Wanderers not the issue: Gorman
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Western Sydney Wanderers chief executive Lyall Gorman is upset his fledging A-League club is being dragged into the discussions over hooligan problems in the game.
Ugly scenes at a pre-season friendly between the Wanderers and Sydney United last week received widespread media coverage and came just days after an altercation at Sydney FC’s trial match in Campbelltown.
But despite the problems being restricted to United fans after a member of the former National Soccer League’s (NSL) support threw a flare onto the pitch, the Wanderers have found themselves caught up in the debate.
Former Socceroo Robbie Slater used his News Limited column on Sunday to raise concerns the club’s appointment of a coach, assistant coach and goalkeeper with Croatian backgrounds as well as two overseas Croatian players could have some wrongly thinking the club was revisiting the NSL’s days of clubs with nationalistic links – something the A-League has been at pains to avoid.
However, with several players still be recruited in the club’s A-League, women’s and youth league teams the make-up of the Wanderers final squads should be as diverse as the area they represent.
It’s understood that by the time the recruitment process is finished, just five of the 80 players on the club’s books will be of a Croatian background.
Gorman said criticism of the club, or even linking them with the unsightly images from last week, was mystifying.
The Wanderers’ support group, known as the Red and Black Bloc, had already moved to distance itself from the troubles against Sydney United and was receiving praise from police and Football Federation Australia for their behaviour at the club’s pre-season matches.
“It’s disappointing that we’re being criticised for the actions of one mug who decided to throw a firecracker who wasn’t tied to the club,” Gorman told AAP.
“Wanderers fans, as a supporters group, have been totally on base with their behaviour and attitude.
“There’s no issue we need to worry about.”
Gorman said A-League regulations prevent fans flying flags or banners with nationalistic links and the Wanderers wouldn’t need to make any extra steps to stop their fans.
“We’re not going to be making any particular stance as a club, we’ll be enforcing the same rules as every A-League club,” he said.
Gorman added there is no need to alter the club’s pre-season campaign, which continues on Tuesday night with a match against the Brisbane Wolves in Queensland.
“Why would we change our pre-season? That gives power to people who have no right to it,” he said.
“We’re going ahead as normal and have no reason to change our plans.”
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (10) | Page 1 of Comments
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August 28th 2012 @ 8:06am
Kasey said | August 28th 2012 @ 8:06am | Report comment
If the police did go in heavy handed at Edensor Pk, what’s going to stop them doing the same at the all important First Sydney Derby on October 20th?
I hope Lyall (WSW), the RBB, SFC and the Cove are planning a bit of a sit-down with the Police to discuss a few basic crowd control strategies so that this game gets headlines for all the right reasons! The last thing the game needs is for the Police to go to the game expecting ‘ trouble’ and charging the fans with batons drawn and wantonly spraying Capsicum Spray at the first chant that contains perhaps a naughty word?
August 28th 2012 @ 9:01am
MelbCro said | August 28th 2012 @ 9:01am | Report comment
so now the police were heavy handed? Mate you flip flop all over the place.
August 28th 2012 @ 9:29am
Kasey said | August 28th 2012 @ 9:29am | Report comment
So predictable MC you only read what you want to read.
I said IF, that means I wasn’t there on the night so I’m prepared to accept the possibility that the coppers after the events at Campbelltown the week before and knowing the reputation for trouble that SUFC has in regards to crowd behaviour went into King Tom on a prepared for war footing. The idiots at SU couldn’t sense the tension I’m sure was in the air, or more likely didn’t care and let of a pyro. Did the cops overreact? Some say yes, but the simple fact remains.
The simple fact is:
No firecracker = no reaction from the cops(heavy handed or otherwise). I’m concerned that the idiots at United might have ratcheted up the tension one more step and any cops deployed to police the Sydney Derby in October might go expecting crowd trouble and through that prism, interpret a harmless action like taking ones shirt off or dropping a swear word as ‘things are about to kick off’ creating a Self fulfillingscenario.
As long as the fans in the stadium are prepared for this possibility, they can take action to prevent provoking the cops.
I’m sure you don’t care, as you have repeatedly stated that you care not for the HAL and wouldn’t give a fat rats clacker if it failed.
August 28th 2012 @ 11:54am
Kasey said | August 28th 2012 @ 11:54am | Report comment
I’m not your mate. my mates aren’t trolls.
August 28th 2012 @ 12:21pm
Futbanous said | August 28th 2012 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
Sometimes I wonder about the reasoning & logic of supposed football experts like Robbie Slater.
I read his article & thought that there was no need to mention that Popovic or his assistant & some new players were of Croatian background..
How would Slater feel if it was mentioned that this was an English club because he was coaching them. I believe he was actually born in England(Liverpool supporter) Poppa & Milicic were born here so effectively you could argue its an Australian club.
Either way its a dopey thing to say & unecessary.
Indeed you could argue that Sydney United having been here through several generations are as much an Aussie club as any that were started by Anglo/Celtics.
Their president has already condemned the actions of a minority so he(speaking for the club)obviously thinks so.
August 28th 2012 @ 12:29pm
Kasey said | August 28th 2012 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
It’s a hangover from the old days where your ethnic background determined your horizon in the game here.
One of the great things about the HAL is its allowed us as a sport to remove artificial barriers like those at the top level – best person for the job regardless of surname or accent etc. I gather it still occurs at lower levels, but a quick scan of all the different flags in any wiki article on the HAL is testament to its multiculturalism.
It takes a while for these things to filter through. Every now and again some troll still pulls out the AU are Adelaide City in disguise remark. We ignore it because its patently untrue and nobody with half a brain could link the two clubs and keep a straight face.
The thing is that most of us have moved on, but Wobbie isn’t a trained journalist or a noted thinker (in any regard or on the game).
I’m surprised he manages to get anything even resembling English in his OPs sometimes. must have a great editor;)
August 28th 2012 @ 12:39pm
Futbanous said | August 28th 2012 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
Definitely not a contender for the Aristotle award,then again he’s not alone amongst supposed football journalists in Australia.
This is still a major clean up area IMO for football here.
August 28th 2012 @ 1:21pm
Kasey said | August 28th 2012 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
Moving on from the NSL was a necessary step in professionalising the game and lifting it up to the big-boys table of the Australian sporting landscape. Some areas adjacent to the game such as the ‘football media’ or even ‘in’ the game like Refereeing have not kept pace with the pace of change.
In the formers case we are lucky to be on the cusp of a landmark era where traditional media loses its immense power of influence and the rise of the individual/blogger to source stories is nigh. In the later case..were I to be able to speak to Mr Gallop and present him with a 5 point wish list. Finding a way to improve the standard of HAL refereeing would be definitely on his to-do list!
FWIW, my wish list would be(in reverse order):
1. decide on a 20yr goal for the HAL and develop a plan to get there.
2. Improve the marketing of the game from a centralized(One strong message) perspective.
3. develop a better media engagement strategy
4. repair the relationship between the owners & the FFA (Gallop replacing BB could accomplish this in one swoop)
5.improve HAL Refs
August 28th 2012 @ 1:12pm
Sports Candy said | August 28th 2012 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
I’m getting a bit sick of non-football journalists becoming experts on “violence at soccer games” when it suits them.
Get your facts right for a start Jackson.
There was no flare thrown onto the pitch at the Edensor Park trial game,
August 30th 2012 @ 10:06pm
Gringo5673 said | August 30th 2012 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
I think you have to wait until the season after the next, as you just can’t judge a team that is brand new. I think that people are worrying more about the huge pre-season match fight then the development of a new upcoming team. I give them my luck, the A-League needs more teams and stronger players to make the leauge better, as the league at the momment is really weak (and when you have a player like Kewell leave, it must be a wake up call). Another thing I hate is when clubs go out of their way to find people of the clubs background, it can kill off some of our better players. I know that clubs want to be strong on and off the park, but this is just stupid.