WS Wanderers v Adelaide United Match Day Jamboree!!!©

[sub007]

Thoroughly mediocre and totally unambitious.

2 weeks in a row Toure's been stuck on a wing for no apparent reason and looked like 50% of the player he could be as a result.

Clough falling over to draw a "foul" at the end should be the final straw to lose his starting spot IMHO.

Agree.

Blackwood has to start next game.

Disagree.
Clough drew the foul beautifully on the edge of the box and the referee bottled it, just like he did twice when Bernardo was fouled in the box.
If our boys can actually get the ball back to Clough in a one-two we might finally get the best out of him.

Clough was literally signed to create chances and get into shooting positions. He is doing neither and hasn’t showed he is capable of doing so either.

Maybe part of the reason is because he isn’t used to how we play but he’s been at the club for a month or so now so that shouldn’t be an excuse anymore.

[EdDog]

First 20 all WSW but after that only one team looked like winning (us).

We didn't create enough clear cut chances but Clough wouldn't be disappointed he didn't convert that rebound from Brook's effort!

Juande and Gauci share the MotM points for me. Very very solid.

Clough had his best game yet. Has showed nothing to date IMO but looked a lot more composed today and got into some bloody good areas. Feeling a lot more positive about him after today's game.

Hugely disappointing to get only 1 point from 6 against WSW who are absolute basket cases.

Nevertheless, a draw away from home and a clean sheet is passable.

[EdDog]

Also a huge fan of Popovic. Looked very composed on the ball and he's only 19??? The production line coming through SA is unbelievable.

I posted the above comments on Clough without reading all the discontent on this thread beforehand. All I'll say is Isa, who is one of my fave players, was dreadful for a good 6 months before turning into one of the best DMs in the league.

Don't think we should write him off after so few games. I've been a big critic of him but think he's moving in the right direction.

[ChillyPhilly]

Clough is starting to gel with the rest of the team and will become a classy player for us.

[EdDog]

Brook also very dangerous today. Seems to have gone up a gear after his stint with Brentford B.

[Rojos]

Barr is looking like he's done enough to get a contract next year, he could really flourish in a professional environment.

Great starting debut from Popovich, Hemed is a European Intl who's played EPL, Ibini also a well regarded, experienced striker. I thought both Poppa and Barr both played well above their NPL backgrounds.

[AndyJebiga]

Clough has and wil be woeful, he offers nothing bar being tidy on the ball. He will not score a single goal or get an assist this season

Uk players traditionally struggle in the a league, statistically they are the worst performing nationality.

There is already a homegrown #10 at the club, being played out of position (Bernardo)

The club is also in talks to bring home another local #10 at season end, raphael - he is incredibly unhappy with his lack of game time at city

He has one year left on his contract, could potentially be a loan deal.

Tony vidmar is being heavily linked as assistant coach for next season as Ross will be moving on to another a league club

[EdDog]

Where did you hear this? Is Ross going to take on a first team coaching role at another club?

[sevengoals]

Post match ...

[MartinAUFC]

Uk players traditionally struggle in the a league, statistically they are the worst performing nationality.

That's the second time you've said that in a post on here. Do you have a link to these stats?

[MartinAUFC]

That was our best defensive performance of the season imo. Gauci and the back four were excellent and Popovic looks a real prospect.

I would like to see us persevere with Clough. As has been said already he is improving with every game, albeit very gradually. I just think he's a way better footballer than George.

[Interloper]

Also a huge fan of Popovic. Looked very composed on the ball and he's only 19??? The production line coming through SA is unbelievable.

I posted the above comments on Clough without reading all the discontent on this thread beforehand. All I'll say is Isa, who is one of my fave players, was dreadful for a good 6 months before turning into one of the best DMs in the league.

Don't think we should write him off after so few games. I've been a big critic of him but think he's moving in the right direction.

Does Clough even have 6 months in which to improve?

It's not that he's been terrible (I thought he was better last week personally.) In fact if you rank all the players from best to worst, he's definitely in the best XI.

But all the other attacking players seem to play worse around him, he plays a role that wasn't part of the teams plans until he showed up, and doesn't seem to have any flexibility to play any other. Plus, If fitness wasn't an issue you'd definitely start with Ibusuki-Toure front two.

It's definitely possible he'll improve to the point where he's worth the downsides. But currently, I can't see him exceeding "Useful option off the bench if Plan A doesn't work."

[AndyJebiga]

Uk players traditionally struggle in the a league, statistically they are the worst performing nationality.

That's the second time you've said that in a post on here. Do you have a link to these stats?

nearly 100 players from the uk (england/wales/scotland/northernireland/ireland) have been brought across to the a league since its inception (not counting players like ryan strain who were born in england and came here as a child)

once you factor in salaries, how many would you say have been a genuine success in terms of bang for buck?

le fondre at sydney
ifil at wellington
keogh at perth

for every one of these players, you get 15 dregs like lloyd owusu, joe keegan etc. etc

brazil and the netherlands complete the top 3 for worst performing nationalities in the a league

[otto62]

Uk players traditionally struggle in the a league, statistically they are the worst performing nationality.

That's the second time you've said that in a post on here. Do you have a link to these stats?

nearly 100 players from the uk (england/wales/scotland/northernireland/ireland) have been brought across to the a league since its inception (not counting players like ryan strain who were born in england and came here as a child)

once you factor in salaries, how many would you say have been a genuine success in terms of bang for buck?

le fondre at sydney
ifil at wellington
keogh at perth

for every one of these players, you get 15 dregs like lloyd owusu, joe keegan etc. etc

brazil and the netherlands complete the top 3 for worst performing nationalities in the a league

So no statistics then. We're all entitled to our opinion I guess.

The wiki list I saw had 86 players from the UK.
I think we probably need to include in the list of successes: Aldred, Ball, Brebner, Gordon, Hooper, McFlynn, Miller, Montgomery, Noone, O'Donovan, and O'Shea.
(Of course Dwight Yorke doesn't count ... but really he should.)
All of those would be considered by their clubs to be value for money and a successful import.

So 14 successful out of 86 (not counting Yorke).
For every 1 that's a success, there are about 5 that aren't.
My gut feel about other nationalities is that (with a few notable exceptions) they're probably pretty similar, although I don't have the statistics to back that up,

[sevengoals]