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  • Popovic Abandons WSW On Brink Of Season

    mack

    By mack

    Tony Popovic has dramatically exited the Western Sydney Wanderers a mere week out from the opening of the 2017/18 A-League Season

    Reports have indicated that Popovic received & accepted a shock offer from Turkish side Karabukspor, a  inconsistent, occasionally relegated side who have gone through coach after coach in the past 5 years. His tenure at the Wanderers resulted in the club becoming the first ever Australian winners of the Asian Champions League, while domestically his output was less than expected after he failed to add to the single A-League Premiership the club won in their inaugural season. 

    After rejecting multiple offers from clubs in England & China after winning the Asian Champions league, he has finally accepted what appears to be a quite mediocre club for his first major opportunity overseas. The awful timing sees the Wanderers scrambling to find a replacement manager to take charge of the Round 1 fixture against Perth Glory. 

    One minor benefit for whoever the new coach will be is that unlike previous seasons, the Wanderers recruited well & early, putting together a strong squad with all 5 foreign spots filled early into pre-season. The benefits have shown as the Wanderers have made their way into the FFA Cup semi-finals and have been touted as a top 4, if not top 2, squad in the A-League.

    It is likely that Wanderers chairman Paul Lederer & CEO John Tsatsimas has already potentially scouted new staff as Popovic's contract was expiring at the end of the season, and the obvious targets include Ante Milicic, currently an assist with the Australian National Team, Josep Gombau, who is in charge of the Australian U23/Olympic team. Should the club want to look to promote coach from the NPL they could seek out the services of Mark Rudan, Chris Taylor from South Melbourne, or Mark Crittenden from Blacktown City. Ian Crook will run the club in a caretaker fashion until an appointment is made.

    Ultimately the club will need to move forward quickly from the "Popovic Era", find a coach that can bring quick success to a club that has not won a title for the past 3 seasons. Popovic's style was highly authoritarian, and said to be total control over the football side of the club. It will be an adjustment for the players & staff regardless of who takes over the role, and whoever wins the job will have high expectations from day one.

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    SomeGuy1977

    SomeGuy1977

    Posted

    Fanky would surely mean a 1KM alcohol exclusion zone around the stadium

    (Is that 3 times now?)

    wswtragic

    wswtragic

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, SomeGuy1977 said:

    Fanky would surely mean a 1KM alcohol exclusion zone around the stadium

    (Is that 3 times now?)

    Aaaaaaghh!!!

    GK21

    GK21

    Posted

    On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 11:40 AM, wswtragic said:

    Aaaaaaghh!!!

    Its ok he spelt it wrong, doesnt count.

    mack

    mack

    Posted

    On 06/10/2017 at 9:02 AM, lloydy136 said:

    that approach will have us ending up with Frank Farina.

    300k is very good money for an A-League manager, double so when the coach being approached has no experience as a first team manager.

    Paul01

    Paul01

    Posted (edited)

    27 minutes ago, GoatyMcGoatFace said:

    #AngeIn

    Do you really want 3 at the back and another coach who doesn't have a back-up plam like Crittenden?

    Edited by Paul01
    Correction
    Neverbloom

    Neverbloom

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Paul01 said:

    Do you really want 3 at the back and another coach who doesn't have a back-up plam like Crittenden?

    lol i wasnt being too serious :P

    SBW

    SBW

    Posted

    On 04/10/2017 at 5:23 PM, GoatyMcGoatFace said:

    i never really thought mark bosnich and fitness

    thatsthejoke.jpg

    luisenrique

    luisenrique

    Posted

    The surroundings of that training ground are Western Sydney as ****.

    GK21

    GK21

    Posted

    8 hours ago, luisenrique said:

    The surroundings of that training ground are Western Sydney as ****.

    makes him feel at home

    wswtragic

    wswtragic

    Posted

    15 hours ago, GoatyMcGoatFace said:

    lol i wasnt being too serious :P

    I hope you weren't being at all serious.

    GK21

    GK21

    Posted

    I couldnt find the popa Watch thread. However.

    I was spoken to my uncle in Turkey and Galatasaray took karabukspors coach last season (maybe the season before), and since then then have really fallen. If popa did some research he could be thinking that if he performs well, he may also get head hunted from a larger team and move on from there.

     

    Zelinsky

    Zelinsky

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, GK21 said:

    I couldnt find the popa Watch thread. However.

    I was spoken to my uncle in Turkey and Galatasaray took karabukspors coach last season (maybe the season before), and since then then have really fallen. If popa did some research he could be thinking that if he performs well, he may also get head hunted from a larger team and move on from there.

     

    Mr Popovic will be well aware of that.

    DinoPresinger

    DinoPresinger

    Posted

    It might also partly be that he knows the players can play well and backs himself to improve the team to a point that they can build off next year.



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