Sheffield United: When 'Prehistoric' World Cup coach nearly took charge at Bramall Lane

Nine years ago, after parting company with Danny Wilson before being beaten in the League One play-off semi-finals, United interviewed the former Central Coast Mariners chief for their vacant managerial position before eventually appointing David Weir instead.

But the talks between Arnold, one of the most respected figures in the Australian game, and the panel tasked with grilling him did not go well. In fact, despite the Mariners’ close links with United, Arnold labelled his would-be employers as “prehistoric” during an incendiary outburst following a video conference call with Dave Bassett.

“In all honesty, I didn’t have to think too long or too hard about it,” Arnold told a newspaper in his home country afterwards. “It just wasn’t for me. Forget that the financial offer was quite poor, but I would have been taking three steps backwards in my development as a professional coach if I’d have gone.”

“I walked out of that meeting with the club’s board and football director Dave Bassett and just thought ‘Wow’, it just blew me away,” Arnold added. “Being one of the bigger lower league clubs, I was expecting a lot more in terms of how they wanted to develop as a club on the field. But they just didn’t seem interested when I was talking about playing a short passing game and taking the football another level up. It was all about smashing the ball long and working on set-pieces…it was prehistoric stuff. That’s not the way to develop a team.”

Bassett, who had been asked to help advise his former club as they searched for Wilson’s replacement, later disputed Arnold’s take on their discussions. United eventually hired Weir, whose style was much more akin to the one preferred by Arnold, when Bassett stepped away from the process. However, his hopes of making a positive impact were dashed when Kevin McDonald, United’s midfield player-maker, was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Weir was eventually sacked after only 13 games in charge, with Nigel Clough unveiled as his successor.

United remained in the third tier until Chris Wilder took them up in 2017, before leading them to promotion again two seasons later. After finishing ninth in the top-flight, they were then relegated with Heckingbottom, unveiled last term, steering them to second in the table ahead of the pause in the domestic fixture programme.

Arnold, now aged 59, worked for Vegalta Sendai in Japan and Sydney FC before being asked to oversee Australia’s under-23 side. He became chief of the Socceroos in 2018, stepping-up to replace Bert van Marwijk following the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Australia face France tomorrow before concluding their Group D campaign with meetings against Tunisia and Denmark. United return to action on December 10th, when Huddersfield Town are scheduled to visit South Yorkshire.