Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold says he’s loving life at the Sky Blues ahead of his return to Gosford to face his former club at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday.
Arnold spent three years at the Mariners, clinching the Premiers Plate and Championship, and he’s looking forward to returning to the Stadium he started at in the Hyundai A-League as he hoped the Mariners remain a Central Coast team.
“It’s great, I had three wonderful years up there,” Arnold said.
“We had three successful fantastic years together and I know that they appreciate everything I did for the club.
“It’s a wonderful stadium that I’m looking forward to going back to. It was a fortress for us, Bluetongue, when I was there,” he continued.
“That’s why I can’t understand what the owner is doing, taking games away from Gosford and from the Central Coast people, because he took a game away to North Sydney that was the laughing stock of the A-League.
“People tend to forget that I left Central Coast Mariners to go to Japan and now I’ve come back and I’m loving the job here at Sydney FC.”
With three fresh faces introduced to the squad, Arnold is hopeful that the trio can play some part on Saturday night, with their International Transfer Clearances the only thing standing in the way of them making their debuts.
Cousins Jacques Faty and Mickael Tavares joined the Sky Blues early last week while young winger Robert Stambolziev linked up with his new team mates on Wednesday.
“We’re hoping that all three will play,” Arnold said.
“We’re waiting for the ITC’s on all three and hopefully they will make their debut tomorrow night.
“They’ve added a lot of quality to the squad, you can see the intensity in the training sessions, they’re three great pro’s and you can see they’re extremely motivated.”
Sydney FC take on the Central Cost Mariners at Central Coast Stadium this Saturday as the Hyundai A-League emerges from its Asian Cup hiatus. Follow @SydneyFC for LIVE match updates or catch the game on Fox Sports 4.
