The new Sky Blues boss has a hard act to follow after the Arnold era delivered two Premierships, the FFA Cup and an A-League Championship over four seasons.

Corica learnt first hand dung Arnold’s reign as the former club captain worked alongside the new Socceroos manager as an assistant.

But for a club like Sydney FC, the pressure to deliver will be immediate.  

While Arnold's assertive personality helped create an authoritative aura, the Sky Blues CEO knows from first-hand experience that Corica can also lay down the law when required.

"Obviously Graham is an extrovert when it comes to the players and the media," he told FTBL.  "Steve is probably the opposite – but it doesn’t mean he can’t be forceful when needs to.

“I’ve seen many occasions where Steve's words and the tone in which he delivers them, people stop and listen because they know he means business.

“We are really confident that Steve will show the type of leadership qualities that we require at a big club like Sydney FC.”

As a player Corica was a firm fan favourite. Out of the 106 matches he played for the Sky Blues, his winning goal in the first ever A-League Grand Final is the moment most fondly remembered.

But Townsend revealed that there is more to Corica than a loyal 13 year club servant.

“First and foremost he’s a great coach,” he said. “We didn’t hire a great player to potentially be a coach.

"We looked at his coaching ability and we’ve had the luxury of seeing it first hand in the last eight years as an assistant coach to our A-League team. We knew we had very good young coach on our hands.

“What we needed to do was make sure he was the right fit for the club at the right time which was why we conducted the search we did.

“The good news was that we went through that process and still arrived at the same decision – and Steve was the right man for the job."

But while Corica was hired because he was the best man for the job, Townsend did admit that keeping senior players involved after they retire is one of the club’s strategies.

“A football club is one big family,” he said. “People evolve through their careers and part of that is a professional football career and then there is also a career beyond that.

“We like to think that our club has reached that level of maturity that we are able to think about those things when we make decisions.

“We do look at continuity and how we can bring people through the club and give them opportunities after football.

“We do that in the coaching ranks and also the administration side of the club.”