BoyFromTheWest

Surely there'll be a few kids in the car park - we can use them. Having not heard of a few of the young fellas this year, we thought they'd be picked up in the car park this year. Although, having heard Craig Johnson's story with Liverpool, he was literally picked up in hte car park washing the players cars and shoes after failing in his trial - he did alright. Maybe this is a better strategy??!

Bet its Barbarouses to SFC

Elections are no longer about presenting a vision and seeking to lead a nation - well. It is about winning and when you win, life returns to business as usual and little happens until next time you both come out to fight each other to 'win the election.' Howard raised this to an art form. He was good at winning elections through generating fear and division. Beasley was a decent bloke who could never win against a much fiercer competitor who left nothing on the field. Abbott had the same determination to win - he couldn't lead a nation for love or money, but that wasn't what it was about to Abbott. When he lost the leadership it was still about winning - this time his fury turned on his own party. When he and Gillard went head to head and it was effectively a draw, he courted the independents (Oakshot...) and his pitch was that he wanted to win and be PM and he would give them whatever they wanted. That's why they sided with Gillard because she wanted to do something for Australia, not herself (well probably less for herself and more for Australia than Abbott). I find it an insult that people like Palmer can actually participate when they are nothing criminals - if you or I did what he did, we wouldn't be free to run around spending money and courting stupid politicians to support our outrageous desires. He has now come out seeking approval to build a bigger mine on the back of Adani. His $60 Million investment in this election was really about keeping Labor out of government so he could get approval to mine the crap out of Queensland - and they are too stupid too see this. He ripped off his former employees, the stupid government bailed him out, backed him in the election and now will be expected to give him approval so he can make billions, rip off workers, abuse the land and shaft everyone but himself! Enough rant.

Seems Honda is echoing Babbel's words - Australian players are too comfortable and things are too easy here. https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/hondas-parting-shot-get-out-your-comfort-zone-525487 Even Beatheac said as much - he wanted the rigors of European training - harder... Maybe our noble leader does know something!

Probably the Mosque in Auburn or Marsden Park - both closer to WSW.

That is truly awful - both design and colours! It actually looks like a poor take off from Western Sydney Uni, which I don't like either.

I don't think our S1 team would win the Premiers Plate. They'd be tough but the league has actually moved on. Popa did understand this and tried to develop the style of play but didn't get his recruitment right. Postocoglou got it right over his time in Brisbane - recruitment suited the shifts in style that changed the League significantly. Arnie got his recruitment right as he went into season2 of SFC - and developed their style in the process. I think that the only one who has moved through changes in style and balanced good recruitment is, interestingly, Muscat. The others have either started well and failed as the style changes didn't work or changed style in Season 1 of their tenure then recruited successfully to develop that style. Whilst we aren't the EPL or even amongst the top leagues in Asia, we are developing and the style changes across the world are influencing our league and changing things. Older players who cannot adapt are being left behind (that seems to be the bulk of players) and younger ones have largely been caught in the changes. Perhaps it is the OS players who have been forced to change their style or be ditched, who are best able to make the leap required of football. The OS players are also hardened because they have to be tough or they are discarded. They have to perform or they aren't useful visa players. Some have gone OS to make something of themselves, prove themselves and have worked hard (Nabbout). We see this in Duke and Yeboah. Others have been caught out bludging in lower leagues and go nowhere. It will be interesting to see how Babbel brings the vision/style he knows from Europe to bear on the local league, which is much lower technically, in fitness and a long way behind in terms of style. If he has the vision and capacity to embed the style and form he knows from Europe and gets his recruitment right, this team could take the league to a new level. He could be the next Postacoglou. We will surely see.

Is this the time for the new Squad Development 2019/2020 topic? The 2018/2019 squad is virtually no more.

We sat on the Eastern side at old Parra, down close to the field. It was great - yeah got warm in the arvo games but the atmosphere was fantastic and all was good. I don't know what the Eels supporters are complaining about because the Eastern side would be the best place to sit in Winter for arvo games - will be warmer. Bit unseasonal at the moment but surely not unbearable? I just want to sit with a big bunch of other people in a good stadium and have sound blasting at us from a rejuvenated RBB after the painful experience of SOP. A bit of sun, a bit of rain, a big hailstorm, bleak snow. I don't really care because I will just think about SOP and everything will seem so positive and wonderful!

There will no doubt be too many and a waste of time effort and someone's money! They will be intimidating awaiting the inevitable anti-social, dangerous, family unfriendly behaviour etc. Obviously sokkah louts (that's all of us!) are infinitely worse than the NRL or AFL pussycats or placid drunks rolling out of a day's cricket at the SCG. ARU, well they are a level above everyone else - pure gentlemen. If there is a march to the ground, there will be dozens more because JT explained there is a requirement of a certain number to be deployed through the streets and if they are brought in for the march, they stay for the whole shift.

But the ref didn't see anything in it!!! It was only VAR that made him stop and look at it properly??!?!!!

Reality, Sonar, the fans don't want loyalty and players who try. They want the team to win at all costs and stuff the rest. Listen to the complaints of us on here. There are a few loyal players who do their best but are assessed as ordinary and need to be gotten rid of. The players you named succeeded pretty well but a loyal player who tries his guts out but isn't seen as effective as a Santalab bruising opposition with border-line red card tackles (and scoring a few goals!) is ridiculed endlessly. When a team is losing there is no loyalty from nost of the fans.

That is, in part, the answer to your earlier question re: comparing Nix with WSW. They have a squad who are essentially consistent. We ahven't had a consistent squad since about S2. Popa changed players like his underwear. Gumby refused to use players last year who would have made a difference - there was other stuff as well, I know. This year, of out mostly 1st 11, who was there last year? Who was there the year before? It will once again be who are these players next year? Hopefully, Babbel will bring the right players, keep the right ones and allow us to build a consistent sqaud for the next few seasons. Whilst there needs to/will be turnover each season, the extent of ours has been deplorable. It seems like Popa was experimenting with us for 5 years to work out what he wanted/needed. Made the mistakes from S3... and then learned enough to get it right somewhere else. Gumby didn't like Popa's squad and changed a lot and we had a completely misshaped, unbalanced, inexperienced squad when Babbel came. I think he has steadied a really unseaworthy ship, learned the realities of a provincial league with strange parameters and ordinary officiating. The challenge for him is to build a team who is competitive and balanced, can work together, keep them injury-free and stamp WSW authority on the league once more.

This is a good article and Cornflakes offers good insight. My question, then, is what happened the last couple of seasons under Popa? Whilst we did make a semi in s4, we drifted to the end and came 2nd when 1st was within easy reach. We were completely undone in the GF. S5 was a total mess, so what went wrong? Where was the dedication to precision, the exacting leadership and decision-making? Popa has done very well this year - did he learn something over the last couple of years in terms of recruitment because it wasn't excessively wonderful at WSW? The team he has is very strong and he's done well with them. He did well with us for 2 1/2 seasons then it all fell apart, picked up and fell apart. Any thoughts? Any wisdom? Have I missed something?

For me he is improving and doing better but why does he turn around and go backward so often???? A few times he obviously saw a bigger player running for the ball and discernibly slowed down. I enjoyed his more aggressive approach early on, as I did with others (except Baccus, who I thought was going to do another brain snap al a Melbourne City in Jan and get sent off!). On the whole Kamau did well but he doesn't cross well nor get it into the box as often as he might. Still not sure about him in RB.