Lady Reds Ready to Roar

[QuantoQuesta]

Mixed responses to my rant. That’s ok.

I’m not ring barking the tree and its not a glass half empty however, how many times does your thumb have to be hit before you say “this needs to stop”? What’s tiring is to hear/read….If they keep playing like this they’ll be great in 2 years time. We don’t have the time.

Look back at history the team this year is vastly different from that of two years ago. Improvement will only come from a constant ie players. The instability of the team. The pathetic attempt to throw a team together days before the comp without ANY SERIOUS TRIAL GAMES is a farce.

Sad thing is that when our local players get to the mid twenties they will go from the game. AND so the cycle continues.

Are imports the answer? NOPE.

Two years ago the side was full of imports


No. Position Player
1 GK Sian McLaren
2 FW Ashleigh Gunning
4 DF Ruth Blackburn
5 DF Stacey Day
7 FW Racheal Quigley
8 MF Katrina Gorry
9 MF Ruth Wallace
10 MF Victoria Balomenos
11 MF Vedrana Popovic
12 FW Selin Kuralay
13 DF Loren Mahoney
14 FW Donna Cockayne
15 MF Katherine Ebbs
16 MF Christina Papageorgiou (Captain)
17 MF Angela Fimmano
18 MF Georgia Macri
19 DF Nenita Burgess
20 GK Kristi Harvey
[edit]

At least 7 interstate players there who played most games from memory. The SA plays that did get game time are now currently injured Fimano and Balomenos or retired Papageorgiou.

The current team has many more youn SA players who could and should still be around in two years time and they actually play in the team. Harvey, Checker, Tsoumbris, Wallace, Waterhouse, Henry, Macri, Johns, Rajcic, etc. two years ago the team hardly trained because the players who made up the starting X1 only flew in for matches at the weekend!!

The current team has potential and given the opportunity and some support will achieve success, it isn't just a case of repeating what's gone on before but unless someone can find the money to attract big name players here, it will take time!

[johnydep]

Mixed responses to my rant. That’s ok.

I’m not ring barking the tree and its not a glass half empty however, how many times does your thumb have to be hit before you say “this needs to stop”? What’s tiring is to hear/read….If they keep playing like this they’ll be great in 2 years time. We don’t have the time.

Look back at history the team this year is vastly different from that of two years ago. Improvement will only come from a constant ie players. The instability of the team. The pathetic attempt to throw a team together days before the comp without ANY SERIOUS TRIAL GAMES is a farce.

Sad thing is that when our local players get to the mid twenties they will go from the game. AND so the cycle continues.

Are imports the answer? NOPE.

Re-direct your criticisms. Leave the team to do what they're supposed to do; play football.

The FFSA is running all the State programs, the people in charge of change and administering change are the ones that need to be asked the questions. And they need to answer them.

Your asking questions, and I reckon most agree with you. But it's the way you do it that get people riled up.

Start asking those in charge: Coaching criteria, coach selection criteria, assistant coach selection criteria, player selection criteria, training and player development, etc.

[Blotto]

Your asking questions, and I reckon most agree with you. But it's the way you do it that get people riled up.

Start asking those in charge:

Not being rude JD but not everyone has time in their day to start chasing coaches/management and rip into them about how woeful their team was on the weekend.

[johnydep]

Your asking questions, and I reckon most agree with you. But it's the way you do it that get people riled up.

Start asking those in charge:

Not being rude JD but not everyone has time in their day to start chasing coaches/management and rip into them about how woeful their team was on the weekend.

Fans should not chase coaches and "rip into them", they need to contact the owners. Exactly as has been happening with the Adelaide United men's club, and many other clubs around the world.

If people haven't got time to send feedback and ask questions to those in charge, how have they got time to come on here and post things that only the fans will read? How is that constructive for the club and team? It's not, it's a cancer.

[scipio africanus]

Keeper was fantastic , where was she last season ??

Hmmm... she was ok. Some good saves there. Her distribution however is well below par. Some of her passes struggled to get to their destination and often put her defence well in the cabernet.

She communicates extremely well though.

Kristi has been in the Lady Reds set up since day 1. She started for the first couple of games last season, but was inexplicably dropped for Macca who came straight back from 12 month ACL lay off, and who proceeded to concede 3 absolute howlers in her first game back and cost the game.

Kristi's communication and organisation of her defense is second to none, and she continues to improve each game making decisive contributions after working exceptionally hard to prepare for this W League.

Her opportunity to cement the no 1 has been long coming and thoroughly deserved.

[pockets]

Keeper was fantastic , where was she last season ??

Hmmm... she was ok. Some good saves there. Her distribution however is well below par. Some of her passes struggled to get to their destination and often put her defence well in the cabernet.

She communicates extremely well though.

Kristi has been in the Lady Reds set up since day 1. She started for the first couple of games last season, but was inexplicably dropped for Macca who came straight back from 12 month ACL lay off, and who proceeded to concede 3 absolute howlers in her first game back and cost the game.

Kristi's communication and organisation of her defense is second to none, and she continues to improve each game making decisive contributions after working exceptionally hard to prepare for this W League.

Her opportunity to cement the no 1 has been long coming and thoroughly deserved.

+1

Harvey saved their ass on a number of occasions during the game.

[Gazelle]

Did Sensation do as poorly as the Lady Reds?

If not, then surely the quality of players in SA is not lacking. I agree with the comment about girls forming groups and purposely playing to ensure their friends look good on the pitch and excluding newcomers. Only the coach is able to do something to change this.

It just sucks that SA still can't produce quality, consistent sides, after all these years!!! Yes, we are seeing gradual improvement, but it's nothing compared to the other states & territories.

Corrective action needs to be made urgently.

Oh and I 100% agree about Harvey deserving her spot in the team.

[QuantoQuesta]

Did Sensation do as poorly as the Lady Reds?

If not, then surely the quality of players in SA is not lacking. I agree with the comment about girls forming groups and purposely playing to ensure their friends look good on the pitch and excluding newcomers. Only the coach is able to do something to change this.

It just sucks that SA still can't produce quality, consistent sides, after all these years!!! Yes, we are seeing gradual improvement, but it's nothing compared to the other states & territories.

Corrective action needs to be made urgently.

Oh and I 100% agree about Harvey deserving her spot in the team.

The sensation brought players in too! McCollum, DeVanna, Day etc. and it was in a much less professional league, with less money being offered by other teams. I've heard from players that teams like Melbourne pay their WLeague players $300 per game, Canberra $500 per game, Perth for DeVanna , McCollum etc $15,000 for the season, yet Adelaide players get NOTHING!!!

[Gazelle]

Nothing at all? Surely they get free flights and to their away games.

Do the interstate and international players receive some sort of living allowance for making it down here for the season?

If there is no incentive to play for the Lady Reds, how do they expect to field a competitive side?

Props to the other states for paying their players though. That's a decent effort - especially what McCallum and De Vanna are getting!!

[SAD GAL]

Excellent comments all round. Yes Harve's has been a real trooper and is well respected by everyone in the game. I wish her well with this opporuntiy.

Macca never wanted to be a GK. Was thrust in there and was given the ultimatum “in goals or you don’t get to play on the field…” Make your choice.

Anyway, the Sensations were predominantly SASI players and hence the reason why it was successful. There is NO substitute for keeping a core group of players (70-75%) together and training and playing all year round in readiness for the national comp. The experiment we’ve seen here in the w-league (w for woeful) has not worked. Standard across the board is diminishing and I’m not happy to see this happen.

Quanto Questo….Day was an SA product from day one. She went to Newcastle to increase her exposure and hence the potential to crack the Matildas. McCallum and De Vanna were to add cream to the cake however the bulk of the team was local.

The structure is wrong. The players cannot be held to account for this. It will never improve if the same stuff is trotted out every year. The coaches will not risk their reputations and will leave the game.

[QuantoQuesta]

The Lady Reds get NOTHING! I understand that the International players get flights and accomodation, the interstate players get NOTHING and the local players get NOTHING!

Yes their flights to games etc are paid for but they receive NOTHING in terms of financial payment. UNLIKE ALL of the other teams in the W League!

Im not sure how Edmondson can be blamed for not producing players? He has been here for one year and has brought through players like Checker, Henry, Waterhouse etc and is currently more competitive than any other AUFC side with a group of predominantly local players who receive no financial reward!

SASI were a disgrace and produced NO players over the last 5-8 years, hence the reason FFA removed Football from SASI! The number of players who were treated disgracefully by SASI is enormous, some injured out of the game, some forced out of the game, others kept in SASI for year upon year despite never even being close to national team selection or squads etc.

The SASI program was going nowhere and doing nothing, the FFSA program has only being going for one year and it has development teams at U13, U14, U15 and U18 level as well as running the W League team. From my reckoning 6 players were selected in All Star teams at Nationals, Jess Waterhouse has just captained the National U16's, Emma Checker is about to tour with the Matildas and all of this with a farcical women's premier league where clubs drop out from one year to the next and the standard is laughable.

The old sensation team played in a league that some years played all of their games over a week or a couple of weekends with double headers and the teams were glorified state teams. This W League is a professional league with International players and Australian national team players being paid by most teams, so is totally different and beyond comparison!

Edmondson may not be my favourite person in the world but he has at least shaken up women's football in SA and challenged players to behave, train and play more professionally. He has also tried to work with clubs and the ones who have got involved have benefitted from coaching sessions, information and advice. The ones that are too afraid to let anyone else inside or challenge their thinking have not benefitted and are the ones complaining and working against him IMO.

On an aside, does anyone else at FFSA have any input on women's football? The mens side seem to have numerous staff and coaches working towards developing the game but on the women's side everything seems to be left to Edmondson (coachign the W League, the NTC, coaching the coaches, club meetings etc..)

[billy the kid]

Quanto Questa

I agree 100% with what you said. People might get us two mixed up.

A few of us have been agitating this kind of stuff over the years (way before SASI got the boot and way before the W-League) but were dismissed as negative.

If only they knew.

Anyway, I as with you (I think) have the game at heart and that somehow over the last decade its gone from much [promise and optimism to CRAP. I have never stuck it up the players because they are all (the majority at least) committed and honest players. The fact is that their commitment and passion has not been met by those changed with its administration or advancement.,

Our representation at national and international level is non-existent. Not good enough? Who knows.

SASI was never held to account rather the program was cut when it may have been palatable for the hierarchy to change the coach. The players were left high and dry however THAT person still retained a job in the system. Go figure.

Many players got an arm chair ride for many many years in the program when it was evident that they would NEVER progress to the matildas. Others were treated very poorly and force d to abandon the program. Saw it first hand. Not easy to witness when its someone very close to you. How do you tell them its not good to quit and that you can gain a lesson from this experience. In hindsight all that was achieved were a player(s) questioning their self worth and made to feel inferior amongst their peers. The dude up top never suiffered this indignity.

My experience is based on what I have seen and heard over the years…unless there is a major overhaul SA soccer will revert to local state based social football.

[Red-4-Life]

money talks. Until the squad gets the money injection it won't be possible to sign Matildas. And we will also lose the likes of Emma Checker to elsewhere because bigger clubs can afford to take on board national team players