817 – The Fall of Babbel(on)

Podcast

The inevitable came through on Monday morning after a frustrating and performance void of any spark or optimism.

Markus Babbel’s run as Wanderers manager is over after a near year and a half and it hasn’t been the best. Turner, Josh and Nick are joined by the man-in-demand Stephen to discuss Babbel’s dismissal, what went wrong, look at the squads performance and what is needed to lift this club back to the top.

We’ve taken into account the time the VAR calls have needed and included that total, so this episode is an extra thirty minutes for your listening pleasure.

This is a Babbel-less (and Tatiyana-less) around the bloc.

816 – German Exports and Irish Imports

Podcast

Nick is here with a solo pod giving you the rundown of what has happened in the last 24 hours (not even) in the world of Wanderers.

Alex Meier seems to be gone and Simon Cox seems to be due in from Swindon Town as we look to make a move on in the league to hit that top 6 or top 4 position.

Babbel is still under pressure so who knows if Cox’s inclusion will help him or not but the squad is looking healthier so we may see some familiar faces against Perth this weekend.

815 – Managerial Debate

Podcast

For those that have been with us all season know that we’ve been critical of players and manager at times but this one seems to be the real go to for that conversation.

A recap of the W-League loss, the Y-League win, the loss in windy Wellington and of course the Babbel in or Babbel out debate.

This is around the bloc.

813 – Derby Thrashing & Babbel Bashing

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No, we’re not going to rag on Markus, quite the contrary. However some in the football world in the A-League have been bashing him figuratively over the last few weeks.

The Wanderwomen thrash Sydney FC by five (Sydney is red and black after all thus far), and sit close on the ladder to leaders City and quick rising star Mina joins us again for a look at the W-League.

The rest of the crew are back for our airing of grievances and discuss some talking points.

This is a merry around the bloc.

813 – derby Thrashing & Babbel Bashing

811 – Nix Handed Narrow Win

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Fine margins. That’s the story of our last two matches and the game against the ‘Nix was no different. Plenty of effort with no reward in the first half to another suspect call agains the Wanderers in the second and the other ex-man doing the damage.

Turner, Josh and Nick discuss the negatives in the loss but also the positives along with the big positive of the Wanderwomen leading the W-League.

This is around the bloc.

Gold Stars and Red Cards – Wanderers vs Newcastle Jets (2019/20 Rd8)

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A-League 2019 Round 8 vs Newcastle Jets 30/11/2019 McDonalds Jones Stadium
0-2 Loss

New season, new format to disassociate from shameless appropriators. Welcome to ⭐ Gold Stars (good) and 🔴Red Cards (bad). Back to report on our third loss in a row.

Don’t forget to hit those share buttons, check out all the previous Best and Worst format, the new Gold Stars and Red Cards format and subscribe to the podcast

⭐Strongest Lineup?
On paper, it has to be close. An in form Kamau has forced his way back into the XI, a rotating front 3 or 4. Jurman returns to the backline and we are confident of beating Newcastle away, as what used to be the case in years gone by.
We had 3 defenders on the bench, which I’m not sure is a good thing? The NYL has started, but surely we should have some more attacking flair from those ranks on the bench?

🔴Deutsch Do-do
I’m going to be really harsh here so don’t @ me.
But seriously, let’s look at our German imports. Babbel said pregame that Ziegler was rested because his knee (again!) played up after playing two games…I thought this was sorted? Or was that Babbel’s way of dropping him to the bench? Either way, we’ve signed this guy for 3 years on the back of him becoming an Aussie citizen to free up a Visa spot and we’ve been waiting one and a half seasons for it to happen. In the meantime, I can count on one hand the amount of A-league games he’s played. Is it time to pull the plug or do we continue to be patient?
Another is a former Bundisliga golden boot winner who now gets 15 minutes off the bench because he doesn’t have the movement, pace and off the ball work required in the system Babbel is apparently implementing. Thought this guy was going to be the saviour but don’t ever tell me Riera was a bad striker for us (note: he wasn’t and in 2 seasons is 3rd all time highest goal scorer for WSW).
The last German came in as an injury replacement and arrived late and unfit, but he’s starting games and I don’t even realise he is on the pitch until he gets subbed off.
3 Visa signings that either start on the bench or are ineffective. Most of these were considered good signings, but is it too early to call them failures at WSW or am I too harsh so soon?
Let us know and the team can discuss on this week’s podcast.

🔴No Duke, No Dice?
If Duke doesn’t score, does WSW score?
Its starting to seem that way. Duke had an off night in front of goals, as he identified himself, but surely there’s enough quality on the park to get goals. We definitely had our chances and had Newcastle on the back foot for large parts of the game. But you need to be putting them away and beating teams like Newcastle if you want to be a contender (narrator: WSW aren’t contenders).

🔴 Lulz no Pen
Hilarious. And when you see the extremely soft penalty given to Wellington a day later, it makes it even more hilarious.
Two penalty shouts that on other weeks would have been given, or other teams would have been given them. “Incidental contact” and whatever they ruled a shove in a chest off. #AleagueRefs are the gift that keep on giving in this holiday season. If I wasn’t so invested in the results I would just laugh it all off. But when even Harper and Slater are questioning these decisions, then you know something is up.
Two weeks in a row we’ve been screwed by decisions by Refs and their VAR counterparts.
The way the ref didn’t even bother to watch the replay more than a glance shows that his mind was already made up, despite evidence of no ball contact from the Newcastle defender.

🔴Defending is for Chumps Anyway
Who needs to defend when you can score goals…
Wait.
We aren’t Melbourne City and we can’t score nor defend lately. Thankfully we have..

⭐LOPAR MADNESS
In a good way. This guy is the reason we only concede 2 or 3 goals a game. Without him it’ll be 10.
How many one on one chances did he stop? Why is he facing so many to begin with? At least he and Schwegler (mostly) are justifying their Visa spots.
If your goalkeeper is the best player on the park, then you have problems elsewhere.

⭐🔴Where to From Here?
#NoExcusesForRealThisTime seems to be falling apart before a third of the season is done. Where has it gone wrong? Is the game plan wrong or is it individuals not performing their duties?
We all know those early results were not indicative of the performance, but we used them as a platform to build. The season is well underway now and we’ve stagnated or gotten worse. We haven’t seen any improvement the last couple of weeks and if we have (at times we have), we have let it all slip away with sloppy defending.
Babbel needs to earn his paycheck and rally this team to get a win over in NZ this weekend. We lose this game, and the season is all but over and Babbel should start looking for a new gig.
We signed him for 3 years. First year it wasn’t his team, this year is #NoExcusesForRealThisTime. I can’t see the club persisting with Babbel if we don’t make the finals as a minimum considering everything off field is up and running. Fashion and bluntness in pressers is not enough to keep a job with a team that aspires to be the best in the country.
Prove me wrong Wanderers.