A recent article by Dominic Bossi revealed that the Western Sydney Wanderers will be conducting a full season review after failing to making finals for the third season in a row.
Fans frustration with the club has also grown following reports that club captain Mitch Duke is likely to leave the club.
Possibly to placate this growing fan disillusion, chairman Paul Lederer issued comments suggesting “there’s nothing off the table” in the post-season review – however, his other comments suggest otherwise.
In the article, Mr Lederer appears to imply:
- Coaching is adequate, stating “We have got a great coaching staff, as good as any.”
- Spending is adequate, despite the AFR reporting his net worth at $1.14 billion. “It’s not about expenditure,” Lederer said. “We spend as much as anyone in this league.”
- Players are adequate with the article saying Lederer “believes the squad is strong enough to compete for titles and suggested the club’s problems do not lie with the players but other departments.”
If nothing is off the table for the review – but the Chairmen believes the players, coaching and spending is fine, fans should correctly question, what’s left to change?
The clear answer is the management. However, Lederer also suggests management will use external consultants to conduct the review. How will management be held accountable if:
- They outsource their work to external consultants (essentially allowing management to blame future failures on the consultants)?
- Management are the ones who choose how to frame the consulting work scope and conclusions?
Mr Lederer also says “I won’t say for a minute our squad isn’t good enough. It’s inconsistency that has cost us this season.” Well there you go! A review isn’t needed! ‘Inconsistency’ is the answer – right?
No – ‘inconsistency’ is not an excuse for fans who ultimately see ‘inconsistency’ as the result of not being good enough.
The fact is the return to Western Sydney Stadium did not prove the silver bullet the Wanderers needed to recapture their glory days, and fan frustration is all too quickly resulting in fan disengagement.
Fans can tolerate on-field issues if they can see the club is serious in doing their best, and is open to honest assessment…
However, Mr Lederer’s comments could justifiably be interpreted by fans as indicating an exercise in covering up the club’s true failures and justifying poor performance without the possibility of implementing real change.
Ultimately however the table doesn’t lie, and the Wanderer’s finishing position next season will say more than any external consultant report or club media communication could ever say.
The Beautiful Game 