We should have an open mind when it comes to Graham Arnold as coach. I have my reservations about certain things that he does.

Like a lot of people it’s interesting to see after his success with Sydney how he will be able to mix it on an international basis. Has he got the smarts for it? Has he got the experience for it?

But at the same time he’s already been successful at a good level here. He’s played for Australia and he’s already had a short stint as national team coach.

He’s got a good solid squad. We are defending champions for the Asian Cup – what a great test. We are in a pretty good group that we can hopefully get out of without any problems. We can try out new things, we can be bold.

We can also say, ‘We’ve won an Asian Cup we’ve got the monkey off our back, we don’t have to play this Asian Cup necessarily to win it.

Although I tell you what? It would be pretty good to have two stars on your jumper, that is a good thing.

But I do think we can use this as an opportunity foremost to lead into a World Cup qualifying which is going to be a difficult thing in itself so it’s a perfect opportunity to see what Arnold can bring.

I am right behind him. I wish him nothing but the best for this January. I’ve always been right behind all our coaches.