Durakovic was sacked from the top job last season after a string of disappointing on-field results from a line-up that included Aussie star Harry Kewell.

Now he has spoken to au.fourfourtwo.com for the first time about his time at the Victory helm, his hopes for the future and why Kevin Muscat will make a great head coach.

The 47-year-old has enjoyed an extended break from the game but will return to his old stomping ground, South Melbourne FC, as senior technical director in January.

For the next two years he will oversee the implementation of the national curriculum and SMFC’s ambitious new youth program as the VPL club positions itself for the introduction of the Australian Premier League.

Durakovic said he still has a desire to coach at the highest level and had fielded offers from Asia and interstate  since leaving Victory. But for the time being, at least, he saw his future in Melbourne where his young family was established.

The former Socceroo was replaced as Victory coach three months before the end of last season by Northern Irishman Jim Magilton who was himself shown the door.

But as Durakovic insistsed he held no bitterness or recriminations over his exit.

“Okay, things didn’t go well on the pitch with the results but I thanked them (the board and players), we shook hands and I walked away with the door left open and my head held high,” he said.

“I left on pretty good terms with them so you never know what the future is there, whether it’s next year or the year after or the year after that. It’s nice as a coach and as a person to leave on a note where the door’s open there for me always.

“As a professional coach when things don’t go well on the pitch and you’re not getting the results there comes a time when you’ll get a tap on the shoulder.

“I accepted that and I’ve moved on. I haven’t said anything bad about anybody because they didn’t treat me badly. So I’m pretty sure the door will always be open for me at Melbourne Victory because they’ve treated me well and I’ve treated them well.”

Durakovic declined to speculate in what capacity he might re-join the club but added: “It depends on what the situation is there but as a professional coach you want to be involved with the biggest clubs and the biggest club in Victoria is Melbourne Victory.”

The rock-star arrival of Kewell was the talking-point of Season 7 but Durakovic said while the former EPL great was a terrific addition to the team, time was not on their side.

“When he came here everything just went berserk with the media and all that,” he said. “It was fantastic news for the club and for football itself but things didn’t go well on the pitch for me and I accept that.

“It just takes a while for players to get to know the pace of the game and like Harry admitted he wasn’t 100 per cent fit when he came. Towards the end he got good but unfortunately I wasn’t there. I wished I had him way before the start of the season.”

He had no doubt that good friend and current Victory coach Ange Postecoglou would make a success of the job, given the time to plan and implement his own philosophy.

And he also shed light on the support provided by assistant coach Kevin Muscat during his own tumultuous days in the Victory hot seat.

Describing the club’s foundation player and one-time South Melbourne team-mate as “gold” he dismissed suggestions that the former on-field enforcer wielded undue influence from the sidelines.

Adding: “I could not ask anything more from him as my assistant coach. He’s a straightforward person – some people like that and some people don’t basically – but that’s Kevin Muscat for you.

“Me and Kev really got on well – we spoke on the phone 24/7 basically. We ate, breathed and slept Melbourne Victory and that’s how it should be.

“I’ve got a lot of admiration for Kev, what he’s done on and off the pitch. For me he’s a wonderful friend, wonderful football player and wonderful coach.

“I think he will (make a great head coach) I really do – football’s his life – but when that will be only time will tell. I just wished he played a couple more seasons for us.”