Jim Magilton. Credit:Sebastian Costanzo Yesterday he said he still wanted to be involved in the game at the highest level and believed that his travails at Victory, where he had to deal with huge expectation from fans and the club's management, had made him a stronger person. He said he believes that if he had been given more time he could have got Victory back into a winning groove. Durakovic said he bore no ill will to the players or the club administration after he was given his marching orders barely half way through his first season and predicted that with the strength of players at his disposal, his successor, Jim Magilton, should take Victory to the finals. ''I hope they do get there. I spent a long time at the club and having coached the youth team I know a lot of the younger boys there, too. They have some good quality players and if things go right they should get there,'' Durakovic said. He said that had things been different and he had not been axed, he could have steadied the ship. ''I was learning there with every game and given more time I think we definitely would have improved. But that's how football is, it's cut-throat and people want results. They have got a lot of experience in that squad and I really hope they make it.''

Durakovic has taken time off since his dismissal but the hurt of his sacking is still as acute today as it was on January 6, when he was given the news that he had no future with the club. ''It really hurts me what happened, but I enjoyed my time there. Sometimes it's just about results and expectations are right up there. I felt that I had done well in that Asian Champions League campaign, that we played well there and got some good results [a win, three draws and a defeat in five games after he took over following Ernie Merrick's dismissal after the 5-1 ACL loss in Osaka] and I felt like I had earned the job. ''It takes time to set your own standards and philosophies and I wish I had that as I felt I could have turned it around, but I won't make excuses. I never crucified the players and I never will.'' Kewell's assertion last week that Durakovic was just too nice a man to be in charge, clearly rankles. ''A coach can be friends and banter with players, a manager is like a general," Kewell was quoted as having said. ''You can talk and maybe have a laugh but you have to know there's a line you can't cross, a cut-off point, and Mehm didn't know that. I believe he may have listened to other people and got gun-shy.''

The 46-year-old said his mild-mannered approach belied his gentle nature, not his desire to be everyone's pal. ''I don't really get angry, I am not that kind of guy,'' Durakovic said. ''I would rather be friends than not, but my way is to encourage rather than shout. That's always been my philosophy in football. It's up to people how they perceive that.'' There is a major contrast between the softly, softly Durakovic approach and the rat-a-tat banter at a Magilton training session. Yesterday the Irishman, buoyed by Victory's first win under his control over the Mariners last Friday, was in ebullient mood at training at Gosch's Paddock. ''Dumb and dumber,'' he yelled at striker Jean Carlos Solarzano and a teammate as they messed up a passing drill before shooting. ''Nice pass back to the goalie,'' he yelled to Billy Celeski as the midfielder's cross fell softly into the custodian's hands. Magilton is a fast-talking wisecracker who clearly loves the banter of the training field, something he learnt in the far more competitive and less genteel English environment where he played and learned his coaching skills. ''It's 11.10am, welcome to the morning, thanks for coming'', he chided a group whom he thought were not training with the intensity required.

Nobody took umbrage and everyone redoubled their efforts for a man who likes having a laugh. When a journalist recently reminded him that Victory's 0-0 draw with the Heart was the first time it had kept the opposition scoreless in 13 games he shot back quickly ''cheers Statto, thanks for that''. The mood in the Victory camp is optimistic after the win over the Mariners in which Carlos Hernandez showed a welcome return to form and Kewell scored a marvellous winner. Magilton is credited by the Victory hierarchy with bringing in a hard edge and positive energy to the team (which has won one, drawn four and lost one during his tenure). If he can galvanise them into getting a result in Brisbane at the weekend and then driving them into the finals he will have made a compelling argument for getting the job full-time. Young winger Marco Rojas, who has been a more regular fixture in the starting line up in recent weeks, was singing the new coach's praises yesterday, particularly his humorous criticism. ''They [Magilton and Durakovic] have different views on football. He's [Magilton] given us that confidence, that's all you need in football. He's helped out a lot of players and that's why it's getting better for us,'' Rojas said.