Graham Arnold - Managerial Career

Managerial Career

Arnold had a cameo role as a coach very early on in his career. He was coach for 2 games whilst he was a player at Sydney Croatia during the 1989/90 season. However, his proper coaching career started in 1998, when he was appointed player/manager of the Northern Spirit FC. He was the coach for 2 seasons, making the playoffs in their debut season. He was then appointed to the position of Australian assistant coach in 2000, becoming acting coach in July 2006, then appointed head coach in December 2006.

On 6 September 2006 Australia was defeated 2-0 in an Asian Cup qualifying game against lowly-ranked Kuwait. The FFA confirmed Arnold would remain Head Coach through to the end of 2007 Asian Cup campaign.

Australia started their Asian Cup campaign poorly, drawing with Oman in its opening Group stage game in Bangkok. Media pressure focused on Arnold and on 13 July 2007 Australia were beaten 3-1 by Iraq in the 2007 Asian Cup. Following the match, Arnold told the assembled media (in reference to some of the team's higher profile members), "There's some players who seem like they don't want to be here. I'm extremely disappointed."

In a poll conducted by Four Four Two, Graham Arnold, as voted by the subscribers, was found to have been the most influential reason for Australia's failed progression at the 2006 Asian Cup, with an overwhelming 78% of the vote

Since the tournament, Arnold has continued his role as Manager of the Australian U-23 side that is in the final qualification stages for the 2008 Olympics. He was also linked with the manager's position at Bolton Wanderers and Norwich City in England but lost out to Gary Megson and Glenn Roeder respectively.

With the appointment of Dutchman Pim Verbeek as the Australian manager, Arnold along with Henk Duut served as his assistant to the national side during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

On 9 February 2010, it was announced that Arnold will take on the position of head coach for the Central Coast Mariners until the end of the 2012/2013 season. At the conclusion of the 2011-12 A-League season he rejected a lucrative contract from Sydney FC and decided to stay on with the mariners signing a one year extension to his original contract with the club.