Central Coast Mariners interim boss Alen Stajcic is adamant the club can return to past Hyundai A-League glories.
Stajcic took the reins of the struggling Gosford outfit two days after Central Coast’s 8-2 defeat to Wellington Phoenix in Round 21, a result which culminated in the dismissal of former coach Mike Mulvey.
But the ex-Westfield Matildas coach has had an immediate impact since his appointment on March 11 and led his new charges to a famous 3-2 F3 Derby win over Newcastle Jets in Round 22.
The 45-year-old caretaker believes a strong Mariners, two-time Premiers (2007/08, 2011/12) and Championship winners in 2012/13, is important for the strength of the Hyundai A-League.
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“It’s such a great club with a massive opportunity to be a strong regional club,” Stajcic said ahead of Sunday’s clash with Adelaide United, his first home match at the helm.
“We’ve probably lost our way over the last couple of years..
“As I’ve said many times, the A-League needs strong regional clubs to be successful and healthy.
“There really needs to be stability and harmony to be able to attract the right kind of players to have a club that can show promise and excitement.”
While some fans may be plotting a swift return to the top following the high of Round 22’s incredible F3 Derby triumph, Stajcic urged his players to focus on their immediate concerns.
Although ultimately a morale-boosting evening, familiar frailties were still exposed and the Mariners nearly surrendered their 3-0 goal lead against the Jets, with goalkeeper Ben Kennedy required to make two penalty saves in stoppage time.
“At the end of the day we’ve got a structure that we have to put in place and we have to make sure we’re disciplined and concentrating for the whole period of time and not having lapses,” Stajcic said.
“Even in the Newcastle game we showed that we haven’t been able to do it for 90 minutes yet.
The hard work continues. This Sunday, we’re back in Gosford! #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/Ho2obsbgTq
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) March 26, 2019
“To be able to pull out a performance that has all those factors in it for a full game is the first big step we have to achieve.
“And even though we won that game we didn’t achieve that goal of finishing out a full 90-95 minutes, to be able to win matches consistently.”
Stajcic said the international break had come at a good time for the Mariners with a number of key players back in contention, including club captain Matt Simon, who returns from a two-week suspension.
“It’s been good, we’ve got two weeks of training under our belt,” Stajcic explained.
“We had a few days off after that game but it’s been good to just get a good block of training in and just prepare for this game against Adelaide.
“We’ve got Matt Simon, [Michael] McGlinchey and [Andrew] Hoole back in contention.
“We’ve obviously got Aiden O’Neill and Kye Rowles back in contention so it’s been a pleasant reinforcement of the troops and now we’ve got competition for places which is what we want.”
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