Graham Arnold to coach Mariners

Former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold will take over the helm of the Central Coast
Mariners with current coach Lawrie McKinna moving into a new off-field role at the
A-League club.
McKinna, who has coached the Mariners since the inaugural A-League season in
2005-06, will move into a football and commercial operations role at the
Gosford-based club.
He has also extended his contract with the club, due to expire at the end of the
2010-11 season, by another year in the process.
Scotsman McKinna led the Mariners to two A-League grand finals in his time in charge
but has seen his team fail to make the finals for the first time this year after a
disappointing run of results.
He also won the inaugural A-League coach of the year prize and led the club through
their Asian Champions League campaign in 2009.
"This is a great opportunity for me," McKinna in a statement.
"I'm excited about the new opportunities that will present themselves within this
role at the club, while still maintaining a strong presence in the football side of
things."
The move means Melbourne Victory boss Ernie Merrick is the only coach to lead just
one A-League club since its inception.
Arnold, who has been involved with the national team for 10 years, will take over
from McKinna at the end of this year's World Cup in South Africa.
He has signed a deal which takes him through to the end of the 2012-13 A-League
campaign.
"Lawrie has played a significant role in bringing this appointment to fruition,"
Mariners executive chairman Lyall Gorman said.
"I know that he looks forward to building a long and fruitful partnership with Graham."
Former Socceroo Arnold was briefly national team boss after the 2006 World Cup until
the 2007 Asian Cup.
The Mariners will end their 2010 A-League campaign in Wellington on Friday.
Current Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek gave Arnold his blessing to step away from the
national team after the World Cup, saying the Mariners would benefit from having him
take over.
"The Central Coast Mariners have had five fantastic years with Lawrie McKinna and
they are very fortunate to have Graham as their new coach," Verbeek said in a
statement.
"I am sure that the players and club will benefit greatly from his knowledge and
experience."
Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said the national body had
no objections with Arnold signing a deal with the Mariners despite still being a
part of the national set-up.
"Graham's current coaching contract with FFA is set to conclude at the end of the
2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, and although we are disappointed that he will no
longer be involved with the national team, we wish him all the best for his new
challenge," Buckley said.
Arnold, whose playing career took him to Holland, Belgium and Japan, made 85
appearances for Australia with his final fixture being the infamous World Cup
qualifier against Iran in Melbourne in 1997.