Wanderers rebound after week from hell, Nix outlast Sky Blues' press, Nisbet called up

https://tbgaustralia.com/? An OK read about the situation.

Win the Cup and give him the captaincy and a better contract. We need to keep our local legends.

One upside - WU are moving into a home ground and their A Leagues W team attracted over 2000 last weekend. That means 5000 is not unrealistic for the men. They are also looking to be a long term and stable club with their 10000 stadium a couple of years away and a lot of new housing around these stadiums. Macarthur are also getting close to 5000 being a possible average crowd and they are also a financially stable club. While those crowd figures aren’t great, they are becoming more promising.

I was reading that Newcastle had been resigning players for next year. I thought Natta, Taylor and other young players were signed up again. This indicated something was happening. I’m not sure what the APL want for the club – I don’t pretend to be a business person, but surely Newcastle would be a fire sale or closing down soon sale. Just offloading the costs should be enough. I was under the impression Ross Pelligra paid a dollar for Perth, but he has taken over some debts and the running of the club. Surely that’s enough. Surely Newcastle from the EPL could take them over and reinvigorate the club.

Personally I think it’s wild that the other clubs have been propping it up for so long – Are they doing this out of the goodness of their hearts?? Or were they thinking there might be a profit to be made? I agree it’s amazing; I think it points to the fact that the talent is out there, and you don’t always have to break the bank to get it. Similar to Mariners in the past, Jets have had to opt for ‘second chance’ players on lower wages – i.e. AP, Buhagiar, Cancar, Ingham, Stynes, Wilmering, Aquilina etc – or rely on youth, i.e. Taylor, Goodwin, Natta, Mauragis, etc. – and opt for low budget in other areas – i.e. their keepers aren’t stand outs, can’t imagine Stanton is on a big wage, lack of foreigners etc. My guess is O’Neill/Piscopo/Jenkinson/Berthomier are probs their biggest earners? Challenge is keeping these players when a bunch of them have had stand out seasons and will want improved contracts/improved club situations. And the uncomfortable thing is that most of them will probably leave on a free. Where are clubs supposed to make their profits? Crowds certainly won’t do it.

I agree Waz. Though ex Mayor Quirk seems breathtakingly short on reality in his recent review when it comes to football. Mr Quirk talked a lot about legacy infrastructure, but seemed blindingly oblivious to the needs of football. Rectangular stadiums, training facilities, and somewhere in the mix, a venue to host the Tillies and other major footballing nations. Whilst at the time back when the Brisbane Olympic bid was put forwards, it might have been understandable to not have foreseen the gargantuan leap forwards in the popularity of women's football in Australia, you would have to live under a rock on the bed of the Brisbane River for it to have escaped you by now. But somehow, it has eluded the ex Mayor. Even in the sporting backwaters of the ABC Offsiders program last weekend there was speculation about the Matildas' popularity enabling them to fill the MCG. At Aunty, world sport must forever be measured according to a cricket/AFL yardstick. How quaint! And all that was for a friendly game against a middle ranked nation! We are nothing up here in Queensland if not parochial. We pride ourselves on our stoic resistance to reality in the face of the overwhelming factual evidence. It is who we are. The fair weather supporters from the hallowed halls of governments, in their tax payer funded seats, have long since mothballed their Tillies shirts and scarves for a rainy day or their next photo opportunity. Yet the Instagram footage which they so brazenly craved lives on in cyber space to reminds us that funding for football was promised. Mr Quirk in fairness was not one of the Canberra and George street blow ins I refer to. But not to have used the reset to give the worlds' largest sport, and Australia's largest participation sport, a central prominence in his report, makes all his talk of legacy infrastructure seem .... . (Well you can choose your own adjective for it). I have run out of words to describe unforgivable It is not a quirk of nature that aspiring juniors, especially girls, have nowhere to play; to say nothing about answering a call of nature. It is a failure on all sides to recognize where Australia has landed post the tsunami of the women's world cup. In the future, we might well not need one new rectangular stadium in Brisbane, but several. And included in the mix we need to pose the question. Where exactly do they plan to house an order of one hundred thousand female football supporters? Perhaps the Brisbane Olympic football games will be telecast from the MCG! So far that seems the most sensible option out there. I fear the legacy of the Olympics will be one of embarrassment and ridicule. Certainly, all hopes of an A League venue being a windfall beneficiary remain dashed. Maybe the women's Asian Cup in 2026 will see reality rammed home yet again. Don't hold your breath. We are out of dead horses on George Street.

Just did – hopefully a white knight to the rescue. I understand his dilemma though. Planning needs to begin and owners to be in place. There is no club I want to see lost, but especially not a foundation club that has so much history in the game. Hopefully the four clubs saving it can go on a bit longer, but surviving is not thriving. It’s amazing what they have done this year given their situation. If they are to go, can we at least cryogenically freeze them for a period and resuscitate them to much fan fare and excitement the season after.

looking worse by the day Grem, if you've seen the comments from Stephen Conroy

Let's bloody hope so Mid!!! I saw that he responded to the rumours.

Nisbet has not signed with anyone for next season if anything looking to move overseas...

Re Nisbet - agree. Should not go to City - should stay at CCM or head to an OS league that will appreciate his talents (not Scotland). Re Canberra - the news that came out from Heyman and the womens' side last week was concerning. Hopefully that can begin to force some more transparency in the coming weeks.

The demise of the women linked to using QLD youth? Sydney have shown the way with using Queensland youth with Vine and a lot of titles thanks for that. Thanks Newcastle Jets for beating Western United at Tarneit, I have never seen a ground in the middle of nowhere before Tarneit. Roar have gone for 3 USA imports and Tameka Yallop hardly youth. I dont get the crowd at Ballymore, my guess is Queenslanders dont want a team. Suncorp is in a super convenient location but I would assume it would be easier to get parking for free around Ballymore. Your just lucky the Bakries are willing to put up with the worst supporters in the land.

“ As I’ve said before and I’ll say again nothing will change at Roar until The Bakries sell the club they are the main problem” No argument from me

As I've said before and I'll say again nothing will change at Roar until The Bakries sell the club they are the main problem but that's not something that will be resolved anytime soon. As for Ballymore not surprised that it did not go well especially since you guys were playing Macarthur but to be fair outside of one or 2 games Attendance for Roar games has been crap this season overall and your last 2 home games against Newcastle and Adelaide are unlikely to drastically lift the average attendance numbers. The Olympic Review was released, no mention of Ballymore, Perry Park or another site for a Boutique Rectangular Venue in the City of Brisbane LGA. For Olympic Football the Report recommended to proceed with upgrades to Sunshine Coast Stadium and upgrades to Barlow Park in Cairns but not to proceed with upgrades to Clive Berghoffer Stadium in Toowoomba.

That’s sad to read.

According to Daniel McBreen the Sale of Newcastle may have fallen through.

So Brisbane Roars season starts to fizzle out to a predictable conclusion, the women can’t make finals and the men, barely 3 points better off than this time last season, are left with the curse that it’s “mathematically possible” but now highly improbable they’ll make finals, even if they were to win all their remaining games. Rebuild anyone? In the match day commentary the commentator excitedly said he’s spoken to “management” and they were intent on building both Roar squads around the Queensland pathways and local talent. This though is not new, David Pourre announced the same 4 years ago. In fact, the demise of the Roar women as an ALW force can be traced to that decision. If this is not code for “we’re just going to hire cheap NPLQ talent” then the club needs a plan. If they’re serious, they could go after Football Queensland product Josh Nisbet - rumoured to be leaving Mariners at seasons end. Many suspect the owners are not serious and therefore won’t be opening the cheque book to sign Queensland talent. And Ballymore proved to be a predictable flop. Brisbane folk are familiar with the shortcomings of what is a much loved but difficult to get to venue. I think this game was a test case, hoping for packed out stands and a full hill, this was likely the springboard to all games at Ballymore next year if fans could be persuaded this was the “experience” worth the travel to/from shortcomings. Suspiciously, about an hour before kick off social media posts appeared praising the venue and making bold claims like “crazy we don’t play all our games here”. Being their first post, it seems some people were so moved on arrival at Ballymore they felt the need to create an account and tell the world. Or am I a cynic now :silly: The response to these overly optimistic posts was a backlash of all that is wrong getting to/from Ballymore. And the paltry crowd, likely inflated, of 3,000 was the proof you needed. And anyone who’s been to ALW games at PP and Ballymore this season can tell you which venue is best. It’s not Ballymore. If Roar management are going to accept sub 5k crowds as the new norm, which seems likely, then Perry Park has to be the answer - Ballymore would be the death of BRFC.

Jets have uncovered some talent this season and play a good style of football, the problem is Stanton while a good coach seems to always seems to be up to funny business . Is it a coincidence that the team that is usually dead at the end of matches was desperate to get a draw all of sudden and finished the match well. A new owner is the desire of a lot of people who want to grab money off them probably because the club is being run on a tight budget and they can feel they can touch up new owners. Matt Vanderberg would be at the front of the queue so I wouldn't trust anything he says.

Rudan didn't come over to us in the away bay though, that was kind of expected. At least Marcelo gave us a proper Captain's speech, it was inspiring.

Newcastle are sold! It will be announced next week! That’s been the ongoing story – hopefully there is some truth in that as we all want them to thrive. There were lots of hugs after the WSW v Perth game and Rudan did apologise – perhaps the situation is resolved. That’s the way it was painted, so it must be correct! Nice to see WU (women) at home – the stadiums are happening – it only took 5 years. And what a goal from Antonis – best ever in the A Leagues? I do like both the CCM and I am happy to see Wellington doing well, but I don’t think both will be in the grand final. I feel they have both over performed (and I have enjoyed their games) and only one may make it. With City perhaps about to hit form, Victory and Sydney capable of being there – both those teams making it is unlikely. A home final in Wellington could be good for the game’s growth in NZ and a great way to get their “derby’ game next season off to a flyer.