Earlier this week I had a piece published on The Roar about Western Sydney Wanderers’ poor form in the A-League.
I suggested that coach Tony Popovic prepared for this to happen as a consequence of success in the Asian Champions League and subsequent appearance in the Club World Cup, but would have been surprised by his team’s inability to at least remain in touch with the top six.
Thanks to all those who read and commented on the piece, it was an interesting discussion.
When I was putting that article together there was another angle that I had originally covered but pulled back from, as it was never intended to be confrontational or critical of the Wanderers or Popovic in any way.
However, many of the comments touched on it, so I thought I would put it out there after all and see what others think about it.
The Wanderers’ initial success was built on a culture and connection that no other club in the A-League could match. Having come together in a short period of time there was a real sense of togetherness surrounding the club, everyone pulling in the same direction.
The fans got behind a team that they believed represented them and their values, and the intensity and passion on display was far beyond that of clubs that had an eight-year head start on them. For the first two years this bond was impenetrable, and spurred the team on to success on the pitch.
However, in the past few months there have been signs of tensions putting strain on that connection.
The issue of player payments at the Club World Cup was an example of this. When the Wanderers’ squad was initially assembled in 2012 I would say there were few players who joined because of the money. Aside from the imports, the squad was heavy on experienced A-League players who had either not quite fulfilled their potential, or at least needed a fresh start to reinvigorate their careers.
Mark Bridge and Shannon Cole had stagnated at Sydney FC after a title win in 2010. Nikolai Topor-Stanley was well respected at Newcastle, but wasn’t exactly pushing for Socceroos selection at the time. Labinot Haliti, Tarek Elrich and Michael Beauchamp all seemed to raise their game to a level not seen at their previous clubs.
It was as if the players were feeding off the culture that surrounded the club and its fans, built around values of honesty, hard work and togetherness. The dispute at the Club World Cup felt like something very different.
I don’t think anyone bears a grudge against players looking for a fair slice of the riches that are earned via on pitch success. Similarly, it is understandable that the club wanted to bank the type of pay-day that does not come around very often for A-League clubs. That the dispute got to the point where a boycott was even considered shook the foundation of that bond between everyone connected with the Wanderers.
The players felt like they had been let down by the club. Fans, while having sympathy for the players, were shocked to hear firstly that the men who represent them on the field would possibly give up the chance of playing against Real Madrid, and secondly that the club may not have been showing the players the respect they deserved.
The ACL win showed the bond at its strongest, with thousands welcoming players and staff upon their return to Sydney Airport. Recently, with domestic form not showing any signs of improvement, there have been signs of discontent among the supporters at Pirtek Stadium. Frustration has been audible during matches, as have jeers at the final whistle. Then there was the confrontation following the conclusion of the Mariners game on New Year’s Day.
Overall I think that not much should be made of these sort of things, it happens everywhere in any sport. What was surprising was that it happened to Western Sydney Wanderers, however, a club that from the outside looked to have this unbreakable connection between club and fan.
The overboard reactions of a few will generate the headlines, but should not be viewed as representative of a support group as a whole. However, it has been noticeable that the atmosphere at the last few Wanderers home games has been distinctly flat.
I can recall the Wanderers fans breaking out into a unified Poznan at the 80th minute mark in the last two derbies at Allianz Stadium, despite their team having just gone behind in the match. It’s because the Poznan has never been about winning a game, it’s about fans joining together as one to show who they support. Watching the Mariners match on TV on Thursday I can’t recall a Poznan, if there was one it was missing the usual intensity.
Neither did I hear that incredible response of ‘We sing for Wanderers’ when the question was asked, usually belted out with such velocity. I appreciate the game was incredibly dull – maybe I missed all this from losing interest in the match – but it felt so different to the previous two seasons.
All of the issues surrounding Western Sydney this season are nothing out of the ordinary, they happen to every other club at some stage. The only reason it is worthy of comment is that up until now Western Sydney Wanderers have been unlike any other club.
j binnie
Guest
Post Hoc.You are correct,when analysing a thing like attendance figures one has to be careful to recognise individual occurrences that affect different clubs. Your point about WSW is correct and their figure could have changed had they too been playing a regular schedule of games. Another "average" figure to be questioned could be Melbourne City for they had a huge "home gate" of 26, 000 to watch their derby.That figure could affect their 7 home game average quite considerably ,(Their 6 game average,minus that derby crowd,drops to 10,890) But that was not the purpose of my original comment it was simply a numerical reference as to how things were at the halfway mark in the comp. jb.
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
I didn't see anyone complaining about the A-League format, just pointing out that you can't rule out any team from winning the competition. If you are going to compare qualifying for the A-League finals to qualifying for the UCL, 60% of the teams in the A-League qualify whereas 20% of EPL teams qualify for the UCL. That's a huge difference.
AR
Guest
"We’re talking about being crowned Champions of Europe..." Huh??? No we're not. We're talking about making the finals of the ALeague competition. You just pulled the Champions League reference out of nowhere to suit an irrelavant analogy.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
We're talking about being crowned Champions of Europe - the most prestigious club trophy on the planet ... and a team that couldn't even finish Top 3 in England, Germany or Spain can win that title. Team 4 in Germany could play Team 4 in Spain in the UCL finale. Last season Leverkusen finished 29 points behind Bayern. Leverkusen could still be crowned Champions of Europe. No one cares. Why? Because that's the way the competition is. The A-League competition playoffs have a rule that provides any of the Top 6 teams with the opportunity to win. Don't like it? Fine. Go watch something else.
AR
Guest
It's the difference between finishing 4th out of 20...and finishing 6th out of 10. Surely even you can work that one out.
Post hoc
Guest
Game Day, added bonus Pantomime villain Berisha
Post hoc
Guest
Wanderers fall in crowds must be looked at less about position on table, but rather the schedule. Two of those 5 I think were mid week (non holiday period) with massive thunderstorms, with parts of western sydney flooded, no train service and blackouts. The other thing is the amount of games we have played and therefore as fans have attended, I know some fans just see this as cool more chances to see the Wanderers (me included) but others are going well we have watched them upteen times, i'll miss this week and do............. Added on top of this is the poor start
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
To finish 4th in the EPL you need to win more than half of your games, whereas to finish sixth in the A-League you only need to win around a third of your games. My point is you can have a very average season - or beginning to a season, as we have been discussing in the case of the Wanderers - and still be champions.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"Ultimately you can finish in the bottom half of the table (sixth place) for the regular season and still win the competition. " Yes, and you can finish 4th in England and still be crowned Champions of Europe. So what?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"What has been so different about the Wanderers has been the atmosphere at the games." Have you attended any MVFC home games - particularly at AAMI Park?
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
Growing pains is a good way of describing the situation. I guess the question then is can they simply 'grow out' of the pains just by riding out the time, or will it require a shake up of the roster in this transfer window or prior to next season. I can't see Popovic losing the job under any circumstance. Surely he has achieved enough in the first two and a half years for a fallow period to be viewed in context. However, should an attractive offer come from Asia or Europe, that could be a different story.
britesparke
Roar Rookie
John Tsatsimos has already stated Tony Popovic' tenure at the Wanderers is rock solid......and so it should be....so that will not happen. Thank goodness for cool heads at Wanderers management and ownership! There has been a noticeable drop in intensity for both the " Who do we sing for?" and the Posnan, which is understandable given the teams' HAL woes, but these will improve with a first win I am sure! Two words probably sum up the WSW present situation - growing pains! We have had the shedding of a lot of familiar and very good players, the influx and reconditioning of new recruits some of whom have been perfoming wonderfully (Castalen) and others that have tried to fill the very big shoes of Ono and still need time to claim ownership of that position (Saba). Other players have been tried in numerous positions to see whether there is an improvement in the overall performance of the side. Growing pains! In tandem with this has been the sale of the club, the pay revolt and a still very hectic schedule which has done very little to alleviate the HAL issues which continue......and so it goes on. Growing pains!
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
It looks like those teams who are not so successful on the pitch this year are seeing a drop at the turnstiles - Wanderers and Mariners for example. The exception seems to be Brisbane, who have a slight increase despite only being on the edge of the finals positions.
Josh
Guest
Yeah..... Nah That won't happen.
j binnie
Guest
Kevin - If you care to use last year's average attendance figures for a comparison the following shows up- Victory have increased their home gates by 4,300 per match. Sydney have increased their home gates by 1,100 per match. Roar have increased their home gates by 300 per match. Adelaide have increased their home gates by 3,500 per match. WSW have dropped their home gates by 400 per match. Melbourne City have increased their home gates by 3000 per match. Jets have dropped their home gates by 500 per match. Perth have increased their home gates by 200 per match Wellington have increased their home gates by 300 per match. CCM have dropped their home gates by 1500 per match. Thee figures may show you where "improvement" is needed. jb
Ian
Guest
Wanderers invented insults. i'm even a football fan so i can do it.
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
Thanks JB, it certainly is of interest. I had a feeling Victory would be top, and there a very few surprises as you go down the list. For me the most important figure is the last one - an overall increase, which is good to see. Individual clubs will have various reasons for their own figures, so you need to balance it across the whole league to get a true representation.
AR
Guest
josh letting me know what "insults" I can use. bless
j binnie
Guest
Kevin- As the HAL is at it's half way mark it is a good time to view how clubs are performing in fan attraction. Here is a little "league" showing average attendances at games up till now Victory are averaging 26,377 per match over 8 home games. Sydney are averaging 19,705 per match over 8 home matches. Roar are averaging 15,255 per match over 5 home matches. Adelaide are averaging 14,823 per match over 7 home matches. West Sydney are averaging 14,471 per match over 5 home matches. Melbourne City are averaging 13,103 per match over 7 home matches. Jets are averaging 10,436 per match over 6 home games. Perth are averagng 9,618 per match over 6 home games. Wellington are averaging 8,558 per match over 7 home games. CCM are averaging 7,930 per match over 7 home games. All In all the HAL total attendance figures for 66 matches are up from 922,385 (last season) to 947,870, an increase of near enough 2.75%. Hope this is of some interest jb
josh
Guest
You're not even a football fan AR so you're the last person who can use the ;wanderers invented' insult.