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So if my math checks out, if I put $100 on us to win the league, then I stand to lose $100?

We have four owners who collectively are worth easily half a billion dollars. Lederer wrote that "we have not taken our eyes off the prize" in January Ribery comes up and they bottle it because they don't want to spend the year the club moves into a stadium that was built for free at a cost of $360 million dollars. That's money that the owners don't have to pay. Almost any other country in the world if a club wants a stadium the owners have to pay for it. Here, the Government did it. Especially after 3 seasons of utter **** on the pitch, and the one before that ended in a choke where we didn't win anything, you'd think the owners would jump at the chance to fill the stadium and sign a player who could win games on his own. Yet here we are watching high class players sail over our heads so that Lederer can sit in the executive box and count the membership money instead of investing like an owner should. If Lederer owned a club in Europe and did what he's done to WSW by being cheap and refusing to open his chequebook they'd have been relegated multiple times already. Lederer talks and talks and talks and talks and uses "we built an academy" as an excuse for not signing good players. If he and the owners don't like being called cheap they can open up their musty wallets and show some ambition. Or sell the club to someone who does.

He was so far out of the penalty area he wasn't in the camera shot.

More Hunches going on here than at a "Quasimodo Convention"

WSW have one season to get it right or they'll be in a position they can never recover from.

The four guys we signed so far all send a message of intent. They are leaders, the self-driven guys we didn't have enough of last season, according to MB. The spine will be as strong as. The GK will be worth the description, Ziegler is a BL2 player who will feel like a new addition, Schwegler comes with 10 years plus BL experience (and captained BL sides), on paer Majewski is on par with Smurf FC's Adrian Pole. And if the CF is the guy that I am hearing about then he'll be a step up from Le Fondre. Duke, Yeboah, Georgievski have all played overseas - that's eight players who know what it means to be a football pro in a serious league/club. Add Elrich, Kamau, Baccus, Tass, Tate, Grozos. All that's missing is another CB, a holding mid, and a winger. We are going to make some serious music at Bankwest.

Wonder who leaked these documents No complaints? Nothing to see here folks, stock standard dismissal. Everything above board. Nobody seemed to raise any issue over the AS sacking, all amicably dealt with by the FFA & clearly nothing has happened over the last few months. This is why Lowy & co didn’t want to implement any of these pesky little FIFA statutes. Oversight, who needs that Hoping that common sense prevails & the documents are released. Transparency is a must as we move forward.

I'd still rather throw a 2 or 3 year deal at Spira than a 1 year deal before Jedinak leaves to become Macarthurs marquee assuming he doesn't break down.

It's sad, so sad... it's a sad sad situation and it's getting more and more absurd.

Hyundai have a car for people to write messages of support on for the Matildas.

Great timing isn't it.

From Mitchell Dukes FB page 'Good article and just to make it clear I’m completely committed to the wanderers this was just saying that if the right opportunity overseas was to come along I’ve still got that ambition so would be silly not to consider it 😁 just seen some comments of people questioning my loyalty blah blah so there you go 🤪 '

Do you guys remember when the FFA released their 4 year "strategic" plan in 2016? If you can't, don't go looking for it because it was here: https://www.myfootball.com.au/dct/ffa-dtc-performgroup-eu-west-1/13152_FOOTBALL_FFA Strategy Infographic_A4_FINAL_15j708y6a5m5o1i2xdzwc3cjf0.PDF It divided opinion at the time (it was ****). One of the problems with it was that there was no actual targets - they vaguely said that their goal for the A-league was increased tv ratings, but never said what number they were aiming for. The ONLY area they had specific targets were the performances of the national teams at major tournaments (the area with the most luck involved!!). The Socceroos were to make it out of their group at the 2017 Confed Cup and 2018 World Cup, and the Matildas were to make the semis of the 2019 World Cup. At the time I was scathing, saying it was typical of them to have a target in an area they have the least control over. How silly of me. They have a huge impact on the teams' chances to win. A negative one. They have totally sabotaged this team. One week before the World Cup they release this! They've had 4 ******* months. It's almost like they are intentionally setting out to undermine the campaign. Releasing information that could disrupt the team is the kind of thing that your rivals do, or the media, or the media of your rivals, NOT your own FA. How many times do we have to ask "how many times can they **** up"? The Matildas were the jewel in the crown, surely there is nothing left for them to ruin.

The lad stood up at school and gave a speech on multiculturalism and the wanderers entitled 'These colours unite us all'. It was actually surprisingly bloody good and he has got a good mark from the teacher Don't know where he gets it from, personally I ******* hate the lot of you.

Okay, back from tonight's Member Committee Meeting & here's some notes etc I took during the discussion. There ma be some items, issues that I have missed out on or misconstrued, however other forum members who were there can help flesh out or correct what I am posting: Red membership at Wanderland 2.0 is maxxed out...there are nominally no spaces left there Zeigler is still not an Aussie citizen but this is being worked on. All are happy with his attitude & work since last season's injury woes Target membership for 2019/20 is 22K. The club is looking at bringing back the seat resale system as we had at Pirtek, however the dynamics, system is yet to be worked out A new member's loyalty scheme is also being developed, with the uts & bolts to be worked on. Thinking is the point system was unfair With the return to Parra the club is working on developing a 'whole Parra' experience...more activities, engagement, banners etc around Parra on game day and at Wanderland 2.0 Public transport will again be integrated with membership and ticketing The march is hopefully going to return The club is in ongoing talks with the active supporter groups and these discussions have been described as good There are poles that will be/are located in front of the northern end active section of Wanderland 2.0 that may be used for Tifos etc Safe standing area is fully subscribed 1880 club for the rich end of memberships = $1190 & has a few unique bennies Next teir down in premium memberships is Gold Star ($790 full, $370 upgrade) Members will be receiving some unique merch/souveniers including a commemorative key for returning back to Parra & loyalty key rings for 3 or 5 year contnuous membership Quality of membership packs is being improved All member pack kit for foundation members will show such status 2/3rd of all tickets for Leeds game have been sold We get the exact kick oftime tomorrow & negotiations are ongoing for a TV broadcaster (I asked who & no comment) 14000 Wanderkids packs will be made available for grassroots distribution Female sizes in kits etc are limited due to demand, however they are trying to improve the availability time frame (last season an issue was sponsorship) This is the last cycle of the current Nike contract...it may or may not change, negotiations are ongoing We will have 2 entirely new shirts this season...we were able to have 3 last season as we recycled the basic away shirt from 2017/18. Possibility of safe pyro is still to be organised...club is talking with Foti firewroks Club is still working with both Parra LAC & Venues NSW re security. Some optimism from the suits but...well, yeah...we'll see Much more focus being placed on fan activation and entertainment around Wanderland 2.0 precinct planned First round will be October 12th and draw is still to be finalised. Don't be surprised to see and hear similar stuff as the upcoming members forum

I was looking for the thread about the members' forum on Tue 9 July at Bankwest Stadium, but couldn't find one, so I posted this here. (Mack - Feel free to move it to the right thread if you wish.) Is anyone going to the members' forum? What questions have you already submitted to the Club? (You can submit questions when you book your place.) I sent them this: The upcoming season is critical in the Club's history - you must get things right both on-field and off-field if you want the fans to return to the games and to bring back the atmosphere on match days that we have sadly lost over the past 3 years. The on-field matters are for the coaching and technical staff to sort out. I'm interested in the off-field initiatives you have to get fans to start to care and be interested in coming to games again. What discussions have you had with stadium security management, FFA and the Parramatta police LAC to ensure that active fans are not overzealously policed and we won't see past mistakes by officials repeated? Will we see a relaxation on limits on large flags, instruments, megaphones, tifos, etc or will such pointless restrictions continue? Will you be trialling a 'safe smoke' area like other clubs do (eg: in the MLS in the USA)? How do you propose to attract more active members and how will you encourage them to create the noise, colour and atmosphere that we all love as fans and is the only true differentiator of our football code from the other codes?

The AFL owns the stadium. They tell security what to do. State Govt build it for half a billion, sell it 15 years later for $200 million. State Govt then spent another $225 million on upgrades. AFL then gets a $70 million naming rights deal for 8 years from Disney. Buying a billion dollar asset that will be worth $5+ billion on land value when the AFL convince the Vic govt to build a new stadium somewhere else in the CBD in the late 2020's. It is effectively free and they will continue to profit from it. This is what happens when you have administration who actually give a **** about funding and Government lobbying, and not just leeches stealing $10+ million a year in admin salaries/costs while fobbing off work to consultants for millions more. The FFA should own an elite training facility, boutique stadium somewhere in Sydney, Melbourne or Canberra and move out of their expensive CBD office tower space by now. Instead they have nothing.

Rumor has it Brosque knew he'd come up short and immediately retired from football.

I can just see the Riot squad turning up too. So they can have some pre season practice

1) That's his job. 2) If he didn't like it he should have quit. 3) He is part of the reason these issues exist in the first place with his poor governance. 4) He gets paid millions to do it.

While our club doesn’t bother to use the marquee spots on offer we can’t complain about cap

As much as it pains me to say, no one has come even close to nailing their marquees the way Sydney has for the last 4 years. When Arnie took over one of the first things he did was make it clear that players like Del Piero were no longer a target. He went and bought good players, at their peak, who would hang around for 2-3 seasons to build a team around and give them much more bang for their buck. The rest is history. Do you think they really give a **** that they didn’t get Torres last season? So it really puzzles me why people are so hellbent on signing guys like Ribery and get so upset and accusatory of Lederer and co. when it doesn’t happen. The marquee strategy that wins trophies is more than clear and has been proven time and time again - lower the star factor, increase the peak factor and spend wisely, not wrecklessly. Sometimes I wonder if people are more interested in the spectacle of watching a (once) big name than actually building a good football team...

You know why these owners are worth a collective billion dollars, because they don't throw their money away. It is not only about playing talent it is about performance, Riera, ABJ, Roly, Dimas, Kresinger, Pioviccari, Borda, Cejudo the list could go on all had to get paid even though they didn't perform. You think the investors would be happy with their return on investment from some of those names? Playing talent alone does not win you a Premiership of any kind, motivation and hunger are just as (if not more) important, look at our ACL win, if you had said before a ball was kicked these boys we assembled at the time would win you an ACL you would of been committed to a loony bin. When Ono come on board (easily our best, well most talented anyway player in our short history) I can guarantee you that only the absolute diehards even knew who he was, he was hardly a big name. Honda comes along wins nothing, Del Piero wins nothing. Football in this country is a lottery, the salary cap ensures that, sure you can buy a few more tickets in the lottery but there is no way it guarantees success. The season after we won the ACL was always going to be a bust, it simply had to be, you cant have players in training for 18 months and expect anything else. The following season we had players all over the place due to wanting bonuses, extended contracts and upgrades and wanting more and we got left out in the cold by Popovic at the worst possible time after that. If you really thought that the result was going to be any different with first Gumbi and now with Babbel one season each in then you are kidding yourself. We have a world class academy that is free for players and have already seen the success of this on the park only 2 seasons in, that costs money. As for "If he and the owners don't like being called cheap they can open up their musty wallets and show some ambition. Or sell the club to someone who does." well who would buy us (or any A League Club) in the current climate anyway. Be careful what you wish for because at the moment our owners actually are here not to make money (cos there is none in football in Australia) but because they love WSW, imagine how great it is going to be if we get sold to a Bakrie or someone similar.

Not a lowered gemini, he ain't coming west in that.

It usually takes me about 4 hours, via the Commercial, The Collector, Wool Pack and the BBC

We only hear rumours when when the targets are based in Aussie land (Georgievski, Brattan, Mile). Apart from our blacktown boy, our new players boys have all been based in Europe until know, and they managed to keep a lid on the gossip that way. I'd say the club paid a transfer sum, I doubt the Danes would have let him go just because he is a nice guy. Hah! I had him on my list of targets, there was no way that playing in a 2nd tier Danish club would be enough to satisfy his ambitions. The defence is sorted now, Ryan is not required. We are looking strong already. Now for another DM and a CF - and we still have both marquee spots open. Nice work, WSW officials and owners! No more mediocrity. No more project players. No more imposters. No more frauds. No more bullshit.

Waleed from The Project said, now they know the treatment soccer fans have suffered for years

Would have loved to be able to see him go beard to beard with Brosque!

AFL might be able to lean on the stadium managers to reduce security, but obviously VICPOL don't see AFL as high risk hence they don't send in the riot squad. Whereas VICPOL and NSWPOL see MV and WSW games (all of them) as high risk and hence send in the goon squad every week or midweek against the NIX. That's the difference. Adjusting security numbers is easier that trying to convince the bogan racist LAC that sokkah fans aren't a threat to society.

Never been closer to punching someone out at work (when I worked for a bank) after this person said (leaning back in his chair at a team lunch) 'yeah well you know your first house is always the hardest to pay off'. Pretty much anyone who uses the word portfolio in a conversation is in the same boat.

Uuhhh were the executive team aware he could score goals when they signed him up? I’m a little concerned we might have an attacking mid who intends to score goals. Very concerning that we’ve strayed from the path a little here

Applied for a new job a couple of months ago and they came back today with the job offer!! Super excited but very sad that I’ll be leaving my team who have been pretty good Time to roll in the $$$$$$ lol jokes saving for a house - will be living in austerity until I’m like 40 😭

Kudos to the FFA who have taken a team who were challenging to be No 1, sacked the coach for who knows why, and now we go to a team who at present may not even get out of the group. Well done.

Sloths aren't lazy, they are slow. There's a difference.

Just skyped the old man...and yeah...........so turns out in the week he was diagnosed with cancer, and has been struggling all week and worrying about telling me. He had a short breakdown, a few tears. Never in my life seen him like that before, big strong bloke who would NEVER let emotion show, until now. And suddenly you realise how vulnerable even he is, how vulnerable we all are Very early days anyway, hopefully some good news after a big hospital appointment on Tuesday. Bugger.

And the other seasons? WSW haven't spent what the other three major clubs have. Our academy is no more or less expensive than the City or Victory academy projects, and everyone got free land to build them on. On the field SFC sign Del Piero, Victory sign Honda, City sign Cahill, we sign Piovaccari. The way Lederer talks about the academy it makes it sound like he's a martyr for building it, and not just doing what a football club owner should be doing. Missing Hersi in the Mariners GF cost us that game, dud Piovaccari cost us a Premiership & Grand Final vs Adelaide, Borda, Jumpei, Adeleke etc etc all rubbish. SFC have won 5 trophies in that time. Wellington went from 9th last year to 6th. Victory managed to jag a grand final win. Perth went from 8th to Premiership winners in one season. We've gone backwards 3 years in a row with little more than platitudes from Lederer. Ribery should be Lederer's apology for the garbage recruitment and performance.

A few things: - I imagine that once the lawyers got involved that nothing was going to be sorted out quickly. I agree, that it would have been nice to be sorted out ASAP but unfortunately once lawyers get involved, well.... - All AS wanted out of this whole process was an apology & to clear his name. I think it says a lot about his character as I think many would have been out for much more. The payout he received was the contractual payout of his remaining contract which was FFA’s right to terminate. - The shame of this whole saga is that it is too little, too late. After what Reid said in public, it seems his reputation in the women’s game was trashed. - Reid seems to have had a personal vendetta against AS, she and a few others were determined to get rid of him. She should resign, unfortunately nobody can force her to resign of her own volition with the only other mechanism being the congress. After what we saw with the change of constitution, there are so many factions & power plays at work, it’s unlikely anything will happen. - The whole “if you knew what I knew”, it’s actually the other side which is more interesting. Much of the shady dealings of Reid & the like seem to be all in the background & I’d love to know the whole story. The silence from the “if you knew what I knew” crowd is appalling. - Something needs to come from this whole saga, board held to account? Reid sacked? Gallop highwood and/or casserly sacked? Or the very least an inquiry with the findings made public. At least for now, it’s better that this is put to the side for the sake of our chances in France. We don’t need any more distractions, squad rifts being reopened or issues from this inquiry. Need to put all our focus on the task at hand. - New leadership, new board but same old backroom politics & agenda shenanigans. Edit: Just read an article (hack alert) that the payout included WC bonus plus loss to reputation payout. This likely explains the delay in putting putting this issue to bed with the lawyers involved & waiting for the monthly board meeting to ratify the agreement/issue apology.

The problem I have with this whole situation is that the FFA could have released this statement within the week of Heather making those claims. Yet, they didn't. Gallop and his cronies sat on their hands not knowing wtf to say to difuse the situation that they themselves created. It's taken them 4 months to issue this statement. Is this the best they could come up with? After 4 ******* months? I have no doubt that legal eagles have been involved, from both sides, for us to get to this outcome today. It's sad at best and pathetic in the extreme. I sincerely hope Alen got a decent settlement out of all this. The whole situation was handled appallingly. Throughout his whole tenure, Gallop has just lurched from one disaster to another. This was just the latest. I don't need to go through the others as we all know what they were. In this particular case, he may not have made the decision to terminate Stajcic's contract, but he was complicit through his handling and communication of the whole situation. The sooner the prick is gone, the better. I'll never forget how during his first term of his contract as CEO of the FFA, he jumped on the back of our success in our first season, standing their in all his self proclaimed glory, waxing lyrical how football will take over this country. It's been ******* downhill ever since.

WRGMG. Real Estate Property Managers. Why do they think that if you rent you're automatically a f'n moron. Painting over the top of rising damp and mould doesn't make it go away, and last time I checked skirting boards don't rot on there own. Surely painting over the top of a known defect constitutes deceptive practice and could nullify a contract. A car dealership can't sell you a car with known defect, or has it come to the stage where you're going to need to have a independent assessor check your rental property. Ffs.

WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A SQUAD WE'LL BE PLAYING WITH 9 MEN AGAINST LEEDS OMG

A MUST READ https://footballnsw.com.au/2019/06/25/diles-continues-wanderers-youth-pathway-to-success/?fbclid=IwAR0PKfcXTej__iAE-NFoyCELTmRhaJGG-rU-e9IBckHyTi016HklcZkc1MQ DILES CONTINUES WANDERERS’ YOUTH PATHWAY TO SUCCESS 25 June , 2019 By Football NSW Under the mentorship of Arthur Diles, the Western Sydney Wanderers academy sides continue to thrive as a conveyor belt producing future A-League stars. The former Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, Parramatta Power, Crawley Town and KV Mechelen player has continued to fine-tune his craft as a coach, in order to provide the best possible education for an exciting crop of youngsters at the Western Sydney club. Diles, who joined the Wanderers academy in 2015, believes his experience overseas and discussion with the club’s first team coaches has been key. “Just like playing, coaching is something that you always need developing,” he said. “After doing my coaching education here in Australia I have gone overseas regularly to Europe and visited different clubs and academies to learn and observe how they do things. “I always ask: is it different to what we do over here? How can I implement some things here to keep improving my players?” “I have also been fortunate enough to have some good coaches above me at the Wanderers. “When I first started, Tony Popovic was great as a mentor. “In the last 18 months, Josep (Gombau) and Markus (Babbel) have all helped out as well. “It has been something I have invested a lot of time and money into educating myself to be better.” Diles’ Wanderers side, of which under Football NSW guidelines the vast majority of its first grade outfit must be under the age of 20, currently sit 4th place of the National Premier League Men’s 2 Competition. But as is uncharacteristic of most football clubs, for the head coach results are of secondary importance. “For us, the NPL has been a massive in how it has been able to give young players senior footballing experience,” Diles said. “Over the years we have probably been the youngest team out of the A-League clubs fielding sides in the NPL division, but we’ve been able to produce more players from NPL 2 to our first team than any other club. “I think the additional money, resources and coaching means there is a significant difference between the A-League academies and NPL clubs when it comes to developing footballers. Diles is now familiar with the unique prospect of preparing his youthful outfit to secure results against well-drilled, physical first grade sides while maintaining an emphasis on individual development. “The challenge is how do you get talented young players to compete week in week out against seasoned, experienced men,” he revealed. “We put a lot of emphasis into using Monday to Friday as a development opportunities for our players. “Come the weekend, we want to see the rewards from that and want to see these kids compete and ultimately get rewarded with good performances and good results. “I think that’s currently working for us. “Obviously the good gauge is that when you are up against men, you really get to see where our boys are physically.“That is normally the final step. Sometimes we are technically and tactically better than our opponents, but not always physically and mentally. “In that regard, the NPL is a great springboard for these players to develop mentally and physically, and we are very grateful for it.” The Wanderers have no shortage of examples of youngsters who have progressed through the academy set-up to secure game time in the Hyundai A-League first team. “There have been many,” Diles explained. “Just in the last two or three years we have had the likes of Keanu Baccus, Abraham Majok, Kostandinos Grozos, Tass Mourdoukoutas, Tate Russel, Matieu Cordier, Nick Suman, young Fabian Monge and there’s a couple more to follow shortly. “It’s been massive for us in the last two years, the amount of players that have gone through to the first team through the youth team and the NPL space. “I think we are ahead of all the other clubs in terms of doing that. “That’s a credit to our club and all involved for working hard to develop players, and not just worry about performance and more individual development with the goal of creating professional footballers with our first team.” Western Sydney Wanderers currently sit on top of the National Premier Leagues Men’s 2 Club Championship, a position that as things stand would secure them passage to the top tier of the competition. However, Diles and the Wanderers are not fixated by the prospect of promotion. “To be honest it hasn’t really been spoken about at our club,” he revealed. “In years gone by it hasn’t been something that we have actively looked to achieve. “If that can one day happen, great, but it is not something we train for every day. “Our sole focus is developing our players to become professionals and that is the most important thing. “You can see in the last few years the rewards of that have really paid off and that, for the club, is worth more than anything else.” “For us, if we can be playing finals football come the end of the year that would be a great achievement, because we haven’t done that in the last few years. “But that would be a little team goal that would reward these players for their hard work. “Come the end of the season the most important objective for us is that we have more players closer to the first team.” Diles’ outfit are next in action when they make the short away trip to face second placed Hills United FC at Lily Holmes Stadium on Saturday night. By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Reporter Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)

I asked Andre, a friend of mine from Hannover, about Pirim Schwegler. He replied: "Pirim was not a bad one. He played with heart and it was his dream to change to Australia. Good move for him." The comment is positive and promising!

Totally agree. We've failed miserably attracting or holding on to good Aussie players. Instead a revolving door for the mediocre was established. Of the 12 local players that departed in the last six months three are now at ccm, two at united, one at jets, one is in the NPL, one to the Nix, one retired, and three are still without a new employer. None went overseas, none went to an ambitious club. Says it all, really. That we signed Duke and Yeboah is a clear sign that something is changing. Mile would be a major upgrade on the pitch, the training ground, the locker room, and as a face for the media.

Not nearly enough. I dont wish pain on current owners, speculators yes, normal onwers no. But the market has a long long way to fall yet. Maybe then housing can go back to being about a human necessity rather than speculation and greed. Havent heard the usual boring tossers at work talking up their property portfolios for a while...

I'm sure the club with beat the "shooting accurately from outside the box" out of him. He'll be pinging it over the RBB in no time.

Get thee to a doctory mate.

WRGMG. I'm convinced that IKEA is some kind of a tear in space time fabric. We walked in at 11.30am and walked out at 4.30pm. Went there for a dining table and chairs, walked out with tupperware, a lamp, and a cutting board. No table or chairs. Surely I'm not alone in experiencing this phenomenon.

I don’t expect Lederer and co. to pump in millions if they don’t want too That’s why I don’t expect us to be challenging any time soon the Russian at syd fc is pumping money galore in and that’s why they continue to be at the top money doesn’t guarantee success but not spending it will guarantee lack of it

Trivia team name change From the Mitch Dukes of Hazard to Mitch Dukes And Hazard