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  • Popovic Abandons WSW On Brink Of Season


    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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    lloydy136

    Posted

    What a ******* shambles. It might takes us a while to recover from this as a club.

    btron3000

    Posted

    Both spoke well. 

    Can't blame him for leaving. Hopefully the next coach is here for at least 5 years.

    Re: Milicic, I'd say it'd depend on what his ambition is. Doubt he's gonna be the Socceroos next full time coach, so does he want to pursue a club career?

    Club and national are very different, so he might want to move.

    btron3000

    Posted

    1 minute ago, lloydy136 said:

    What a ******* shambles. It might takes us a while to recover from this as a club.

    Thing that really concerns me is whether the visa players will be as motivated.

    Davo

    Posted

    According to the press conference Popa got the offer last night and accepted it this morning. If true it explains why there was no sign of it yesterday at the season launch. Also the fact the he did it with JT and they got along ok and didn't appear to hate each other suggests that there's no bad blood.

    Of course it could all be bullshit and just for the cameras.

    Smoggy

    Posted

    1 minute ago, btron3000 said:

    Both spoke well. 

    Can't blame him for leaving. Hopefully the next coach is here for at least 5 years.

    Re: Milicic, I'd say it'd depend on what his ambition is. Doubt he's gonna be the Socceroos next full time coach, so does he want to pursue a club career?

    Club and national are very different, so he might want to move.

    Quick summary for those of us like me who missed it? What was said in short?

    EmMac

    Posted

    I honestly dont know what to make of that presser. It seemed all very odd. And he hasn't spoken to the lads yet? JT looked stressed, tho i think that might be his default expression lol.

    Mmmmm, what a palaver

    Smoggy

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, lloydy136 said:

    What a ******* shambles. It might takes us a while to recover from this as a club.

    nahhhhh, this isn't Leeds you know....

    Neverbloom

    Posted

    i know they said we wont rush a new coach signing but i dont feel comfortable not having a full time coach but i obviously dont want them to rush the decision

    hoops

    Posted (edited)

    Is there a link online for the press conference?

    I was looking on SBS and Fox Sports but nothing.

    Edited by hoops
    Found it on Fox Sports now.
    Horus

    Posted

    That question about having previous offers before was a valid one..., not having told the players, no mention of the support staff?

    Either way its a giant **** sandwich  

    Davo

    Posted

    Just now, WSWBoro said:

    Quick summary for those of us like me who missed it? What was said in short?

    • Popa got the offer last night and accepted this morning.
    • JT and the club had an agreement with Popa that they'd let him leave his contract if the right offer came up.
    • Popa didn't confirm that he'd had any offers in the past although implied that he had, but was only interested in working in Europe and wouldn't accept offers in Asia.
    • Popa hasn't had a chance to talk to the players yet as it's all been so sudden.
    • JT said they've already been inundated with applicants but wouldn't discuss front runners or interim manager. Just said they will take the time needed to get the decision right.
    • Wouldn't confirm that the whole coaching support staff are leaving although made it sound like it would be the case.
    • When asked about WSW players who signed to play for Popa and whether he'd consider taking them with him, Popa dodged the question and JT sarcastically said "thanks for that" to the journalist.
    Neverbloom

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Horus said:

    That question about having previous offers before was a valid one..., not having told the players, no mention of the support staff?

    Either way its a giant **** sandwich  

    i wish we knew if people other than tony were leaving

    tardotz

    Posted

    Not much to take out of the press conference. This is a quick summary

    #It was a decision made in the last few hours.

    #He hasn't had time to talk to the players but said he will.

    #it was an opportunity that he sees as a stepping stone to coach in Europe.

    #Happy with what he achieved at the club.

    #Club accepted the resignation as they did not want to stop him from following his dreams.

    #Did not answer the questions if any of the coaching staff is following him.

    #Said he will always follow WSW.

    #Club will not rush into the new appointment

    #Club has already started receiving nominations for a new coach 

    hoops

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Davo said:
    • Popa got the offer last night and accepted this morning.
    • JT and the club had an agreement with Popa that they'd let him leave his contract if the right offer came up.
    • Popa didn't confirm that he'd had any offers in the past although implied that he had, but was only interested in working in Europe and wouldn't accept offers in Asia.
    • Popa hasn't had a chance to talk to the players yet as it's all been so sudden.
    • JT said they've already been inundated with applicants but wouldn't discuss front runners or interim manager. Just said they will take the time needed to get the decision right.
    • Wouldn't confirm that the whole coaching support staff are leaving although made it sound like it would be the case.
    • When asked about WSW players who signed to play for Popa and whether he'd consider taking them with him, Popa dodged the question and JT sarcastically said "thanks for that" to the journalist.

    So where did you see this? Is there a link?

    Fox Sports website has a 1 min video but doesn't show of this info.

    Davo

    Posted

    1 minute ago, hoops said:

    So where did you see this? Is there a link?

    Fox Sports website has a 1 min video but doesn't show of this info.

    It was on Fox, channel 500. They did a live cross to cover the press conference.

    tardotz

    Posted

    1 minute ago, hoops said:

    So where did you see this? Is there a link?

    Fox Sports website has a 1 min video but doesn't show of this info.

    It was live on fox sports news

    Smoggy

    Posted

    Players not told by Popa himself before all this broke is a real shitter.

    Please not Ian Crook in as temp....that guy is a born head coach looser.

    Cynth

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, WSWBoro said:

    Players not told by Popa himself before all this broke is a real shitter.

    Please not Ian Crook in as temp....that guy is a born head coach looser.

    Who else will be left to fill in if Popa takes Carrasco, Foxe and Kalac?

    tuco

    Posted

    so many questions from todays announcement;

    1. who will replace Popa?

    2. will he be accepted back to WSW when he fails in turkey?

    3. is Popa using this move as a springboard to go for the national job after Ange Impostanoclue gets fired (next week/end of november/ Russia 2018)?

    4. will sotirio play less?

    5. how much money does Thomas Tuchel want?

    .........

    hoops

    Posted

    1 minute ago, WSWBoro said:

    Players not told by Popa himself before all this broke is a real shitter.

    Please not Ian Crook in as temp....that guy is a born head coach looser.

    But didn't Crook coach one ACL away game win when Popa was suspended from the Marcello Lippi pitch walk on thing :cheeky:

     

    teddies

    Posted

    Wow. 

    Wow. 

    Yes, agreed that it's pretty bad timing. But better now than in the middle of the season. Rip the band-aid off let's get on with it. 

    Would love Gombau in. 

    mack

    Posted

    I wouldn't be shocked if Popa has decided to use this as a leap frog into Europe, join this rando club in the middle of nowhere in Turkey, wait until Christmas and find a new bigger club in December/January when most clubs start sacking under-performing managers.

    JackDoff

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, mack said:

    I wouldn't be shocked if Popa has decided to use this as a leap frog into Europe, join this rando club in the middle of nowhere in Turkey, wait until Christmas and find a new bigger club in December/January when most clubs start sacking under-performing managers.

    :xnod:

    was thinking same thing Chief.....great minds 

    :P 




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