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Popovic Abandons WSW On Brink Of Season

MadKaw

By MadKaw
in Western Sydney Wanderers

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MadKaw

MadKaw

Posted
Posted

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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octa9ona11

octa9ona11

Posted
Posted

It sounds legit... Terribly poor form if he bails on us a week from the season after having such a successful pre season. I've thought for the last 12 months its time for him to move on but this timing is horribly selfish.

Prydzopolis

Prydzopolis

Posted
Posted

Smithies reporting that he had an agreement with Lederer that he could leave at any time if the right opportunity came his way....

Poor form? More bizarre, for the first time in our history we have had the best preparation and recruitment (you can bet that much of that would have come from Popa himself) and now decides to walk away?

Turkey too? Cut throat place, no room for error, go through coaches like no tomorrow but must have been the right offer for him to move. I’m thinking along the lines of control of club (recruitment, back room staff, top to bottom) and contract (certain guarantees about length, remuneration etc etc).

Don't know who his agent is, but I know he is a shark. It will be on top dollar.

Prydzopolis

Prydzopolis

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Burgerman said:

What DA FAQ even ABC reporting it, must have had beef with Lederer or something like that as no way he would just quit like this.

 

Just now, Prydzopolis said:

Smithies reporting that he had an agreement with Lederer that he could leave at any time if the right opportunity came his way

 

MadKaw

MadKaw

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Looks like the deal had already been done.This was posted 3 days ago in Turkey.

 

Karabükspor agrees with Anthony Popovic

IHA

September 28, 2017Spore ANTHONY (TONY) POPOVIC.jpg  

The red-blueness team had an agreement on every issue with the Croatian Anthony (Tony) Popovic, who was originally from Croatia.

Kardemir Karabükspor found his technical director in Australia. The red-blueness team had an agreement on every issue with the Croatian Anthony (Tony) Popovic, who was originally from Croatia. 

The 44-year-old coach who accepted Karabükspor's offer is expected to make his final decision today and be in Istanbul tomorrow.

Jukes01

Jukes01

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Posted

Look we knew this was coming one day but the timing of this is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. We now have to consider who the next manager of the team will be. I think we have a great assistant in Carrasco and he should be given the opportunity considering he is there and would continue the work from Tony Popovic. I think if Milicic wants the job he should also be considered but if I am to be fair Carrasco can make a fine appointment for the club and would do a great job. We should promote this role within. He is more than ready for the role. 

lloydy136

lloydy136

Posted
Posted

seems strange that he would take this and not the palace or japan offers that were rumoured previously. are they giving him full control unlike the previous offers or is there a bigger story behind the scenes.

this will be tough to recover from regardless of how we look on paper compared to last season.

Jukes01

Jukes01

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, wengerboy said:

Well, walk out is accurate, no way he would do this few days out if there weren't serious problems within the club. 

We don't know the circumstances and I dont think we should speculate. My understanding was that Tony always had an agreement with Lederer that if the right opportunity came his way that he would consider leaving the club for that opportunity. I just don't think its a great opportunity to tell you the truth. He left us for a struggling Turkish side that looks like they will be relegated. Managing a team in Turkey is a fickle business so there is no guarantee he will even last a season there. It is going to be a struggle, however, if he turns the team around then it will only add to his growing list of achievements on his resume. 

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

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The Turkish article mentions the new coach was to arrive in turkey before now.

did I read somewhere that Milicic was in Turkey???

Jukes01

Jukes01

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2 minutes ago, GunnerWanderer said:

Mack must be at the pub celebrating haha

football never a dull moment 

rudan?

milicic?

bring back bleigberg! 

Surely we have to include Carrasco in the mix. Someone like Mike Mulvey will also apply. We should get some international interest but I don't see any reason why Carrasco can't do this job and do it well. 

Paul01

Paul01

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Edinburgh said:

The Turkish article mentions the new coach was to arrive in turkey before now.

did I read somewhere that Milicic was in Turkey???

I heard Milicic on a pod and was calling from Zagreb Croatia. 

JackDoff

JackDoff

Posted
Posted

Wow! ....fuuck!! ....SHIIT!!!    WTF??!!!   NOW??!!!   Oh well, was going to happen one day , timing could've been better though, but when that fat juicy $$$ carrot is waved infront of you ,there's no waiting. He's young with a young family....make hay while the sun shines

Thx Popa, you're a WSW legend !!

Paul01

Paul01

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, lloydy136 said:

milicic would be the obvious choice I think - keeps things within the western sydney family and it would be a natural progression for his career.

would be disappointed if we went with an a-league retread like mulvey.

There was an issue that forced Brisbane to sack Mulvey. I am not sure what is was but cheaper to sack a head coach than have a multi-million dollar law suit.

Jukes01

Jukes01

Posted
Posted

I just think it sends a really good message if we promote within the club or consider someone like Milicic who was at the club and left for a great opportunity. Both Carrasco and Milicic are the two best candidates as far as I am concerned, there is a certain continuity as well and familiarity with the club. With only a week before the new A-league begins it would be unfair on a new coach to take on a team that he has just inherited with no input. It would just set the club and the new coach for failure. Stick with what we know and send a positive message that coaches who are/have been associated with the club will get opportunities when presented to them. It's not like they are not good coaches either so it makes more sense to me to go this route. 

EmMac

EmMac

Posted
Posted

Well faark. I don't begrudge Popa his ambition, but his timing sucks to say the least. Its odd tho that he's left for a low ranked side. Idk, seems like there's more to this. Again, the timing is bonkers

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