a loan in the desert and having a scorcher - Herald Sun

Sydney FC player Nick Carle is on loan to Baniyas SC where he is relishing the change of pace. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph

HIS contract says that ultimately he's still a Sydney FC player - and so does part of his heart.

So it's no wonder that Nick Carle has watched the Sky Blues' season unfold as avidly - and painfully - as any long-distance fan.

The contrast with his own situation could hardly be greater, with the UAE club where he is on loan sitting fourth on the local ladder and dubbed the season's "surprise packets" by local media.

Carle is now ensconsed in the No.10 role at Baniyas SC "and loving it", with his family similarly established in harbour-side accommodation and taking to the local lifestyle.

Thanks to the internet, Carle has watched all but one of Sydney's games and followed the resignation of Ian Crook in particular with real sadness.

Until his sudden exportation to the Middle East, Carle was a big part of Crook's planning for the new season, but quickly learnt yet again how fickle the game can be.

For now, however, "the lifestyle is amazing and great for my family, and the football side of it is going really well". Carle is scheduled to return to Sydney at the end of the UAE season when his loan deal expires.

But after the speed of his exit from Sydney back in September, a move that paved the way for Alessandro Del Piero's arrival, the 31-year-old will assume nothing until it - whatever "it" turns out to be - happens.

"It's too early to know what will happen really - at the moment I'll be heading back to Sydney at some point but in football you never know," Carle said.

"For now I'm just glad to be repaying the faith that the club had in bringing me here, and glad that I'm managing to do good things for the reputation of Australian footballers.

"Lucas Neill and Mark Bresciano really blazed the trail in that sense, opening the door in the Middle East for the likes of me and Alex Brosque.

"It's a different game of football here, lots of goals and based on attack which suits me.

"I've been moved around the pitch a lot, but now I'm settled at No.10 and I feel I've really helped the team.

"I've only got one goal but six or seven assists and we're doing really well as a team and surprising people."

Sydney could do with some of those assists from their prodigal son, as they sit rooted to the bottom of the A-League and travel to Newcastle today more in hope than expectation.

The change of coach at Sydney makes Carle's position even less clear-cut in the long-term, but whatever happens, "it's still a club close to my heart", he said.

"I've watched the games and it's been really disappointing the way things have gone, especially after the buzz of signing Del Piero.

"It's been sad to see such a terrible start to the season, I really hope they can turn it around.

"One thing I'll always say though, Crooky was one of the best on-field coaches I've ever worked for.

"But hopefully now with Frank the club can find some more stability and can get back up the ladder.

"The crazy thing is there's only four points or so between bottom and getting back in the top six.

"Getting Del Piero in was just brilliant, for Sydney and the league, and with that quality there you have to think that they'll turn it around."