Even as au.fourfourtwo.com meet Vukovic on a day off at the team’s Sydney hotel, Trani is spied working furiously on his laptop  devising ways to boost Phoenix’s chances ahead of Wednesday night’s clash with Sydney FC.

It’s all par for the course says Vukovic, himself fresh from a gentle stretch at Bondi beach with the rest of the players.

“Look at him, that’s all he does. He loves it and so passionate,”  Vukovic tells au.fourfourtwo.com. “He’ll be at dinner tonight thinking about what we can do.

"He gives all the information we need to go out and win.”

Trani joined the Phoenix revolution in 2009 from the relative anonymity of the FFV, where he was a coaching instructor and head coach at Pascoe Vale. He has previously coached with Fawkner Blues, Essendon Royals, Whittlesea Stallions, Brisbane Strikers and Melbourne Knights.

Trani’s backroom success shows that it’s not just players who have stepped up to the A-League. Adelaide United’s Phil Stubbins and Melbourne Heart’s Ante Milicic have also shown their worth after paying their dues in Australia's under-publicised second tier leagues.

Quizzed on what Trani might have devised prior to Wellington’s breakthrough 1-0 victory over the Reds in Adelaide and Vukovic was happy to expose some – but not all - of the secrets on Trani’s laptop.

“He’d go through everything. Whether set-pieces, the way he feels we can exploit them," said Vukovic.

"And with Adelaide, they go zonal on corners so he devised certain runs we should make. It goes all the way down to penalties and what way their last penalty kick-taker took it.

“Anything you can think of, he’d have it down somewhere on that laptop. He’s got every player [in the league] with perhaps two paragraphs about that player. What they do well, what they don’t do well.

"So if we’re coming up against players who we don’t know a great deal about, we can just have a look at what he has on them.So he does really well for us.”

Likewise Vukovic. Since arriving this season from Turkey (where he was controversially axed by Konyaspor on the eve of the season) he’s vied for the number one keeper’s jersey with All-White star Mark Paston.

In 14 games, the 25-year-old former Mariner has added another level of experience to an already miserly back four. But Phoenix fans won’t have long to enjoy “Vuka”.

He confirmed he has agreed terms with Perth Glory and while he has not yet signed the contract, it’s only a matter of time. And with current Glory number one Tando Velaphi joining Melbourne Victory, it seems certain Vukovic will be the nib Stadium number one next season.

He’s been highly impressed with the Wellington set-up, but sometimes the pull of home and stability is a strong lure.

“It’s a three year contract and coming back to Australia was important for me and my girlfriend. As much as I enjoy Wellington I just want to be back home for a bit and give it a good crack,” Vukovic said.

“And talking to the people at Perth I’m excited… some of the players I’ve heard might be going there it’s going to be a good side and I just want to be part of it.”  

Meantime with a finals place in the bag, Phoenix seemingly must do it the hard way if they’re to go one better than last year’s finish (a preliminary final loss in Sydney over-shadowed by the infamous “Hand of Payne” goal to Sky Blue striker Chris Payne).

 A fourth finish could sneak a home final but Vukovic concedes sixth is the likely finish. And he argued Phoenix’s form away to Roar and Central Coast in previous weeks was a pointer to the victory in Adelaide last weekend.

And that bodes well should they, as expected, finish in six and the Reds in three.

“It was building and in Adelaide we did the business," he said. "We’ve got some great attacking players and at the end of the day if we can hold teams out there’s always a good chance that we can score some goals.”

It’s also a dream of Vukovic to score in a game.

This obsession goes back to his junior days in western Sydney when he and strike-partner Mark Bridge tore up the scoring charts.

Vukovic claimed he ended one season as top goal-scorer for Nepean United U/12s - ahead of Bridge, who’s set to play on Wednesday night for Sydney at the SFS against his good friend.

Vukovic and Phoenix then head home for what could be their final game on home soil this Sunday. If so, Vukovic dreams of going out in style in front of the Yellow Fever fans. And that might not just be keeping a clean sheet.

He added: “They’re a great bunch of supporters who’ve taken to me. And now they tell me to shoot every time I get the ball after I hit the crossbar the other week!

“That was amazing. For the next five minutes In was pretty upset. Coming so close you just want to score. It’s a dream of mine. Anyone who knows me knows I love to score goals.

“Maybe against North Queensland on Sunday if it’s all wrapped up and we get a penalty I might step up.”

And if Vukovic get his chance to go out with a bang, you can be sure Trani will have the latest information on his trusty laptop about the opposition keeper.