Leaderboard

Take the win. A very poor Jets so thank you for the gift Newcastle

I've seen nothing to indicate we have improved under Stajcic......it'a looking like a long long season......

A few small tidbits to take from that game. - Holmes looks confident, leave him there until LT is back. He's not smashing the ball into his own net so thats a start - I dont mind Panta at LB but his lack of left foot hurt his a few times to tonight. Better teams wont allow him to play inside - Mila is too feckn good for this league. We need multiple players hitting their stride very soon because we may get an offer we cant refuse come Jan 1 A win is nice but we absolutely have to be beating teams like Newcastle, Perth and Brisbane. We need nearly 40 points for finals.

Penny for the thoughts of NTS, La Roc and co watching our imitation of a defence tonight. Sapsford and Scicluna did more than enough to earn a start next game. And the keeper simply has to go. Terrible.

It warmed my heart seeing Covic on RBTV. Those boys are doing a great job every week, and they should be commended for bringing a genuine legend of our club onto the show. Those first three seasons seem like a lifetime ago, but listening to Ante re-live those moments, reminds us that we are a part of a unique club, dear to so many fans and ex-players alike. I'm a diehard Penrith Panthers fan, since 1985 when Greg Alexander won the Dally M medal. I've been lucky enough to see the Panthers win 6 Grand Finals. 4 in a row, is out of this world. If the Wanderers get it right as a club, both on and off the field, I truly believe that it will lift the profile of the sport in this country, again. Bigger than any 4-peat from a rival code. Let's hope that the return of the players from the ACL winning champion team at Parramatta on Saturday, is that much needed spark the club desperately needs, to rebuild it to the level that will makes us all proud.

See what happens when you have a black hoop right around the jersey. It gives you superpowers...

its round 1 and we have a new manager - plenty of time for improvement during the season. i think we need to get everyone 100% fit and performing at their best in training so Staj & co can pick and stick with a starting 11. we've been **** for years - lets at least give Staj a chance to put his mark on the squad. its pretty disheartening the amount of negativity already created (our various platforms) after round 1. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and negativity certainly can be justified, but to be immediately on the back of the team and saying the season is over after round 1... cmon Wanderers fan - that's not us and thats not our club - this club was built on resilience and we pride ourselves of not giving up. Bring on Round 2 - football is back COYW!!!

Ante Covic on RBTV last night was very insightful as to why we don't have a continuous connection with that ACL team. Santalab, Covic, Cole, Bridge should be involved in the club. Personal grudges because of a pay dispute on prize money these boys deserved is petty from the previous regime. The fact that Covic has never come to Wanderers game with his kids because the club shut him out is disgraceful and no wander the club is a basket case. Glad to her Scott Hudson genuinely is trying to repair that relationship. But what a joke. Mariners and the Jets do a better job of taking care of their own than we do.

I actually think Mata is not a bad signing. That is, providing we expect from him an influence in the team more than on the field. Everything above is right but the A League (and Australian Football) is renowned for low technical ability. We all groan over the basics that pro players still stuff up. Mata isn't fast on his feet, but he is with his brain and his skills. He can trap a ball and release it in less time than one of our players can think about what to do with it, after they've chased it a couple of metres because they can't trap. I think we need to separate Ben... from Mata. It was great, in the replay of the game to see him and Borello walking around getting photos with kids, signing autographs... He seems like a really decent (humble?) bloke and that has got to rub off on our players. We don't need arrogant payers and our young blokes need good role models in training, gamesmanship, playing hard, skill... If he can improve the skill level, the intensity in training and professionalism of young players and show them how to trap the ball, hold the ball look up, see a run and get a pass away, it can only be good for us. If people come o watch him and have their shirts signed by a legend, good on them - they may enjoy the football (perhaps?). I'm not really interested in a players agent's rants.

Nice work there by Batman (Sapsford) and Robin (Milanovic).

Looking back at my own football career I thought as a kid I was a terrible player but after 8 seasons of Wanderers dross I have come the conclusion I was wrong. I was way better than any of these guys.

WFMB The marriage of @Balkanite and @CaptainJess last Saturday.

A much needed win. Milanovic will quite rightly get the plaudits but there is a lot to like about the way Scicluna and Sapsford go about their business. My word the Jets are poor though and Natta is Clisby levels of bad. Next game will give us a true idea of where we are at.

I thought if any player was going to get done for selling watches, it would've been Cassio...

I feel like 90% of our problems go away if we go from 2 in the middle to 3. Right now either Brillante and Priestman both stay back and provide defensive cover, leaving a huge gap between the back and the front, or one pushes forward to support the attack and our back line is left completely unprotected. Mentioned it in another match thread, but I actually think Brillante has been better this season than last. Previously Hendrix played deepest of the two and was the one who would split the CB's when playing out. Brillante always ended up in the cover shadow of one of the opposition attackers and left Hexdrix with nowhere to go instead of being his first option. This year he's been playing deepest, which I think suits him better. Defensively he's been winning the ball back well and his stats for tackles, interceptions, ball recoveries, etc. have been pretty good. Play Brillante as the ball winning 6. Play either Priestman or Scicluna as the box to box 8. They're young so they can do all the running around and sub for the other one when their legs start to go. Play Mata as an out and out number 10 with two behind him to do all the defensive dirty work so he can focus forwards. Milanovic on one side of the attack, Kraev on the other, Borello down the middle. When Mata tires you put Kraev at 10 and Hammond or Sapsford out wide. It's a no fills boring setup but it should be second nature to the players. There's quality in that front 6 so we just need something that allows them to show it.

That we kept the work experience kid in goals after the first two egregious cock ups was a joke, and Stajic cannot but blame himself. We looked like a rabble for way too much of the game, and to have 4 goals incurred against an Adelaide team that were hardly better than competent is a telling indictment of our players and management. Every single one of that ACL squad that was there tonight should go I to the sheds and give the current crop a boot up the date.

Finally a home win . Sapsford is coming along nicely this season. Milanovic stood up tonight 👏. And it was a solid performance. Defensive structure still makes me nervous though.

This is my summary of what's gone on in the recent seasons. Biggest problems are poor foreign recruitment, and the lack of any cohesive tactical structure. 16/17 - Popa. Gutted Adelaide Grand Final squad, replaced Alberto with Borda & Topor with Cornthwaite, Andreu with Pinatares, Castelen with Jumpei. Sotirio ruins our chances of winning in extra time, then Jumpei misses the final pen. 17/18 - Popa/Foxe/Gombau. Popa leaves on cusp of season. Cejudo, Jumpei & Bonevacia have horrendous attacking season. Team entirely carried by Riera, player revolt against Gombau happens in the middle of the season as senior defenders & midfielders whine about youth being played. Those senior players are selected for a mid-season derby, and lose 5-0, with Riera out hurt there is zero attacking threat. Gombau sacked by Lederer who gives into player power of group who finished 7th. 18/19 - Babbel. Riera impacted diminished, slightly made up for by improved Bonevacia & Duke coming in late but defense is inept, worse than with Gombau. Risdon constantly injured or on national duty with Llorente not up to standard of a foreign player. Hamill & Elrich past their use by date for a top 6 team. Infamous Vedran Roar game happens in Round 16 followed by a 5-1 hammering against Newcastle a week later. 19/20 - Babbel/JP. Starts off well. Miracle! 3 wins in a row, and a draw... then 5 losses in a row then 1 draw, 1 win, and 3 more losses and Babbel sacked. Alex Meier is one of the worst flops in the history of the league. He's followed by Simon Cox, one of the worst flops in the history of the league. Defence was much better, but attack was anaemic after the centrepiece midfield threat Radoslaw Majewski suffers an ACL & MCL injury when Dylan McGowan scythes him down in a training incident. Duke is only attacker to pull his weight, Muller is another flop. Jean-Paul de Marigny takes over and does decently well 5W 4D 3L. 20/21 - Robinson. JPdM gets sacked so Lederer can headhunt Carl Robinson off Newcastle. The 5 foreigners (Gordon, Dorrans, Mutch, Muller, Ziegler) are flops. Robinson is exposed as a fraud pretty much immediately. Goalkeeper issues continue with Margush, the defensive unit with Ziegler, McGowan, Natta, Aquilina, Wilmering and Gordon is routinely exposed and the team slide out of the finals race with very inconsistent results in the back end. Mediocre foreign players and Robinson's poor coaching resulting in a team that was consistently poor and not good enough in attack to make up for soft defence. 21/22 - Robinson/Rudan. Probably the best squad on paper the club has had since Popa's 15/16 Grand Final team. Season starts horrendously, with Robinson sacked after 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses to start the A-League season plus being knocked out against NPL team in FFA Cup. Rodwell, Ogawa, Gordon remain flops, Mejias seemingly out of favour due to pay dispute, allows Margush to play instead and Margush has his Roar disaster in Round 23. Defence gets better despite all this under Rudan but zero attacking thrust. Hemed only scores 6 goals, but is leading scorer over Rodwell/Ugarkovic/Petratos each with 3. 22/23 - Rudan. My god, we're back in the finals series! Biggest problem this season was momentum being killed by the 2022 WC break in November, then an international window in March, winning a derby before both then coming back poorly. Borrello leads from the front but has a lot of attacking help, including Layouni. Defence has Nieuwenhof, Scheniderlin, Mrcela & Marcelo. Of course, this great season is wasted when Rudan fails to force his team to hold onto a 2-2 draw with Melbourne City late in the game, they flood foward for a winner that wouldn't mean anything and instead cop a City winner on the counter, so instead of playing 6th placed Wellington in Round 1 of the Finals, they play Sydney FC and **** the bed to give up a 1 goal lead in the last 20 minutes and crash out. 23/24 - Rudan. Mrcela, Scheniderlin and Nieuwenhof leave & club can't find a way to buy Layouni. Squad is very cut price. Ninkovic flops and hardly provides any assists let alone goals, performances are all over the place with some big wins (5-0 vs WU, 5-1 in FFA Cup R16) but some record breaking losses (7-0 vs City), finals missed after 3 vital late losses make a last round win vs Victory irrelevant. Pressure on Rudan builds up enough he quits at the end of the season to give the club and himself an out without having to sack him, and the 3 club owners who aren't Lederer force him out of the Chairman role, with new chair signing Stajcic from last placed Perth due to their personal connection from managing Philippines Women's team. Chance to win a trophy lost with a poor FFA Cup game against the Roar. 24/25 - Stajcic. Relying on a child goalkeeper after Lawrence Thomas hurt, foreigner performances haven't been great, still have Antonsson wasting space on the bench, midfield not up to standard of previous seasons and defence is frail. Tactical structure looks adhoc, team seems to be instructed to play out from the back but don't do it well even after the longest off season in world football.

OUR SEASON STARTS NOW! ...2-2

He signed for us.

Visiting this site for the first time in I don’t know how long and celebrating the nuptials of Balks & Jess 😁 PS: Second WFMB…Seeing Jerome Polenz talk up WSW

This garbage about Staj ‘setting the foundations’ at CCM is exactly that. They bombed him out and off they went. He is the epitome of a ‘meh’ manager and we’re in danger of becoming a ‘meh’ club. If we aren’t already. The Crystal Palace of the A League.

Yes, but he set the foundations for the Mariners, I know that as mentions it every second interview 3 A League season as manager 2 wooden spoons Maybe he can do 3 out of 4

Well that was painful....

Just say no to drugs.

I gotta post this every Sydney Derby, hey?

It’s only the Jets but we usually drop to their level and make hard work of it. Putting four through them is was a good side should be doing and we did it. Having a keeper who’s comfortable with the ball at his feet changes the whole vibe of the backline when playing out. Everyone looked calm and in control, rather than always being a touch away from conceding. Plus he made the big saves when required. Also I agree with the above discussion about his longer distribution, but the ball to Cleur for the second goal was pinpoint and he celebrated like he was the one who scored. Panta was a clear upgrade at left back. Didn’t get caught upfield when they countered and no suicide headers back into the danger zone. Also when getting pressed Clisby has the bad habit of lofting an aimless ball up the line. Sure, he’s making sure he isn’t the one to lose the ball, but it’s always a cheap giveaway and feels like a lack of accountability in possession. Panta can withstand some pressure and recycle the ball. Just needs to work on his crossing as he turns them all up to 11. There was one where he was all the way on the left and it went out over the right touch line on the full. Jeong was great other than giving away the pen, which for a defender is a bit like saying you have a clean criminal record other than that one murder. Turned a net positive game into a negative. Brillante keeps doing well and won back possession a bunch of times. Scicluna is pushing Priestman out of the starting lineup with his performances. Similarly, Sapsford is pushing Mata out of the XI with his performances. Took his goal well. Pretty sure I remember a game a few seasons back when Natta was playing for us and Nabbout burned him in the exact same way on the same part of the pitch for a goal. Enjoy Milanovic while we can, because if he keeps playing like that he won’t be here much longer. The average age of the starting XI was under 25, with Brillante the only over 30. Will be interesting to see how things progress over the season.

Sorry forgot, well done the RBB plenty of energy there driving the players 🙌

So nice to go to home game in nice weather, see a win, have a beer. The simple things.

How good’s that?!

I went to church yesterday and prayed for Thomas’s ankle recovery

Vidackovic had a bad game - simple as that - but he's a kid new to the league, i can forgive him and the 2nd half he did make some good saves - personally happy they left him on - i wanted to see his reaction - i wanted to see what mental resolve he has. at the end of the day, he is not our #1 and its matter of time before Thomas is back in goal - but he should not player next week as we need to uphold standards. Even if Thomas is playing, i think we are lucky to get a point - we invited Adelaide in and gave them free reign for their goals, its not the kids fault only. Jeong can move on in January - he does not give me any confidence and he stresses me when he's playing out from back, he shows no urgency and when he passes to team mates, the opposition read him like a book and press that player and we just about turn it over so poorly, and if he isnt doing that, he just hits it long out of hope and leaves 1 of our front 2 hopeless unable to contest it. It was incredibly frustrating to watch us look better and somewhat entertaining in the 2nd half, we only needed to conceded 3 1st half goals to get to that point - we have no enthusiasm when we start games - there was no motivation needed given the celebration last night was meant to be - but alas we looked dogshit. Borello is our 9 moving forward so we really need to move Antonsson on in January if we arent playing him - Borello looked hungry and chased balls - it was good to see, he has leadership qualities, but we just dont see it enough each game. Crowd was very disappointing and its really demoralising to see what our club has become, we look back so fondly of 10 years ago and we are an absolute shadow of that club and a laughingstock both on and off the pitch. Credit to everyone who turned up and credit to the RBB for going the full 90 as always - there's good elements of our once great club still there, but we are just not intimidating anymore and we struggle to get people to come. I dont know how Scott and those at the club fix this, its a hell of a job to fix and everything we do seems to make the club worse. We need to get our culture right and get our mojo back - that is more important then wins right now that said, sign me up friday night, its a new week and another chance to support the mighty Red & Black - Lets Go WSW

You cannot win a game of football with Keeper errors like that. Sure blame the defence, but goal 1 was poor hands, goal 2 was worse hands, it was actually going wide until he got his hands to it, goal 3 he was given too much space sure but keeper got both hands to that and was way out of position too far to the back post and then 4th sure the central defenders were split with a pass but you just have to get to that ball, sliding in not just kneeling waiting for it. We were not good tonight and got cut to ribbons straight through the middle but geez 3 of those in a season is bad enough for a keeper, in one half is just wow. Blame Stajic, blame other players, whatever, but the fact remains we were let down badly by possibly the worst keeper performance I have seen in recent memory. I hope he bounces back but he needs to sit down next week.

First half shockingly bad Second half entertaining.. Throw in some crazy defending and keeping and it all adds up to a ******* long old season.

Theres a very simple, and battle tested structure that would get us at least scoring goals pretty quickly. 4141 or a 4123 for those who really like to live on the edge. Reasons why I want to see a change - Staj is insistent on playong out. A 442 cannot do that properly because the midfield is so flat and out manned. You're forced to play wide and thats easily countered - Players currently playing out of position in a 442 - 442 isolates strikers too far forward - Midfield is currently out manned every minute of the game - 2 man center mid is getting torn to shreds defensively speaking, so why do we bother leaving an extra man here as a traffic cone? Why do it? - Negates all the reasons above - Gets Kraev and Mata close together whilst also being nearest to borello - 2 strikers doesnt mean more goals - Borello has proven he's a monster leading the line as a sole striker - Kraev and Mata aren't speedsters. Playing counter or quick release relies on fast players getting the ball. Having them on the wing or as second striker is ridiculous https://imgur.com/a/mbmbOsR link wouldn't insert, so here it is for those that can be f-ed Basics is: Borello Hammond Kraev Mata Milanovic Brillante Holliday Bonetig Wookie Cleur Vidackovic -------------------------------------------------------------- Some might argue it lines up the same in possession but I'd argue it wildly different. We would have 3 fast players leading the line instead of 1 or 2, more rotatin and movement in midfield, better players closer together feeding each other. Key to the formation is Brillante has to stay at home - his sole job is to win the ball and pass it to someone around him who can play

The thing with Mata is he isn't some edge case player with a weird skillset we need to accommodate. He's the archetypal number 10. He's a creative playmaker who is comfortable on the ball, a goal threat in and around the area, and can play in others with a killer pass. It shouldn't be hard to build a team around that. Play him at 10 with two midfielders behind him so he doesn't have to defend as much, Milanovic on the right, Kraev on the left, Borello up top. When he gets tired or is unavailable you play Kraev at 10 (like he played for the Nix behind Zawada), and either Sapsford or Hammond on the left.

Stajcic is dealing with the exact same issue Farina had at the Smurfs with Del Piero except you can't just stick Mata up front because he's never been a frontline striker.

Kraev deserves a mention too. Easily his best game for us. Worked hard in and out of possession, aggressive, won a lot of ball, (lost it sometimes too), a constant threat in possession. And, he'll only get better.

Great to get a win but I'm not getting carried away, Newcastle were trash. Sapsford is a fantastic second striker. Loving watching him play. Also loving anyone else at LB And Holmes, great performance. Distribution could use a little work.

Missed going to the game and of course they feckin win lol Watched the second half on TV and whilst we were good Newy were awful. They just looked toothless going forward and their defence was as organised as an anarchist's line dance. Obviously big props to Milanovic, and enjoying the work of Borrello, Sapsford, Pantz, Scicluna. Brillante didn;t embarrass himself and surprised we finally got a decent effort from the Korean Borda. Oh, and whulst he didn't have much to do Holmes showed he should have been brought on in last Saturdsay's game after the work experience kid shat the bed. Oh, and not starting Mata obviously had a benefit. The bar is pretty low...it's gotta be raised when we play clubs who actually know how to win at home more than once every 8 or so games.

Very good game and great to see Milanovic step up and grab a hatty. Holmes didn’t have much to do but he was safe hands when called upon. Sapsford slowly coming into his stride, hopefully he can perform come derby time

Another loss incoming. Grozos,Aquilina and Willmering.....all to locked in to score against us.......you know it's true...

I work with PE teachers Even they would be able to manage a team better than Stajic.

Lay off the kid, he's in his first season as a pro footballer, I'll forgive him for some of his mistakes he made last night, but to say it's worst GK performance when we had experience GKs in Redmayne, Tyson, Vedran and Margush and they have made far worse mistakes than Tristan has in which has cost us matches, even a spot in the final series

Not disagreeing with the sentiments on here, but if Thomas had played we would have won that comfortably. 3 of Adelaide's goals were keeper errors.

Mata is obviously very skillful on the ball, but I think having him alongside Brillante (and Priestman) is too much of a collective liability right now. Sapsford is one of the few players that is creating genuine danger. Scicluna looked fired up and should at the very least be given another chance to fill that holding mid role. I think the sooner Staj goes, the better. When a couple players regress, that can be down to form, confidence or fitting into a system. When it's pretty much the entire list of last years players, you put that down to tactics and the coach.

The result papers over just how bad we are. We upped the pace in the second half and Adelaide looked gassed mid way thru the second half.. 1 point out of a possible 9...racing towards the bottom

All things considered I don't think it's as bad as you guys are saying. After watching every game my take is. SFC n MV will make the top six, Perth n Brisbane will fight for the spoon. All the remaining 9 sides are capable of top six.

For some reason which I can't remember I was sat up in the posh loaded people seats in the west stand upper that game....all tartan blankets, flasks and jumpers over shoulders, sat right in front of that camera position actually. Two things I remember..bashing my shin on the seat in front when we scored and the lady next to me who was a total stranger..putting arms behind each other's backs and jumping up and down together.....that's more action than @Unlimited has had in years...