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A-League: Central Coast Mariners at odds with fans over tough season
April 13, 2016 9:06am
Peter WayCentral Coast Gosford Express Advocate
Despite the disappointment of securing the club’s first piece of woodenware to go alongside the championship and two premierships coach Tony Walmsley believes the club can turn things around quickly.
“The future is very bright,” he said.
“We are very active and proactive in recruiting seniority, good leaders (and) experienced footballers that are going to make an immediate difference on the pitch next season.
Walmsley, while not dismissive of fan’s concerns, was confident the fans would forgive the team’s on-field performances.
“People will see, the fans will be back,” he said.
“It’s easy to be upset at the moment, it’s easy to be distressed and to feel emotional about results and where the team’s finished.
“But once there’s that sense of optimism that starts to flow through once the first signing is made and the next signing is made, suddenly pre-season’s upon you.
Walmsley said he was up to the challenge of turning around the club’s fortunes.
“The freshness of the new era begins in earnest,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to it but it’s been tough.”
Although the Mariners’ coaching staff are looking forward, some fans are struggling to come to terms with the club’s direction and performances.
Former Central Coast Mariners active fan group leader “Eggy” Glasgow has even resorted to attending Sydney Swans AFL games instead of the Mariners’ matches.
A petition is doing the rounds on social media calling for coach Tony Walmsley to be sacked.
It comes as fans at the final game of the season on Saturday night booed every time Walmsley appeared on the stadium’s big-screen and fans chanted “We want Tony out, we want Tony out” as the Newcastle Jets piled on more misery in the 4-2 loss.
Glasgow has been a supporter of the club for its entire history and was formerly the fan leader urging others in the Yellow Army through the use of a megaphone. He even has Mariners tattoos.
The 32-year-old from Kanwal said many fans felt the same as him.
“I don’t know any fans that feel differently,” he said.
“No one is looking on the positive side of things, that’s for sure.”
He said it had the hallmarks of a forgettable season from the get-go.
“This season has been a disgrace from the start,” he said.
“At the beginning of the season Walmsley said the season wasn’t about winning.
“Now we’ve broken every negative A-League record there is to break.
“Walmsley’s got to go, he shouldn’t survive after the season they’ve had.
“It’s not just him, the community engagement isn’t what it used to be.”
Glasgow said it wasn’t just results that had affected him as a supporter.
“There are lots of other negatives and they’re not addressing fans’ concerns.
“They’ve made it feel like a chore to go to matches and the past two years haven’t been the same.”
Mariners’ executive vice- chairman Peter Storrie all but assured Walmsley’s tenure after their loss to the Wanderers in the penultimate round of the season and Walmsley said he was up to the challenge of turning the club’s fortunes around.
“It’s about looking forward,” he said.
“I understand the angst of the supporters.
“There’s a group of people who want change and there’s also a group of people that can see the vision and are very supportive of what it is that we set out to do.
“There’s a couple of things that happened.
“We made changes and we exposed a number of players to too much too soon.
“So that’s really, on reflection, where things became challenging. If you play 10 or 12 games in NPL2 last year to play 25 games in the A-League you just don’t know how that’s going to affect you until you’re in among it.
“It was too big a stretch too soon and we are where we are, but the future is very bright.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...n/news-story/d3a72f810e0d20eb74becbd350b2b135
April 13, 2016 9:06am
Peter WayCentral Coast Gosford Express Advocate
Despite the disappointment of securing the club’s first piece of woodenware to go alongside the championship and two premierships coach Tony Walmsley believes the club can turn things around quickly.
“The future is very bright,” he said.
“We are very active and proactive in recruiting seniority, good leaders (and) experienced footballers that are going to make an immediate difference on the pitch next season.
Walmsley, while not dismissive of fan’s concerns, was confident the fans would forgive the team’s on-field performances.
“People will see, the fans will be back,” he said.
“It’s easy to be upset at the moment, it’s easy to be distressed and to feel emotional about results and where the team’s finished.
“But once there’s that sense of optimism that starts to flow through once the first signing is made and the next signing is made, suddenly pre-season’s upon you.
Walmsley said he was up to the challenge of turning around the club’s fortunes.
“The freshness of the new era begins in earnest,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to it but it’s been tough.”
Although the Mariners’ coaching staff are looking forward, some fans are struggling to come to terms with the club’s direction and performances.
Former Central Coast Mariners active fan group leader “Eggy” Glasgow has even resorted to attending Sydney Swans AFL games instead of the Mariners’ matches.
A petition is doing the rounds on social media calling for coach Tony Walmsley to be sacked.
It comes as fans at the final game of the season on Saturday night booed every time Walmsley appeared on the stadium’s big-screen and fans chanted “We want Tony out, we want Tony out” as the Newcastle Jets piled on more misery in the 4-2 loss.
Glasgow has been a supporter of the club for its entire history and was formerly the fan leader urging others in the Yellow Army through the use of a megaphone. He even has Mariners tattoos.
The 32-year-old from Kanwal said many fans felt the same as him.
“I don’t know any fans that feel differently,” he said.
“No one is looking on the positive side of things, that’s for sure.”
He said it had the hallmarks of a forgettable season from the get-go.
“This season has been a disgrace from the start,” he said.
“At the beginning of the season Walmsley said the season wasn’t about winning.
“Now we’ve broken every negative A-League record there is to break.
“Walmsley’s got to go, he shouldn’t survive after the season they’ve had.
“It’s not just him, the community engagement isn’t what it used to be.”
Glasgow said it wasn’t just results that had affected him as a supporter.
“There are lots of other negatives and they’re not addressing fans’ concerns.
“They’ve made it feel like a chore to go to matches and the past two years haven’t been the same.”
Mariners’ executive vice- chairman Peter Storrie all but assured Walmsley’s tenure after their loss to the Wanderers in the penultimate round of the season and Walmsley said he was up to the challenge of turning the club’s fortunes around.
“It’s about looking forward,” he said.
“I understand the angst of the supporters.
“There’s a group of people who want change and there’s also a group of people that can see the vision and are very supportive of what it is that we set out to do.
“There’s a couple of things that happened.
“We made changes and we exposed a number of players to too much too soon.
“So that’s really, on reflection, where things became challenging. If you play 10 or 12 games in NPL2 last year to play 25 games in the A-League you just don’t know how that’s going to affect you until you’re in among it.
“It was too big a stretch too soon and we are where we are, but the future is very bright.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...n/news-story/d3a72f810e0d20eb74becbd350b2b135