"We played for 65 minutes with 10 men. My players worked extremely hard and to concede the way we conceded, it's not about the penalty." "To concede not in general play but to concede by a penalty which, in my opinion, was 50-50 whether it was a penalty or not. Referees either give them or they don't and he gave the penalty." Arnold said the repeated warnings, fines and attacks from head office were taking their toll. "Do you guys [the media] like me coming in here and giving one word answers? I've always been a person who fights for what I believe in. "I will fight for my players, I will fight for my club and I've always been a person that's had an opinion," he said.

"I'm disappointed that you can be publicly bashed and cited publicly because someone assumed you said certain words in a certain way. I think that's wrong." The club has already promised to fight the citation on behalf of Arnold with the FFA and the manager believes there needs to be clarification over what can and can't be said. "The B-side of the citing is me saying (in the press conference after the Adelaide match) that I'm not allowed to have an opinion. So now I'm being cited for not having an opinion," he said. "I had an opinion three weeks ago about Sutherland Shire [potential expansion team] and I got smashed by the [ex-FFA] chairman [Frank Lowy], so I don't know. They need to clarify to me what I can and can't say or what my opinion can and can't be." Arnold said he had no problems with Delovski - "who I think is probably the best referee in the league" - and that he agreed with the decision to send off Sydney defender Alex Gersbach.

"I agree 100 per cent it was a red card. In my view, Strebre's performance in Adelaide last week was very good," he said. "With young Alex, it's a learning experience. He's 18 years old, it's his first red card ever. He had a rush of blood. He lost control of that ball in midfield and tried to get it back. You learn from those experiences. Did I come down on him? No I didn't. He's a kid and kids learn." The Sky Blues head to Wellington for a clash with the Phoenix on Saturday night but will do so without captain Alex Brosque, who is battling a hamstring injury. "It's high-risk if you take him now to New Zealand, with the travel side of it, as well as the game," Arnold said. "And normally it's much colder over there. We'll look at having him ready for Boxing Day." Sydney are presently averaging just one goal per game and their coach admits it's simply "not enough" to win matches.