WSW 18/19 & 19/20 Club Thread

[Zelinsky]

13 hours ago, mack said:

Hopefully he cuts down our shocking injury toll.

You can scratch the "hopefully".

Martins said in the interview that injured players don't play. He is the guy who helped turn Robben's body of glass into something more solid. While Martins was at Bayern, in the big games the big players were available, it was one of the reasons why they made three CL finals in four years. He left the club when Team Guardiola entered, and with Pep the injuries came.

[theguyyouwishyouwere]

14 hours ago, FCB said:

There you go, as mentioned. One could not ask for a more competent fitness coach.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/wanderers-make-marquee-signing-behind-the-scenes-20181129-p50j74.html

 

i think we can do better

[Zelinsky]

Just now, theguyyouwishyouwere said:

i think we can do better

Of course you do, of course you do...

[Erebus]

58 minutes ago, FCB said:

You can scratch the "hopefully".

Martins said in the interview that injured players don't play. He is the guy who helped turn Robben's body of glass into something more solid. While Martins was at Bayern, in the big games the big players were available, it was one of the reasons why they made three CL finals in four years. He left the club when Team Guardiola entered, and with Pep the injuries came.

I'm very disappointed with the amount of injuries we've been sustaining this season. Its a far cry from the early Popa days when everyone was fit. We haven't had a 100% squad all season, hence the up and down performances and results.

[Zelinsky]

41 minutes ago, Erebus said:

I'm very disappointed with the amount of injuries we've been sustaining this season. Its a far cry from the early Popa days when everyone was fit. We haven't had a 100% squad all season, hence the up and down performances and results.

Bridgey can blame himself. Snake's injury was a leftover from last season. How much Ziegler's and grozos' knee injuries have to do with the training regime is debatable. But soft tissue/muscle injuries should not happen in training at least. With Martins on board this is bound to change. 

[Edinburgh]

54 minutes ago, Erebus said:

I'm very disappointed with the amount of injuries we've been sustaining this season. Its a far cry from the early Popa days when everyone was fit. We haven't had a 100% squad all season, hence the up and down performances and results.

Which is a repeat of the past few seasons

[MistahCampoy]

Great news, i am liking the contacts MB has up his sleeve.. Lets hope he has a few gun marquee signings somewhere up there as well for the next opportunity he has to pull the trigger

[Erebus]

3 hours ago, FCB said:

Bridgey can blame himself. Snake's injury was a leftover from last season. How much Ziegler's and grozos' knee injuries have to do with the training regime is debatable. But soft tissue/muscle injuries should not happen in training at least. With Martins on board this is bound to change. 

Throw Roly and Tongyik's in there too for good measure.

[Prydzopolis]

I’m glad that this is the expectation of the second season, if you’re not good enough (talking to the experienced players) you will not be here & expectation for next season is that what is happening now, won’t be acceptable next season.

[StringerBellend]

His post city press conference was blunt even by babbel standards 

[GunnerWanderer]

Without offering opinion is Babbel the man to take us forward after lasts night match we now must surely be in crisis mode...

[GunnerWanderer]

[Smoggy]

17 minutes ago, GunnerWanderer said:

Without offering opinion is Babbel the man to take us forward after lasts night match we now must surely be in crisis mode...

Next match is a big one for him and the team and i am happy for it to be hyped up as such....see what we get...

Edited February 1, 2019 by Smoggy

[Burztur]

Look forward to Lederer's letter saying how much we've invested in our youth team etc etc

[SBW]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/wanderers-losing-patience-as-babbel-slams-young-generation-of-players-20190202-p50v9y.html

Club management have a lot to answer for this, not Babbel, fans are not going to stand by this, we have had a few seasons of very poor recruitment delivering us **** all.

We have gone out and signed players on the cheap to fill in our squad where it lacks quality, depth and leadership and the results are showing, more than half of these players are not Babbel players, Babbel wants what's best for him and the club but if the club and board are not going to back Babbel or any other coach we have and says no we are going to continue to sign crap on the cheap then expect crap results like this season.

 

[StringerBellend]

3 hours ago, SBW said:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/wanderers-losing-patience-as-babbel-slams-young-generation-of-players-20190202-p50v9y.html

Club management have a lot to answer for this, not Babbel, fans are not going to stand by this, we have had a few seasons of very poor recruitment delivering us **** all.

We have gone out and signed players on the cheap to fill in our squad where it lacks quality, depth and leadership and the results are showing, more than half of these players are not Babbel players, Babbel wants what's best for him and the club but if the club and board are not going to back Babbel or any other coach we have and says no we are going to continue to sign crap on the cheap then expect crap results like this season.

 

If that article is anymore than Bossi in his bedroom speculating then the management and owners of this club are even more disconnected and clueless than I thought 

[sonar]

3 hours ago, SBW said:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/wanderers-losing-patience-as-babbel-slams-young-generation-of-players-20190202-p50v9y.html

Club management have a lot to answer for this, not Babbel, fans are not going to stand by this, we have had a few seasons of very poor recruitment delivering us **** all.

We have gone out and signed players on the cheap to fill in our squad where it lacks quality, depth and leadership and the results are showing, more than half of these players are not Babbel players, Babbel wants what's best for him and the club but if the club and board are not going to back Babbel or any other coach we have and says no we are going to continue to sign crap on the cheap then expect crap results like this season.

 

Babbel is responsible for what happens on the field with the players at his disposal. This season has been more about us defeating ourselves with constant brain fades. 

[StringerBellend]

51 minutes ago, sonar said:

Babbel is responsible for what happens on the field with the players at his disposal. This season has been more about us defeating ourselves with constant brain fades. 

The key is with the players at his disposal

 

[meryn]

Babbel is also responsible for the way he talks about the players publicly and whether he builds their confidence and belief or undermines it.

High expectations are good. Guidance and constructive criticism away from the spotlight is good.

Blaming and regular negativity in public are not good and usually achieves the opposite of building performance and belief.

Same applies to parenting, teaching and managing staff. Coaching is no different in this way.

[WestSyd]

On Babbel's direct commentary on his players. I think a lot of it is to with the personal humiliation he is feeling inside. I mean he comes to a third rate league in Oz, and then is made to look like a fifth rate coach. This is a guy who was was an outstanding player for club and country,  and then had some decent coaching credits to his name in Europe. All this is perhaps filtering back overseas. He must be thinking what have they thrown me into.

That's got to hurt him. Especially when he didn't know what he was walking into. Senior players not putting in, and then making u/11 errors to lose games. Puts the young kids in, and they try, but just don't have the toughness to win games. Feels sorry for them, but then sees them in the dressing room unaffected like he is and wondering why no one can feel what he is feeling. This is the snowflake generation that act like they don't care, but then get all cut up when you speak honestly about them. So Babbel can't be honest with them now.

Perhaps if he watched the some of the games last season we lost by four or five goals, and saw the level we were at, he might have declined our offer. It seems to me he didn't do his research enough, and the fact is we needed more than what he has offered this season. He didn't realise the monumental task of lifting the club. But the best he can do now is start fresh next season with a new batch of players (and some of the current players he wants to keep who can take his criticisms). He now knows the league and excuses shouldn't really come into play.

 

[sonar]

32 minutes ago, WestSyd said:

On Babbel's direct commentary on his players. I think a lot of it is to with the personal humiliation he is feeling inside. I mean he comes to a third rate league in Oz, and then is made to look like a fifth rate coach. This is a guy who was was an outstanding player for club and country,  and then had some decent coaching credits to his name in Europe. All this is perhaps filtering back overseas. He must be thinking what have they thrown me into.

That's got to hurt him. Especially when he didn't know what he was walking into. Senior players not putting in, and then making u/11 errors to lose games. Puts the young kids in, and they try, but just don't have the toughness to win games. Feels sorry for them, but then sees them in the dressing room unaffected like he is and wondering why no one can feel what he is feeling. This is the snowflake generation that act like they don't care, but then get all cut up when you speak honestly about them. So Babbel can't be honest with them now.

Perhaps if he watched the some of the games last season we lost by four or five goals, and saw the level we were at, he might have declined our offer. It seems to me he didn't do his research enough, and the fact is we needed more than what he has offered this season. He didn't realise the monumental task of lifting the club. But the best he can do now is start fresh next season with a new batch of players (and some of the current players he wants to keep who can take his criticisms). He now knows the league and excuses shouldn't really come into play.

 

I'm positive he knew exactly what had happenened previously with the club. He wasn't a "on the spur of the moment" appointment and he wouldn't of come here blind. On the generational thing with the players he said he experienced the same thing in Switzerland so it isn;t something new.

Perhaps the merry go round of players in the A league is making players blaise about playing knowing they will get offers elsewhere especially now there are two new clubs in the market and a low talent pool.

We had this debate last season about Gombau, where apparently the players hated his guts, he was a bad manager, his tactics were wrong, he picked players out of position and it was on his head for the poor season regardless of what the players did on the pitch because he was the manager and it was his job to get them to perform whether the squad was recruited or selected by him or not.

 Babbel and the team are in a worse position than we were last season and he seems to get a free ride. It's not his fault....? Sorry but as much as I like Babbel as a manager he has to take the blame as much as the players. Defensively we are worse than last year and that is saying something........perhaps he needs a assistant defence coach because from what I am seeing his tactics are not working.

Edited February 3, 2019 by sonar

[btron3000]

1 hour ago, WestSyd said:

On Babbel's direct commentary on his players. I think a lot of it is to with the personal humiliation he is feeling inside. I mean he comes to a third rate league in Oz, and then is made to look like a fifth rate coach. This is a guy who was was an outstanding player for club and country,  and then had some decent coaching credits to his name in Europe. All this is perhaps filtering back overseas. 

Good observation.

I don't think pointing out the "generational" problem is a good idea for any coach. If I was the Board or CEO, that would concern me. I'd ask "what are you going to do about it, because the players who you could bring in are of the same generation?"

Pointing the finger at millenials is the type of stuff English football has been doing for years. All of a sudden they make the semis of a major tournament and the kids are ok. Had they gone out to Colombia on pens half the country would still be talking about how the players these days don't care.  It's a simple excuse for people that can't find other reasons. It's kind of acceptable in a fan who is helpless to do anything about their national team. It's not an acceptable excuse for the coach that needs to work out how to get the best out of this generation of players. He's not gonna be coaching Baby Boomers all of a sudden.

I'm still pro-Babbel (for now), but that was a stupid comment. It was only one little one in an entire press conference, so hopefully it's not too big an issue. But it was a stupid thing to say. Was like have Graeme Souness in the presser.

[mack]

It's not like the generational issue is a sudden occurrence, I'm sure Babbel remembers Trapatoni getting angry at Bayern because of the poor mentality of his players in the late 90's.

 

[Neverbloom]

On 19/05/2018 at 3:09 PM, hawks2767 said:

Someone tell me this is a good signing.

sadly its not

[btron3000]

5 minutes ago, mack said:

It's not like the generational issue is a sudden occurrence, I'm sure Babbel remembers Trapatoni getting angry at Bayern because of the poor mentality of his players in the late 90's.

Exactly. Every generation thinks the next one is soft, because the world keeps gets easier to live in. It's up to Babbel to work out how to get the most from this genration.

[wendybr]

5 hours ago, meryn said:

Babbel is also responsible for the way he talks about the players publicly and whether he builds their confidence and belief or undermines it.

High expectations are good. Guidance and constructive criticism away from the spotlight is good.

Blaming and regular negativity in public are not good and usually achieves the opposite of building performance and belief.

Same applies to parenting, teaching and managing staff. Coaching is no different in this way.

Hi Meryn! So good to see you posting - and saying exactly what comes to my mind as well.

What you've said above has struck me from the start. 

Some here have celebrated his honesty. And maybe the press enjoy it as well. Someone here described him as "charismatic" but I just can't see that. His approach, to me, has been a disaster waiting to happen from the start....and that has been the outcome.

The blaming and negativity (towards individuals, groups and the whole team) has been damaging. 

Not only his words, but his body language (shrugging shoulders) and facial expression just scream "I don't know what to do about this" and THAT'S no way to inspire confidence in those you are trying to offer leadership to.

He might sound tough, but to me, he looks like a deer in the headlights. And if the manager can't lead the way forward, the rest of the team doesn't have a way forward.

Analogies with teaching come to mind to me too (as you've referred to). You can observe the same kids in one class where they are disengaged, unmotivated, restless and potentially badly behaved. The teacher may write them off as "a bad class". In another classroom, with a passionate teacher who sees their potential, who will encourage and will believe in the kids, they are far more likely to engage, be motivated and quite often, will surprise in how they progress. It's the self fulfilling prophesy (as I've mentioned before).

I'm ranting now - sorry - but the manager has to look at his approach. It plainly hasn't worked...and he needs to be mentored in how to get something out of an A League squad.

Yes - it might be a sub-par group. NO - this squad was never going to win the Plate. But it shouldn't be the basket case it is (with ZERO self belief - which is obvious).

[sonar]

3 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Hi Meryn! So good to see you posting - and saying exactly what comes to my mind as well.

What you've said above has struck me from the start. 

Some here have celebrated his honesty. And maybe the press enjoy it as well. Someone here described him as "charismatic" but I just can't see that. His approach, to me, has been a disaster waiting to happen from the start....and that has been the outcome.

The blaming and negativity (towards individuals, groups and the whole team) has been damaging. 

Not only his words, but his body language (shrugging shoulders) and facial expression just scream "I don't know what to do about this" and THAT'S no way to inspire confidence in those you are trying to offer leadership to.

He might sound tough, but to me, he looks like a deer in the headlights. And if the manager can't lead the way forward, the rest of the team doesn't have a way forward.

Analogies with teaching come to mind to me too (as you've referred to). You can observe the same kids in one class where they are disengaged, unmotivated, restless and potentially badly behaved. The teacher may write them off as "a bad class". In another classroom, with a passionate teacher who sees their potential, who will encourage and will believe in the kids, they are far more likely to engage, be motivated and quite often, will surprise in how they progress. It's the self fulfilling prophesy (as I've mentioned before).

I'm ranting now - sorry - but the manager has to look at his approach. It plainly hasn't worked...and he needs to be mentored in how to get something out of an A League squad.

Yes - it might be a sub-par group. NO - this squad was never going to win the Plate. But it shouldn't be the basket case it is (with ZERO self belief - which is obvious).

Great post wendy couldn't have put it better myself. I like Babbel as a manager but he is failing somewhere in his approach with the players. On the field we are terrible.

[wendybr]

1 hour ago, btron3000 said:

Good observation.

I don't think pointing out the "generational" problem is a good idea for any coach. If I was the Board or CEO, that would concern me. I'd ask "what are you going to do about it, because the players who you could bring in are of the same generation?"

Pointing the finger at millenials is the type of stuff English football has been doing for years. All of a sudden they make the semis of a major tournament and the kids are ok. Had they gone out to Colombia on pens half the country would still be talking about how the players these days don't care.  It's a simple excuse for people that can't find other reasons. It's kind of acceptable in a fan who is helpless to do anything about their national team. It's not an acceptable excuse for the coach that needs to work out how to get the best out of this generation of players. He's not gonna be coaching Baby Boomers all of a sudden.

I'm still pro-Babbel (for now), but that was a stupid comment. It was only one little one in an entire press conference, so hopefully it's not too big an issue. But it was a stupid thing to say. Was like have Graeme Souness in the presser.

Just read this post and  

And yes - Kosi and McBreen both said they could relate to the "generational issue" comment too. 

But IF that's what players these days are like, well - that's what he's signed up to work with. No point in shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders and kicking their butts on national television, when they've just been humiliated due to a thrashing....and it hasn't worked all season. It isn't the way. 

Other managers will say, "We have to work harder...smarter...go back to the drawing board etc"

Babbel says "They don't listen...they don't do what they're told....". He keeps on creating a public divide between himself and his players (to my ears anyway) and it isn't the way to build a cohesive team.

[Paul01]

13 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Just read this post and  

And yes - Kosi and McBreen both said they could relate to the "generational issue" comment too. 

But IF that's what players these days are like, well - that's what he's signed up to work with. No point in shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders and kicking their butts on national television, when they've just been humiliated due to a thrashing....and it hasn't worked all season. It isn't the way. 

Other managers will say, "We have to work harder...smarter...go back to the drawing board etc"

Babbel says "They don't listen...they don't do what they're told....". He keeps on creating a public divide between himself and his players (to my ears anyway) and it isn't the way to build a cohesive team.

I think we are also dealing with German football culture vs Australian football culture. 

[Prydzopolis]

On 2 February 2019 at 8:22 PM, StringerBellend said:

If that article is anymore than Bossi in his bedroom speculating then the management and owners of this club are even more disconnected and clueless than I thought 

PLEASE PEOPLE, if an article is from the smh & written by Bossi please just don't post or put a warning at least for the unsuspecting like my self. To be honest, I should have guessed. He has time & time again written absolute **** when it comes to WSW, it's not even worth getting upset. Please next time, if you wish to post please accompany with a bossi warning.

2 hours ago, btron3000 said:

Pointing the finger at millenials is the type of stuff English football has been doing for years.

The comment was along the lines of "when the players lose, within 5 minutes they switch into social mode. In my day, if we lose we were angry for the week". We are framing it as a generational issue but it's true. To the players they react differently because the situations are different.

He has had a long playing & now coaching career, over multiple generations so it won't be a shock to him. Babbel, is blunt & isn't afraid to say it like it is. I personally prefer that from a manager like Popa, who doesn't say anything or Gombau, that talks complete fluff.

For me, it's what he is doing to influence the players which is key. This is taking part on the training pitch & dressing room. I doubt he is using the media like some managers to talk to his dressing room. It does concern me that thus far he hasn't been able to influence the players on the field but as per my post in the post match thread, it's important not to look at our coach & situation in a vacuum. We need to believe that he has the right tools & characteristics to manage a successful dressing room much like he has done in the past.

I am too in the Babbel camp but he has to show more, if not something for the last ten games but something more considerable next season.