Phelan is sporting director for the Gosford side but also now assistant manager to Solskjaer at Old Trafford and has spent the international break with the Mariners before flying home again this weekend.

And with Stajcic kicking off his men's coaching career with a debut win at the Mariners just before the break, Phelan is confident it's just the start for the yellow and navy side.

"One game, one win," Phelan told the official A-League site, and laughed: "It’s not bad – almost as good as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Man United so far.

"He’s very enthusiastic. You don’t become an international manager for nothing, whether that’s in the women’s game or the men’s game – you’ve got to have something about you.

"Stajcic has got great organisational skills, he’s got a real drive and right now is a very good fit for the Mariners."

Former Matildas coach Stajcic was brought in after Mike Mulvey was axed following an 8-2 thrashing by Wellington Phoenix earlier this month.

He took the reins for the crunch F3 derby against old foes Newcastle Jets - and pulled off an incredible 10/1 surprise victory, winning 3-2 in dramatic style after a last second Jets penalty was missed – twice.

Now the club are hoping to back up that success with a result against Adelaide United on Sunday to mirror Solskjaer's winning run since replacing Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

The dramas behind the scenes at Manchester United kept Phelan distracted from his role with the Mariners but he said he was keen to make up for lost time on the Central Coast this week.

"It was a case of catching up on what had been happening,” he told a-league.com.au. “I spent time in Australia in November and then went back for Christmas.

"I then got offered to go in to the role at Manchester United as caretaker-assistant to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and that restricted my next opportunity to come back, which was going to be January.

"So it’s a case of picking up where I left off and making sure that everything is running as well as can be expected.”

He added: "The purpose of my involvement with the Mariners is to give it some profile, but also to place some emphasis on youth football on the Central Coast.

“Central Coast is a very, very beautiful area and a lot of kids and youths are playing football there.

“It was exactly the direction the Mariners want to go in – putting some strategies and structures in place, with my help and others, to be able to get people out there playing and enjoying the game, but also with the prospect of getting A-League attention.”