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I don't post much these days. Simply because I just haven't been inspired/ annoyed enough to. Maybe i'm getting old. Maybe I just don't give a rats anymore after so much negativity around our club, supporters and performances. Let's face it, we haven't had much to get excited about recently. Well, I hope that's all about to change. My reason for this post. A call to arms. I'm asking us all to leave all our negativity at the door, and bring our A game to the stands. We have an opportunity to 'start again' so to speak. Whether you're in the RBB, the periphery or in the stands, and for whatever reason you haven't been as vocal in your support recently, lets start again (I'm as guilty as any in this regard). The slate is clean. Remember WDWSF in the first few seasons. The poznan. How involved the entire stadium was. Let's show Australia that we're back. Let's show Babbel what Parra stadium used to be like. Let's show the travelling Leeds supporters what the cream of the A League supporters are like. More than anything, I just want to see positive energy around our club again. Positive energy among our supporters. I truly believe we can build on a good night tonight, if the energy in the stands is there. The players will feed off that and be ever more excited for the season ahead back at home. LET'S DO THIS!

I like re-reading the match thread. Going from low expectations, to we have a blunt attack. The Diego Castro to rip us a new one, Shoot *****, F-off Foxsports coverage and Ref, Dam Extra Time More Shoot ***** 1-0 (We the best we gonna win the league, Thats how you Shoot *****) 1-1 We're SHITE 2-1 We da best Full time that was good and enjoyable game I cannot wait for the next one. That's Gold

What a great day I had with football and fandom! Kitted out in red and black from the start. Off to the pub with my son where we were joined by other forumites and others we know to chat and chew the fat about football and anything else that came to mind. Then off to Wanderland to find our seats next to the active area, then sneak into the free standing area. My son suggested we try and I expressed several concerns that we could get away with it. Then I noticed an opportunity and I was gone and in. My son was left behind and had to find another way in later. Stood, sang, jumped, climbed on the rails, got drenched when we scored, banter and jesting with friends and strangers (and security!), the poznan too. I had a ball and then some. And the best bit? To paraphrase Al Jolson - We ain't seen nothing yet! October is too far away.

Duke injury is not that serious. Pre season will be affected, but if all goes well he'll be ready for Rd 1.

We witnessed a coaching masterclass by Marcus Babbel in the last week. The way he played Mo Adam last Wed up against NTS to give him a solid workout (absolute mauling if the truth be told) whilst resting Kwane to protect him was a v good strategy. Tonight he could have panicked & thrown on Mo when Kosta got injured, but, he wisely played the long game & threw on Nick who was vastly underdone & only capable of playing 45 / 60 minutes to fill a void, until he could unleash Mo Adam against a weary defence. Scoreline was in our favour after 70 minutes when Castro & Adam entered the pitch. Mo's hustle was immediately evident leading to 2 or 3 turnovers in quick succession. Fresh legs & hunger won out at the end of the day, but, don't underestimate the planning that went into this victory & it is due reward for some hard yakka over recents weeks.

Picture attached this time... And before you ask, not I have not edited this photo. It's 100% genuine

The AL competition rules were recently varied & within that process, the rules regarding the signing of youth players on scholarship contracts were amended. Instead of being able to sign 3 - 6 players between 16 - 19 to a max of $200k gross in total (salaries are linked to age) clubs can now sign 9 promising youth players to scholarship contracts wholly outside the cap. I expect this was a concession won by WSW & possibly others such as Melb City, to offset the concessions being granted to established clubs (SFC & MV etc ) who have multiple players on loyalty based contracts (% outside the cap) at the upper end of the salary cap scale. More importantly, it was likely considered to be a way in which our club could ward off any potential poachers (SWS), who may appear from time to time. It's worth remembering that WSW recently de-registered the contracts of 2 academy lads (Silvera & Aquilina both Joeys / YS reps) who chose to be distracted by the promise of a trial at CCM, rather than finish out the season with WSW in NPL2. The two players that rejected CCM's offer of a trial mid season, were Mo Adam & Lachlan Constable. IMO it was a clever strategic move by the often maligned CEO & ownership group, one which confirms our long term vision of a club, that it's invested in it's core assets, it's people, the abundance of raw & talented individuals, that lay within it's traditional catchment area. No other club in NSW can profess to have the same level of success s WSW in the development of talented youngsters. Our fee free academy & brand spanking new facilities are the best in the nation & they are what sets us apart from any other AL club & will be the foundation on which our future success is based.

BREAKING NEWS| Wanderers get their man. A sneek peek of Andy is attached & he's expected to be announced by club shortly on a multi year marquee deal very soon

Mo Adam playing against the reigning Premiers........,.comes from the bench to score the opening goal and sends in the pass for the second......there's the correlation right there.

Drew Sydney United. NSW police currently shitting themselves.

For those who missed it. We played 3-5-2 and after Leeds dominated the first 25-30 mins we really came into the game and when the starters went off after 70 we were on top. Lopar McGowan - Tass - Elrich Kamau - Schwegler - Baccus - Wilmering Majewski Duke - Yeboah Lopar had a great debut. Made a couple of top notch saves and seemed composed throughout. Happy to just pump it long instead of playing out from the back which is fine by me. Tass will play for the national team one day. Kid has got game and showed real leadership even before the starters went off. He'll look even better next to Ziegler. McGowan looked like he needed the run and will only get better. Tarek is done and won't spend much time in the starting XI this year. Will be the perfect bench player on game day to cover any of the backline positions if needed. Wilmering was brilliant and fitted in straight away. Very promising debut. Kamau like last year suspect in defence and out of position a few times. If MB thinks he's a wing back I'll trust his judgement but I'm not convinced. Schwegler looks like he isn't afraid to get dirty and throw his body around which is what you want in a DM. Reminded me a bit like La Rocca used to just smash people for fun. I think Baccus will really improve this year next to an experienced DM which is exciting given he got player of the year last year. Majewski showed enough in his first game to suggest he'll offer us something and some of his touches / passes were real good. I think he'll be able to pick apart some of the defenses in the A League for sure. Duke / Yeboah were huge. Didn't stop running, created plenty of headaches and won a lot of first and second balls. If the two of them get a chance to run off a top notch #9 then we're in for a good year up front as their pace and size will cause problems. All in all, Leeds the better team as they should be but that was a very encouraging first hit out. Oh - we also have the best stadium in the league by far.

You'd have to believe that with a 20 to 1 page/player ratio we'll sign someone in the next 19 pages. If we generate 2 pages per day then our next signing should be announced on or before the 23rd. In theory the faster we generate meaningless rumours the sooner the club will announce, hence if we can do 19 pages by close of business we'll have an announcement right!

On the RBB - the real teller will be once the actual A-League season starts - not a novelty match like last night’s. I thought the RBB was damn good, considering the circumstances (novelty match, in the off-season, first game in three months, no trumpet)

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. People the love the sentiment of a youth player coming up through the ranks to one day potentially be the star player yet they also want already proven quality players. Add to that the criticisms when an older player is signed and people start up with the whole: give the youth a go! Etc etc.. I think the club should be proud of producing the youth that we are. Particularly when there is such an influx of articles nowadays about players who are supposedly “lighting it up” overseas (usually in some back alley SE Asian league mind you) despite not getting a run at HAL club. For me those articles are starting to turn into plain old A-League bashing by NSL/NPL bitters.

Smurfs came for him & he rejected them. Then the Jets came seeking to gain his attention, but they were shown the exit & finally CCM came knocking on his door, only to be dismissed out of hand. Lad has done the hard yards in NPL2 & at AL training awaiting the moment his club we're as committed to the project as he was. Arthur Diles & his team of academy coaches have done an outstanding job harnessing his raw talent & keeping him focused

Couldn't get past Galekovic, can't squeeze past Bouzanis, and might end up at Mariners. There is a message in this. I for my part am very happy with the GK we have signed.

I think people need to realise, that yes it's a football team, but it is also a commercial entity. There are vested interests and various stakeholders that they need to consider. Many people don't see the other side of the business and don't understand the lines that sometimes have to be toed. You will fail to exist very quickly if you ignore this side to your club. This is what I do for living. I would love to tell some idiots in my community and fan-base to **** off. Some contentious issues like rules and regulations, scheduling and selections are handled in a specific way due to the direction of our board or CEO. These directions are usually based off commercial factors, risk mitigation and internal factors. For instance, my organisation take one of our tournaments to a specific area in NSW. We've done so for the past two years because of a very lucrative agreement with the council. When we announced we were taking it there again this year, there was a huge backlash from our community who want it taken somewhere else. This venue agreement benefits our community significantly, who have to pay less fees overall to play in the tournament. So even though we were accused of not listening to our members, we actually have them at the fore-front of mind. But unfortunately, you just can't put out a communication saying we're taking it here because we get paid a lot and it means your fees are cheaper. Either way we lose. We take it somewhere else, costs go up and people complain. We take it to the other venue and people complain they don't like it. Sponsors also play a big role too. It's quite easy to say "screw the sponsors" but their money allows the club to run events, clinics, build facilities, employ more staff and do a lot of things that aren't possible without financial support. So if a sponsor is worried about their association with your organisation or has a specific focus, you need to take that into account with your communications. I agree that they could look at their strategy and consider some changes, but they will never go full '**** everyone' like some people want. The injury update is a good start at being more transparent, but I appreciate that sometimes there is only so much transparency you can provide.

My favourite bit of Ned Zelic commentary.....Junior RBB on screen.......Ned Zelic laughing...." how good would it be if they ripped a flare".............total silence from the other commentators.....lol

Yep agree Megan. Dunno what was in the air but I saw armed cops doing high fives with little African kids and smiles all round. Plus my son in the RBB said security and cops were friendly and helpful!!! Seriously hoping this continues. Such a change from Olympic Park!

I’d like to mention an incident from last night, at our new stadium... My only interaction with a police officer last night, was when I went to the concourse/ back of the bays, to catch up with someone who was sitting and the police officers were standing next to him, so I stood behind, and one of the police officers asked if I wanted him to move so I could see the game! I was treated with respect, and like an actual human being!!

Tarek Elrich unlike other players last year when it was difficult times at the club , Tarek stood up and met the challenge head on and never shirked his duties ,always led buy example and welcomed new players to the club and helped them to settle in ,and showed the younger brigade what is all about to be a pro player, We as supporters of the club need to realise this and get on board and acknowledge him for his resolve,,there comes a time to move forward and get behind your teams, i look forward to the new season ahead ,

In other news. Smurfs beaten 2 nil by Brisbane 😂😂😂 Cya later latte sipping flogs!

Slow news day? C’mon Taurus, get to work on the transfer news. You started this! 🤣 .... and start buying the home shirt, I’m on commission

this kid came on and won us the game on wednesday, id rather club announce him to a scholarship to the AL team then them announce a journeymen squaddie joining the club.

When i was at the Leeds game i could feel a different vibe with the team when they came out and now after MB has had some time to build a team of his liking the signs are looking good so far especially with the new signings particularly Lopar.. He will be hard to get past this season and once Ziggy comes back he will feel more comfortable in goal also I feel ALOT more comfortable with him in goal instead of Vedran.. The boys played with a strat in mind to which they followed and got the win, proud of them! I wanted them to come out fighting and after they found there feet we were pushing into there half a lot i think with a marquee CF and a fit starting 11 we will be competitive this season which is exciting! I don't mind the formation it seams to suit our new wing backs like Kamau which has found his groove under MB i was impressed with his performance last night.. I'll say it now, In Babbel we trust!

Going by the goal celebrations, this win meant something to the team. It is obvious now why ABJ was shown the door. There are hard workers on the pitch now, and fitness is at high level already. At the very least we'll be hard to beat this coming season. Add Ziegler, Duke, a CF, the additional senior player MB is talking about - we'll be a force. Happy days.

It’s been quite the emotional rollercoaster of a year for me. I have always suffered from anxiety in one form or another. Be it social anxiety, making me reluctant and withdrawn in unfamiliar social situations, to general anxiety making me question everything I think, say or do in social and professional situations. My partner of 9.5 years and I found out in March that we were expecting our first child (baby boy, due end of Oct). It is something that was planned and hoped for. And we’re very excited about, and lucky we have successfully conceived without hurdles. The pregnancy itself has been relatively smooth sailing so far too (touch wood). Literally within days of finding out we were preggers, one of my best mates of the last twenty years died suddenly and unexpectedly. It was a complete shock, particularly for a relatively healthy guy in his early thirties. It was most likely death by misadventure, he’d had a night out drinking and partying with friends, went to bed and never woke up again. Absolutely devastating for all his friends and family. Everyone is still reeling from it and it will take a long time to recover (if we ever fully do). A month or two after that news, whilst still definitely grieving, I had a crisis at work where something I was involved in got escalated where it ended up in a court scenario, and the work I had done was completely torn to shreds by someone who had vastly more experience in my field than I did. I had a massive crisis of confidence where I questioned everything. I even questioned whether I really wanted to continue in my chosen work path. Considering the number of hours and literally years I had put in to my chosen career, studying and building experience, it rocked me to my foundations. I am still a bit unsure whether I want to pursue my career long term, the last six months has really made me question whether I really want to continue on. I have the support of my boss and colleagues, but I can’t help questioning everything and whether it is what I really want. In my personal life, the missus keeps growing, and we’re now six months in. We’re over the moon expecting our first child, and life in general looks positive. But it doesn’t change all the **** that we’ve been through, and the uncertainty and crisis that I have put myself through. It is definitely character building, and I will come out the other side better for it, but to go through this whole experience has fundamentally changed my mindset and world view. Life has a way of knocking you down at times. And all you can do is try and pick yourself up, and dust yourself off to face the next challenge that comes your way. Thing is, I have so much to look forward to. The love of my life is about to give birth to my first child. Being a baby boy has an even greater significance since I lost my Dad just under four years ago. I am acutely aware that I will be a father to a new generation. I am a father to a son. My father and I had a strained relationship at times, so I really don’t want to **** this up. I feel an acute pressure to be present, engaged and open to whatever challenges come my way (and they will be numerous and all encompassing). The new challenge is about to begin, and I (we) wait to see what comes of it. I would much prefer to be able to celebrate our new adventure with my mate, but I can’t. And all I can do is best prepare myself for my future as a new dad, as best as I can. All I can do is ready myself for the birth of my son and prepare my world for his introduction to it. It’ll be tough, and I am not looking forward to the sleep deprivation! But hey, life goes on. As much as we want life to stay static at times, it does not work that way. All we can do is prepare ourselves as best as possible and wear whatever comes. It’ll be an interesting 12 months ahead!

This is where the FFA are stupid. We could play anyone first home game and pretty much sell the place out. Yet, they schedule a derby. A ******* wasted opportunity. The NRL did the same to the Eels. They could have scheduled the Cowboys and the game would have sold out, yet they scheduled the Tigers (a local derby) and it got the same crowd. I just don't get how ******* stupid these people are.

Last month Sky in Germany asked MB if they can expect to see him work in Germany again any time soon. He said: "Right now I would give up too much. It's so much fun to work in Australia. I came to Sydney because this project fascinated me. The club is developing. We have completed a new training ground and a new stadium. We are now trying to set up a good team here, which has been missing a bit. If I'm to give it all up here, there really has to be an extraordinary offer. Just to be able to say again: 'I work in the 2nd Bundesliga or also in the Bundesliga', I would not do it for that. [...] We hope that we get a good team together. And then we attack."

Great to hear! You should let the Club know. I'm sure they'd be grateful to hear from fans with good stories, not only when we have a whinge.

Not usually a fan of these fixtures and only went because it was the first football game at Bankwest but came away pretty impressed. Off the pitch - RBB was good for a first up effort in a few seasons especially as with ticket sales a lot of non active were there, sounded good on half way. Impressed with the stadium, if we ever got back to our early glory days packing that place out with stadium wide poznan, chants and call and response, man that place will absolutely thunder. Bar was easy enough even though the selection is pretty stadium standard, food was a pain in the ass, I understand they want these burgers made fresh (and they tasted pretty good) but **** if you don't recognise there is going to be a rush at half time and make a few in advance then don't wonder why people are bitching about waiting in line for 20minutes. Love being so close to the field but those seccies better not keep standing up with 5 mins to go every game blocking the view of the first 10 rows or someone is going to jump the fence and put one on their chin, it's like watching the TV at home when in extra time and the score at 2-2 the misso decides she has to vacuum the spot right between your eyes and the TV - every time. On the field, well if we get that much luck at Bankwest moving forward then I am a happy camper, last year in that game we go into the break 4 nil down but we seemed to get a few breaks with posts and misses and all that which we have never had in recent seasons. Having a keeper was nice for a change, made a few good saves as well but talked it up which I liked even more and went long which was also refreshing. Thought Tass was good, Majerwieski, Bacchus had some very good moments and then a few clangers which you expect pre season, Yeboah went well and will be important for us if he can stay fit but the work rate of Duke is something else, to play at that pace and level for that period of time in pre season just wow, put a decent striker near him and they will get a bagful. Even the kids did well at the end, physically they were monstered as expected but on the ball they looked the goods. Love Tarick but he looks a bit off the pace at the moment, might be a part time farewell for him this year. Like we have taken every available bit of space and the field is on the massive end of the scale so there is plenty of space out there, the more talented side should win most fixtures there. Plenty of slipping and sliding going on with that surface especially as it was not a wet (as other codes have mentioned) but moving forward with us there every week you would think that will be an advantage to us. Overall pretty optimistic about our seasons prospects and I know we have all been there before but this one just smells a little different.

SOME PEEPS ARE NEVER HAPPY. We've just signed the Daniel Sturridge of the future & we're not satisfied.

Interesting night when last year's 7, 8 and 9 defeated last year's 1, 2 and 3. Whilst everyone is most surprised by SFC going down to BR (yes, a true surprise), the best team all last season went down to the 8th placed team last season in a convincing loss (in terms of the dominance of play after the first 25 minutes or so. We really played well, with more players to come in. Once we settled into the game and our rhythm and confidence, we were the better team, although they had the better and more dangerous front line. Our defence held up very well. We scrambled at times and Lopar is all class and skill (we'd have been 2 goals down in the 1st 20 minutes last year). Elrich recovered very well and changed his game against a player clearly much faster. I do like Elrich! He epitomises Western Sydney and never stops fighting. He is always fighting, trying, working hard and never gives up even when he is absolutely stuffed!! That is what we've missed from the bigger names (eg ABJ). There is a strength, dare I say 'mentality' in the team and a composure that wasn't there for most of last year. They believe and the young fellas are a delight to watch - Babbel has really worked hard in developing them. The backs kept a classy Fornaroli quiet and Castro was frustrated, as was Kilkenny. Much improvement to come over the next couple of months but really good signs!

On the plus side, if we find an away jersey that can play at #6 and #4 I think we are set....

Amazing given his record in front of goal

WDWSF to the western stand has to happen, so we can boo the ****s

My missus went out to get a drink at half time and had her ticket hanging out of her hand to show the security bloke to get back in whilst holding the drinks. A cop gently came over to her and just gave her a heads up that they’d had a few people trying to knick people’s tickets and to just be careful. Nothing groundbreaking but similar to yourself; she seemed happy with the manner in which the cop showed concern for her and offered advice rather than giving orders.

It was a good night all-round, you can feel Parra was buzzing again yesterday after making our return, the pre-match march was brilliant, it caught other people in the Street off guard. The stadium is amazing, sitting above the RBB and looking over pitch, it felt like I had an eagle eyeview of the whole field, looking over the RBB when the safe standing area, it looked great, there was a lot more freedom to move around and be active. Gotta love the double cheeseburger at the ground. As for the game, I don't think we did too bad per say... I think there were some pet peeves that I hate what we do and Leeds kind of exposed them as they were technically and tactically better. Things I didn't like: - playing out from the back, Leeds immediately pressed our defensive line whenever we hard the ball and we make stupid mistakes, that led to Leeds first goal - not being first to the ball, waiting for the ball to come has been an issue and Leeds have managed to cut out our passes a last night, Leeds always run onto the ball and they are very direct with their passes Things I did like: - Baccus setting up Kwame with the through ball, pure class - Lopars GK, brilliant saves, and has a good boot on him as well - Grozos through ball was sexy, shame Duke couldn't get on the end of it. - our youth team held up their own and did very well against a very senior team. Lots of good signs and hopefully some of these issues will be ironed out

Can we not soil the thread with talk of The Stupid One.

How good was it not to have security patroling the aisles.....hardly noticed the police.........kudos to the club if they got the seccos and cops to tone down the enforcement. Awesome atmosphere.

Announcement: Release of restricted view seating named '2014 Club' to pay homage to the victorious AFC championship in our 3rd year of existence.1/3 of the view, 3x the cost, but you get a cool* hat. *open to interpretation

Herr K you say? Klose confirmed.

A bloke on his way home from work comes to a dead halt in traffic and thinks to himself, wow, this traffic seems worse than usual. Nothing's moving. He notices a police officer walking back and forth between the lines of cars so he rolls down his window and asks: 'Officer what's the hold up?' The officer replies: 'It's a Sydney FC fan, he's just so depressed about losing the FFA cup match to Brisbane, and the prospect of winning bugger all this season, he's threatening to douse himself in petrol and set himself on fire. He says his family hates him, his mates are all laughing at him and he has never had a job. I'm walking around taking a collection for him.' 'Oh really?' says the bloke 'How much have you collected so far?'. 'Only about 1/2 a litre, but a lot of people are still siphoning.'

Watching on Kayo. 4 screen split screen so I can watch Sydney lose, Wellington get embarrassed and listen to aggressive Balkan chanting at the knights game while watching the mighty WSW win 😁 #magicofthecup

Hey Carns. I really struggle to communicate my thoughts via posts on WSF, I don't have much self confidence in what I post to be honest and in my view I make little sense, it all seems to come out jumbled up and I never seem to get at what I want to say properly,a bit like in real life lol But here goes, I will give it a go.... I don't post much in this thread these days, but you might be aware that I suffer from anxiety issues also, similar to what you have describe above which has impacted on my life in every aspect since very young. You really have experienced the best and worst recently with the news that a baby is on the way and then tragically losing your friend, that must have been very hard to deal with in such circumstances. We faced a bit of a work crisis at around the time we learned my wife was pregnant. In 2006 I was living in Leeds in the UK and in Nov 2006 I was made redundant at very short notice. It was only a very small family run company and no HR department or payout, I was just out the door with my desk items within a few days. We had just bought our first house around 4 months earlier with a BIG mortgage. I managed to pick up some casual office work but was only pay as you work, if you weren't called in for a project you weren't paid, and it was quiet. In December my wife falls pregnant, not planned, but of course very happy, if a little concerned about the work issue, but the wife still had a full time job. Then in March my wife was made redundant from her job. I had no casual work at that time and panicking like mad and desperately trying to find a permanent or even fixed term job. Not much in the way of savings and we start to wonder how bills will be paid, wife very worried and I felt like I was letting her down. Thankfully in May I managed to get a permanent job, saved phew! My son was born September 2007, best day of my life by a mile, held him in my arms, gave him his first bottle, will never forget that. The long nights trying to get him to sleep and walking him endlessly around the block as that seemed to settle him. I have read to him every night since he was born, he is 12 next month and I STILL read with him every night, he gets upset if I don't He also still has his bears from when he was a baby around his room, but would never admit that outside of our unit There have been lots of ups and downs of course, especially in relation to my health over the last year or two. I had a MAJOR crisis last year that I thought I would never recover from. I managed to dig in and somehow come out the other side, I don't think I would have got through that without Wendy's support and words around that time, something I will be forever grateful for She said I would get through it all, even Wendy is right sometimes You lose your way every now and then, but find your way back, and having a kid certainly focuses the mind. Raising a kid is bloody hard work, sometimes we get it wrong of course, we all do, but is easily the best thing that has ever happened to me and so thankful I have my son, we are so so close and you will have that relationship also. Exciting times right now and in the future. All you can do is prepare for the arrival, be there for your partner, and remember your friend the way you want to. Wishing you all the best, and apologies for the ramble ...

Lederer owns less than a 1/3 of the club, not sure why he cops so much abuse, unless we have peeps on this forum who are antisemites

By the power vested in me by the almighty Masterfoods, you may now fire the cannon. Brass band plays the bridal waltz in the background.

Yeah pre-Lopar I'd be cursing the Mariners but after the 1 game we saw I think it's safe to say Lopar is one hell of an exciting signing.

them saves from Lopar and Suman

I get the edgey launch, but you need to have the wears (in this case a decent kit) to back it up. Btw, whats doing with the nose ring models? I'd support the lads if they were wearing red & black rags, so whilst I'm not a fan of the new kit, so be it