At the starting gate of the A-League Men’s finals arrive five clubs that have truly ridden the regular season rollercoaster.

Auckland’s Premiers Plate-winning consistency aside, there’s been quite the mix. Adelaide United promised plenty but have limped to the line following a crash in form bettered (or worsened) only by Sydney FC, who have missed altogether.

In contrast, Western Sydney and Melbourne City have peaked at the right time after slow starts, but face familiar questions: the Wanderers as to whether they can unburden themselves of their poor finals history; City, the hollow musing of whether lifting a trophy in an empty stadium makes a sound. Western United have been exciting on the pitch, but the parlous state of their finances off it have been laid bare in the past fortnight.

So, perhaps it’s Victory who will benefit from navigating their issues nice and early. Patrick Kisnorbo’s shock pre-Christmas departure saw the club’s administration reeling, and the job fall to assistant Arthur Diles, who held no senior managerial experience.

Diles has provided a steady hand in guiding the club to fifth, in a manner that could be viewed under the radar compared to the chaos elsewhere. Now installed as permanent manager, he’ll take the Victory to Parramatta to meet the Wanderers, where he spent five years in various roles, in Saturday’s eliminator.

‘Although we’d have liked to finish higher on the ladder, we’ve been consistently in the Top Six the whole year, so in that sense things have been good’, Diles told Box2Box.

‘The season has been quite inconsistent for most teams, there have been some surprises and some big casualties, so for us to have been there the whole year is something we’re really proud of, and can now look forward from.’

Diles’ name does not yet possess the weight of those he follows at Victory, be it Merrick or Muscat, Postecoglou or Popovic. But he is clearly held in very high regard by the latter, who carved the Wanderers early history as manager while Diles held that club’s National Youth League and underage portfolios.

Popovic then took Diles to Greece for his short-lived stint at Xanthi, and later called him to Melbourne ahead of last year’s A-League Men’s season. Retained at Victory for what looked a new era under Patrick Kisnorbo, his opportunity came out of the blue as Kisnorbo cut ties after twelve games.

‘That’s football! You see it many times, but don’t often live it. It did happen really unexpectedly, really quickly. The club went into succession mode, there was an opportunity for Patrick to go, and that opened up an opportunity for myself.

‘I believed I was ready, and sincerely thank the club for backing me. It wasn’t an easy start. Those first four-to-five games I didn’t have a [formal] assistant, the travel we had didn’t allow time to interview coaches to come in and assist me.

‘So of the staff that were there, we rolled up our sleeves and said ‘let’s do this.’ We got through the turbulence, from there have continued to have a good season, and here we are today.’

For a club that likes to consider it the biggest in the country, Victory’s contribution to the Socceroos’ playing stocks over the past decade has been below par, and well below that of rivals Sydney, City and Adelaide. Perhaps it should not surprise given Popovic’s appointment, but to the delight of the fans and club this season, the tide has turned.

The contributions of Nishan Velupillay, Ryan Teague, Daniel Arzani and Jason Geria (who moved to Japan in January) as the Socceroos have been deep in the pressure stages of World Cup qualifying have been of great credit to the club. Furthermore, the performances of Josh Inserra and (on-loan) Alex Badolato as the young Socceroos won January’s U20 Asian Cup.

‘I love that we have this situation to deal with because it is something special, to have three Socceroos currently playing at our club. In the last window we also had four selected for the Olyroos and two for the Young Socceroos, which is something we’re really proud of.

‘We want to know that when we send them off to the national teams that they’re ready, have been chosen because of their ability, and make sure that when they represent the country, it’s a positive reflection on us. It’s one thing to have them prepared… another to then get out there and do the job.’