His mother in law is on her death bed and Aussies stick the boot in.
Gotta ove that tall poppy syndrome that keeps some of the best from returning.
His mother in law is on her death bed and Aussies stick the boot in.
Gotta ove that tall poppy syndrome that keeps some of the best from returning.
Agree. It's a very "football" badge, classic in design. They have a good playing strip too!Originally Posted by parksey
Was going to say the same thing... it's traditional football, not "let's be a bunch of edgy wankers and call ourselves Heart" design. Strip is luverly, looks like Flamengo or Sport Recife from Brazil. Love it.
(****s)
What will the mariners do for youth now they won't have west Sydney all to themselves.
Hoop dreams finally realised as new club shows true colours
Sebastian Hassett
June 26, 2012
ipad-art-wide-Wanderers2-420x0.jpg
Unveiled ... the Western Sydney Wanderers FC kit. Photo: Brendan Esposito
UNTIL yesterday, the A-League's newest club was barely three months away from their first game and still without a name, colours, players and a home ground.
At least the first three parts of the equation have been solved. Western Sydney Wanderers are official, and their colours will be expressed in a red-and-black hooped jersey with white shorts.
As of day one, the club has three players in its squad, with Aaron Mooy, Tarek Elrich and Kwabena Appiah-Kubi all locked in. Either today or tomorrow, a further handful will be announced. By the end of the week, at least eight players are expected to be formally confirmed before the club's maiden training session next Tuesday.
An unexpected question mark opened up over the Wanderers' home venue yesterday when the club's executive chairman, Lyall Gorman, denied that the deal to host most games at Parramatta Stadium had been done. The sticking point is thought to be how many matches will be played at other venues.
''In choosing this iconic venue … to launch this club, I'm also pleased to announce we'll play some games here,'' Gorman said cautiously. ''We're in the middle of discussions with [Parramatta Stadium Trust director] Luke Coleman and the venue. We're very excited about the prospect of consolidating a partnership with them and we look forward to our first game here on October 6 against the Central Coast Mariners.''
The club's logo is sure to be a talking point. Formed in the monogram style favoured by teams with decades of history, Gorman said he was confident it would be well-received by fans - as would the name and the colours.
''The name 'Western Sydney Wanderers' was clearly the most popular choice and the colours were fully endorsed as being representatives of the associations and clubs who have, for so long, served … football in this region,'' he said.
With the club's identity settled, the biggest question is how it will fill the rest of the squad. Wanderers coach Tony Popovic returned from holiday last week to formally secure the signatures of several players.
''There's eight so far, obviously the three you've seen so far, and in the next couple of days, we'll announce the other five - but that's obviously not enough to make up a team or a squad,'' he said. ''There's still a lot to do but it's not really a problem. There's a process we're trying to follow and, instead of getting numbers, we want to get the right players.''
Popovic said he wanted the bulk of his squad formalised by August, believing two months would be sufficient time to put his mark on the team.
''Come October 6, we'll have our squad finalised, I've got no doubt about that, and we'll be very competitive in our first game,'' he said. ''It feels a long way from that at the moment but I've got no doubt we'll have a competitive team on the park.''
Asked if he felt handicapped by Football Federation Australia's decision not to let the club sign a marquee player, he was pragmatic.
''From day one, my understanding has been that we won't have a marquee and I've got no issue with that at all,'' he said.
Of the three players signed, the biggest buzz came about the acquisition of Appiah-Kubi - who was a former ballboy at Parramatta Power.
The 20-year-old from Merrylands was on the books of the Central Coast Mariners' youth team last season and was regarded as the next big thing.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league...#ixzz1yqXqMomr
Don't see how they can be carrying the burden of history, they have none.
There's not much time to wander from task at hand
Michael Cockerill
June 26, 2012
Old soccer meets new football … Western Sydney Wanderers, the A-League's 10th team, were officially launched yesterday at Parramatta Stadium. Photo: Brendan Esposito
Old is new again. The A-League's next team will proudly carry the burden of history into a future fraught with challenges. Yesterday, on a sun-kissed winter's day, that horizon began to take shape with the official unveiling of the name, logo and colours. Western Sydney Wanderers is the name of the competition's 10th team, who will sport an orthodox logo on the breast of an eye-catching shirt of red and black horizontal stripes virtually identical to that of Brazil's most famous team, Flamengo. They sound, and look, like a proper football team, rather than a creation of some marketing shyster having a mid-life crisis. For those who understand, and respect, tradition, that comes as a great relief.
Not that long ago, of course, Football Federation Australia were prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to distance themselves from the game's sometimes chequered past. Suddenly they're keen to embrace it. A team called Wanderers played in the first recorded game of football in NSW in 1880. That match was played just a few kilometres from Parramatta Stadium, where yesterday's launch was held, and where the team is likely to play the bulk of its matches. The symbolism was no accident. Lyall Gorman, who is the club's inaugural executive chairman, told a packed gallery that ''we feel a huge responsibility to honour our history … and show respect for those who have been pioneers''.
You get the sense he means it. Gorman, football operations manager John Tsatsimas, head coach Tony Popovic, assistant coach Ante Milicic and goalkeeping coach Ron Corry, are all deeply imbued in ''old soccer'' culture. Perhaps, at last, we'll get an A-League club run, and built, by people with skin in the game. That these people are being employed by the FFA, who are bankrolling the club, suggests Whitlam Square has finally learnt the error of their ways. The charm offensive continued when the Wanderers hierarchy met with local NSW Premier League clubs straight after the launch. To this point, there's a welcome mood of co-operation.
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For all that, it's going to be a tough baptism. The Greater Western Sydney Giants got a two-year lead-in, and have the security of a drip-feed of about $20 million per year for the next 10 years from the AFL. The Wanderers get a six-month lead-in, and a one-season guarantee of just $6 million from the FFA. Despite the enormous disparity, no one is expecting much from the Giants for the foreseeable future, while everyone expects the Wanderers to hit the ground running. Why? Because AFL, as a sport, is effectively in a start-up phase in Sydney's western suburbs. Football, by contrast, has huge participation numbers, and a long history in the region.
Western Sydney may be getting its first A-League team, but it's a mature, and demanding, market for the sport, and the benchmarks will have to be high - shoestring budget or not. Western Sydney may be the heartland of football, but it can be a cold heart if things don't go right. Among those who attended the launch was a man who bravely admitted to having once been a Parramatta Power supporter. That's the team which was funded for five years by nearby Parramatta Leagues Club, ended up playing before crowds of barely 1000, and died a merciful death after losing the last NSL grand final in 2004, having dropped a cool $15 million in the process. If the Wanderers needed reminding of the price of failure, the ghosts of the Power were thick in the air.
The FFA, you sense, realise the margin for error isn't in their favour. Principally, they need to create a club within a short space of time that credible private investors will be willing to take off their hands. The Wanderers don't need to win the league in their debut season, but they need to be in the finals mix. In that context, you would hope the last phase of their recruiting campaign delivers a bit more inspiration.
The word is Popovic has already filled half his 23-man squad, with Aaron Mooy, Tarek Elrich and Kwabena Appiah-Kubi given the honour of unveiling the playing strip for the first time yesterday. Within the next week, the likes of Mark Bridge, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Labinot Haliti, Ante Covic, Michael Beauchamp and Shannon Cole will be formally added to the list. It's no judgment, but the fact is most of these players were unwanted by their former clubs. Popovic is believed to have signed two Croatian players during his recent scouting trip to Europe, and it will be interesting to see their pedigree. Somewhere in the process the Wanderers will need to find players to get the turnstiles moving, and the scoreboard ticking. Everyone knows the potential is enormous. Everyone knows the challenge is even bigger. But that's exactly why it's worth it.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league...#ixzz1yqYbApTh
Good to see the club back on talking terms with the herald, last thing you need is to isolate the club from the local media, even if that media happens to have RD.
Jets fuel up for early take-off tomorrow
BY JAMES GARDINER
26 Jun, 2012 08:15 AM
NEW boys Scott Neville and James Brown are likely to feature in a near-full strength Newcastle Jets outfit for the opening pre-season hit-out against Northern NSW State League leaders Broadmeadow Magic at Wanderers Oval tomorrow tonight.
Captain Jobe Wheelhouse (foot) is the only Jets player unavailable, and assistant coach Craig Deans said they intended to hit the ground running.
‘‘We will pick the best team we can,’’ Deans told the Herald yesterday.
‘‘At this stage an hour minimum would be a reasonable target for them to get through.
‘‘The trial games are there to work on what you are trying to achieve.
‘‘Wednesday is the first game of the new season for us and we need to start showing signs of what we want to achieve come the A-League season.’’
Neville and Brown are the club’s biggest signings to date and are expected to team up on one flank – Neville at right back and Brown on the right of a front three.
The match, which kicks off at 6.30pm under the new lights at Wanderers Oval, is the first of four against local opposition.
They play two games against Northern NSW select teams, to be coached by Damian Smith and Steve Piggott, at Darling St Oval on July 18 and Jack McLaughlan Oval on August 8.
Sandwiched in between is a hit-out against Charlestown City at Lisle Carr Oval on July 25.
The Jets have been in pre-season training for nearly six weeks.
‘‘The first four weeks were more about fitness, although we have worked a bit on the structure because we’ve been using the ball the whole time,” Deans said.
‘‘Last week we looked at breaking the game down again into different aspects.
‘‘Wednesday is a good opportunity to start working on the particular things we’d like to see happen.’’
Contract hopefuls Lee Seung-yong and Josh Mitchell are expected to start at left back and centre-back respectively.
Initially Newcastle-born Mitchell had been training to improve his fitness but the departure of Nikolai Topor-Stanley has created an opportunity.
Deans compared Lee to a young Byun Sung-hwan, who played left back for the Jets last season.
‘‘He is like Byun in a lot of ways,’’ Deans said.
‘‘He is strong with both feet, technically he is good, his passing is good, his understanding of the game is good, his language is a bit of an issue, but that is something we can work through.
‘‘We just need to see him in a game situation. Hopefully Wednesday we get to see a bit more of him.’’
Apart from a host of fresh faces, the Jets will also unveil a tweaked formation, playing a 4-1-2-3 rather than the twin screeners they used last season in a 4-2-3-1 shape.
‘‘We have been looking at one holding midfielder with two in front, which gives you more options going forward and a bit more flexibility,’’ Deans said.
‘‘We want to play a game where we have the majority of the ball and are able to create goal-scoring opportunities.’’
Jets likely (4-1-2-3): Ben Kennedy; Scott Neville, Tiago, Josh Mitchell, Lee Seung-yong; Ben Kantarovski; Ruben Zadkovich, Jacob Pepper; James Brown, Michael Bridges, Ryan Griffiths
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...px?storypage=0
Good to see the herald getting the word out about the trust.
Mills trusts in loyal Jets fans
BY JAMES GARDINER
26 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM
DEVOTED Jets fan Toby Mills felt like someone had punched him in the stomach when news broke that Nathan Tinkler had relinquished the club’s A-League licence in April.
Mills was working at a nursing home in Beecroft in north-west Sydney when he saw a television report outline the developments.
‘‘I felt sick,’’ the 21-year-old recalled.
‘‘It was as though someone had punched me in the guts.
‘‘We were re-signing players one day and the next day he was handing the licence back.’’
Desperate for his club to survive, Mills put into action a plan for a supporters’ trust he had been working on for 18months.
Three weeks later Tinkler, after receiving a number of concessions from Football Federation Australia, reaffirmed his commitment to fund the Jets for the remaining eight years of the term of his licence.
Despite Tinkler’s about face, Mills has forged ahead with his plans and will hold a public forum about the supporter’s trust at Newcastle Town Hall next Monday at 7pm.
‘‘The room seats 800 and hopefully we can fill it up with people interested in forming a supporters’ trust,’’ Mills said.
‘‘I’m hoping to lock in some key speakers from the likes of Northern NSW Football, local councillors and people interested in football.
‘‘We may not have a stake in the club but it is important that the fans have a unified voice.
‘‘Currently Nathan Tinkler has eight years to run on the licence and he might keep it for another 10 after that.
‘‘But there is no guarantees. It is about putting things in place so that in eight years time or 10 years time or even next year, if he decides to pull the pin, there is something there.
‘‘If Tinkler does stay there and we don’t take a direct stake in the club, the trust is there to support it.
‘‘Just like there is a union for workers, this would be a union for supporters. We would speak with one voice and make sure we are heard.’’
Mills has been supporting the Jets since their inception and came up with the idea for a trust when former owner Con Constantine ran into financial difficulties.
‘‘When Con’s issues came up I started the process of researching and writing things down, highlighting different examples of ownership models,’’ Mills said.
‘‘I think the idea of fans owning the club or having involvement is such an important thing.’’
Mills has put together a 16-page draft for a supporters’ trust which is inspired by lower-tier English clubs Exeter City and Brentford, where fans buy a share in the club.
‘‘I have looked at a lot of supporters’ trusts and supporter ownership structures and have basically taken bits and pieces which I think would really suit Newcastle,’’ he said.
‘‘Those plans will be outlined at the forum.
‘‘We will probably ask for a show of hands to see if their is support for it and there will be pledge forms available at the end.
‘‘Hopefully we will get a few volunteers to form a working committee which will work towards registering the trust as an organisation.’’
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...px?storypage=0
Herald are interested in any alternatives to HSG and Tinks who they have axes to grind against so it is no surprise
Why say this MFKS? What has Tinks done to them? I must have missed something.
So where to now for Victory?
Postecoglou admits he has to revisit his recruitment policy, turning his attention from filling the overseas marquee vacancy with a defender to now having something in the vicinity of $1million to play with for an attacking option.
So Victory have gone from juggling Hernandez and Kewell to having neither of them. Postecoglou loses one headache – he would have seen succeeding with Kewell as one of his key objectives and challenges at the club – but gets a new one.
The two-time grand final winning coach acknowledged the "responsibility" he has to bring in a player to excite the crowds and bring something to the league.
Postecoglou showed at Brisbane he has a keen eye for overseas talent.
Can he find someone to fill the box office?
Perhaps the sign of Kewell’s void is the catalogue of potential Aussies abroad who could replace him. Joel Griffiths, Nathan Burns or Mile Sterjovski, are some to have been mentioned. They are all excellent A-League graduates and quality options for Postecoglou to work with.
But none of them is Harry Kewell. By name, or nature.
that was on fox sports sorry
since when has sterj ever been considered a-league graduate, and a-league quality?
Jets revel in young talent time
Newcastle Jets will unleash a set of gifted young players who are destined for national stardom when the eighth season of the A-League starts in October, according to chief executive Robbie Middleby.
Topor-Stanley jets offCulina settles dispute with Jets and FFAJets swoop for CooperTinkler and FFA kiss and make upJets chief tells of week from hell
The club has released several established players in Francis Jeffers, Jeremy Brockie, Tarek Elrich, Ali Abbas, Labinot Haliti, Kasey Wehrman, Byun Sung-Hwan and Nikolai Topor-Stanley since the end of last campaign, when it missed out on a finals spot in the last round of the regular season.
But the development of 17-year-old Joeys captain Connor Chapman and the acquisition of promising James Brown, Mitch Cooper, Adam Taggart, Mitchell Oxborrow, Scott Neville, Craig Goodwin and Josh Brillante has Newcastle's management rubbing its collective hands in expectation of another positive season.
"We've got an exciting mix of experienced and young players," Middleby said.
"I know that many people are saying we have too many young players but I tell you we have got some of the best talented young footballers in the country.
"Brown, Taggart, Chapman are future stars, no doubt about that.
"And they also have the right character for our club and the culture we are trying to establish.
"They are working their socks off in pre-season."
The Jets begin their pre-season trials on Wednesday night with a clash against Northern NSW State League leaders Broadmeadow Magic, with only skipper Jobe Wheelhouse (foot) unavailable.
"Gary Van Egmond wants the team to be super fit and super agile and that's what's happening at the moment," Middleby explained.
"I expect us to make the top six... not least to repay our supporters who have always been loyal to us."
Three months since the club was clinically dead after owner Nathan Tinkler sensationally relinquished his A-League licence, the Jets are determined to make the most of a second chance after the mining magnate later reaffirmed his commitment to the Hunter club.
"We are in the top group of supporters in the competition and we have the second highest membership behind Melbourne Victory," Middleby said.
"We had an average gate of 12,000 last season and I would be happy if we get the same again this season.
"Remember, we were just about dead only a few months ago so we are determined to make the most of this second chance that was given to us.
"If Tinkler did not come back the club would have been finished so we can't blow it now.
"That's the way management and the coaching staff feel. Everybody wants success here."
Middleby said the club was putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to establish a respectable culture designed to attract more quality players to the Hunter.
"The beauty of it is that young and not-so-young players these days are keen to come to Newcastle because of what we're trying to do here," he said.
"Young players believe in our set-up centred on technical staff and medical support and the culture we are creating at the club.
"They must really believe that Newcastle has the right set-up for them to develop their potential and become stars and this is why they have chosen the Jets over other clubs."
Newcastle kicks off its A-League season with a home match against Adelaide United on Sunday 7 October.
So when all these superstars get called for national team duties who gets to play? Will anyone be left?
baz can play
Pretty intrigued with this Lee Soung Yong. Hopefully isnt like our last Korean trialist.
Keen for a kick
because it's true
exactly. The HSG have put a don't talk banner around the herald for all players and staff of the Jets. Any articles coming out about them have pre-approved press release comments in them.
Cheers boys. I wasn't challenging MFKS, just asking the question.
I guess I hadn't really paid that much attention to it in the past, but will look at it closer now. Nice heads up.
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