A good night's shuteye is a rare occurrence for Ruben Zadkovich.

"I have three daughters under six. If they aren't in my bed three times a night for different reasons, it is football keeping me up," Zadkovich.

Initially handed the keys to Perth Glory as caretaker coach midway through last season, Zadkovich now has the registration papers. Full ownership.

He inked a two-year contract in June and is full tilt at engineering a rebuild of the famous club. On Saturday, they take on the Jets at McDonlad Jones Stadium.

"Last year, I inherited a team that was down the bottom and had a lot of injuries," said Zadkovich, who stepped up from the youth team to replace Richie Garcia after he was sacked.

"It was an unwinnable situation but we just had to keep doing our best. Basically, I grabbed youth team players and threw them in the deep end, playing games every three or four days away from home. It just felt like a whirlwind.

"I was trying to caretake the club through that difficult period. That run or away games, where we copped a couple of heavy defeats, were really difficult. I still learnt a lot and got a lot out of it, but it didn't feel like mine.

"This season, we were able to bring a heap of fresh faces in, but it is going to take some time to get the club where it needs to be."

Zadkovich is not adverse to hard work. As a player, Zadkovich's game was all industry. High energy, high intensity. He played 165 A-League games, including 97 for the Jets, where he was captain, and was on the books at Queens Park Rangers and Notts County.

"Nothing has ever really been easy for me," Zadkovich said. "I am happy to fight and work hard for whatever I get in the game. "A journo said to me [last season], you have taken on the hardest job in football in some regards.

"I feel really lucky, really humbled to lead such a fantastic club. There is a lot of work to be done.

"You do less coaching in this role and more management. You are making decisions about things that aren't purely football.

"We have a new CEO, a new admin staff, new staff in the A-League space, the academy has been restructured, we have a new training ground that we are trying to get up to standard, we don't have a home stadium this season ... there have been so many moving parts that have made a difficult job even more difficult.

"I am just sinking my teeth into that and not really looking backwards. I just look forwards, forwards, forwards.

"The narrative can be convoluted and people always have their opinions, but we just focus on what needs to happen and what the process of getting better looks like."

Zadkovich's support staff Chris Coyne, Andy Keogh and Joe Gallen have similar DNA. Gallen coached Zadkovich at QPR and has 28 years experience working in the English Championship and League One.

"There wouldn't be many better or more experienced coaches than Joe in the country," Zadkovich said. "I am very much principle orientated and Joe has a simple perspective on football. He sees things for what they are very quickly."

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Zadkovich's other support team, wife Bianca and girls Lyla 5, Willow, 4, and Harper, 2, are equally important.

"The release from football for me is my wife and three girls," Zadkovich said. "We bought a house at North Beach, about 500 metres from the water. We started renovations when we bought it. Just to make a little more work for myself, I am project managing that, helping look after three kids and running an A-League club."

Back track three years, Zadkovich was in charge of Broadmeadow Magic. The principles he installed during three seasons at Magic Park remain pillars.

"When I started at Broadmeadow Magic it took a while," Zadkovich said. "In round eight we were 10th in the NPL. There was a lot of pressure on me. I remember reading an article which suggested I had lost the dressing room. That made me laugh. Then we went on a run of 10 or 11 straight wins. It takes time for players to learn the philosophy of the coach, especially if it is detailed.

My model is quite detailed and there is a lot of variations. Little queues and triggers that make it work. I am seeing glimpses of it but there is just not enough of it.

"The good thing is that our attitude and effort is really strong. As long as we have that, I know we will keep improving."

"[Owner] Tony Sage he has been really supportive and given me time. He knows this is a rebuild. He knows it is going to take time and he knows it is a transition period for the club."

So what will be a measure of success?

"The first step for us is to be competitive and put some pride into the jersey."

That starts on Saturday against the Jets.