Promising Central Coast Mariners defender Trent Sainsbury happy Graham Arnold missed Socceroos job IT could have offered him a fast-track to the Socceroos, but Mariners defender Trent Sainsbury is still secretly grateful that Graham Arnold will continue to guide the Mariners rather than the Socceroos. After 10 days of speculation, confirmation of Ange Postecoglou's appointment with the national team allows last year's champions to chart a continued course under Arnold - starting Saturday against Adelaide at Bluetongue Stadium. Conceding that the visitors are settling into a rhythm under Spanish coach Josep Gombau, Sainsbury still believes the Mariners can match it under Arnold's tutelage. "I have to admit I'm being a little bit selfish in being glad he didn't go," Sainsbury said. I've been learning so much and improving my game thanks to the coaching I get from him. On a personal level, he might be disappointed at not getting the Socceroos job but as a team we're relieved, of course. Graham Arnold coaches against the Heart. It's interesting now that I think Gombau is the only foreign coach in the league - it's hard not to think that the Aussie coaches have still got an old-school mentality in that we fight for every point and every game. Even with Postecoglou rather than Arnold at the national helm, Sainsbury is widely seen as a likely beneficiary of moves to give the Socceroos squad a more youthful flavour. After the sour experience of going to the East Asian Cup but not playing a minute - apparently seen by Holger Osieck as too laid back - Sainsbury won't count any green and gold kittens. "I'm not the kind of person to go to Ange, asking what it is I need to do to get into the national team," Sainsbury said. For me it's one step at a time, not worrying about the international level - I worry about the Mariners, and everything else will flow from there. I think across the league, everyone will step it up this year, with the World Cup around the corner and a new coach in place. In a sense it's a clean slate for everyone. Worrying about the Mariners continues Saturday, when the Central Coast - with two draws so far this season - host Adelaide and seek their first win of the year. "Yes, a win would be good," said Sainsbury. Especially in front of our own fans. But you know, Gombau is doing good things with Adelaide, the players look happy with the football he wants to introduce and they've played some good stuff. We're the champions, so I guess everyone wants to take us down. Really we should just worry about our own form and remember that it's the club who are champions, not the team after so much rebuilding. We still fly under the radar to a degree, the big clubs get the publicity, but we'll keep doing what we do on the Coast.