wendybr

Great post WB, and thanks for posting that! Too late to watch it all now - but watched the first 20 mins....and I'll watch the rest on the weekend. It feels really quite unbelievable to have lived through that. Not sure that I will experience such heady times again - but I'm very grateful to have experienced those. PS The look on NTS's face as his goal was mentioned - gold!!

Jets played well! Good to see...given many of their 1st team players were out.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/this-has-trashed-our-brand-gallop-faces-review-over-stajcic-axing-20190212-p50xam.html It's a shame GetUp! probably wouldn't be interested in this issue! They'd have 10,000 by now! Yes - it's up to over 750, but that isn't progressing as fast as would be good to see.

Errrr no....JP would not find that satisfactory, I don't think. Anything could go astray in "a few weeks"!

Don't mind at all - I noticed and figured you tidied up! Much better now - thanks! PS You probably have a very tidy room? JP would approve!

How good would that be... Sighhhhh….

They've jumped 20 in the last 20 mins! I added Mistah Campoy's request and the petition to my signature...so wherever I post (for a while) it will reach those on the forums who don't visit this Thread - which I don't do on a regular basis. Probably most forumites here are happy to sign.

662 now - not exactly galloping away tbh (couldn't resist the pun). But numbers are building.

Done! I was hoping someone would initiate this...and …...someone has! Thanks for posting MC!

Whose feathers Taurus? Go on...drop some hints!! <Whispers> We won't tell.

I always hate to admit it when it happens, but now and again, Alan Jones does nail it. I hope he pursues this....in his usual terrier-like style...and makes a difference. There seems to be a real turning in momentum towards AS at the moment....which I hope does see him achieve justice.

I can't understand how procedural fairness has just been so blatantly swept aside. Can they really get away with this??? I struggle to understand how ANY organisation can act the way they do....an absolute law unto themselves.

From 7.30 tonight. https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/former-matildas-head-coach-alen-stajcic-on-being/10801474

Yes we are very fortunate to have these forums, and an interesting, articulate and insightful community to interact with!

^^^ I pretty much said what you've said at the end there over on the post match thread. And the rest of what you say makes perfect sense. Hahaha - I'd actually forgotten that Popa's mantra was about self belief! I must've listened well to him! Although it's ingrained in me from being a teacher. Yes...different perspectives, as you say.

Yes they deserved it.....loud and clear...in the dressing room. What's clear to me in this debate...with voices like yours, BoyfromTheWest, DU, (my friend) Wanderboy, and others, is that there is a very fundamental difference in how we see leadership, and how leaders motivate those they guide. I don't think either side is going to change their views....and that's OK.

Yes to all that - and THANK YOU - this is exactly what I've been struggling to express … building a team that's "greater than the sum of its parts". That's what the negativity so far seems to have totally ruled out.

OK - that AND self-belief! Sure - no one, including our coach, says we have a complete team. But Popa built a winning team out of cast off players (plus Shinji) and determination and self belief. Yes skill and experience and balance and success all come into it hugely....and contribute to self belief. But, amongst his other responsibilities, it's one of the main jobs of a manager to develop a team's self belief and determination. Maybe the "sitting down and talking " the manager and the team did last week will have been a turning point.

And to me THAT is all about self belief. And that, more than anything else is what our team has lacked. And of course it's a chicken and egg argument.... but confidence underpins success in most things. And that's the case at even the top levels of all professional sport - let alone at A League level.

Your picking me up for my negativity...and potential hypocrisy, at the start of your post is fair enough. My smart arse answer to the rest of your post could have been.......maybe I've listened to too much of our manager's negativity to have much hope of improvement, or of salvaging anything of the season (given the teams we still have to play - and the gap in quality between our team and those at the top). After all, in his German interview, Babbel said he recognised how bad the team was in the pre-season, and decided we would be OK by NEXT SEASON. He actually thought this and SAID this! You see how his negativity ripples out...and even though I don't like it, it doesn't mean I haven't been affected by it. A less smart arsey answer would be … yes Roly did lift, so it worked there (and I wouldn't defend Gombau's approach with him - Roly was unrecognisable last season). And I hope no player WILL come out and suggest that Babbel is terrible, abusive etc. I certainly haven't said that - and I've not heard anyone else say that either...despite the fact the we are contenders for the wooden spoon. And his honest comments about the HAL, the poor quality of referees etc I did cheer for! They should be celebrated. Those comments were totally different to his comments that I have been discussing. But IF the psychology behind repeatedly announcing to the world (eg via that German interview) that "we are not very good", IF announcing to anyone who watched his interview last week that his players didn't care that they had lost in a humiliating defeat, don't listen to his instructions etc is perfectly sound, we might have a more competitive team by now. IF he really had nailed how to bring out THE BEST in the players he has, we mightn't be at the bottom of the table. I can't see evidence that his approach has worked (apart from with Roly) - it's as simple as that. Anyway...

Maybe they were doing that...or maybe they weren't just throwing their boys under a bus (and copping criticism for doing so). It will be interesting to see whether Babbel takes the more supportive approach when the team doesn't win in the future...or whether he goes down the same path as after the Jets game (and to a lesser extent after numerous other games) and slaps his players down publicly. I'm hoping for the former.

Sighhhhhhhh!

Thanks mate! But nothing I heard him say there makes me want to retract my earlier thoughts or comments. He was more or less saying (from how I interpreted his words) that the team was shattered after the last game (as of course, they would have been, even WITHOUT his demoralising words - stating that they wouldn't care) ...."their heads had dropped" ...and he made it sound like they actually wanted to give up for the rest of the season. THAT'S exactly what I would have thought their reaction would have been. And THEN, he said, they TALKED....numerous times THEY SAT DOWN AND TALKED...and he helped the players to understand why he did what he did. It sounds to me that by talking to them, they built bridges....after a gulf has developed between him and the players....which is hardly surprising. And that's plainly what he needs to do more. Not sure that many here would have seen last night's performance as that praiseworthy really.....but he complimented and praised his team...said he was proud of them, for their "discipline and structure" etc etc. And THAT'S what the manager needs to do - to show belief in his players (and not only after a win)...rather than DISbelief at how bad they are - which is what he did the previous week. Anyway...I doubt I'm on the same page as most of you here on this issue, but if he is learning about how to get the best from his (A League level) players....that's a step in the right direction for us all really.

He's a relative youngster, isn't he? Definitely under 50...from what I gathered when he was one of the most vocal people here ?? So ...I must be mistaken about only people over 50 knowing about tripe?

It makes me sad to actually hear the thump of the ball, or the words of the players or managers at televised A League games. Or when you're there live. Any noise from anything organised IS definitely good imo! Oh...except the foghorn voice of the SFC capo. He's unbearable.