Central Coast Mariners coach Graham Arnold, has never made it a secret he prefers the first past the post system, but as the 2012-2013 Premiership slipped away, he had to re-asses his, the players and the clubs goals and re-focus their aim.
All that remained was the Championship, something that has eluded the club for seven years despite being the most consistently successful club in the A-League, having reached three grand finals in the process.
My last article on the Mariners didn’t bode so well with a few of the Mariners faithful as I pointed out there was one thing wrong with the Mariners on-field play – at times they were chokers.
‘Consistently successful’ would be two words commonly associated with the Mariners in terms of on-field achievements, but when a consistent success was required on the grander occasions the word ‘chokers’ would rear its ugly head.
Despite this one irregularity in the Mariners football, I did go as far to say “I believe the first demon the Mariners have to overcome is wining a grand final. If they can’t win in front of an audience of 40,000 spectators and 300,000 viewers in an Australian A-League grand final, how can they go any further into their third ACL campaign?”
Ironically, the Mariners would do just that.
In front of a packed Allianz Stadium with 42,102 passionate fans, and close to 300,000 viewers on hand to witness the Mariners finally break their hoodoo, they would finally rid themselves of the demonic chokers tag which had given them the unfortunate achievement of three grand final defeats.
What sparked my initial article on the Mariners as chokers was their ACL match against Suwon Bluewings a few months ago.
They were provided with a perfect opportunity in the 88th minute to seal three points at home. Nick Montgomery would fail to capitalise on the penalty created and Mariners were left to wonder.
Having missed their last four penalties in a row, lacking the mental strength to close out tight matches, failing to capitalise on 2-0 leads against opposition in the past, it was surely taking its toll and I wasn’t the only one to brand the Mariners as chokers.
Fox Sports created a montage on the Mariners and the continuing trend that was choking.
It definitely was a thorn in the side of the Mariners. Graham Arnold said “It’s very hurtful when people write that we’re chokers. We’ve played in three grand finals in seven years before this… that was a motivation for us so thank you (media) for helping with that.”
Now some of you may say, “Chokers, what chokers? You sir have egg on your face.”
I guess you could say articles like mine and the media beat up about being chokers has been a blessing in disguise, but from an Australian football fans point of view, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now that the dreaded chokers tag has been relinquished the Mariners can focus on their third ACL campaign. After travelling 16 hours to Korea to face Suwon Bluewings and walk away with an amazing 1-0 win, I can say with honest conviction, I believe the Mariners can continue their ironic twist to what I wrote two months ago.
The next question that remains is can the Mariners do what no Australian team has done before and win the Asian Champions League?
Riding a wave of emotion, commitment and confidence, I wouldn’t put it past the Mariners in becoming the first A-League team to win it.
Only time will tell, but in the meantime the Mariners will now have a few days to enjoy what has been an amazing and historic few days for the Central Coast Mariners Football Club.
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