While Arnold doesn't officially begin his new role until after his commitments with the Socceroos end at the FIFA World Cup, the former NAC Breda, Sydney Olympic and Northern Spirit striker said he was keen to assess the job that lies ahead.

"My vision is to try to get the Central Coast Mariners back up the top," he said. "With the Centre of Excellence, it's so exciting to have that type of thing up on the Central Coast, and this should be the club that everyone wants to be at over the next five years.

"Something that I always wanted to do was to get back into club football. I've had a wonderful experience working during probably the most successful period of the Socceroos, and my job here really commences after the World Cup in July.

"But with so much work to do, I decided to start a bit earlier, while I can be here, and I'm really excited about being on the field every day."

Arnold has been a national team assistant since 1999 and has held roles as Under 20s coach and interim national team boss.

He believes his time learning under the likes of Frank Farina, Guus Hiddink and Pim Verbeek through three World Cup qualifying campaigns - two of those ultimately successful - holds him in good stead for the next chapter.

"After 2006 I wasn't ready to leave the national team setup but I am now," he said. "I've had a wonderfully successful time with the FFA and I'm really excited about what the Mariners bring and I'm extremely excited about working with Lawrie.

"We've discussed this process of change for quite a while because Lawrie has done a brilliant job up here, he's been fantastic for the supporters and the community, and I would have been a fool to throw him away."

The Mariners squad under Arnold is likely to look vastly different to the one which narrowly missed out on a spot in the Hyundai A-League 2009/109 finals series.

The man who has spent a large chunk of his career in the Netherlands and Belgium, and has learned under the masters of Dutch coaching, already has a strong idea of who he would like to see in Yellow and Navy for season six.

He added: "One of the crucial things immediately is player recruitment.

"We've got quite a few players off contract and ... I am looking, in the next few months, with Lawrie and Lyall, to bring in some good Australian-based players, potentially some Australian players based overseas to bring back home as well as a couple of really good foreigners.

"Really good visa players that can excite the Central Coast Mariners supporters, strengthen the league and make us a better team."