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SYDNEY FC coach Graham Arnold hit back at tactical criticism from young Newcastle Jets coach Scott Miller by reminding his rival of the looming threat of the axe at the troubled club.
With just one senior match under his belt, the opening-round 2-1 win over Wellington, Miller spoke this week of his surprise that Arnold did not play with a higher press given the talent at his disposal.
"Obviously with the personnel Graham has got, I'd play a different style, with the high press, but they tend to sit back and let us play," Miller said at the Jets season launch on Wednesday.
In response to Miller's criticism of Sydney FC's tactics, Arnold took a swipe at the 34-year-old coach, hinting he should focus more on avoiding the sack than publicly commenting on his team's tactics.
"It's a nice gesture from Scott to give me some advice," Arnold said before their clash on Saturday.
"I've been coaching now for 15, 20 years. It's the first time an opposition coach has given me any type of advice before a game, and we'll definitely have a look at what he's talking about."
Arnold went on to claim that the Jets were a title contender this year, following their season-opening upset of last year's surprise packets Wellington.
"We have to respect what Scott's doing. He's the most successful coach in A-League history at the moment. So we're listening," he said.
While Arnold mostly laughed off Miller's comments at the pre-game press conference, he delivered a subtle reminder of the trapdoor many coaches stand over, which is especially true at the Jets, who could come under new management before the end of the season.
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"For me, always at the start of the year it's about not becoming a statistic of A-League coaching,’’ Arnold said. ‘‘The A-League is 10 years old and since I’ve been coaching in 2010 I think there’s been five or six coaches that get sacked at the end of the year.
‘‘I’m very confident that I’ve got a full watertight contract and most other coaches have only got three-month contracts, so I’m happy about that.’’
Arnold is one of the few coaches in the history of the competition who has not been sacked or released from a club. The Sky Blues will be sweating on the fitness of marquee man Filip Holosko, who is suffering from a grade-one hamstring tear.
The Slovak international’s injury is minor and he could play, but Arnold hinted at resting his prized signing away to the Jets as a precaution.
Holosko has not trained with the rest of the squad this week due to the injury.
‘‘Filip is a 50-50 chance at the moment,’’ Arnold said. ‘‘As to whether I risk him this week and potentially push him out on the field, and if it doesn’t go well, he could be missing for six weeks, it is one of those situations with a hamstring that sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry.’’
Defender Alex Gersbach is a chance to make his season debut but must also prove his fitness after suffering a minor hip flexor injury while away on international duty.
AAP reports: Adelaide and Western Sydney played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Coopers Stadium on Friday after Spaniard Andreu found the net for both sides.
The Wanderers midfielder helped the Reds take the lead midway through the first half courtesy of a headed own goal before dramatically salvaging a point in the 83rd minute.
Western Sydney attacked from the first whistle, and the visitors did not have to wait long for their first chance in front of 9442 spectators.
On five minutes, Mitch Nichols slipped Romeo Castelen in behind the defence, but the Dutch flyer blasted his shot into the side netting.
Adelaide broke the deadlock in the 21st minute, albeit with a slice of luck, when Reds midfielder Isaias dinked a delightful ball over the Wanderers defence to release Tarek Elrich, who broke through a weak Scott Neville tackle.
Elrich shaped to pick out a teammate inside the area but his cross took a wicked deflection off Andreu and the ball looped into the back of the net with keeper Andrew Redmayne rooted to the spot.
The visitors repeatedly wasted attacking opportunities until a poor clearance from Elrich landed at Andreu’s feet inside the box.
The Spanish midfielder jinked around a defender and picked out the top corner from 10 metres.
What a ****ing flog Arnold is.