A shock Cricket Australia sacking has made Mickey Arthur a "tougher" coach and better equipped to mentor Pakistan, assistant Steve Rixon says.
However the ex-Test 'keeper has defended Arthur's controversial tenure as Australian coach, laying the blame on CA's administration.
Pakistan coach Arthur is lining up against Australia this summer for the first time since he was sensationally axed weeks before the 2013 Ashes.
Pakistan assistant Rixon said Australia would come up against a more battle-hardened Arthur - and the hosts only had themselves to blame.
"Mickey's got a lot tougher from his Australia days," Rixon told ABC Radio.
"He loves being loved - and that's good for a coach's perspective.
"But there is a line you have to balance up with and I think Mickey has done that well (with Pakistan).
"He has to fight some battles off the field (in Pakistan cricket) which personally I don't like getting involved in.
"But he's in a better position to be able to do that because of what he experienced in the past, what he went through in Australia."
Arthur's two year stint as Australian coach was marred by the infamous "Homeworkgate" incident on the disastrous 2013 India tour which resulted in four Test players being stood down.
Arthur has tried not to lob any grenades since arriving Down Under, stressing that the three-Test series against Australia was "not about me".
But former Australian assistant Rixon did not mind taking what appeared to be a thinly veiled swipe at CA high performance manager Pat Howard.
"He was trying to appease everybody in Australian cricket," Rixon said of Arthur's stint as Australian coach.
"There were administrators getting involved in the coaching side of things.
"That's not how it works, or that's the way it shouldn't work.
"Once you put a coach in their position, let them coach."
