didn't quite know where to put this
For Mariners, help is always handy with Graham Arnold at helm
by:Ray Gatt
From:The Australian April 20, 2013 12:00AM
GRAHAM Arnold is sitting back in his seat outside Cafe5 at the Mariners' training complex at Tuggerah on the NSW central coast, soaking up the autumnal sunshine.
It's Tuesday, just after midday and he is relaxed after being impressed with the solid training session from the Mariners in preparation for tomorrow's A-League grand final against Western Sydney at Allianz Stadium.
Arnold is happy and smiling, but then scrunches up his face, looks away and shifts uneasily in his seat.
It's the sort of reaction you come to expect from a man I have known since the early 1980s. "Arnie" has never liked to reveal too much of himself. Talk football, his mates and the funny times as a player in the old NSL and with the Socceroos, and Arnold is amiable and talkative.
Dig deeper and the steely blue-green eyes squint and he starts to pull away. The Weekend Australian has touched on the still raw subject of the dramas of six weeks ago when the club was almost brought to its knees by a financial crisis that saw the players go almost two weeks without pay.
Arnold's role in keeping the players together, fighting their fights and plunging his hands into his own pockets to help out was paramount to the club's survival.
Amid the dramas, he wasn't happy when The Australian revealed he had given some of the younger players $500 each to help them through the tough period. He simply didn't want to make a fuss of things.
That's the credo - get on with the job, look after each other and stay strong - Arnold has instilled at the Mariners. The players and the staff live and swear by that. It is what has made the club so mentally tough and strong.
On this day, Arnold quickly dismisses any attempts to go over old ground regarding his helping hand to the young players. "No, we don't need to talk about that," he says. "It's done. You do what you do and that's it."
Arnold and the Mariners have been "doing what you do" for a long time now. The club will be playing its fourth grand final in eight years; he will be coaching his second with the Mariners in three years - all done against a backdrop of financial uncertainty and difficulties that have seemingly plagued the club since its inception in 2005.
At the risk of incurring Arnold's wrath again, there are myriad stories we can go over that would detail just how much he and the players have had to go through to get to where they are now. Of how, at one stage, he had to beg people to mow the training pitch because the groundsman hadn't been paid or the big mower had broken down and cost too much to fix.
Of how he has often bought lunch for the players on training days out of his own pocket. Or how, for all of last season, they trained on half a pitch because they couldn't afford to go anywhere else, yet still won the Premier's Plate and were unluckily beaten in the grand final qualifier.
While he is unhappy or unwilling to talk about his role in keeping the club going, he spoke about the anguish the non-payment of wages had caused everyone.
"Yeah, it was a difficult time. For me, personally, it was mentally tough more so because I was worried about the players and their families," he says.
"This is a unique club. We have created a culture here. Any other club and it would have been much harder to deal with those issues. But because of the closeness and togetherness of the boys, we have survived. We used it as motivation and siege mentality.
"I took it hard to be honest. I brought players and staff here ... I didn't want to let them down. You feel responsible in a way and you'll do anything to make it right."
And he did do all he could.
It is why he rates this season the most fulfilling of his three at the Mariners. "Of the three seasons, this is our best," he says without hesitation. "All the stats show we had a better season than last year and year one with the amount of goals scored, we conceded less, got more competition points. For me, this season is already a success.
"I'd like to top it off on Sunday with a win but I am already happy."
Of course, the players swear by Arnold. There is nothing they wouldn't do for him. The younger players especially.
His reign has been marked by his ability to bring youngsters - such as Mustafa Amini, Matt Ryan, Bernie Ibini, Tom Rogic and Trent Sainsbury - through the system, to nurture and guide them.
"When I came here three seasons ago, I said I'll gauge my success by how many young players we produce and how many millionaires I've made of the players," Arnold says. "I signed seven or eight 17-year-olds.
"I'm very happy that six have gone overseas, not to lower leagues in England or wherever, but to top clubs in Europe, South Korea and China. They are all very set and secure for their future life, which is fantastic."
He'd like to do the same next season, scour the place for the next generation of young stars, but whether he will still be here remains to be seen. There are clubs from Europe and Asia circling and he knows his time is almost up.
There'll be no Alex Ferguson-style, 20-year reign at the Mariners for him. "Will I be here next season? I don't know. I have another year on my contract," he says.
"I'd love the challenge of trying to regenerate the squad because we could lose ... three of the young talent (Ryan, Ibini, Sainsbury) overseas. .
"But as much as I am passionate about Australian football and coaching the young talent, I feel I've given as much as I can to the game here. I would love the chance to work in a bigger, more professional league than here.
"Whether that's Asia or Europe, time will tell. But if the opportunity comes, I will take it."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...m-arnold-at-helm/story-fn63e0vj-1226624722898
