Arnie in! Graham Arnold to continue on as head coach of the Socceroos

Every cloud has a silver lining Rob, and yeah, the coffers may be low, but this gives Arnold the complete and unadulterated opportunity to hang himself. And that's a good thing!!

love ya work Saffi

When Arnold was Sydney FC's Gaffer, the Amazon-like flow of uneducated drivel that came out of his mouth was astounding. I believe nothing has changed. Those lads are all professional footballers. Why? Because they have the competitive edge, they want to win, they want to score, and what footballer does not want to go to the WC! I would suggest that in Arnold's case nothing has changed.

once a Newie lad, always a Newie lad. The sarcasm is part of the Newcastle DNA. No......I think Arnold has done enough damage for one lifetime, let him slink off into retirement anonymity.

I believe he could have gotten more out of this team. I would suggest he took the wrong approach from the outset. I would suggest he didnt have the knowledge or international experience that would enable him to get the most out of his team, using the right players in the right positions to maximum effect.

I beg to differ. By sacking Arnold (who I will open acknowledge is a museum piece who’s well out of his depth) it not only fuels the backyard codes anti-football rhetoric, and provides a situation for the media that is akin to wolves to a carcass, but it has a psychological effect on the lads in my opinion. They know he’s gone, and I would suggest that Arnold has been told, “you will take advice from more knowledgeable sources, no questions asked!” James Johnson and Danny Townsend sit at the top of the ladder and to think they didnt have their eyes on this situation for some time now is to suggest that they are not football knoweldgeable, it’s completely opposite in this instance. Handle the situation diplomatically, work toward a successful Women’s WC next year and making a healthy financial windfall, and then attack the next WC qualifiers with younger lads who’ve had time to garner more experience, get more time in their legs. With that approach FA walks away smelling of roses. I know you as much as I, want to grab hold of Arnold, shake him and ask what freakin’ reality he’s living in, but that’s going to achieve nothing. Constructive evolution, learn from the mistakes, progress stronger and smarter.

As my old boy says, "as much as it hurts, sometimes you need a kick in the shins to understand the pain and how to operate smarter next time"

Grem, Chris, I would suggest that this somewhat unenlightened individual has nothing to do with football. He doesnt go out and engage with the football community, he’s never looked at the football being played by 12-14 year olds, he’s not aware of the young lads we have overseas, and most importantly, he has no concept of what evolutionary construct is. Grem, mate love your response, and yes you are spot on. Do you remember what Oli Bozanic did to Arjen Robben in that Netherlands game. Oli had his number from the get-go. Please correct me if you dont agree Grem, Chris, but I believe that next year when we host a Women’s World Cup, this country is in for the shock of it’s life. The backyards sports kids have no concept of the size or scope of what’s coming our way. Bring it on, let the enlightenment begin.

That's insightful AA, every day is a learning day

The world has been serious about football for a lot longer than we have. The Japanese have a 20 year headstart on us. When you think about it, an asian cup and and 4 WC's in 16 years is kid of punch above our weight really. And when will the backyard codes bring home several million bucks for four games. Your statement illustrates you as one of two types. A) a Eurosnob or B) a backyard code fan. I would recommend you give Facebook a rest for five minutes and look up "Phased Strategic Evolution".......no wait, they have more than one syllabal.......dont wont worry about.

you bored mate? nothing else to do with your time? surely you have tickets to a backyard code game?

Whaaaaat!!! That's an expensive museum piece.

Morning Mike, To a degree I have to concur. What will a new Gaffer do for 2 matches......Nothing!!. I believe the key part of the statement is "until the end of World Cup qualifying". The moment we lose, Arnold is out the door. This whole situation is going to prove a number of points and validate actions going forward. Firstly, it's going to prove that jobs for the boys, and putting your mates in because, hey he won the A-League and he's been around for a while, we should give him a shot, is absolutely a thing of the past. Secondly, it validates the requirement for emotionless, hard fact decisions when it comes to appointing the national Gaffer. It's an absolute screaming crime that Popovic did not get the job in the first place, hence my previous point. But going forward, after this debacle, it means that the National Gaffer needs to be worthy of the job, no some relic who has a single string to his bow (sit back, soak it up and score on the counter). The statement "Football Australia will continue to work closely with Arnold....." does that mean that Arnold is there for appearances, and that Rene Muelensteen and other more competent personnel will be telling Arnold what to do? Which ever way you look at it, Arnold was never going to be good enough, has proved he is not good enough and his departure will mean we can go into damage control and get things back on track.

Id add the 17’s ‘twins’..Caceres and Garuccio..maybe also goive Cummings a go

“The Board of Football Australia believed it was important that we provided a stable environment and to get on with planning for the play-off phase given the very short turn-around,” Chair of Football Australia, Chris Nikou said. Translation: we are absolutely broke and do not want to throw good money after bad.

Franko Some good examples, good memories. Equally, the original poster mentioned Kewell and Dukes, they were already doing well at senior level by the time they were 19. So yes, you get late developers (maybe you can throw Jedi into that category), but you get plenty who are obviously top shelf from very early on.

Even though i think he should be fired out of a circus cannon forthwith, at least we will still be gifted with his dumbfounded 'Christ the Redeemer' pose half a dozen times a game. A reminder to everyone never to eat cornflakes when reading a David Squires cartoon in the Guardian. This week's Arnie-centric one is a stone-cold classic. His prediction against the UAE is spot on too.

I hear you and agree the other codes are different, but my point was never referring to having less players in the game at all, I was saying we seem to have thousands of players and can barely produce a top flight player. Totally agree coaching is the way to go, but after being involved for half my life, we all know soccer is so poorly aligned thru out all the levels & different competitions that the coaching will never translate down and reach those that need it.

Correct decision. Arnold should be given the chance to fail completely.

correct decision. see it through. if we qualify Arnold will be a miracle worker. if not, so be it. lets focus on the Women's world cup, Matildas success and develop a plan for the men's team over the coming two years.