even Jose Mourinho, as we have argued elsewhere today.

It will be fascinating on many levels, not least the question of whether specific and differing skillsets are needed to coach male and female teams.

Stajcic was sacked as Matildas coach in January. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Ante Milicic was parachuted into the Matildas head coaching role to succeed Stajcic with no experience in women’s football, so the same argument has to hold in reverse.

Certainly Stajcic brings experience of both having to make-do-and-mend, from the days when women’s football was pitifully resourced, and of working at the elite level and demanding appropriate performances from players and staff.

He will need more of the former than the latter at a club shorn of resources, confidence and vision, but if he can inject some level of dynamism and belief then the Mariners’ final six games of the season might be rather more meaningful than anyone dared to hope.