Membership 2023/24

[otto62]

Last season people were clamouring for Irankunda to start.
This season people are complaining that Irankunda is going to be starting.

I’ll laugh so much if we get in two great imports and exceed all expectations this year.

[Old Gregg]

having a massive pre-season whinge is a proud tradition for Reds fans

[Jessesdad]

When we lost in the Australia Cup, I posted this on FB, because the whinging really got me down: "No-one can be happy with that result. But, for those saying it'll be the same as/bad as last year.....we finished third last year. 4th the two previous seasons. Our best three year run since the first three seasons of the A-League. Veart has done an incredible job with very few resources. I'd love to see us buy players like others do (especially the Mariners, who seem to have a magic wand in the transfer market) but its clear our owners are tight. Its football. You don't win every week."
I deplore the way that the club deals with players (Cassio!) leaving and the poor way they inform us about what's happened. But that's football too. It's not run by experts in empathy. It tends to be run by football players and business people. There's not much room for sentiment. I'm gutted that Goodwin has left but why wouldn't he? Could it have been handled better? You bet. Will it be next time? Probably not.
I went to the NPL GF and the AU A-League boys ran that game completely. Panash looked absolutely brilliant. Yull's a bulldog. Jovanovich looks a genuine striker. Alargich was all class. Yeah, they're young and they'll take time to settle and maybe they won't all make the step up, but they've already been blooded and their confidence and skill level show they've been training with the big boys. Add in Irankunda and Bernardo and Popovic and the young boys will definitely make a key difference this year.
So, it's not great that we haven't (yet) signed anyone but if we make a couple of decent signings and these boys continue to improve, we could be up there again - just as we have been for the last few years.
We're no going to win the league eight years running. We're always going to be behind the eight-ball financially. But we often surprise and play decent football.
I'll go and watch that.

[blahblah]

having a massive pre-season whinge is a proud tradition for Reds fans

So, it's not great that we haven't (yet) signed anyone but if we make a couple of decent signings and these boys continue to improve, we could be up there again - just as we have been for the last few years.
We're no going to win the league eight years running. We're always going to be behind the eight-ball financially. But we often surprise and play decent football.
I'll go and watch that.

Nice post!

[EdDog]

When we lost in the Australia Cup, I posted this on FB, because the whinging really got me down: "No-one can be happy with that result. But, for those saying it'll be the same as/bad as last year.....we finished third last year. 4th the two previous seasons. Our best three year run since the first three seasons of the A-League. Veart has done an incredible job with very few resources. I'd love to see us buy players like others do (especially the Mariners, who seem to have a magic wand in the transfer market) but its clear our owners are tight. Its football. You don't win every week."
I deplore the way that the club deals with players (Cassio!) leaving and the poor way they inform us about what's happened. But that's football too. It's not run by experts in empathy. It tends to be run by football players and business people. There's not much room for sentiment. I'm gutted that Goodwin has left but why wouldn't he? Could it have been handled better? You bet. Will it be next time? Probably not.
I went to the NPL GF and the AU A-League boys ran that game completely. Panash looked absolutely brilliant. Yull's a bulldog. Jovanovich looks a genuine striker. Alargich was all class. Yeah, they're young and they'll take time to settle and maybe they won't all make the step up, but they've already been blooded and their confidence and skill level show they've been training with the big boys. Add in Irankunda and Bernardo and Popovic and the young boys will definitely make a key difference this year.
So, it's not great that we haven't (yet) signed anyone but if we make a couple of decent signings and these boys continue to improve, we could be up there again - just as we have been for the last few years.
We're no going to win the league eight years running. We're always going to be behind the eight-ball financially. But we often surprise and play decent football.
I'll go and watch that.

Great post. Much needed perspective.

[otto62]

When we lost in the Australia Cup, I posted this on FB, because the whinging really got me down: "No-one can be happy with that result. But, for those saying it'll be the same as/bad as last year.....we finished third last year. 4th the two previous seasons. Our best three year run since the first three seasons of the A-League. Veart has done an incredible job with very few resources. I'd love to see us buy players like others do (especially the Mariners, who seem to have a magic wand in the transfer market) but its clear our owners are tight. Its football. You don't win every week."
I deplore the way that the club deals with players (Cassio!) leaving and the poor way they inform us about what's happened. But that's football too. It's not run by experts in empathy. It tends to be run by football players and business people. There's not much room for sentiment. I'm gutted that Goodwin has left but why wouldn't he? Could it have been handled better? You bet. Will it be next time? Probably not.
I went to the NPL GF and the AU A-League boys ran that game completely. Panash looked absolutely brilliant. Yull's a bulldog. Jovanovich looks a genuine striker. Alargich was all class. Yeah, they're young and they'll take time to settle and maybe they won't all make the step up, but they've already been blooded and their confidence and skill level show they've been training with the big boys. Add in Irankunda and Bernardo and Popovic and the young boys will definitely make a key difference this year.
So, it's not great that we haven't (yet) signed anyone but if we make a couple of decent signings and these boys continue to improve, we could be up there again - just as we have been for the last few years.
We're no going to win the league eight years running. We're always going to be behind the eight-ball financially. But we often surprise and play decent football.
I'll go and watch that.

Great post. Much needed perspective.

Agree.