Stajcic took over with just a few rounds left last season following an 8-2 drubbing at home at the hands of a ruthless Wellington Phoenix.

He says the move took him out of his comfort zone initially.

But his experience with the Matildas in 2014 - when he came in a month before the Asian Cup after FFA sacked the unpopular Hesterine De Reus following a player revolt - served him well. 

“You can’t reinvent the wheel in such a short period," he said. "I learnt that with the Matildas in 2014.

"You can’t change everything in a short space of time, so you target two or three key elements and focus on and do your best within those two or three areas. 

“And I learned that last time with the Matildas and I think that was fairly effective this time with the Mariners, where we addressed two or three components on and off the field. 

“But to be successful in the future, we need more than that. 

The Mariners were dumped out of the 2016 FFA Cup by NPL side Green Gully

“We need a change of approach and change in mentality and we need a change, a total change in environment and positivity within the group. 

“Coming into a team in Round 21 after an 8-2 loss. I’ve never done that before, coming in after 80% of the year with the team on the bottom of the league. 

“On top of going into the A-League for the first time, all those other elements made it even more of an issue of not knowing what to expect. 

“But what I found is the elite football I’d been involved in over the last 15 years really prepared me well. 

“There are so many similarities in many elite environments.

“And it was a more positive environment than I thought it would be considering the result that had happened a few days earlier, the 8-2.

“They were looking for some kind of inspiration. And really wanted to change and improve themselves.

“But this gives me hope that over the next two to three years we can have some improvement and provide a good foundation not only for next year but for the years ahead.

“I thought about that watching the final and semi-finals. We lost 1-0 to Adelaide and 2-1 to Victory. Even within a short space of time, I saw we could get improvement. 

“But for us to compete regularly we need more improvement and more consistency.”

In patches, they competed but not consistently. And depth wasn’t there to see them through an entire season. 

Incredibly, the club didn’t have a full-time strength and conditioning coach and video analyst. That’s now been addressed. 

Stajcic added: “Everyone really, really wants to succeed.

"It’s not as if I came into an environment where people had given up or lost hope. Or didn’t care. 

“It was the exact opposite of that. It gives me hope.”