News Corp football journalist Marco Monteverde reported on Monday night that Victory chairman John Dovaston and football director John Didulica are in advanced discussions with former Macarthur FC head coach Ante Milicic about leaving his post as the manager of China's national women's team to head to AAMI Park for 2026/27.
Diles led the Victory to the 2024-25 A-League Grand Final, a 1-0 loss to crosstown rivals Melbourne City, before they were eliminated by eventual Grand Finalists Sydney FC in the elimination final of this season's competition.
As an assistant coach, he stepped up as an interim boss during the 2024/25 season following the sudden departure of his superior Patrick Kisnorbo, the man who would ultimately defeat him in his final game as Victory coach.
Diles departed with a win rate of 40% from exactly 50 A-League games in charge, whilst the club also suffered a shock and premature exit from the 2025/26 Australia Cup when they lost to NPL WA club Olympic Kingsway 4-3 in July 2025.
An elimination finals exit would almost have certainly been considered a failure by the Victory board given the immense success of Spanish World Cup winner Juan Mata, particularly as Diles was unsuccessful in finding a consistently scoring striker.
According to Monteverde, a shocked Diles was informed of his sacking only after participating in player retention discussions, which the head coach would have spent the last fortnight mulling over since Victory's finals elimination.