Youthful Exuberance Can't Avoid Defeat

Early on he and Sotirio were causing havoc on the left hand side.

I actually thought we had good fluidity going forward first half.  Terrible at the back.

Second half we just dropped off as usual despite scoring our goal.

Still pleased to see good performances generally from most of the kids in the team.  Definitely some talent there but as usual our team looks genuinely disjointed because we can never get the same team on the park to get that understanding.

 

I think we should of rested players on Wednesday at Brisbane this was the game we had to win. Yes we can't get relegated but who the f*** wants the wooden spoon.

Finally, someone is seeing it.

Yes, I made similar pre game comments.

 

 

I think we should of rested players on Wednesday at Brisbane this was the game we had to win. Yes we can't get relegated but who the f*** wants the wooden spoon.

Finally, someone is seeing it.

Yes, I made similar pre game comments.

Totally disagree guys , we have played 9 games in 28 days including two overseas trips with plenty more to come in the next month. We have 5 or 6 first teamers out with injury and probably a couple with niggles .It would be insane to ask NTS and tanaka to play 4 Games in 10 days. I really enjoyed seeing the young guys have a real go today it's not as if the so called first teamers have been any better .

What disappointed me the most was how after we scored Newcastle had constant possession for about 15 minutes straight. Even Barca's tiki taka isn't that bloody dominant.

I got to the Woolpack at around 2pm and actually thought I'd got the match day wrong?

I was relieved when I saw a couple of red and black jerseys.

It Was so quiet the local library had more atmosphere.

Bonus was I got a few beers without having to wait in line and agony of choice to find out where to sit and enjoy my free sausage with onions.....oh the game, that's been covered by most of the other comments.

Too any injuries, too many games, in my best Yul Brynner accent ....et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

We roll on with our heads held high

The positive of the crowd numbers settling down is that it should remove any sense of complacency from the club that appears to have crept in due to the booming growth during a period of success. I'm sure we've all felt that fans have been taken for granted at stages since Lyall left, and the whole community thing has crept into a bit of rhetoric rather than reality to an extent.

Gets the club thinking more about how to drive sustainable growth and engagement.

In saying this, I still think our membership numbers will be very high next season.

Most people love winners and they don't like paying to watch rubbish. That's something we have to accept. I always thought our membership was overstated. I think the kind of football we have played in the last year has made people evaluate the worth of the cost of going to a game. Remember we are going to most likely get the record for the lowest points ever by any team in a HAL season.

We should be a big club (one of the big 4), therefore I hope next season something is done to ensure we don't have another season like this. As a club we shouldn't be accepting mediocrity. I can understand the physical demands relating to this season, however there are other problem there also including our constant recruiting of average players and our predictability as a team. Things will get worse if we have another season like this. That is just a fact. Our core might go down to 7k.

Our conscience in the gutter

Our dreams up in the sky

[ … ] might be a different experience in the stands I guess because you don't have the enjoyment of jumping and singing for 90 minutes to distract you […]

 

 

If I thought singing and dancing for 90 minutes instead of sitting and watching the game I've paid to see was enjoyable, I'd have active tickets and not seats in the stands

Seriously though, 10k for a bottom of the table clash is pretty good by A-League standards (as was 7k showing during the Apocolypse). How many of the other clubs can say they've got a core of 7-10k who will show up, win or lose? Victory, probably. Maybe Roar. SFC can barely got more than that when they are a chance to go top of the table.

Numbers will pick up again next year as those who drop their membership will be replaced by those on the waiting list who still want in.

wasn't a criticism smp of those in the stands - was just saying that a poor game of football for me is made more enjoyable by being active in the terrace and that a poor game of football could seem much worse by comparison for those in the stands because they don't have that to focus on.

I still can't accept 8K+ of our members choosing not to go to something that they have already paid for (so its not an 'I'm not paying for rubbish football' as westsyd suggested). we have talked as a fanbase about us 'getting it' and being different to smurf fans or roar fans or whatever - evidence suggests that outside of a core of 8-10K that we are not. we should be holding ourselves to the standard set by the victory or by teams overseas not numpties like the roar who leave en masse during their own grand final celebration.

Rbb is always good when the blowins aren't there. For a start their monotonal drones are not only absent, meaning there is a bigger percentage of people singing the right tunes, but also la banda's frequencies are less muffled too.

Don't get me wrong I'd much prefer it to be full but the ssound is good.

I thought 10000 was good even though I was hoping for more. Bottom of the table clash. If that's our core support were doing okay.

Don't agree we should've rested players against Brisbane. We play the line up we played last night against Brisbane, they put four or five past us and Broich has a field day. Last night was the perfect opponent to give some kids a run against.

wasn't a criticism smp of those in the stands - was just saying that a poor game of football for me is made more enjoyable by being active in the terrace and that a poor game of football could seem much worse by comparison for those in the stands because they don't have that to focus on.

 

I still can't accept 8K+ of our members choosing not to go to something that they have already paid for (so its not an 'I'm not paying for rubbish football' as westsyd suggested). we have talked as a fanbase about us 'getting it' and being different to smurf fans or roar fans or whatever - evidence suggests that outside of a core of 8-10K that we are not. we should be holding ourselves to the standard set by the victory or by teams overseas not numpties like the roar who leave en masse during their own grand final celebration.

When you say "we as fans have talked about 'getting it' and being different to smurfs", how many people have you spoken with? Have you spoken with all the 18,000 members? I'm saying that because I think there is a core (especially on this forum) who think like that, but the reality is probably much different. Just because you might want it to be the core value of a club, doesn't mean it necessarily exists (not yet anyway).

I wouldn't worry too much anyway because if MV were in the same position as us they would also be getting 10k, and ESFC would probably be getting several sub 10k crowds by now.

victory's worst average was 14K in season 1 and 15K when they were rubbish under magilton. we won't get that this year.

yeah you may have a point regarding the discussion on here not being representative of the overall fanbase. but it doesn't mean that I have to be happy that we have 'fans' abandoning the team.

At least after brisbane away on wednesday and perth away next saturday, 
every game for the rest of the season is at home except for central coast away which isn't much travel and then the final game of the season is in China but we have a week and a half to prepare for that.

victory's worst average was 14K in season 1 and 15K when they were rubbish under magilton. we won't get that this year.

 

yeah you may have a point regarding the discussion on here not being representative of the overall fanbase. but it doesn't mean that I have to be happy that we have 'fans' abandoning the team.

Yeah it's disappointing, but sometimes I have to remind myself that this is still only our 3rd season, we have achieved so much in such a short period. Perhaps some thought it would always be like the first 2 seasons, those of us who have been around the game and supporting other sides for over 30 years know differently.  I would think me and you probably have a similar outlook on supporting due to our other team support which has taught us to enjoy the good times and hang in there during the (often long) bad times. Those swept up in the first few years and maybe newish to the game just need to be educated lol 

Sydney backs winners, but the message needs to be clear that WSW is a commitment that you don't walk away from when the going gets tough. You sign away you life and give WSW your soul when you become a member lol

victory's worst average was 14K in season 1 and 15K when they were rubbish under magilton. we won't get that this year.

 

yeah you may have a point regarding the discussion on here not being representative of the overall fanbase. but it doesn't mean that I have to be happy that we have 'fans' abandoning the team.

We should always strive to improve, but that doesn't mean we should dismiss what we have already achieved (that's a general comment by the way Lloydy, not having a go at you). It's okay to be disappointed at 10k but still be pleased that in three years we've achieved that much so far.

Victory is clearly the benchmark, and we have a long way still to go, but I think we're travelling pretty well on that path.

Don't agree we should've rested players against Brisbane. We play the line up we played last night against Brisbane, they put four or five past us and Broich has a field day. Last night was the perfect opponent to give some kids a run against.

Yes, I can see the argument for not playing kids yesterday, but for mine it had to be done.

The worst night at the football still beats the best day at work.

A worst night at the football still beats an evening at the ***** mother in laws also, that is where I would have been heading if there was no game lol

Thank *** me and my son have an escape outlet where he can mess around with a few lads and I have have a good time also.

Also, just stop and think how long the off season is in this country!

By the first week of June I have football withdrawal symptoms! **** I hope we make it through the ACL group stages to extend it and fill the gap a little.

You will all be begging for any kind of football to watch soon 

I got to the Woolpack at around 2pm and actually thought I'd got the match day wrong?

I was relieved when I saw a couple of red and black jerseys.

It Was so quiet the local library had more atmosphere.

Bonus was I got a few beers without having to wait in line and agony of choice to find out where to sit and enjoy my free sausage with onions.....oh the game, that's been covered by most of the other comments.

Too any injuries, too many games, in my best Yul Brynner accent ....et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

 

We roll on with our heads held high

Yep got to the Collector at 3pm and it was quiet. No line at the bar, plenty of places to sit and chat. I couldn't believe it was 2 hours to kick off. And the place never picked up, there no chants or March. Everyone just spilled out of the pub from around 4-4:30 and moseyed on to the stadium.

It felt very bizarre.

Then when you got to the stadium it was the same feeling. The usually pre-match buzz was replaced by a flatness.

Then when the game started and well that wasn't anything to boast about..

I question that crowd figure. There were just as many people if not a few more than the victory game last week and that had over 11k.

Anyway, I still had fun, we made some good noise last night, special mention to the big fella next to me who was listening to music through headphones whilst still chanting and getting into it hahaha whatever works.

I'm a bit annoyed that we played such a young team when that was a game that we really needed to win. I dunno about others but I don't want to be finishing last and if that game is what cost us well...

The thing that cost us again was lack of communication at the back, not many seem to be on the same wavelength still.

I still love you WSW

Through ball early on from Perkatis to Soritio was the best thing I've seen come from midfield all year - perfectly weighted pass. Was Finkler like. 

Don't buy the argument about finishing last. Would much rather play youth and get the spoon then run wounded players further into ground when ACL is still alive. Think those worried about being 9th or 10th is somewhat short sighted but can respect opinion. 

Covic must be gaining a kilo or two - seems to be sprinting off his line a little too much lately must be worried about his figure 

I question that crowd figure. There were just as many people if not a few more than the victory game last week and that had over 11k.

Anyway, I still had fun, we made some good noise last night, special mention to the big fella next to me who was listening to music through headphones whilst still chanting and getting into it hahaha whatever works.

I'm a bit annoyed that we played such a young team when that was a game that we really needed to win. I dunno about others but I don't want to be finishing last and if that game is what cost us well...

The thing that cost us again was lack of communication at the back, not many seem to be on the same wavelength still.

I still love you WSW

 

I question that crowd figure. There were just as many people if not a few more than the victory game last week and that had over 11k.

Anyway, I still had fun, we made some good noise last night, special mention to the big fella next to me who was listening to music through headphones whilst still chanting and getting into it hahaha whatever works.

I'm a bit annoyed that we played such a young team when that was a game that we really needed to win. I dunno about others but I don't want to be finishing last and if that game is what cost us well...

The thing that cost us again was lack of communication at the back, not many seem to be on the same wavelength still.

I still love you WSW

Was that in bay 57? Coz I was behind a guy who had headphones too and was screaming BY YOUR ******* SIDE so loud you could probably hear it clearly in the south end lol.

And during call to arms he was telling everyone which direction they should be jumping haha

Bay 48 some words were had between fans did not spill over the core will always be different though and after season one I think many bought not to miss out out derby tickets. With the years peoples love for football and this team will grow.

Have no problem whatsoever with the young guys being thrown to the lions yesterday (well, thrown to the cats with a mane put on their neck by one of those shut-in old ladies). Alessi was the only one who really had a hard time of it, and as said beforehand Aspro, Fofanah, K-Man and Sotirio were better than may be expected considering where our NYL team ended up at the end of their season.

It wasn't these guys who dare I say let things down; it was the usual crew of older players who disappointed. Kalmar, Trifiro, Ruka, Golec were less than stellar and perhaps you can throw into the mix Gallaway as well. Don't get me wrong...they are our guys and I will always applaud their effort and their desire to do what they can for the club, for their team mates and for us. However if we are brutally honest many of these guys (and a few we have had injured) are simply not good enough for an A-League club that has had such a great (if short) history.

Surely the emphasis now must be getting whatever we can out of the remaining A-League games whilst our best and brightest strive for whatever ACL glory can be achieved. If that means we see more young 'uns running around at Wanderland or say up at Sea Bogan Palace then that's fine by me. And when all is over for the season the axe gets wielded with intelligent ruthlessness.

Ruka is shocker at controlling the ball. Can't believe the positions he gets himself into, only to have the ball control of a 10 year old.

Ruka will make a good run forward and then completely screw it up. First touches are really poor. Has good pace but man, he has no ball control.