If Sydney FC hovering with intent is having an effect on coach and club, Central Coast Mariners boss Graham Arnold isn’t letting it show.
“I coach this team, I love these players, I don’t even think about it,” Arnold said of speculation whether he would switch A-League clubs next season and whether the talk was affecting the Mariners.
For now at least, Arnold appears to be wedded to the Mariners’ cause despite Sydney FC’s keenness to poach the competition’s most sought-after coach.
Arnold’s successful deployment of yet another quality youngster – 19-year-old attacker Tomas Rogic – in the Mariners’ 2-1 loss to Melbourne Victory on Friday night continues his philosophy of giving youth a chance.
“It’s what we believe in, it’s what we can afford,” Arnold said.
“We are a club of kids. What we are trying to do is to be a club of choice for kids to have a go and get a go.
“We’ve won three NAB awards for young player of the month in three months.
“We’ve had quite a few 18 or 19-year-olds out on the pitch … it’s the focus of the club to bring young kids through and give Australian youngsters a go.”
The Mariners also are on the verge of new ownership, with a Russian consortium linked with taking control of a club financially hamstrung all season.
Arnold is confident his side is not feeling the pinch of setting the pace for most of the A-League season despite the Mariners falling to consecutive losses for the first time since 2009.
The result did little to dent their top two hopes, though the door is ajar for Brisbane Roar or Wellington Phoenix to creep within four points of top spot should there be a winner at Westpac Stadium om Sunday.
“I go home happy even though we lost,” he said of the Victory defeat.
“That’s the best we’ve played football-wise in a long time.”