Painful. Difficult. Necessary.
That's the summation of the controversial sacking of former Matildas coach by FFA chief executive David Gallop.
Sitting next to the man who has replaced Stajcic - Ante Milicic - at a press conference in Brisbane on Thursday, Gallop acknowledged the frustration and anger the decision to axe the national team coach in January had generated.
Emphasising a need to move on, Gallop categorically ruled out a review of the decision to sack Stajcic.
The 45-year-old had his contract terminated in January - just five months before the women's World Cup in France - with FFA claiming an internal review had revealed a "toxic" team culture and issues with fat-shaming and homophobic remarks.
Stajcic has denied the allegations levelled at him and argues he has been terminated without cause.
Gallop stood by the decision but said the exact details of the allegations which led to Stajcic's removal are unlikely to ever be made public, with even Milicic being kept in the dark.
"It's been really difficult," Gallop said.
"There are good legal and ethical reasons why we took the approach we took.
"That's been difficult for people, we accept that that's been difficult but when you're dealing with confidential information ... we have to make sure we don't betray that trust as well so that has made it a difficult issue to handle."
While the decision to sack Stajcic won't be reviewed, the FFA board's unhappiness about how the matter has been handled will lead to executive positions such as Gallop's and head of national performance Luke Casserly being reviewed.
Gallop said that process was part and parcel of his role.
"Week-in, week-out you're in a position where what you do is reviewed," he said.
"It's a position that's under scrutiny and we're all used to that, Luke included.
"You don't take decisions to change coaches unless you've got good reason and hard decisions are difficult. This has been particularly difficult."
The controversy of his predecessor's dismissal overshadowed Milicic's first press conference as Matildas coach, without a single question being asked about his 23-player squad for the upcoming Cup of Nations.
The former Socceroo shrugged off concerns about a problematic culture within the team however, suggesting his focus is solely on getting the team back on track for the looming World Cup.
"I can't change the start of this journey but as of today I can have an impact on how it's going to end," he said.
Australian Associated Press
