Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold has confirmed he’s been approached to make a move to a European side, but says Sky Blues fans need not worry about him leaving the A-League club.
Arnold on Tuesday would not name which club had shown interest in his services but said it had come from one of the Dutch outfits he used to play for, narrowing it down to Roda JC and NAC Breda.
“You get agents ringing you all the time asking you what your position is contractually. I’m the Sydney FC coach and I love the job, I’m enjoying the job,” Arnold told AAP at the A-League launch in Sydney.
“It always comes out of Holland, that type of stuff. It’s mainly down to the fact that I played there for six years. I’ve worked with Guus Hiddink.”
Arnold is still highly regarded by the Dutch, having made a name for himself there during the 1990s during which time he scored nearly 60 goals over more than 120 games.
Reports also claim former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink has sounded the 52-year-old out about potentially becoming his assistant in the unlikely event he is made manager at English Premier League club Liverpool.
Hiddink left his post as The Netherlands coach in June after less than a year in charge and following a run of poor results.
However former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp is the clear frontrunner to take over the Reds in place of the sacked Brendan Rodgers.
Any attempt by an overseas club to poach Arnold would have Sydney FC up in arms to keep the former Central Coast Mariners mentor who took the Sky Blues to last season’s grand final following years of lacklustre results.
Despite being steamrolled 3-0 by Melbourne Victory in the May decider, the rebuilt team boast impressive depth in 2015/16 including former Serbia international Milos Ninkovic and Slovakian marquee Filip Holosko.
JonJax
Guest
Australia exporting coaches , in the Worlds most competitive endeavour , is laudable . Any chance FC could entice Senior Gombau back?
At work
Roar Rookie
Fair call Gareth, but I still think he would be hesitant to go outside the A-League so soon for fear of failure. Either way, I hope he stays!
Gareth
Guest
It'd be different in Europe where English is very common. But Arnold speaks Dutch (apparently) anyway so it shouldn't be an issue
jbinnie
Guest
albatross - Don't know about tarnished but here are interesting figures Hiddink -14 different jobs in 28 years. Van Haal - 10 jobs in 28 years. Advicaat -21 jobs in 35 years. Compare this with - Ferguson 4 jobs in 40 years Wenger 4 jobs in 31years Get my drift about "coaching gypsies' . Cheers jb
jbinnie
Guest
At work - This is a very sensible reply. Cheers jbj
At work
Roar Rookie
Roda JC - Can't enough of the Aussies right now. Arnie won't go, I think he'd be very nervous about any team where English isn't the first language after the Japanese disaster
albatross
Roar Pro
Hiddink , Advocaat, and Van Gaal - bit tarnished of late...
jbinnie
Guest
I would think Graham would be too long in the tooth to join the Dutch coaching "gypsies",men who travel from club to club all around the world no doubt using the reputation gained by Holland as a leader in coach education.For those who doubt the existence of this group just look up the CV's of not only "top" coaches like Hiddink , Advocaat, and Van Gaal but the men with whom we have had first hand experience here in Australia,Baan,Berger,and Verbeek not to mention the "disaster " who looked after our young teams for a few years when they amassed their worst ever run of results.All have "come and gone" moving to greener pastures leaving us with a legacy that is based on ideas first fermented in an English study released in the early 70's. No GA has been around the traps too long and will know if,where,and when, to move to Europe if he so desires. jb
Fadida
Guest
You old dog Arnie. It's like man with 2 ex-wives saying " I've been propositioned by a woman. I won't say who, but it was an ex" :)