The ingredients make for a cultured approach once perceived as being beyond that of the Australian style of football. There were times were Okon almost agreed, until he watched another local coach prove otherwise.

For all of the high-profile and famous names who shaped Okon's view on coaching, it was watching Ange Postecoglou's Brisbane Roar "invincibles" of 2011 that became his greatest coaching influence.

"People talk about what the Roar did and the Roar did that with Australian players," Okon said. "That gave me the motivation to do the same because Australian players can play that type of football. I saw that with the Young Socceroos and there's no reason why I can't replicate that with senior footballers in the A-League."

In the eyes of one of Australia's most decorated, gifted and successful footballers, it was proof that a continental style of football could be replicated domestically. It became one of the main reasons he decided to pursue a coaching career with such passion and proving detractors wrong was the first challenge he laid down to the Central Coast Mariners squad when appointed their new coach on the eve of the season.

In his debut year coaching a club, Okon has since transformed the worst-performing Australian club in the history of the A-League into a side now vying for the top six. They enter the round nine clash against Western Sydney Wanderers inside the finals bracket and most importantly for Okon, having done so striving to play his brand of football.

"You need to be dynamic, you need to be fast otherwise you're constantly building up against really structure oppositions. You need to be able to go forward with real intent but be able to keep the ball at the same time," he said. "It's the way modern football is going unless you have the philosophy where you're prepared to allow the opposition to have the ball and sit back and that's really in me to play that way."

In inheriting a squad hastily put together by former coach Tony Walmsley that had many pundits predicting would finish bottom of the league, Okon's first speech was one challenging the players to strive towards performance standards only. It was to make the Mariners disciplined in defence, quick and mobile in attack while controlling spells of possession against teams that previously dominated them with ease. Any player who didn't think that was possible was free to leave.

"If there was anyone who didn't think we could do that or was against it, they could let us know and we would come to an agreement and they could move on. I had an immediate response from everyone and I saw that in the first session. I knew immediately that everyone was going to buy into it," he said. "From that point, it's been easy."

One of the biggest tasks he faced was breathing confidence back into a club that was previously bereft of any. The pressure was never placed on points immediately, but in performances and standards.

"The players understood that quite quickly," he said.

It was a sense of composure from a man former teammates described as an intense character who would operate as an unofficial coach. His passion was never veiled as a player and now officially in charge of a team, that hasn't changed. His motivation may have once hinged on making a statement, but no lesson taught by any of the greats prepared about for what would keep him going.

"We played a small game at the end of today's session and they're now doing that with a smile on their faces," he said. "As a coach, that's the moment you stand back and enjoy."